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What makes a game introduction good or bad?

V

Venfayth

Member
Over the years certain games have become infamous for their introductory sequences. Off the top of my head, Mega Man X has a very positively acclaimed intro sequence in the way it inaudibly teaches game mechanics. Baldur's Gate 2 seems very negatively acclaimed - entire mods made for this relatively old game just to remove the intro. Persona 4 has an extremely long introduction, which seems like it might have done more harm than good.

My favorite intro to a game is probably 999 - I can still vividly remember the starting sequence, it set the atmosphere immediately and really gave you a sense of 'what the fuck' from the get go.

For you, what games are good and which are bad, and for you personally what makes them that way?
 
I liked Demon's Sous tutorial area - through a few messages on the ground, it provided instructions on which buttons did what. It also gave you a small area to explore with some weaker enemies. And then it killed you.

As a side note, I was surprised at how quick Fallout 4 let you out of the vault - I was expecting to have to stick around in there for awhile rather than get released and do what you want.
 
Put me in an unskippable cutscene or a slow-walking cutscene right off the bat, and nine times out of ten you've already lost me. The exception is if the introduction happens to be especially intriguing, such as, as the OP said, 999. Being locked in a room of flooding water and asked to solve a puzzle to save myself is pretty damn intriguing for me.

But a game that puts me in control of my character from second one such as Bloodborne will generally see me stick around for a little longer.
 
Generally you follow the same route as stories. Start with a wild escalation that gets the player interested in either the gameplay or the story. Mass Effect 2 is a good example of something that captivated me and got me immediately interested in continuing the game. Many JRPGs do this poorly, since they begin with some rando teenager in his village mining 10 fish or something.
 
Any Souls/Borne game's intro other than DS2. Unless you're a really skilled player or extremely observant from the go, you usually end up dying in the "tutorial" area which adds to the dread and falsely portrays the game's difficulty as almost impossible.
 
Good intros: Intros that let me play the game

Bad Intros: Intros that frontload cutscenes and mandatory tutorials
 
Apologies for the Vague answer, but the best intro's are the ones that make me really eager to see what comes next. There's many different ways to do it and they aren't limited to exclusively great games:

Great Intros:
Half Life
Bioshock
The Force Unleashed
Resident Evil 4
Metroid Prime
Alien Isolation - It's 4 hours long, the last 2 of which involve unbearable tension

Bad Intros
Okami
Twilight Princess
Bioshock 2
 
Dominic_Shade said:
Put me in an unskippable cutscene or a slow-walking cutscene right off the bat, and nine times out of ten you've already lost me. The exception is if the introduction happens to be especially intriguing, such as, as the OP said, 999. Being locked in a room of flooding water and asked to solve a puzzle to save myself is pretty damn intriguing for me.

But a game that puts me in control of my character from second one such as Bloodborne will generally see me stick around for a little longer.
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This.

The Order 1886 is text book for how NOT to open a game. A long, uninteresting cutscene followed by several QTEs that segue into a long slow walk down a corridor and the beginning of the actual game which is yet another looooooooooooong slow walk with no tangible gameplay.

The Order 1886 intro section: 0/10
 
Welcome to Rapture

BioShock nailed the opening. It exudes atmosphere, grandeur, terror, and decay. The best game opening ever made.
kCqicUc.gif
 
Don't have a mandatory tutorial and don't have mundane trivial tasks to introduce the player to the game. Minus these two and most intros are only dependent on the game settings and plot itself.
 
DOWN said:
Welcome to Rapture

BioShock nailed the opening. It exudes atmosphere, grandeur, terror, and decay. The best game opening ever made.
kCqicUc.gif
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I firmly believe nothing will ever come close to it ever again
 
I like to be fed mechanics bit by bit in relation to the story. Bioshock intro was great. Not much going player agency going on except getting use to the controls while you explore the world. TLoU is pretty great too, as it starts the game off with a less able playable character in order to feed you everything bit by bit.
 
There are always exceptions, but generally you want your game intro to engage/involve the player and get them up to speed on plot and controls ASAP.
 
I think Metroid Prime has an incredible tutorial area, probably the best in all of Metroid. One of the things that's bad about some intros is that they don't really feel like they're a part of the story - you tend to be stopped over and over again for button prompts and small cutscenes telling you how to get comfortable with traversing a level and dealing with the enemies. The Frigate at the opening of Metroid Prime manages to get you accustomed to the way the game plays without taking too much control away from you. Retro gets you acclimated to the tone they've chosen for the game with dead bodies everywhere and lots of destruction, which you are taught to scan so that you can learn about your surroundings.

The intro doesn't feel disconnected from the game at all, and the game's style and pace are established from the beginning.

I think Other M's tutorial/opening section should have been the Tourian/Mother Brain part of Super Metroid, but obviously made in the style of Other M. It would have elevated the opening and actually let us partake in the badass stuff we see Samus do in the cutscene. Instead, she's thrown in a training room to be reminded of how to use her features, and we didn't get to do the cool superpowered shit that we watched in the opening cutscene.
 
