Customizable Experience

I think one reason that some games are so successful is because they are structured in a way in which the player believes they are in control to some extent of what's happening in the game. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, one way that the game is able to be customize the player is the way that the character's in the game are rewarded with experience points. In the game, after playing a certain number of battles and earning experience points Mario, Luigi, and Bowser will advance one level. When they advance a level, each of their subcategories of points, such as health, defense, power, special, etc. are given additional points. Next the player is allowed to chose one category to add additional points to, and a random number of additional points is added to that category. Because the player is able to choose which categories to add additional points to every time the character levels up, the characters can become more advanced in certain areas depending on how the player distributes the points. I think this is an important aspect to this game because it really allows the player to feel in control of the game and to stay interested and involved in it.