The game engine should not be a factor in my opinion, but sometimes I have some feelings. In the end ultimately the game itself and how fun it is is the most important factor.
Unreal Engine 5: This engine has such a poor reception for me, that whenever I see it I dislike the game before even having a chance to play. Its not fair I know, but its also not my fault that I think like that. Often games with this engine have stutter issues, require lot of resources and for whatever reason, most AAA games launching with this engine are in a bad state. In the end I will buy a game if its good, obviously, but the engine has a little deciding factor to look deeper or not… even if its just a little factor.
Unity: I personally don’t like Unity anymore for the bullshit they did. But if I am honest, if the game is good then I do not care if its in Unity.
Godot: I really want to like games made with this Open Source engine. But if I am honest again, I would not buy a bad game even if its made with this engine.
RPG Maker: I am a fan of oldschool RPG Maker, so I don’t mind that. But whenever I see made with RPG Maker (or suspect it), the value of the game goes dramatically down for me.
any custom engine: I highly respect good custom engines, made specifically for the game or company. They often feel and look different, so its actually a factor. Or at least it will make me curious and look deeper into the game.
There some some very efficient games using UE5, like Satisfactory.
On the contrary, I’m afraid of custom engine games. Even if they ultimately turn out okay, the dev hell required to get them there often sinks the game. See: ME: Andromeda, Cyberpunk 2077. And Distant Worlds 2 (even though it wasn’t technically fully custom).
IMO the best path is choosing the game engine for your niche. As an example, Cryengine was practically made for KCD2’s European forests and medieval towns. Larian’s Divinity engine is literally made for a D&D-type game like BG3.
The game engine should not be a factor in my opinion, but sometimes I have some feelings. In the end ultimately the game itself and how fun it is is the most important factor.
Custom engines are my kryptonite when you end up with games like animal well and balatro
There some some very efficient games using UE5, like Satisfactory.
On the contrary, I’m afraid of custom engine games. Even if they ultimately turn out okay, the dev hell required to get them there often sinks the game. See: ME: Andromeda, Cyberpunk 2077. And Distant Worlds 2 (even though it wasn’t technically fully custom).
IMO the best path is choosing the game engine for your niche. As an example, Cryengine was practically made for KCD2’s European forests and medieval towns. Larian’s Divinity engine is literally made for a D&D-type game like BG3.
I’d argue it doesn’t influence the decision making process, but is a good indicator of your taste in video games