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[Jeffrey]

It's unrealistic to expect Uncharted level animations in 50+ hour rpgs, but for a genre where story is important, it's kind of a bummer seeing bad animation ruin the atmosphere of important story beats.

Also I've still never encountered a rpg where moving around felt or looked amazing. It's especially bad in jrpgs, where often any sort of interaction has an abrupt fad to black/transition to 'I'm climbing this ladder cutscene', also instant acceleration on movement just looks weird. It's like they just map the analog stick to a dpad basically.

Western games are pretty bad too. I agree Witcher 3 is an amazing game, but the movement (even with alt controls) is some of the worst I've ever encountered in a 3d game. The occasional 'cinematic' cutscenes are pretty great though.


I guess if we consider Kingdom Hearts a rpg (still feels more action adventure imo), jumping feels like garbage but movement and the cutscenes are all pretty good.

I can't really think of anything else?


FF15 seems to have the potential animation wise, but thats later.

 

[Ultimate_Trainer]

I remember Xenosaga 3 had really good animations in in-engine cutscenes when it was released, but its been a while since I've played it.

 

[Het_Nkik]

I don't know, but the Tales games cutscene animation drives me bonkers. "Let's just rotate the model in place while having them do a walk animation to show that they're turning." Gross. (I haven't played a Tales game since Symphonia 2. I'm hoping they've improved since.)

 

[UnnecessaryTodd]

I posted about this recently in the overlooked PS2 games thread:

Rogue Galaxy was a really good RPG that sadly got overlooked. Made by the same company that made the Prof. Layton games no less (and Jeanne d'arc on PSP).

I love the art style although it might be a bit too stylised for some, but this game had a lot of polish.

Character models that changed based on equipped armor, enemy varience, intricate crafting systems and side-quests and mini-games... There was a lot to get lost in with Rogue Galaxy. It reminded me a lot of Chrono Trigger (it even has the multiple character techs)

I think the animation is pretty good in the cutscenes both in-engine and out (although they are great for the ps2 era but I don't know if that fits what you wanted). Check this videoout and see if they meet your requirements

https://youtu.be/YkpVcvq1ttA?t=266

 

[CertifiedFP]

I don't know, but the Tales games cutscene animation drives me bonkers. "Let's just rotate the model in place while having them do a walk animation to show that they're turning." Gross. (I haven't played a Tales game since Symphonia 2. I'm hoping they've improved since.)

I want you to name me a pre-7th Gen game (Or a Wii game if you must go into the 7th) that DIDN'T do this to save on RAM usage. Because honestly, I don't think having animations specifically for turning was a thing until Grand Theft Auto IV.

 

[Het_Nkik]

I want you to name me a pre-7th Gen game (Or a Wii game if you must go into the 7th) that DIDN'T do this to save on RAM usage. Because honestly, I don't think having animations specifically for turning was a thing until Grand Theft Auto IV.

How's fifth generation?

I feel like most games that weren't JRPGs had proper turning animations in in-game cutscenes. Your notion of GTAIV introducing proper turning animations is straight up hilarious.

 

[Walpurgis]

Witcher 3 is probably the best there is. It was a huge upgrade over Dragon Age's ugly ass character animations. My elf was ao awkward moving and lanky. I just wanted to beat the crap out of him every time he moved.

 

[Jeffrey]

Tales games have moments of brilliant choreographed animation sequences in recent games, but theres like 2 scenes total in a 50 hour game.

Now I remember lightning returns had some nice running around/platforming animations. Sliding down the pole though...

 

[Syril]

Xenoblade Chronicles has its climactic or otherwise important cutscenes still in the engine but not using any canned animations at all, paired with some actually good direction. It looks really awesome. In the really big scenes they even planned them to match up to the music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qUey8SPCD8

 

[rackham]

The .hack games on ps2 are pretty good.

Ni no kuni

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Am I misremembering or did Mass Effect 3 have good cutscene animations? Gameplay also felt amazing.

 

[UncleSporky]

I want you to name me a pre-7th Gen game (Or a Wii game if you must go into the 7th) that DIDN'T do this to save on RAM usage. Because honestly, I don't think having animations specifically for turning was a thing until Grand Theft Auto IV.

I think most cinematic platformers had animations specifically for turning. i.e. Prince of Persia, Blackthorne, Flashback, Another World, Oddworld etc.

