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God of War Creator Hates Cutscenes

Posted by Zonk on from the less-talk-more-play dept.

1up has a short piece talking about God of War creator David Jaffe's commentary on game cinematics. From the article: "Jaffe isn't saying players don't welcome this style, but claims it's not the best approach. 'It's almost like you appreciate the creativity but as a game it doesn't work,' he says in his latest video blog, citing Super Mario 64 as a good example of a game that works without cinematics. 'Obviously Mario 64 doesn't evoke a lot of emotion and political ideas, but it keeps you in the game.'" One of the reasons RE4 has been so well received, I think, is that it give you some interactivity during what would otherwise be a passive experience.

19 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Best Example by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Xenosaga

    You don't so much play Xenosaga as help Xenosaga play itself

    1. Re:Best Example by Gogo0 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I didnt actually find this a problem, but mainly because I knew what I was getting into after playing Xenogears.

      I think that the people bothered by the endless cutscenes in games like Xenosaga and Metal Gear Solid are the people that are not particularly invested in the story. Games like Xenogears, with their endless story segments told in text, got me involved in the story and really prepared me for the "next generation of storytelling". MGS is really fun, and it is so story-driven that I enjoy the cutscenes. They give me information in a way that is superior to straight text. I dont know how you could tell MGS2 or 3 without cutscenes. Xenosaga is good, but Xenosaga II was pretty bad. I still played it, though ONLY for the story. I breathed a sigh of relief when I hit a cutscene in Xenosaga II.

      Of course, games with a less-than-compelling story with as many cutscenes are quite annoying, but its gotten to the point that you can tell (by the name of the game) or hear (word of mouth or by reviewer) if a game has that sort of storytelling and either avoid or go for it accordingly. But really, would a game like MGS3 really be as good (as a whole) as it is now if they had cut out even 25% of the cutscenes? I dont think so.

    2. Re:Best Example by heinousjay · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If the stories were in any way original, I wouldn't have this problem of immediate boredom. What I don't like is that game stories never rise above the sort of tripe you can find on daytime tv.

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
  2. too easy by Golias · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Game companies love cut scenes. They are easy to make, they stretch "playing time", and they provide much prettier material for the marketing department than the actual gameplay does.

    I don't mind them so much, as long as I can hit a button to skip them. It's also nice if the planned it well enough so you watch the cut-scene while data is loading. (That seems to almost never happen anymore though. It's: wait for the cut-scene to load, watch cut-scene, wait for the level to load. That is t3h suck..)

    Then there are games like that dreadful Lord of the Rings series on the X-Box, which seem to be 90% cut scenes (and those are actually just low-ish resolution clips from the movie.) Bleah.

    --

    Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  3. Just watching video games here... by fishybell · · Score: 2, Insightful
    There isn't anything inherrently wrong with cutscenes. They help progress plot, they (hopefully) have aesthetical appeal, and they can give the player a short break from the game. The problem lies in when there are too many of them, or when they don't serve any purpose (no plot advancement, no flashy cg, etc).

    Also, problems arise when the ratio of game content to cutscene gets too high. Players don't want to watch their games, they want to play them.

    --
    ><));>
  4. Use cutscenes with caution by PIPBoy3000 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Having just finished Resident Evil 4, I'm not sure the cutscenes always worked well for me. Mashing a button repeatedly isn't always fun gameplay. Fortunately it was relatively rare and admittedly kept the tension up during what is typically a relaxing point in a game.

    Cutscenes are typically in place to move the plot forward or explain some complexity to the player. In general, there's a few ways that cutscenes have worked for me in the past:
    • Thief & Splinter Cell. In stealth games, you can often overhear NPCs talking to each other as you go about your business. Information is passed along, yet the action doesn't stop.
    • Sheer beauty. Some games have cutscenes that are almost a reward. The cinematics of Diablo were stunning and a fun point in the game.
    • Respite. In games that are non-stop action, having a cutscene to give the player to take a breath can be most welcome.
    • Short and Necessary Sometimes there's critical information that you simply must give to the player. Keeping them short and to the point works best.
    Where cutscenes don't work well is if the game forces them to be repeated upon failure, they're not skippable, and if they take too much time away from the primary gameplay.
  5. Again I say, FINALLY! by TheNoxx · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Cutscenes are another plague of the game industry. There is a very simple rule that game makers need to follow much more often: Never take control away from the player.

