God of War Creator Hates Cutscenes 114
1up has a short piece talking about God of War creator David Jaffe's commentary on game cinematics. From the article: "Jaffe isn't saying players don't welcome this style, but claims it's not the best approach. 'It's almost like you appreciate the creativity but as a game it doesn't work,' he says in his latest video blog, citing Super Mario 64 as a good example of a game that works without cinematics. 'Obviously Mario 64 doesn't evoke a lot of emotion and political ideas, but it keeps you in the game.'" One of the reasons RE4 has been so well received, I think, is that it give you some interactivity during what would otherwise be a passive experience.
Best Example (Score:3, Insightful)
You don't so much play Xenosaga as help Xenosaga play itself
Re:Best Example (Score:1)
I don't object to cut scenes at all, as long as they don't become the game. Here and there they can be like little Easter eggs, or rewards for accomplishing something. But if I find myself wishing for a pause key so I can go to the bathroom, they're gone over the edge.
Re:Best Example (Score:2)
Agreed. I like to think of cutscenes as my tasty reward for completing missions. I've never understood why players think they're a "problem". Of course, a crappy game won't let you skip the cutscenes, and an even crappier game is nothing but cutscenes. But in those cases players need to understand that it's the game that's crappy, not the idea of cutscenes.
Re:Best Example (Score:2)
Re:Best Example (Score:3, Interesting)
I think that the people bothered by the endless cutscenes in games like Xenosaga and Metal Gear Solid are the people that are not particularly invested in the story. Games like Xenogears, with their endless story segments told in text, got me involved in the story and really prepared me for the "next generation of storytelling". MGS is really fun, and it is so story-driven that I enjoy the cuts
Re:Best Example (Score:2)
Re:Best Example (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Best Example (Score:1)
In Soviet Russia Xenosaga Plays You!! (Score:2)
ok enough already, enough you hear!
please type the word in this image: shouted
random letters - if you are visually impaired, please email us at pater@slashdot.org
too easy (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't mind them so much, as long as I can hit a button to skip them. It's also nice if the planned it well enough so you watch the cut-scene while data is loading. (That seems to almost never happen anymore though. It's: wait for the cut-scene to load, watch cut-scene, wait for the level to load. That is t3h suck..)
Then there are games like that dreadful Lord of the Rings series on the X-Box, which seem to be 90% cut scenes (and those are actually just low-ish resolution clips from the movie.) Bleah.
Re:too easy (Score:1)
I have also seen one RTS game which uses cutscenes effectively, Dawn of War. The cut scenes in the story mode of the game actually tell you what's going on. Yeah, you can read the mission description, but you get a lot more info if you watch the cut scenes.
Re:too easy (Score:1)
as for RTS, didn't Starcraft use cutscenes well (I don't remember as its been too long since I played campaign mode in that game)
Re:too easy (Score:1)
Re:too easy (Score:2)
"Thank god for cold fusion!"
Re:too easy (Score:2)
Then there are games like that dreadful Lord of the Rings series on the X-Box, which seem to be 90% cut scenes (and those are actually just low-ish resolution clips from the movie.) Bleah.
C'mon, there was plenty of mindless button-mashing in between the cut scenes....
Re:too easy (Score:2)
Just watching video games here... (Score:3, Insightful)
Also, problems arise when the ratio of game content to cutscene gets too high. Players don't want to watch their games, they want to play them.
Re:Just watching video games here... (Score:1)
BOOBIES!
Re:Just watching video games here... (Score:2)
That would be true for movies. For games, they blow. They interrupt the flow of action. They mess with suspension of disbelief. They are a tool hoisted from a different media, and it shows.
Re:Just watching video games here... (Score:1)
Re:Just watching video games here... (Score:2)
I guess there are people who do enjoy cutscenes, and likewise I don't expect them to disa
God of War Creator Hates Cutscenes (Score:2)
Me too. I'll only play games where you can click through these. I won't play games where there is a clue or something else to be learned from these silly movies. (Warcraft III was a nice game in this regard. If you wanted to watch a little clip, you could, but if you just wanted to get back to the action you could skip all the weepy crap about this or that pointless character dying, etc.)
