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Rhianna Pratchett: Cutscenes are still important photo

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?


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41 comments | showing # 1 to 41

SyntaxError's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 08:18
SyntaxError
I like well-done cutscenes. I played all Xenosaga games. Those things had save points in between cutscenes. Luckily they're skippable, so you don't trudge through them again on replays.
saucycam's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 08:21
saucycam
Cutscenes can be done well and be highly artistic. But I still think games should move away from them. Imagine if the ending to Braid was shown in a cutscene, it would take away all it's awesome. I don't think cutscenes are bad just not what games are really about.
dmgi's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 08:24
dmgi
I don't really mind cutscenes in Metal Gear Solid as long as they keep to the narrative and feel of the game. The trouble I have is with the cutscenes in games like Mirror's Edge, which Rhianna Pratchett worked on. I personally prefer cutscenes in Half Life or Bioshock though, they give a sense of freedom even though you're constricted to a small space.
Ali D's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 08:24
Ali D
I think cut-scenes are still important when you want to impart some information that the player has to know. But again, games like Bioshock and Half Life managed without them.
Dastardly007's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 08:25
Dastardly007
I enjoy cutscenes when they are used right. QTE's are the real problem. They are the bastard offspring of cutscenes and ruin games for me.
Camiwaits's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 08:30
Camiwaits
I almost never like cutscenes. I specially dislike really long cutscenes at the beggining of a game.

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.
Your Moms Hot Lover's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 08:37
Your Moms Hot Lover
Cut-scenes aren't the problem, the problem is the quality of writing and the fact that the story is a low priority for most developers. So yes of course there is room for them and there is no reason why they can't be awesome. But they simply aren't 99% of the time.
NeoGreenLantern's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 08:42
NeoGreenLantern
I love cut scenes. They are nice little breaks during long gaming sessions and you can do a lot more jaw dropping things in a cut scene.
DaedHead8's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 09:01
DaedHead8
I'm one of those who would like to see cutcenes more or less eliminated. Bioshock only had one true cutscene (besides the beginning and end sequences) and it was masterfully done. Games like Bioshock and Half Life have proven that games can tell a story unlike other mediums and if we continue to overuse cut scenes, we will never break away and become out own medium.
bart999's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 09:20
bart999
When they're done right, see MGS4, cutscenes are the second-best way of advancing a game's story/plot.
Narishma's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 09:29
Narishma
I must be the only person who enjoys both cutscenes and QTEs.
Zeno's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 09:37
Zeno
No, cutscenes are not fine, and they in no way advance the medium. They're not game elements, they're movies. It's the equivalent of putting a few pages of nothing but text in a comic book.
dmgi's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 09:40
dmgi
@Zeno

Worked for Watchmen didn't it?
vrplumber's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 09:46
vrplumber
While I appreciate the effort that Valve made toward never breaking the first person view in the Half Life series in order to promote immersion; I do love a finely produced, well timed cutscene.(SquareEnix, I'm looking at you:)
pascuz46's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 10:42
pascuz46
I do enjoy cut scenes, Not ever game has to have cut scenes, its whatever works for you game. Having no cut scenes work for Half Life and games like L4D, but probably wouldnt work for MGS which always tries to give you the feel of a movie. Another thing, the cut scenes in MGS 4 are some of the best camera work I have ever seen in a game. I was really amazing at how well choreographed the cut scenes were in MGS4. Say what you will about there length but cut scenes in MGS4 provide more that just the story.
Preacher747's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 10:43
Preacher747
If a cutscene is done well then I don't see why game developers shouldn't use them. Some of my favorite moments in a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im7YXVqun2Q]game's[/url] story have been in cutscenes. I really think that Valve's "never leave the first-person" perspective is a unique one, well suited to only specific games. I'm all for immersion but keeping the camera inside the head of the protagionist limits what kind of story you can effectively tell. It would be like telling authors that they could only write books in stream of consciousness form.
walkyourpath's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 10:54
walkyourpath
I think that cutscenes, when done well, can be an extremely effective narrative element. I didn't expect to like MGS4 due to everything I was hearing about the cutscenes, but they really helped to sell the experience, IMO.

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.
Grasshopper7's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 11:02
Grasshopper7
Sounds reasonable to me.
Also, she gets bonus points for using the word loquacious in an everyday sentence.
Timmeh's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 11:08
Timmeh
Cutscenes can be important for narrative but they are misused by just about every developer out there. Instead of thinking "how can we let the player do this" they just throw in a prerendered/non-interactive sequence showing the player character doing a bunch of stuff that the player can't do once control is finally returned.