    People need to do whatever they want in games (or they'd watch a movie), but very few game developers realize that really open games are what sell the most (GTA anyone?).

    The best way to do cutscenes I found was in the old "Way of the Samurai" game, where you could just walk away from someone talking to you most of the time, or tell them to shut up... None of this stupidly unproductive dialogue where you just put the controller down for 30 minutes while someone yaps on and on.

    --
    Ex nihilo nihil fit.
    1. Re:Again I say, FINALLY! by Delphiki · · Score: 3, Informative

      Hahaha, have you ever played GTA? Remember all the cut scenes where your character interacts with someone to find out what your mission is? You can skip them but then half the time you don't know what you're doing. Good way to make a point.

      --

      Feel free to mod me "-1 - Angry Jerk".

  6. Cutscenes AKA PUOP by Stavr0 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Nothing wrong with cut scenes per se, just like there's nothing wrong with showing previews on a DVD. The problem is UNSKIPPABLE cutscene and DVD ads.

    (-1 obvious)

  7. had me fooled.. by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is really surprising, considering God of War was nothing but one continuous barely-interactive cutscene. (all the gameplay of a slide projector, woo-hoo!)

    This is not a troll. Have you played God of War? At what point did you think you were playing a "game" instead of sitting through a cutscene?
    I am not talking about cinematics, I am not talking about scripted events, I am talking about the game itself. The "game" was a cutscene.

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
    1. Re:had me fooled.. by snwcrash · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How do you figure that? God of War had a great deal of different game play components, it had platforming, puzzle solving and a great deal of combat, including finish move "mini-games". There were a few cut scenes, but not really all that many compared to some games in the genre.

      --
      Save a life, sign your organ donor card.
    2. Re:had me fooled.. by SlayerDave · · Score: 3, Insightful
      God of War was nothing but one continuous barely-interactive cutscene.

      Did you play the same God of War that I did? Because the one I played was highly interactive (except during the real cutscenes, of course). I loved God of War because it had a great mix of solid graphics, exciting combat, non-obnoxious platforming, exceptional level design, and moderately-interesting story. I found myself interacting with the game quite a bit, and, in fact, I found myself unable to progress or even stay alive if I failed to interact with it.

      What counts as interactive for you? Having a seizure while wearing a Power Glove, standing on a DDR dance pad in front of your EyeToy, and playing Guitar Hero with your feet?

    3. Re:had me fooled.. by -kertrats- · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Define cutscene, because I have no idea what you're talking about. God of War had continuous action, varied gameplay-hell, even the cutscenes were interactive (finishing moves on boss battles would have been cutscenes on any other game, but you actually got to control them in GoW). The only game that did anything close was RE4, and God of War really did it better.

      --
      The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
  8. Different Genres by tengennewseditor · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Depending on the type of game, cutscenes serve completely different purposes. Square games are almost interactive movies - lovers of those games play them largely for the plot and characters revealed in the cutscenes. Strategy games with cutscenes (ex: Alpha Centauri, Red Alert) have them serve mostly as a 'reward' for accomplishing a goal. That means they need not necessarily have a plot, but they have to be flashy and rewarding or else they'll be skipped every time. Still, there are better ways to reward gamers than with a cutscene.

    David Jaffe seems to be talking more about Adventure/Action games like God of War and Mario 64, and I think he's right that immersion in those games might be even more important than in other genres. More importantly, though, the setting and plot of Adventure/Action games can be told through the gameplay, so cutscenes (especially those that cut away from the game engine) should be unnecessary.