Re:God of War Creator Hates Cutscenes (Score:2)
Granted this shouldn't be done, but it's still funny.
As for absolutes, the designers should keep up experimenting with none, some, and all. Creation shouldn't be formulaic or by rote.
Re:God of War Creator Hates Cutscenes (Score:2)
http://www.blizzard.com/market/blizzard-dvd.shtml [blizzard.com]
I've never played any of those games, but damn those cutscenes were pretty in HiRes.
Re:God of War Creator Hates Cutscenes (Score:2)
My favorite StarCraft edition was the "Battlechest" that sold for $9 a pop 3 years ago. That got me started on StarCraft and I bought two for my brothers too. Legal 3-way head-bashing for under $30 - woohoo!
Use cutscenes with caution (Score:5, Interesting)
Cutscenes are typically in place to move the plot forward or explain some complexity to the player. In general, there's a few ways that cutscenes have worked for me in the past:
Re:Use cutscenes with caution (Score:2)
I'll comment anyway:
I just beat RE4 for PS2 yesterday (been playing it quite a bit for the past few days). I really enjoyed the game and I think that the interactivity in the cutscenes was a major high point. I enjoy a good narrative in my single player games and RE4 had a pretty decent one. By requring me to interact with the cut scenes, I focused on the cut scenes a lot more.
Re:Use cutscenes with caution (Score:2)
Perhaps that's just me. I like an element of strategy and thoughtfulness in my gameplay, rather than just pure reflexes. Overall, though, RE4 is a great game.
Re:Use cutscenes with caution (Score:1)
Re:Use cutscenes with caution (Score:2)
That being said, I hated their "choose from a list of really bad responses" thing that they added to later games. If a choice has to be made, make it in flight, not in the cutscene. Doing it in the cutscene just halts the action and reminds you that you're in a video game.
Re:Use cutscenes with caution (Score:2)
Although I did find a lot of enjoyment in dominating the killboard and medal ceremonies in WC1.
Re:Use cutscenes with caution (Score:2)
That being said, I hated their "choose from a list of really bad responses" thing that they added to later games. If a choice has to be made, make it in flight, not in the cutscene. Doing it in the cutscene just halts the action and reminds you that you're in a video game.
I agree with the last sentence, however I was actually OK with the cutscenes in the later games. IIRC, depending on what you said to people early on in the game made a difference of whether or not they helped you later in the game. IIRC
Re:Use cutscenes with caution (Score:2)
The ability to chose the Intrepid's missions was also a nice touch
Re:Use cutscenes with caution (Score:1)
Re:Use cutscenes with caution (Score:2)
I agree to a point. (Score:2)
However, in games like Resident Evil 4, I was very surprised and pleased with the inclusion of interactive cutscenes. There are times where I
Re:I agree to a point. (Score:1)
that game was just a joy to play and jam packed with interactive cutscenes, lots of fun, if a bit short.. and sadly the 2nd and 3rd parts never came out on dreamcast.. or outside the asian area i think ?
Re:Use cutscenes with caution (Score:1)
ED simply had cool story, the most of which was told through in-game cutscenes. Telling a story that way is good too.
The point is that it's easier to just tell the story and hope it'll entrance the play
Again I say, FINALLY! (Score:2, Interesting)
People need to do whatever they want in games (or they'd watch a movie), but very few game developers realize that really open games are what sell the most (GTA anyone?).
The best way to do cutscenes I found was in the old "Way of the Samurai" game, where you could just walk away from someone talking to you most of the time, or tell them to
Re:Again I say, FINALLY! (Score:2)
Re:Again I say, FINALLY! (Score:4, Informative)
Let me help create the cut scene. (Score:2)
But all in all, I hate cut scenes. I go to the movies for that.