It's hard to choose my favorite out of The Last of Us, Bioshock, and God War 3

The Last of Us nails the tension and unease of seeing normal life crumble, from that intimate on-the-ground perspective, better than any other apocalyptic movie, show, or game IMO
SoupyAdmiredDipper.gif
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Bioshock has the mystery of the lighthouse, the enigmatic statues and banners, entering the sub, Ryan's speech as the music swells with the reveal of Rapture. It's perfectly paced and presented
MessyImpureHairstreak.gif
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And God of War is still the best in terms of sheer scale and spectacle
AnotherLeadingAfghanhound.gif
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morpix said:
Here's a great video about a bad opening (specifically Skyrim):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpddXJJLhPY

That should answer your question OP.
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Hah, Skyrim is a game I actually use mods to change the intro to. Somehow I didn't think about that when making the thread. I really dislike the intro to Skyrim, it's slow and forced and prevents you from feeling like a rando dude going about the world - instead you become the locus of attention. I'll check out the video.
 
First time I've ever heard anyone complain about the beginning of Balder's Gate II. Are you referring to the tutorial? because the opening level, isn't there to teach you the mechanics, especially since it is a sequel. The first time playing it, it is actually pretty great. There is plenty to explore, some choices and dialogue to make to define your character. It gives you options to catch up on the story through dialogue if you didn't play 1. There are even a few good pieces of loot to find.

My only complaint is that I've done it so many times every time I wanted to start a new character that I know it like the back of my hand and can run through it very efficiently to get to the better stuff. It is probably the weakest part of the game, but it is definitely pretty good as far as opening areas in RPGs (no killing rats, throws you right in the action). As far as story telling, it is much better than most, as it starts in media res. You are briefly introduced to one the best villains in all RPGs, you quickly get a party and gear, and start fighting real enemies, solving riddles, etc.
 
Pacing and foreshadowing what to expect throughout the rest of your experience either in gameplay or overall tone. That is the make or break issue.
 
A good beginning for me is one that doesn't take its time to let you play the game and use its core mechanics. You can have story, but it can't be long monologues or anything like that.

Kingdom Hearts 2 is an example of how not to do the beginning of a game. Way to much dialogue, not enough playing. 2 hours to actually start playing the game is much to long.

It's a pacing thing. It's not a movie, it's interactive. And if you aren't interacting, you lose interest.
 
The sort of opening that is memorable in story. Not "here's 100000 tutorials and a boring landscape", but Bioshock's harrowing opening sequence, Portal 2's Wheatley shenanigans, System Shock 2's eerie beginning.
 
For me it really just comes down to how much I am willing to replay it on repeat playthroughs. Games like Metroid Prime and Snake Eater I can replay forever.Twilight Princess is gonna be hard to go back to for the HD version. Phantom Pain on the other hand, I won't be able to replay. EVER.
 
I think that good game intros are measured by how good they treat the game as a game instead of a movie, and how they give you the necessary information so you know what's going on in your immediate setting.

I loved how Bioshock started, making me go around and finding shelter instead of just taking me to Rapture via a cutscene. I loved how everything was put on the table and how it went from an amazing view of an underwater city to the horrible remains of a collapsed society.
What was so good is that nothing felt "off". The introduction to rapture was perfectly done because it made sense in of the universe and the decay of the society was evident not by telling you that stuff failed, but it's made obvious during the first five minutes you're in the city.
 
Hyperfludd said:
Don't do what Kingdom Hearts 2 did.

That's a solid starting point, I think.
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Start with a character you don't know in a 6-hour, overly long cutscene riddled tutorial sequence, slogging through doing chores and other mundane tasks, while you eagerly await to get to the 'real' game with the real protagonist?

Helllll no.


The concept of starting off with a mysterious new character is intriguing, the problem was how looong they milked it for. I remember my friends and I got it day one, and went from being as excited as can be to nearly changing the disc out of disinterest. KH1 come to think of it had a very tidy introduction in the Destiny Islands. IIRC, you could pretty much finish the intro in an hour and a half.

EDIT:: Misread your post as *DO* what Kingdom Hearts 2 did, lol. Reading comprehension fail. I guess my point still stands despite accidentally disagreeing with you.
 
Recently I think the Witcher 3 did a decent job at it, especially when you think about the fact that the Witcher 2 intro was way too hard.

They made an extra starting zone that taught you all the basics in a very fluent way without ever overwhelming the player, but also without putting him in any grave danger to get lost or too frustrated.
 
TheAssist said:
Recently I think the Witcher 3 did a decent job at it, especially when you think about the fact that the Witcher 2 intro was way too hard.

They made an extra starting zone that taught you all the basics in a very fluent way without ever overwhelming the player, but also without putting him in any grave danger to get lost or too frustrated.
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I definitely prefer TW3's opening to TW2.. Man.. I tried like four or five times to go back to TW2 and I could not get past the intro. Such a shitty few hours.
 
There isn't a formula to what makes an intro good or bad really, it just comes down to personal taste.

For example I loathed MGS5 intro, but I know lots of people on here love it, neither my view on theirs is wrong or right, we just like different things.

Also recently found the intro of Fallout 4 pretty poor, took a few missions and distancing myself from The Vault and Preston till I started to feel it.
 
It needs to capture my attention quickly, and overall be a short sequence. I'm talking 30 minutes tops, and very fast paced overall.

The opening is where you can earn a lot of good faith from the player. If you're opening starts off slow, the player has no reason to believe it will ever get more exciting. Show them how cool your game can be, and you've earned enough of their interest for them to want to carry themselves to the game's next high point.
 
I love the intro to The Last of Us but it's barely under any player control so that's why it takes second to BioShock's
 
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