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Dez
King of the Realms
Joined: 08 Jan 2003
Posts: 455
Location: Fortress of Tell Halaf |
what do you think about the cutscenes in games? good or bad thing?Do you like them or just can't stand of those "game stoppers".
I've noticed that in most rpg games there are not many cutscenes.But it is understandably as the story is usually carried on with other means(discussion with game chars etc).Still a good cutscene is sometimes a good thing to come by, as it can make game feel more movie like.It also possible to tell story from different angels beside the players( avp2 did this truly well). It also allows developers to execute big action sequensies with out heavy scripting etc.
Lets think about it a moment.
Morrowind. don't make me laugh, the opening cutscene was rubbish.
Arx fatalis: 2 words, plain horrible ending cutscene.
fallout: Well here we have a game that had very funny opening cutscene:).really neat idea from devs to make it look like document program 
Gothic 1: actually it was a shame that g2 didn't have those neat cutscenes as much its predecessor.opening cutscene from gothic1 was truly stunning.It totally captured me from my chair to that hopeless situation in the realm of myrtana, the storytellers voice was just perfect etc..
Also about cutscenes in other games beside rpg ones, few games instantly pop my mind.
1.Mafia.
To be totally honest, it must confessed,that i've never seen as professonal and stylish looking ccutscenes in my gaming career.They truly contain that thing called style.But as far as i know studio hired professonal MOVIE director to direct cutscenes and it shows right from the start to the very end,
2.Metal gear solid.
Perhaps cutscenes were sometimes a bit long and a bit too epic from time to time, but my god kojima knows HOW to get player FEEL something for the characters in game.God i allmoust cried when they started torturing merryl or the scene with sniper wolf before getting inside the base.. 
3.Outcast
I don't know if many of you remember this game, but it was made by gaming studio called APPEAL.It is one of my top´5 games ever.The world those guys put us , there was no coming back.I will allways remember the ending cutscene, the most beautifull and touching thing i've ever seen in any game.
4.alien vs predator 2.
Sure they were not fancy or anything, but they were stylish and reminded me about the alien movies which is good..Also the voice acting was top quality.
5.Max payne
Whole game was like an action movie, but the it was really neat that most of the times story was told thruogh comic-strips
Any thoughts?
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The focused mind can pierce through stone |
Fri Nov 26, 2004 4:24 pm |
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Krzychu
Hidden Character
Joined: 25 May 2002
Posts: 1738
Location: It is my little secret. |
Cutscenes, sure! I love'em! I often have seperate savegames, just so I can load them anytime and watch my favorite cutscene! Usually after finishing a game I feel that it didn't have enough cutscenes.
An exception would be Soul Reaver 2 ( I'm not sure about the first Soul Reaver because I don't remember it very well ), that game has a lot and lenghty cutscenes. In fact I didn't like it that you couldn't skip them - sure the cutscenes were cool and interesting but being forced to watch the same ultra-long-one for the third time wasn't fun.
AvP 2 has great cutscenes too! I liked to see what the humans were up to when I was there - somewhere - coming to get them as the Predator or Alien. 
Outcast - I remember it very well. In fact, I still have it on my hard drive ( and I have savegames just before my favorite cutscenes, like the one with "Tell me that you have the Mon and that I don't have to thumbwrestle Godzilla to get it!"  ) The cutscenes there are awesome too - but there aren't a lot of them are there?
In my opinion games should have more cutscenes.
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 9:48 pm |
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tolgerias
High Emperor
Joined: 15 Jul 2004
Posts: 770
Location: The Netherlands |
And what about the GTA ViceCity cutscenes, the ones you see when you get a mission? They are just soo hilarious. The more you see and hear them the better they get, especcially Rosenberg
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If you can't debate without namecalling then don't bother visiting us. -Myrthos |
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 10:45 pm |
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Val
Risen From Ashes
Joined: 18 Feb 2002
Posts: 14724
Location: Utah, USA |
I don't think mid-game cut-scenes or cinematics are necessary for a successful game, but they can enhance your gaming experience if artfully placed.
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Mon Nov 29, 2004 7:44 pm |
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Krzychu
Hidden Character
Joined: 25 May 2002
Posts: 1738
Location: It is my little secret. |
Well, if I think about it I don't mind too much if a game doesn't have any cutscenes - except for the intro and outro, a game must have an intro and outro! I just don't like it when there are only one or two cutscenes during a game (Unless it's a short game) and I think to myself "Why the heck aren't there more of them?" Grr, don't whet my appetite with one cutscene and then leave me with nothing more. 
