TOM f'N CRUISE
Member
i play games for the cutscenes
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I skip every cutscene if I can, even if its the first time I see it.
- Thread starter shuri
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Dr. Randy Marsh
Member
That sounds as crazy as the "I mute the game and listen to other music" mentality. Every product is about the whole package.
It's like that girlfriend you love, you think she's amazing, but your friends are like "meh"
So you get angry because they don't place value on what you love.
Something like that.
For me Cutscenes are designed by developers to immerse you into the games world. Bayonetta would not be the Bayonetta I love if I never saw the cutscenes for example.
Your brother dies, you feel the urge for revenge when you play the gameplay parts against his killer.
You lose your wife, you feel the desperation of the character you control as you fight your way through a nightmare at a town called Silent Hill to look for her etc etc
Uh, I've seen irrational anger on both sides of the argument.
Supposedly the cutscenes are so sacred and important that skipping them is a sin.
Frankly the stupidity astounds me. But it's what I should've expected of the 'Cutscene purists'.
It's amazing, even when casting some game on twitch people go nuts when I skip cutscenes.
Holy crap. Even if it's Resident Evil 2 cutscenes, which they've seen a million times before.
I at least understood where you came from until I read this. You're still doing nothing and watching a thing happen. How's watching 2 minutes of TV different from watching the cutscene?
quickdevilred
Banned
eww
I would never waste my time playing games (not on my phone) that didn't have stories.
I would never waste my time playing games (not on my phone) that didn't have stories.
CadetMahoney
Member
Pretty much. I didn't think uncharted was all that either.
But COD doesn't have cut scenes unless you count the loading screens.
In fact, COD is actually a pretty decent example of video game storytelling without cut scenes.
That's the background noise of this thread that's annoying me a bit. If anything, criticizing cut scenes is praising the medium. No matter how good they might be, cut scenes are a component of a different medium. Coming out against them isn't coming out against games.
I guess I'm just surprised at how many people on GAF still take for granted the assumption that cut scenes are the only way to have stories in video games.
Cut-scenes are essential to me. I don't play a lot of games (still a decent amount), but when I play a new one, I watch all cut-scenes.
If I just played through a game and do achievement hunting afterwards, I skip most of the cut-scenes, but when I replay a game, which I haven't played a long time, I watch them, too.
If I just played through a game and do achievement hunting afterwards, I skip most of the cut-scenes, but when I replay a game, which I haven't played a long time, I watch them, too.
I don't think anyone said that.
AcceptableGhost
Member
I do this too. Sometimes I regret it though.
Everything unrelated to the core game should be skippable though.
Wow, missing the point AND insulting anyone who disagrees with you on the same post. Cool.
The discussion is not about cutscenes being "sacred and important", it's about how, no matter how bad/corny the story in the game is, skipping them on your first playthrough will make you lose the context of your actions, so in that sense they are vital to understand your motivations. The importance you put on that is the core of the issue. Some of us just don't enjoy playing a game without knowing who the character we're playing as is or what their motivations are, no matter how stupid they might be. And it all boils down to preference in the end.
There was also a brief discussion about whether cutscenes have a place in videogames or if they're out of place and inherently bad, and it was interesting for a while before everyone just started talking shit to each other again.
HamsterPackage
Member
I skip them also. I wanna play a game not watch a movie.I loved the nes days...games left alot up to your imagination which as a kid was cool.
Sums it up for me. I consider them as much a part of the game as everything else that goes into its production. I also like having context as to what I'm doing and why I'm there in the first place, and skipping cutscenes I've never even seen is detrimental to that.
I think people who do this may as well quit gaming as games are getting more and more story based with high production values and proffessional writers etc. It will get even worse as power goes up imo. For me, i love the fact that games feel so much more than simply a videogame anymore, i love cutscenes and great storys with great characters etc unless its a Metal gear game with ridiculous length cutscenes and terrible dialogue!.
AcceptableGhost
Member
storybros need to get off my cloud
Of course I was too harsh, but what do you expect it's me.