I don't know, but the Tales games cutscene animation drives me bonkers. "Let's just rotate the model in place while having them do a walk animation to show that they're turning." Gross. (I haven't played a Tales game since Symphonia 2. I'm hoping they've improved since.)

This is a legit criticism, seriously.

As soon as I saw the thread my first thought was Tales of Symphonia as the exact opposite when it comes to animation. There was basically no attempt made. I remember someone threw a rock or a ball or something, it literally moved at a constant speed in a straight line from one location to another, much slower than it should have...or someone would get hit and again fly backward at a constant speed, you can see every keyframe and every interpolation. Really bad.

Just one example of its fine cutscene animation.

 

[Dremorak]

I dont know if it counts as a jrpg, but Monster Hunter games have top notch animation. I love watching video of it frame by frame and picking out all the details, so good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1LE1D5YSZM

^ the way the charge blade can chain all its moves together and look natural is super impressive. The switching modes mid combo is crazy impressive

 

[Syril]

I dont know if it counts as a jrpg, but Monster Hunter games have top notch animation. I love watching video of it frame by frame and picking out all the details, so good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1LE1D5YSZM

Monster Hunter does have amazing animation, but not much cutscene animation, though the MH4U weren't bad themselves.

 

[10k]

Xenoblade and Xenosaga trilogy.

Based Monolith Soft.

 

[Otakumegane]

The first Xenoblade had some pretty awesome engine cutscenes. That one with Dunban on Valak mountain (Spoilers if you haven't played) is very good.

 

[texhnolyze]

I'd agree on Tales games, they're pretty good even since the PS2 era Tales.

Xenoblade and Xenosaga trilogy.

Based Monolith Soft.

I always found Xenoblade animation (especially while running and in conversation) very floaty and a bit clunky.

 

[Dremorak]

If you want good cutscene animation OP, Xenoblade is pretty great. They do have a lot of talky talky not moving much, but when they have cutscenes witch action in them:

https://youtu.be/2kz3LfHtONg?t=128

Hoo boy.

(From a scene a few hours in, not really spoilery, but dont watch too much if you ever plan to play it. One of my top 5 games of all time)

 

[MegaSackman]

FFXII has pretty fantastic in engine animations.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I dont know if it counts as a jrpg, but Monster Hunter games have top notch animation.

"non-combat gameplay"

They want a cinematic game with good animated CUT SCENES not good combat animations lol...

 

[web3x]

FFXII has pretty fantastic in engine animations.

Co-Sign

Dragon Age Origins as well

 

[The Praiseworthy]

I remember Xenosaga 3 had really good animations in in-engine cutscenes when it was released,

Yep... Still good till this day.

 

[BlanketFort]

Perhaps my standards are lower than yours but I was always thoroughly impressed by the Persona 4 animation.

Admittedly, the game is anchored by pretty awesome character art that adds incredible depth to the 3D animation.

 

[Dark_castle]

Thread title hurts my brain.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

I always found Xenoblade animation (especially while running and in conversation) very floaty and a bit clunky.

This is about in cutscenes though.

 

[Self_Destructive]

How about Lost Odyssey?

I remember it looking really good and having some damn good animations.

 

[aravuus]

If you want good cutscene animation OP, Xenoblade is pretty great. They do have a lot of talky talky not moving much, but when they have cutscenes witch action in them:

https://youtu.be/2kz3LfHtONg?t=128

Hoo boy.

(From a scene a few hours in, not really spoilery, but dont watch too much if you ever plan to play it. One of my top 5 games of all time)

Came to post this game, actually even had this exact scene in mind lol.

Cut scenes, the action-y ones in particular, are the one thing I simply can't dislike when it comes to Xenoblade. By far some of the nicest cut scenes in RPGs.

 

[texhnolyze]

This is about in cutscenes though.

There are running and conversation animation in cutscenes, right?

 

[watershed]

I really like the character models and character animations in FF12. Most of the cutscenes are in game and everything looks pretty good.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Xenoblade Chronicles has its climactic or otherwise important cutscenes still in the engine but not using any canned animations at all, paired with some actually good direction. It looks really awesome. In the really big scenes they even planned them to match up to the music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qUey8SPCD8

Technically, a few of the cutscenes are prerendered. However, they still generally use in-game assets, and largely seem to be just scenes that the Wii couldn't load data fast enough to handle.

 

[Dark_castle]

I really like the character models and character animations in FF12. Most of the cutscenes are in game and everything looks pretty good.

