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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 any

by 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.

by donatj 3y ago

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.