No matter how good the storytelling, graphics, or level design, a video game’s legacy, replay-ability, and longevity depend almost completely on the quality and entertainment value of its core mechanics. If getting frags in Halo was awkward and difficult no-one would play it. If it was okay but not great "some" people would play it. But because its mechanics are intuitive, exciting, and very well done, Halo is an extremely popular game. (Granted, having the might of Microsoft behind you doesn't hurt either.)
Once the core mechanics of what makes up the true essence of a game have been established, keeping it simple from that point on through the development is key. Taking a good set of mechanics and dressing them up with "code-candy-mechanics" will often only serve to homogenize an otherwise memorable set of solid core mechanics. Developers must resist the urge to over-engineer their game with superfluous mechanics that don’t further the purpose of the title.
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