Agreed. Judge

Spoiler

Drace's

death scene was particularly well directed, great animation, great acting.

 

[kagamin]

Dragon Quest VIII has pretty nice cutscene animation, though its been a while since I played it, should hold up well enough though.

 

[StereoVsn]

I nominate ARPG NBA 2K16, The Spike Lee Joint!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgXyHX4k2nQ

With cut scenes like this, the game is a clear winner!

Edit: The above URL obviously spoils a major "plot point".

 

[Dragon1893]

This is something that really bothered me in FFX.
It happens in most PS3 jrpgs, usually because of the low budget, with the Atelier series, Ar No Surge and Trails of Cold Steel being among the biggest offenders.
Cold Steel is so basic both in terms of visuals and animation that I would've preferred if they kept using the Trails in the sky engine.

Still enjoyed all these games a lot but as someone who really values animation I wish it'd become a higher priority for these developers.

 

[Valkyri von Thanatos]

Came to post this game, actually even had this exact scene in mind lol.

Cut scenes, the action-y ones in particular, are the one thing I simply can't dislike when it comes to Xenoblade. By far some of the nicest cut scenes in RPGs.

Agreed, I do wish more games in the genre were on its level. It's weird how I was also thinking of the same events, I think because it has shown up once or twice as a GIF here, and I remember it impressing me with its flow at the time that I first watched it.

Recently picked up Xenoblade X at Target for $27, hoping I like it despite knowing a fair bit about the late-story plot elements already. I hope they will make the next one more story focused like the first, I've heard that is their intention. On a side-note, I wish Wii U Pro Controllers were less expensive, paying $50 just for one is a bit much.

Edit:

As for the actual main question, this is cheating a bit because the game isn't out yet but...

Persona 5.

The best candidate that fulfills all of the qualifications you've set well.

 

[Philippo]

FFXV animations are on a whole other level, they're on par with UC4 and sometimes even crazier.

 

[encephalon]

I remember Xenosaga 3 had really good animations in in-engine cutscenes when it was released, but its been a while since I've played it.

All Xenosaga games had great in-engine (some may have been in-game) cutscenes when they were released.

Xenoblade had weird pasted on faces, but the cutscenes were well done and the characters managed to appear very expressive. There's a sort of fluidity to the game.

 

[Valkyri von Thanatos]

FFXV animations are on a whole other level, they're on par with UC4 and sometimes even crazier.

Could you please post some examples of animations from XV which are particularly impressive? I'm genuinely curious because from what I've seen, the game hasn't lived up to the spectacle of the Versus 13 trailer from E3 2013 in animation or other regards. It seems like some small bits and pieces look pretty good, but nowhere near UC4 good in my opinion, which to be fair is understandable given the scope of both games.

The only XV facial animation which has impressed me has really only been that one shot of Stella with her necklace from like 2014 I think, but it isn't really even the facial animation that looks impressive, mostly just the hair and clarity of the image, both of which have been sacrificed to get the game running in the final version.

Edit:

All Xenosaga games had great in-engine (some may have been in-game) cutscenes when they were released.

Xenoblade had weird pasted on faces, but the cutscenes were well done and the characters managed to appear very expressive. There's a sort of fluidity to the game.

Do you think the Xenosaga games are worth going through as a newcomer in 2016? I'm interested in the Xeno- metaseries/mythos, but ironically I have only played Xenoblade (which could be argued is completely separate, but I'd like to believe it is connected but really loosely). I've played about 4-5 hours of Xenogears, but got stuck in the desert and unfortunately lost my drive because of that and having to keep up with my classes.

I agree Xenoblade is very fluid, it's one of the things that makes the game stand out, even amongat competitors on the PS3 and Xbox 360. I'd argue that it probably has one of the most unique and interesting art/world designs out of any game, and I really hope the next Xeno- matches that with great story like X apparently did not completely do.

 

[Zenaku]

Technically, a few of the cutscenes are prerendered. However, they still generally use in-game assets, and largely seem to be just scenes that the Wii couldn't load data fast enough to handle.

Only a couple of scenes (or clips, rather) are pre-rendered, and iirc they don't have any characters in them. All character cutscenes are in-engine.

Xenoblade X also has some absolutely amazing cutscene animation, but it is sparse, and some can be missed due to being in optional quests and the like. Their next game should see even better animation all round; they used a special suit for a lot of the in-game animation (battle animation, basic animations, etc, the big cutscenes were mocap) and they got their hands on newer versions of the suit before finishing X, which they'll be able to use throughout their next project.