Re:Let me help create the cut scene. (Score:1)
except when they're worse than game graphics. pre-recorded stuff at a resolution lower than I play the game makes me want to puke.
Some newer games start to integrate cut scenes into the game engine. For example, Guild Wars, all cut scene stuff is rendered on the fly, with the characters that are participating (i.e. your character, with all the trimmings (armor, hair style) the same as when you're act
Re:Let me help create the cut scene. (Score:1)
As with everything... (Score:1)
I hate cutscenes that interrupt gameplay. Especially when they do so in an unrealistic way (I'm in the middle of a battle and I trip the cutscene, rendering my character temporarily invulnerable as monsters hack away at me). These days, these are usually pre-set scenarios rendered by the normal game engine.
Back in the day, when FMV was possible but before 3d engines were as advanced as they are now, cutscenes were great milestone rewards. During a break in the gameplay, after the player ha
It should be noted... (Score:1)
-Oser
Worst cutscenes I've seen in recent games (Score:1)
Command & Conquer: Generals: Because you can't skip them, and you have to endure some 2+ minutes of bad voice acting and lame action at the beginning of every mission. One quickly learns to save after every scene to avoid repeating them.
Doom 3: Because some genius at id decided that every time you see a creature for the first time, the player should be forced to stand
Re:Worst cutscenes I've seen in recent games (Score:1)
I make no distinction. Both remove the character's ability to control what they are seeing, and in the case of Doom 3, those scenes actively change the immediate game environment and do not allow you to react to those changes. Whether it's a prerendered video or a live-rendered animation, it's still a cutscene to me.
From the wiki on cutscenes:
"A cut scene or cutscene (sometimes
Cutscenes AKA PUOP (Score:3, Insightful)
(-1 obvious)
Re:Cutscenes AKA PUOP (Score:1)
I want a DVD that jumps straight to the menu, and when I play the movie doesn't bug me with FBI warnings or any of that crap. I've seen that text a million times, I don't read it. No one does. Link it in the menu where someone might actually look at it if they feel the need and get on with the movie.
Re:Cutscenes AKA PUOP (Score:2)
I'm convinced the movie industry is trying to run itself into the ground. How retarded do you have to be to design DVDs that behave this way? I can't imagine how terrible these new Blue-Ray or whatever discs are going to be.
had me fooled.. (Score:3, Insightful)
This is not a troll. Have you played God of War? At what point did you think you were playing a "game" instead of sitting through a cutscene?
I am not talking about cinematics, I am not talking about scripted events, I am talking about the game itself. The "game" was a cutscene.
It was a beat'em up for God's sake (Score:2)
Re:had me fooled.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:had me fooled.. (Score:2)
Did we play the same game [metacritic.com]? How about when you were pulling some of the most entertainingly gruesome combos ever seen on any game? There were hordes of varied enemies to battle with the greatest combat system I've ever seen in an action game. The whole game wasn't very long (most action games are pretty short, aside from RE4), but I don't remember many cutscenes.
Re:had me fooled.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Did you play the same God of War that I did? Because the one I played was highly interactive (except during the real cutscenes, of course). I loved God of War because it had a great mix of solid graphics, exciting combat, non-obnoxious platforming, exceptional level design, and moderately-interesting story. I found myself interacting with the game quite a bit, and, in fact, I found myself unable to progress or even stay alive if I failed to interact with it.
What counts as interactive for you? Having a seizure while wearing a Power Glove, standing on a DDR dance pad in front of your EyeToy, and playing Guitar Hero with your feet?