    But to but it simply, cutscenes in games are almost always less interesting than a good movie, and everyone not looking for an interactive movie would rather just play the game.

  9. My 2 bits by |/|/||| · · Score: 3, Insightful
    IMO cutscenes can be used effectively, but we all know that they can also be very, very bad. A couple of games that I've been playing recently, Shadow of the Colossus (totally awesome game) and POP:two thrones, provide some good contrast.

    POP has pre-rendered cutscenes that are often unskippable. Shadow of the Colossus has cutscenes that are rendered in-game and are skippable. These two differences have a huge effect. Of course unskippable cutscenes are annoying, especially after you've seen them 5 times, but also annoying are cutscenes in which the entire world suddenly looks completely different. Especially obvious in POP was when you went from the opening movie to the in-game graphics. The graphics are good, but they don't look like the pre-rendered stuff. Really lame.

    Shadow of the Colossus handles cutscenes well, but I think they could still be improved. Yes, everybody wants the option of skipping cutscenes, but I think a lot of people want to watch them, too. How come I can't pause the game during cutscenes? What am I supposed to do when a 5 minute ending movie is playing and somebody knocks on the door? I either don't answer the door, or I beat the game again later so I can see what happens. Lame.

    My suggestions:
    1. No pre-rendered cutscenes
    2.Ability to pause the cutscene and bring up a menu with the option to skip

    Why are these not universal in modern games? Does anybody disagree with these preferences?

    --
    [javac] 100 errors
  10. What, no mention of Halflife yet? by Ahnteis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That game is legend for having no cutscenes. It's mentioned in so many stories/interviews about/with Valve that it's almost cliche.

    No cutscenes to take you out of the story. You ARE Freeman. Not watching him.

    Now to be fair, I DO enjoy (well done) cutscenes in single player RTS games, but that's more due to the nature of the game.

  11. Prince of Persia: The cutscenes^Wtwo thrones... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 2, Insightful

    One thing i absolutely hate about those cutscenes is that they can't be cut! I really wish i could press the start button to skip the scene with the bosses. I nearly memorized that fight between the prince and the axe/sword monsters.

    *growl*
    (prince draws his sword)
    (prince gets hit from behind)
    *growl!*
    "Well, i have to admit, i didn't expect that..."
    (monster grabs sand and burns the grass around the arena)
    (boss fight begins, until you get killed and have to continue the game, to see the stupid scene over and over)

    At least the Ubisoft guys could've put a "Skip cutscene? Yes/no" dialog.

    On the other hand, for games like Final Fantasy X, I absolutely LOVED the cutscenes. I just kept playing so I could play more cutscenes and see what happened with the story.

    See, it's all about if the cutscenes contribute to the story or not. AND if you can skip and later replay them - but PLEASE, PLEASE... allow me to save between cutscenes!

  12. Max Payne by comp.sci · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well done cut-scenes using the in-game engine.
    Advanced the plot, great cinematics, fun to watch, easily skippable.
    That's how they should always be!

  13. Screw you guys by StocDred · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Screw you guys. I love cutscenes. I love experiencing a well-told story with theatrical elements interspersed throughout the gameplay. When everybody dumps on cutscenes, there's this underlying assumption that no game does cutscenes well. I say many do. Right now I'm enjoying the heck out of Fatal Frame 3 (PS2)... a game that definitely has a story to tell, a story that I get to live out during the playable portions. The cutscenes aren't obtrusive, they don't appear every three steps, as most cutscene-detractors like to parrot. They're well-placed, they tell the story in ways that could not be done if I was playing 100% of the time. So fuck you guys who are out there bitching about them. There are plenty of games for everybody's tastes out there.

    You know what I hate? When guys like David Jaffe stumble ass-backwards into public domain Greek mythology, staple GWAR armor onto everything, dump blood eveywhere, and call it the greatest IP since the world cooled. Maybe if you could tell a story that wasn't completely obvious and boring from the first half-hour (as God of War was), then maybe you'd have more use for cutscenes.