Hm, maybe the lack of cutscenes in some games is the reason why I treasure them (the cutscenes, not the games) if there are any? Probably.
I always loved cutscenes. If I see one particularly good I often want to share it with my friends or parents even heh, heh, - "It doesn't matter that you don't know what's this about, just look how cool this is!". Oh man, they must think me strange.
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Mon Nov 29, 2004 8:11 pm |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
I like cutscenes. I can't remember a single game with bad cutscenes. I have only one complaint about cutscenes - they're usually somehow connected with linearity of gameplay. And I don't like too much linearity. |
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Tue Nov 30, 2004 9:46 am |
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Chekote
Where’s my Banana?!?!
Joined: 08 Mar 2002
Posts: 1540
Location: Dont know, looks kind of green |
I used to like Cutscenes a lot. But since Computers are so much more powerful nowadays I realy think they arent that necessary anymore. I much prefer the more in-game storytelling style. The most recent example of which is Half Life 2.
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IMHO my opinion is humble |
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Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:15 pm |
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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
Like 'em when they're good, hate 'em when they're bad.
Good examples... the GTA games: they're nice and short, the dialogue's reasonably well-written, and you can skip them but the game still lets you know what you need to know; System Shock 1 and 2: didn't think much of the ending movies, but the intros worked perfectly in both games, especially the "news footage" in the 2nd, that was brilliant.
Bad examples... Arx Fatalis: oh boy, the horrors of dialogue written by programmers and/or designers [shudder] - not a problem in little in-game exchanges with goblins (for example), but insufferably awful in long sequences like the interminable council meeting. I sincerely hope they hire a writer for Arx 2; Metal Gear Solid: more hours of movies and phone conversations than gameplay? No thank you. No matter how good you think your story is, or how amazing your game-engine cutscenes look, they have to take a firm second place to the game or you should probably be making movies instead; Soul Reaver 2: good quality, but ridiculously long and unskippable even when you're watching after the first time!!! It's questionable whether a cutscene should ever be unskippable, but when the designers know (because of their chosen save/load/retry structure) that you're going to have to trigger the same cutscenes more than once, this is inexcusable. What were they thinking?
I'm with Chekote in that in-game storytelling is, ideally, the best option. Half Life and the System Shock and Ultima Underworld games benefit immeasurably by never taking the POV away from the player-character once gameplay has begun (even during the intro, in HL's case). And I always think in-engine cutscenes (if you must have them) are the best option if you want the gameworld to be convincing.
The trouble with cutscenes is, no matter how pretty they are, they're not interactive, and being forced to watch when you want to play is often frustrating - and skipping isn't usually a good solution, because most gamers will wonder if they missed important info, which is also frustrating. It'd be nice to see some interactivity, like a cutscene presented in the usual way, but that allows the player to choose their characters' dialogue or other behaviour (Way Of The Samurai pretty much acheived this, it could just do with a bit o' polish), or that actually plays out differently (and briefly!) if you choose to skip (so the impatient players still get that tiny bit of info they need) - did I hear that one of those space-trading games, maybe X2, has a scene like this? Something to do with the player-character getting electrocuted if you skip the scene?
Having said all that, I guess each game has to be judged on its own. Ico used non-interactive scenes for most of the game's exposition, and every single one of them was there for a good reason, and executed perfectly. The "bridge scene" and end scene in particular were just indesrcibably good, probably the most beautiful and effective (in terms of emotional impact and simple storytelling) pieces of film I've ever seen in a game.
Incidentally, does anyone know how the term "cut-scene" came to mean what it does in gaming? Because in filmmaking, its meaning is literal - a scene cut from the film (ie, a deleted scene). |
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Tue Nov 30, 2004 9:14 pm |
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Chekote
Where’s my Banana?!?!
Joined: 08 Mar 2002
Posts: 1540
Location: Dont know, looks kind of green |
Its called a "Cut-Scene" because its a scene designed to "cut" from one story/set/scene to another. A Transition if you will.
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IMHO my opinion is humble |
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Tue Nov 30, 2004 9:46 pm |
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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
Ah, I seeee. Thank you. |
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Tue Nov 30, 2004 10:11 pm |
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