I have played it (Score:1)
And I find it funny that David Jaffe doesn't like cutscenes, when
Re:had me fooled.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Different Genres (Score:2, Insightful)
Half Life 2 (Score:1)
Re:Half Life 2 (Score:1)
Re:Half Life 2 (Score:1)
Re:Half Life 2 (Score:2)
it was a real bitch to re-do huge parts after breaking the AI scripts
Re:Half Life 2 (Score:2)
But more to the point: Half-Life and HL2 did have places where you'd stop and listen to people, but those were few and far between. The "cut-scenes" really weren't -- you were exactly as in control as Gordon was, this just happened to be "not at all". And it was interesting to see a story told mostly by living through it, and this one was very well done, but it depends what kind of st
My 2 bits (Score:4, Insightful)
POP has pre-rendered cutscenes that are often unskippable. Shadow of the Colossus has cutscenes that are rendered in-game and are skippable. These two differences have a huge effect. Of course unskippable cutscenes are annoying, especially after you've seen them 5 times, but also annoying are cutscenes in which the entire world suddenly looks completely different. Especially obvious in POP was when you went from the opening movie to the in-game graphics. The graphics are good, but they don't look like the pre-rendered stuff. Really lame.
Shadow of the Colossus handles cutscenes well, but I think they could still be improved. Yes, everybody wants the option of skipping cutscenes, but I think a lot of people want to watch them, too. How come I can't pause the game during cutscenes? What am I supposed to do when a 5 minute ending movie is playing and somebody knocks on the door? I either don't answer the door, or I beat the game again later so I can see what happens. Lame.
My suggestions:
1. No pre-rendered cutscenes
2.Ability to pause the cutscene and bring up a menu with the option to skip
Why are these not universal in modern games? Does anybody disagree with these preferences?
Re:My 2 bits (Score:1)
Starcraft.
Re:My 2 bits (Score:2)
POP has pre-rendered cutscenes that are often unskippable. Shadow of the Colossus has cutscenes that are rendered in-game and are skippable. These two differences have a huge effect. Of course unskippable cutscenes are annoying, especially after you've seen them 5 times, but also annoying are cutscenes in which the entire world suddenly looks completely different. Especially obvious in POP was when you went from the opening movie to the in-game graphics. The graphics are good, but they don't look like the
Re:My 2 bits (Score:2)
I know you could just look on gamefaqs if you really wanted to get past those 2 guys, but I'll give you the strategy anyway -- stop reading if you want to watch that cutscene a few more times and figure it out for yourself. The trick is to attack the guy with the sword, then dodge the other guy's big axe attack. Axe man will be stunned for a few seconds, so run around
Re:My 2 bits (Score:2)
The trick is to attack the guy with the sword, then dodge the other guy's big axe attack. Axe man will be stunned for a few seconds, so run around behind him and start a speed kill. Should only have to do it a couple of times.
Yeah, I kind of figured that out after some random attacks, and had it confirmed when I googled for a walkthrough. But I still can't manage to do it without getting smacked around. Got tired of watching that same damned cutscene, so I took a break "for a few days". That was over
Re:My 2 bits (Score:2)
There are some cutscenes which are just amazing to look at. And they are pre-rendered.
I can't really decide which I like better, but I want my cutscenes to look good. On PC games, I usually prefer in-game graphics, because they look better as my computer gets better. On the other hand, they won't get much better than a pre-rendered scene. I can run Quake 3 at 1600x1200 at some 200 frames per second, and I can tell you that it really won't look any better, ev
Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones (Score:2)
RE4 (Score:1)
Re:RE4 (Score:2)
Fable vs Bezerk (Score:1)
Bezerk for Dreamcast played very smoothly with hack & slash action scenes, and healing your numb hands with solid story. Being a fan of the show, it was cool that the game worked itself out to be an extra final episode of the show. - Good
What, no mention of Halflife yet? (Score:3, Interesting)
No cutscenes to take you out of the story. You ARE Freeman. Not watching him.
Now to be fair, I DO enjoy (well done) cutscenes in single player RTS games, but that's more due to the nature of the game.
