God of War Creator Hates Cutscenes

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.

Comments

Use cutscenes with caution

[PIPBoy3000]

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.