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[laxu]

We just need less cutscenes. I am currently replaying thru Uncharted 4 on the PS4 Pro and I still like it because it doesn't interrupt me at every turn with a cutscene and a lot of the banter while playing is really enjoyable. While the game still has plenty of cutscenes, they are not overly long or take away player control for too much time.

Likewise Soulsborne games have very minimal cutscenes and most of the storytelling is done via item descriptions and that has spawned a great response from players who spend time to figure out the lore and fill in the gaps not told directly in the story. Whether the theories are wrong or not does not matter because they are interesting and fit well enough to the narrative of the game.

 

[nikeboy94]

Ubisoft needs better storytelling, not more towers and sidequests. When they said they wanted to make a Witcher like game they really got the wrong idea.

True dat True Fire

 

[FlaygletheBagel]

I mean, let's face it, Ubisoft's storytelling ability isn't exactly the highlight of any of their games, lol. It may have been pretty passable in the AC 2/Far Cry 3 days, but it certainly isn't up to a high standard of quality today (although I haven't played Watch Dogs 2 yet so maybe that one is better).

Plus I'm of the opinion that cutscenes detract from a game's story more often than they help it. Some of my favorite game stories have been minimal on - if not totally devoid of - cutscenes (Portal, Half Life 2, Bloodborne, Metroid Prime/Super Metroid, Journey, Inside, etc.). Sometimes simpler is better when it comes to game storylines. So hopefully this means Ubi is phasing out convoluted, overcomplicated plots and overlong cutscenes in favor of better gameplay and environmental storytelling.

 

[semiconscious]

Uhm...am I the only one that's getting the point here?

Did none of you people play Shadows of Mordor?

I don't know about you, but when I played through Shadows of Mordor, I didn't give two shits about the revenge plot, the Celebrimbor nonsense, or the Hands of Sauron or whatever the fuck they called those worthless excuses for bosses.

I cared about beating the shit out of that one fuckass of an orc captain that became warchief who was immune to almost everything I could throw at him because he kept killing me, and I put him where he could hurt me most. I ended up killing him by systematically turning every single one of his captains, and ambushing him after letting him fight ALL his subordinates. Even THEN he almost killed me, but I got him, barely.

When you got to the end of the game and after fighting the last boss, you had to fight that one fuckass of an orc captain that gave you so much grief all over again...THAT was the boss fight. THAT was worth feeling excited over emerging victorious.

And THAT is what they're talking about. Building systems that encourage emergent experiences. Why is that a bad thing?

i support this post. shadow of mordor might not've been perfect, but it was definitely on to something, & it worked really well for me ...

 

[Mass_Pincup]

Which is exactly how I phrased it!?

And I didn't say otherwise, I just picked up your grievance to say that they're being addressed in the article.

The Souls games have lore. They have a lot of it. Story on the other hand.... Nah...

Lore is used to expend a storyline, you can't have lore without a story.

 

[Verendus]

We just need less cutscenes. I am currently replaying thru Uncharted 4 on the PS4 Pro and I still like it because it doesn't interrupt me at every turn with a cutscene and a lot of the banter while playing is really enjoyable. While the game still has plenty of cutscenes, they are not overly long or take away player control for too much time.

No.

We need more. It is about balance. The longer your game, the more cutscenes that are required.

 

[samn]

Mafia III, Witcher 3 , Uncharted ...

You can't say these have bad storytelling.

Witcher 3 had poor storytelling

 

[johnnydrama]

Witcher 3 had poor storytelling

It's nice you stopped at poor and didn't go so far as "atrocious". Appreciate that.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Uhm...am I the only one that's getting the point here?

Did none of you people play Shadows of Mordor?

I don't know about you, but when I played through Shadows of Mordor, I didn't give two shits about the revenge plot, the Celebrimbor nonsense, or the Hands of Sauron or whatever the fuck they called those worthless excuses for bosses.

I cared about beating the shit out of that one fuckass of an orc captain that became warchief who was immune to almost everything I could throw at him because he kept killing me, and I put him where he could hurt me most. I ended up killing him by systematically turning every single one of his captains, and ambushing him after letting him fight ALL his subordinates. Even THEN he almost killed me, but I got him, barely.

When you got to the end of the game and after fighting the last boss, you had to fight that one fuckass of an orc captain that gave you so much grief all over again...THAT was the boss fight. THAT was worth feeling excited over emerging victorious.

And THAT is what they're talking about. Building systems that encourage emergent experiences. Why is that a bad thing?

I played it.

The only things I really liked about it were the graphics and the sidequests where you had to find those hidden glyphs and the trinkets and the challenges.

The rest was bad to mediocre.

 

[Rathorial]

It would be no real loss for me if they had less storytelling in their games, because they've continually shown they're inept at it. Any of the Ubisoft games I could say avoid this are just too old to really bother worth bringing up.

What I can say for sure is their cutscenes definitely look expensive, and it's a sad waste of their artist's time/talent to spend time animating boring writing and characters. Considering most of what they output are open-world games, I also find it really strange how long they've clung to having really linear narrative that doesn't react to player agency in any meaningful way.

Far Cry 3 and onward especially are just so confusing with how the series is identified around a shooter where players can pick from a variety of approaches that the game builds it systems around...yet the "story missions" intentionally fight against that design by forcing players into a specific approach in order to complete, even as far as gating you to a turret.

I'd prefer they create stories that adapt to what players decide to do, but I'll take no story vs. their cutscenes and story missions that neuter the dynamism of their own games.

 

[Zubz]

Wait a second... If that Rabbids/Mario RPG rumor is true... Crap. It makes sense for a crossover with Rayman to put story last, but I really want a Mario RPG with TTYD/SPM's scope again.

That said, this should be great for trimming the fat off of other games! A long-running series like Assassin's Creed would definitely benefit from it.

 

[mckmas8808]

Story telling are tied to solo campaign, which are known to eat most of the budget for AAA games.

Yep! This sounds like they know they can't compete so why even try attitude.