Cutscenes that don't look like the game. (Score:2)
Sure, cutscenes are pretty, they're easier to make (the developer doesn't have to worry about handling adverse behaviour from the player) and they are a convenient way to mov
Prince of Persia: The cutscenes^Wtwo thrones... (Score:3, Insightful)
*growl*
(prince draws his sword)
(prince gets hit from behind)
*growl!*
"Well, i have to admit, i didn't expect that..."
(monster grabs sand and burns the grass around the arena)
(boss fight begins, until you get killed and have to continue the game, to see the stupid scene over and over)
At least the Ubisoft guys could've put a "Skip cutscene? Yes/no" dialog.
On the other hand, for games like Final Fantasy X, I absolutely LOVED the cutscenes. I just kept playing so I could play more cutscenes and see what happened with the story.
See, it's all about if the cutscenes contribute to the story or not. AND if you can skip and later replay them - but PLEASE, PLEASE... allow me to save between cutscenes!
It's only the cornerstone of the damn game! (Score:1)
Unfortunately, instead of being able to rewind time and AVOID THIS ENTIRE BATTLE, since the ambush in a cutscene you and The Prince have to partake in the absolute lowest part of this otherwise stellar game. I found that galavanting around the rooftops was quite cool since you nearly always had a 'lifeline' in the dagger if you
NFSMW cutscenes (Score:1)
I have been playing "Need For Speed: Most Wanted" for a few weeks now. One of the pieces that I have been enjoying is the cutscenes, which actually include my customized car in them. They are done on the fly, and aren't necessarily the same each time you watch them.
Max Payne (Score:2, Insightful)
Advanced the plot, great cinematics, fun to watch, easily skippable.
That's how they should always be!
My .02 (Score:2)
Sega CD FMV games? (Score:1)
I think there are many gamers who would like "interactive-movies" with good graphics.
That's what the developers of FMV games in the early 1990s thought. Where are they now?
What turned me off the PS2... (Score:2)
This has absolutely nothing to do with prejudices but rather trends in game development that are simply a turn-off for me.
The PS2 is notorious for games with cutscene overload. In-game cinematics are adored by many developers in Japan (who tend to develop for the PS2 more than any other platform), to the point where many were miffed at the lack of Blu-Ray or HD-DVD on the Xbox 360 simply becau
mafia (Score:1)
Fable: The Cutscenes Story (Score:2)
To me, a cutscene is analogous to a narrator moving the story of a play between acts (with some visuals, I guess, but do they match the imagination?). I don't know about you
I hate cutscenes too (Score:1)
Screw you guys (Score:4, Insightful)
You know what I hate? When guys like David Jaffe stumble ass-backwards into public domain Greek mythology, staple GWAR armor onto everything, dump blood eveywhere, and call it the greatest IP since the world cooled. Maybe if you could tell a story that wasn't completely obvious and boring from the first half-hour (as God of War was), then maybe you'd have more use for cutscenes.
Re:Screw you guys (Score:2)
Now. It your game is NOT strongly story based, and the cutscenes are poor quality, I can see skipping them. But they are not innately evil, and like any tool in the game designer too
Where will be get our "Bullshot"!? (Score:1)
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bu
I hate useless videos about useless videos (Score:2)
All I want to know is--did he really need to use video to tell us how much he hates cutscenes? I was expecting maybe examples of well-done games in the video, at least. The content of the video blog entry would have been better-expressed in text.
...so I gues, on reflection, I hate vlogs for the same reason I hate cutscenes: in the overwhelming majority of cases, the informational or emotional content would have been better expressed some other way.
It's all a matter of proportion (Score:2)
However, crap like the Metal Gear Solid "games" get it all wrong. When MGS2 came out, it was being hyped to the skies, so I rented it to see what all the fuss was about. I was a bit baffled to find that it was a series of incredibly stilted dialogues with two-minute interactive portions
I don't understand why everyone hates cutscenes (Score:1)
Re:Huh? God of War had them! (Score:2)