And no Mr. Developer, "tap X repeatedly" is not 'gameplay' and you aren't fooling anyone.
Genebeef's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 11:17
Genebeef
cutscenes are important to an extent. if a game totally relies on non-interactive chunks such as cutscenes, then there is a serious flaw in the game design. if there is an even or higher ratio of cutscene:gameplay, then you're approaching movie territory - non-interactive entertainment. MGS4 and valkyria chronicles totally abused the use of them and for that those two deserve a heavy stick.
Magnalon's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 11:18
Magnalon
Since when did Rhianna stop singing and start analyzing the industry?

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.
Genebeef's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 11:20
Genebeef
games like bioshock, half life, and portal demonstrate that the cutscene can look seriously dated to convey narrative in a game.

and why is rhianna interiewed for topics like this? overlord 2's "story" was a little below decent. bring on ken levine.
mgmgarcia01's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 11:21
mgmgarcia01
As long as they can be skipped, if needed.
xDimMaK's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 11:34
xDimMaK
No, I can't stand cutscenes. Limit it to a quick backstory at the beginning of the game, and a conclusion at the end. But generally, stories in video games are best told interactively -- through gameplay -- without the use of cutscenes. The moment a cutscene comes barreling through and takes control away from the player, that's it. Immersion is broken, and any suspension of disbelief the player had is thrown out the window. "Way to ruin the game for me" I say.

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.
Arkanti's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 11:48
Arkanti
Definitely always depends on the game and how the cutscenes are implemented.
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.
Fury-Genesis's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 11:56
Fury-Genesis
I love cutscenes! My suggestion for improving the use of cutscenes is to make it standard for the player to be able to click on a button to look at female characters boobs, like in MGS3!
flabzilla's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 12:20
flabzilla
As long as you can skip them and there not TOO long they are fine by me.
Dan CiTi's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 13:24
Dan CiTi
I don't mind long cutscenes. But when cutscenes feel like they are the way and they are unskippable I get angry. Like cutscenes in Gears of War or Mario Bros.
Ericb's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 13:30
Ericb
Most of the cutscenes which I found cool in principle, disappointed me precisely because I had to stop playing/participating in order to witness it.

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!"
TheEvilV's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 13:34
TheEvilV
Cutscenes are a double edged sword with me.

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.
D-Nez's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 13:53
D-Nez
"I love cut scenes. They are nice little breaks during long gaming sessions and you can do a lot more jaw dropping things in a cut scene."

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
wanderingpixel's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 14:26
wanderingpixel
I don't mind cut scenes. It's just that most games don't pull them off very well.
pedrovay2003's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 14:34
pedrovay2003
I loved every second of Metal Gear Solid 4, but something tells me that if any other game had cutscenes that long, I'd hate it.
Klarden's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 14:45
Klarden
cutscenes were and still are important for gaming, imo. but it always depends on the game itself: the way of not removing control from you in HL2 was great for HL2 storytelling, the way cutscenes were made in F.E.A.R. and Condemned was great fot those games and i still never skip Resident Evil 2 and 3 cutscenes. But who cared if there were cutscenes in Super Mario or Pac-Man? And an action-packed game with a fast pace, like CoD should have very short cutscenes which do not get in the way of pacing.
But a good placed, beautifully directed cutscene in a game that needs cutscenes usually plays as a reward for the player
ViciousBoston's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 14:57
ViciousBoston
I love cutscenes so much. They were such a huge draw for me to RPGs. A game without cutscenes is...well boring to me. Metal Gear Solid was amazing even though the cutscenes were a little longer than i'd have liked I think they were masterfully done. Another example is Final Fantasy 9, I enjoyed that game so much because of the cutscenes. Bahamut being summoned and turning on its master and blowing up Brahne's boat!? FANTASTIC cutscene.
alex1314159's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 18:04
alex1314159
One good use of cut-scenes is resident evil 5. Zombies are running at Sheva and Chris in a cut-scene. The the cut-scene transitions into game-play you have to kill those zombies. You don't get that in a movie.
HiddenAHB's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 19:22
HiddenAHB
Agreed, because if they are done well they even improve the medium, telling a story in a interesting and, sometimes, beautiful ways.
Look at MGS4.
TheRico's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 20:33
TheRico
I think cutscenes are absolutely fine. They are a perfectly acceptable way of conveying exposition or communicating ideas that gameplay isn't well suited to. This idea that they shouldn't be used because it's a film technique is really, really dumb. Every medium informs the next, taking bits and pieces from what's come before it to define itself. Nobody complains that comics shouldn't be allowed to use the written word because novels have some nonsense embargo of them. That would be astonishingly stupid.
Robbo the hood's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/09/2009 20:59
Robbo the hood
@VisciousBoston

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.
Sexualchocolate's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/10/2009 04:45
Sexualchocolate
i figure this whole anit-cutscene thing has been spawned from butthurt jealous Xbox users wanting "some" reason to slate MGS4. They've just got to justify their "I don't care about MGS4" argument.

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.
Vanilla Gorilla's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/10/2009 17:50
Vanilla Gorilla
Is she single? I want to form a babby.
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