For me, it'll be the apparent lack of ♥♥♥♥♥ Valve gave when making TF2. And no, I'm not talking about the recent status of updates.

In most games and most media, they take the characters (barring the designated joke characters) way too seriously. I realised this when watching OW's "Heroes" short, which makes me puke out a lung at how horrid the writing is. It struck me that it happens because of how seriously the writers take Soldier 72. Or rather, how seriously they want us to take him.

The same problem goes for quite a few game characters, like Lightning from FF13 or Batman from the Arkham games (or just Batman in general): some character that is obviously ridiculous that the writers expect us to take them seriously. There is a reason why I love Batman: The Brave and The Bold so much, as it fully embraces the ridiculousness of a man that dresses up like a bat to fight crime. And that is the reason why I love TF2.

TF2 recognizes that its premise is ridiculous and just goes along with it for the thrill ride. Every character is designed with seemingly no ♥♥♥♥♥ to give, which is why Heavy and Demoman have those ridiculous accents, Medic is an obviously crazed doctor, and Soldier is so damn American he is just short of wearing nothing but the American flag to battle.

But even with this little amount of ♥♥♥♥♥ that seems to be given there is a lot of actual care put into it. The mercs may have ridiculous accents but they are never grating. They may be somewhat nuts but they still stay in character. They may seem stereotypical but they are not exactly lazily designed (as seen by how Medic is not made into a Nazi as it will be too easy). In short, what makes TF2 great is the amount of ♥♥♥♥♥ apparently given, which is none, and the amount of care put into it, which is actually quite a lot.

This is why TF2 is so enjoyable, and even after long periods of not playing, people can still have their favourite characters and remember them: because they are all larger than life characters with a spark of life in them.

And yes, after this thinly disguised love letter, maybe I will ask TF2 out on a date and try to go steady with her, what of it?

(Stolen from myself from Reddit)