 

[Yabberwocky]

FFXII has pretty fantastic in engine animations.

Absolutely, FFXII was my first thought. The game had some fantastic character animation, especially on the faces. It still holds up effortlessly for what I've seen of the remaster. I watched the Playstation Access video the first time on TV the other day, and can't believe how well the original animation/mo-cap holds up. There's so much great subtle facial movement with Balthier, hnnngh.

 

[kagamin]

This FFXII talk reminds me of when people bought DQVIII solely to play the demo for it and ignored the main game lol.

 

[casiopao]

I remember Xenosaga 3 had really good animations in in-engine cutscenes when it was released, but its been a while since I've played it.

Dammit i read this as Xenosaga 2 and i thought u had gone mad lol.

On the topic though, Pandora's Tower is great, Xenoblade also is quite okay and The Last Story animation is not bad too.

Beyond the Labyrinth had simple cutscenes but all is done in-engine and really well. The "Girl" moves is believable and cute.^_^

 

[Mephala]

How about Lost Odyssey?

Edit. Also, what about Shenmue series? I admit I don't remember that much in terms of animations but I do recall how Ryo would open each drawer and actually inspect each toy he buys.

 

[Mozendo]

How about Lost Odyssey?

Man I just remember the game looking so damn nice with fluid transitions from cutscene to gameplay. I think there were several times where I was expecting more cutscene and then realized I had to control the character

 

[Kudo]

Those Lost Odyssey gifs make me want to continue the game, I think I stopped somewhere at disc 2 beginning.

 

[Philippo]

Could you please post some examples of animations from XV which are particularly impressive? I'm genuinely curious because from what I've seen, the game hasn't lived up to the spectacle of the Versus 13 trailer from E3 2013 in animation or other regards. It seems like some small bits and pieces look pretty good, but nowhere near UC4 good in my opinion, which to be fair is understandable given the scope of both games.

The only XV facial animation which has impressed me has really only been that one shot of Stella with her necklace from like 2014 I think, but it isn't really even the facial animation that looks impressive, mostly just the hair and clarity of the image, both of which have been sacrificed to get the game running in the final version.

Spoiler

I agree though, facial animations are bad

 

[black070]

FFXV animations are on a whole other level, they're on par with UC4 and sometimes even crazier.

I wouldn't go that far.

It's worth keeping an eye on Horizon: Zero Dawn - the animations look to be standard setting for an RPG.

 

[Mexen]

FFXII has pretty fantastic in engine animations.

Yeah, I agree with this.

 

[encephalon]

Could you please post some examples of animations from XV which are particularly impressive? I'm genuinely curious because from what I've seen, the game hasn't lived up to the spectacle of the Versus 13 trailer from E3 2013 in animation or other regards. It seems like some small bits and pieces look pretty good, but nowhere near UC4 good in my opinion, which to be fair is understandable given the scope of both games.

The only XV facial animation which has impressed me has really only been that one shot of Stella with her necklace from like 2014 I think, but it isn't really even the facial animation that looks impressive, mostly just the hair and clarity of the image, both of which have been sacrificed to get the game running in the final version.

Edit:



Do you think the Xenosaga games are worth going through as a newcomer in 2016? I'm interested in the Xeno- metaseries/mythos, but ironically I have only played Xenoblade (which could be argued is completely separate, but I'd like to believe it is connected but really loosely). I've played about 4-5 hours of Xenogears, but got stuck in the desert and unfortunately lost my drive because of that and having to keep up with my classes.

I agree Xenoblade is very fluid, it's one of the things that makes the game stand out, even amongat competitors on the PS3 and Xbox 360. I'd argue that it probably has one of the most unique and interesting art/world designs out of any game, and I really hope the next Xeno- matches that with great story like X apparently did not completely do.

The Xenosaga games are pretty cutscene heavy. I think they're worth it. I even think 2 is worth it, so I might be crazy. I'd say try out the first game, even if it's the most cutscene heavy of the bunch. The unique world view and superior execution of the JRPG as a space odyssey (especially in light of Star Ocean's repeated failures) make it a sight to behold in 2016, when the fate of the very genre is not looking good.

 

[jett]

Ni No Kuni looks fantastic.

Have some NNK2 gifs. And by some I mean all the gifs.