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I’m one of those people who skips all the cutscenes. Very few games have stories interesting enough to pay attention to outside of what they show you through ga

I’m one of those people who skips all the cutscenes. Very few games have stories interesting enough to pay attention to outside of what they show you through gameplay. If I want a good story I’ll watch a movie or read a book. To me games are for the interactivity.

feverzsj 3y ago
What if it's unskippable?
- kdamica 3y ago
  I don’t play it! I refunded Jedi Fallen Order for this reason. The plot was so boring but the game seemed not to know it. At this point I just don’t play too many AAA games so it’s not a big problem for me.
donatj 3y ago
I didn't used to be a person who skipped cutscenes, and I thought they were ridiculous. In my old age with time ever at more of a premium, I just don't care anymore. If you want to tell the story, tell it in engine in an interactive exciting way. You're in an interactive medium. Having a cutscene in a game is like having a text scroll in a movie. It's lazy, it's awkward, and it's a step down the media ladder that screams we had something we wanted to say but didn't want to pay to do it right. If I have to sit and watch a movie just to get back to the game at large, that's not fun. Tell the story through important missions, in-game dialogue. Heck, at the very least Metal Gear Solid 4 let me adjust the camera during cutscenes so I could zoom in and look at things, look for things off screen. That kept my attention. Do anything other than just making me just watch a movie. Even the much maligned QTEs at least manage to keep my eyes off my phone. If I wanted a non-interactive medium I've got plenty of better options.
- kibwen 3y ago
  > I didn't used to be a person who skipped cutscenes, and I thought they were ridiculous. Amusingly, I didn't used to be a person who defended games with elaborate non-interactive cutscenes, and I thought they were ridiculous. In my old age, I realize that on the infinite parameter-space of artistic expression, there's a wide spectrum between "100% passively-consumed movie" and "100% interactive game". There's no reason to put interactivity on a pedestal; works of art (yes, I'm being generous by blanket-describing games as works of art, but it's true) are free to express themselves in a wide variety of ways, and while I think it's still folly for AAA gamedevs to chase Hollywood out of a lack of creativity, I no longer believe that cutscenes are inherently a bad thing.
- everdrive 3y ago
  It's also the case that cutscenes have become much more numerous, and much longer. This makes me avoid a lot of mainstream modern games, which feel more like an interactive marvel film -- which neither makes for a very good movie, nor a very good game.
Bnichs 3y ago
I'm the same way with 90% of games and that's how I can tell a well written game: if I watch the cutscenes. The most striking example of this was TLOU where I expected a fun zombie shooter and ended up completely enamored by the story, atmosphere, and characters.
wintermutestwin 3y ago
>I’m one of those people who skips all the cutscenes. Same here and this also means that your unskippable scenes are my instant refund request.
bee_rider 3y ago
I don’t like cutscenes because they ruin the story. I’m playing a game as my own character, who goes around doing things, and has the reactions I do. It is not a story that would be a good book, but books are a different medium. The main character is mostly a bloodthirsty maniac, but there are also quiet moments enjoying a view or puzzling out ambient storytelling. It is great when you come across a story built into the scenery: a camp site containing an open cage, dead guards scattered about, hunters patrolling the woods, and blood streaks heading toward a cave. Who needs a cutscene? The you get a little movie about a different character who has your character’s face, but is for some reason thrown into moral turmoil by the decision to kill the big bad who’s been tormenting them for ages. After butchering their way through innocent guards. OK game, sure, which button skips?

feverzsj 3y ago

What if it's unskippable?

kdamica 3y ago
I don’t play it! I refunded Jedi Fallen Order for this reason. The plot was so boring but the game seemed not to know it. At this point I just don’t play too many AAA games so it’s not a big problem for me.

donatj 3y ago

I didn't used to be a person who skipped cutscenes, and I thought they were ridiculous. In my old age with time ever at more of a premium, I just don't care anymore. If you want to tell the story, tell it in engine in an interactive exciting way. You're in an interactive medium. Having a cutscene in a game is like having a text scroll in a movie. It's lazy, it's awkward, and it's a step down the media ladder that screams we had something we wanted to say but didn't want to pay to do it right. If I have to sit and watch a movie just to get back to the game at large, that's not fun. Tell the story through important missions, in-game dialogue. Heck, at the very least Metal Gear Solid 4 let me adjust the camera during cutscenes so I could zoom in and look at things, look for things off screen. That kept my attention. Do anything other than just making me just watch a movie. Even the much maligned QTEs at least manage to keep my eyes off my phone. If I wanted a non-interactive medium I've got plenty of better options.

kibwen 3y ago
> I didn't used to be a person who skipped cutscenes, and I thought they were ridiculous. Amusingly, I didn't used to be a person who defended games with elaborate non-interactive cutscenes, and I thought they were ridiculous. In my old age, I realize that on the infinite parameter-space of artistic expression, there's a wide spectrum between "100% passively-consumed movie" and "100% interactive game". There's no reason to put interactivity on a pedestal; works of art (yes, I'm being generous by blanket-describing games as works of art, but it's true) are free to express themselves in a wide variety of ways, and while I think it's still folly for AAA gamedevs to chase Hollywood out of a lack of creativity, I no longer believe that cutscenes are inherently a bad thing.
everdrive 3y ago
It's also the case that cutscenes have become much more numerous, and much longer. This makes me avoid a lot of mainstream modern games, which feel more like an interactive marvel film -- which neither makes for a very good movie, nor a very good game.

Bnichs 3y ago

I'm the same way with 90% of games and that's how I can tell a well written game: if I watch the cutscenes. The most striking example of this was TLOU where I expected a fun zombie shooter and ended up completely enamored by the story, atmosphere, and characters.

wintermutestwin 3y ago

>I’m one of those people who skips all the cutscenes. Same here and this also means that your unskippable scenes are my instant refund request.

bee_rider 3y ago

I don’t like cutscenes because they ruin the story. I’m playing a game as my own character, who goes around doing things, and has the reactions I do. It is not a story that would be a good book, but books are a different medium. The main character is mostly a bloodthirsty maniac, but there are also quiet moments enjoying a view or puzzling out ambient storytelling. It is great when you come across a story built into the scenery: a camp site containing an open cage, dead guards scattered about, hunters patrolling the woods, and blood streaks heading toward a cave. Who needs a cutscene? The you get a little movie about a different character who has your character’s face, but is for some reason thrown into moral turmoil by the decision to kill the big bad who’s been tormenting them for ages. After butchering their way through innocent guards. OK game, sure, which button skips?