It's become very en vogue to rail against cutscenes, claiming they break the flow of gameplay and do the interactive medium a disservice, but at least one writer believes otherwise. Rhianna Pratchett, whose last writing credit was Overlord II, believes the noble cutscene still has merit, and should not be discarded so easily.
"There’s no denying that given the fan-base of games like the Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy series, many gamers enjoy cutscenes, even incredibly loquacious and lengthy ones," she explains. "“Whilst, personally, I’d rather a game wasn’t turned into a wannabe movie, I believe there’s still a place for artfully crafted, well timed and smartly paced cutscenes. Granted, the games that manage to do all three are fairly rare.
"Putting interactivity aside for a moment, there’s still a lot we can do to improve our linear storytelling. There are exceptions (there always are) but our strength in this regard is by no means across the board. It is improving though, title by title. Cutscenes are still an important tool in our narrative toolbox, and we shouldn’t throw out the hammer just because we keep hitting our thumb with it. We just have to learn how to wield it a little better."
I'm with Pratchett on this one. I don't think cutscenes diminish the so-called artistic value of the medium. It's just another tool, something that videogames can do potentially very well, and it doesn't diminish the game in any way if it borrows elements from other media to tell its story. Cutscenes are fine by me. How about you?
Contest:
8:00 AM on 08.09.2009
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Anyway, i think COD 4 had the right idea when it allowed you some limited movement during the cutscenes. That way you get the exposition of the cutscene, without losing some interactivity.
Worked for Watchmen didn't it?
It does irk me that in this day and age it still isn't standard practice to have all cutscenes be both skippable and, more importantly, pauseable. MGS4 also got this part right.
Also, she gets bonus points for using the word loquacious in an everyday sentence.
And no Mr. Developer, "tap X repeatedly" is not 'gameplay' and you aren't fooling anyone.
Cutscenes <3 <3
Also, Bioshock's limited scenes where you could walk around like 2 feet and do nothing about the situation at hand were still "cutscenes" for all intents and purposes.
and why is rhianna interiewed for topics like this? overlord 2's "story" was a little below decent. bring on ken levine.
Several games have managed to avoid the use of cutscenes -- Bioshock, Half-life, etc. -- and these were great. In fact they're among the few games that I actually knew what was going on, because I can't be arsed to take a break and watch a movie in the middle of my video games (that is to say I just skip any cutscenes and willingly miss out on the story if necessary so I can get back to actually playing). But I'd love to see the industry as a whole move away from them.
Blizzard games for example do well to have cutscenes purely because of the quality at which they're produced.
Lots of FPS games have in engine/perspective cutscenes where suddenly the game will take control of your character and have you do small mundane things or show you something- this is just lazy design. Even MGSIV, a game and series known for its cutscenes I felt had sloppy, gratuitous implementation of them half the time that didn't actually benefit the game.
Someone in the comments likened it to putting pages of pure text in a comic book, but I don't think that analogy applies, because in the context of the story told, a couple (not dozens, of course) of pages of text can build quite a atmosphere.
Anyway, cutscenes could very well be part of the actual gameplay by being displayed in a in-game screen or by the event simply happening in front of the still controlable character, rather than taking over controls from the player.
Those quick time events in God of War sound to me like the bastard child of cutscenes and hand-holding, by the way: "Wow, I didn't really do those moves, but I contributed!"
I like them because they push the story along, and it stops me from having to push X a million times. I can also appreciate the art that comes from cutscenes most are beautiful.
But I hate them because they always, always get to do the super cool stuff. Why can't I jump through the fires of the airship and blow up the generator? Sure maybe I would die, but atleast I got to control it! Also the unskippable ones are pure murder, makes replaying games tough. I can understand watching it once, but after that it should always come with a skip option.
but don't you wish you were controlling these jaw dropping things. Take the ending of The Darkness or Halo 3. I think it would have improved the weight of the game if they figured out a way to put you in control instead of helplessly watching. But that's just me
But a good placed, beautifully directed cutscene in a game that needs cutscenes usually plays as a reward for the player
Look at MGS4.
Sounds like you want to watch anime, not play games. Cutscenes have their place in games, but the way RPGs have so liberally propped themselves up with the same old cutscenes from 15 years ago is a problem. Try something, anything. MGS4 had really long cutscenes that, for me, did the game more harm than good, culminating in 45 minute cutscenes that would both present and resolve a problem entirely withing the cutscene, which is essentially MGS4 masturbating. They did however allow you to do some very interesting things during the cutscenes at times.
Cutscenes are done badly sometimes, but in general can really turn a game into an interactive experience and really help the story telling.
the Metal Gear 4 cutscene's were fucking awesome! It was the perfect balance of playing and watching, watching intently excited about what was going to happen, caring about the characters. Plus, it was a nice chance to roll a ciggie.
QTE's piss me off, especially if they're just thrown in there without warning - Resident Evil I'm looking at you (I think) - sucks when a button flashes up and you're dead.