Fine I understand people do like watching , hell I still like listening to RE1 cutscenes while looking up something else or minimizing the window of xsplit. That's fine and all but the thing is that if there is people who do not want to see them nor see them 100 times after reloading a save, it should be pretty much mandatory to be skippable.
Just because there are people out there who do not want to watch these sometimes dragging on 20 minute movies doesn't mean they're suffering from a mental illness.
Yeah I put Nier on mute, I wanna play a game not listen to music.
Not watching cutscenes the first time in a video game is like reading only the pages that are pair in a book for me.
The story is a pretty big part of every game for me.
I do it in some games like arcade stuff where the story is pretty much nothing. But if there is a paragraph of text I will read it.
The story is a pretty big part of every game for me.
I do it in some games like arcade stuff where the story is pretty much nothing. But if there is a paragraph of text I will read it.
Not directly, but a lot of posts in this thread have taken the statement that the OP hates cut scenes to mean he hates storylines in video games in general. Perhaps OP should've clarified this.
Like this post for instance.
You have to agree that skipping cutscenes in story heavy games that are universally praised for their stories on your first playthrough kinda sounds like an overreaction.
MoonLightWave
Member
I only skip If I've seen it once, or it's a mmo cutscene.
Well if you skip all cutscenes then surely you're skipping the story or am i missing something here?
Depends on the point of view. The OP doesn't seem like he's skipping cut scenes on some kind of ideological principle. That would be stupid. The OP seems to be skipping cut scenes simply because he doesn't like non-interactive elements of video games. There are probably a lot of mainstream consumers who do this.
Like I said, perhaps the OP just doesn't like that method of storytelling in games.
SwiftDeath
Member
No I enjoy a cutscene if it's done well although hate forced QTE's in them to make them try to feel gamey
I like story in a game
Used to play a lot of games with my older brother and he would skip all cutscenes
I don't play much with him anymore for that express reason
Cutscenes should be skipable but see no reason why we can't have them (not sure if that's what you're implying tbh)
Huevos de Oro
Member
Personally, I watch them only once. But I can see how OP's stance is reasonable. There must be lots of people out there that value gameplay over anything else in a game, so to them cutscenes would be a nuisance at best.
And in my case, I only watch most cut scenes once. I pretty much just skip them all on subsequent playthroughs unless they're some of my favorite.
Specifically, one game I'll say got a lot better when I started skipping cut scenes is Metal Gear Solid 4.
Even then, I still overall prefer games that can tell good stories without cut scenes.
Specifically, one game I'll say got a lot better when I started skipping cut scenes is Metal Gear Solid 4.
Even then, I still overall prefer games that can tell good stories without cut scenes.
AcceptableGhost
Member
I think this is a joke post but there could stand to be more games like this nowadays. Except maybe put it to 0 continues by default.
I know that's the problem and I respect that, but if you're willingly playing a game with an universally acclaimed story only to skip it because "ew, cutscenes!", I'd say you're being a bit close minded.
FantasyFreak07
Member
I agree with you on Dragon's Crown. I find myself skipping through all the dialogue because it isn't very interesting but actually playing the game is quite awesome.
Other than that I like cutscenes and always watch them to completion on my first playthrough.
Other than that I like cutscenes and always watch them to completion on my first playthrough.
SeventhSon
Member
Why does the player of a game need context of the action he takes in a game or motivations outside of the game itself?
Because that's the way the game chose to provide them? It's a stylistic choice.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
*raises hand again* You haven't played an action game until youve played it with DNB blasting in the background, bayonetta and DMC are especially good examples.
obviously this isnt every game but still. Nothing wrong with it.
I almost always skip them. With something like Mass Effect I make exceptions, but for the most part I want to play to play, not to watch some embarrassingly bad cut-scene. The quality of cut scenes is so rarely worth it to bother with. For the most part they wouldn't be considered quality if put next to movies or TV shows, so with limited time why would I waste my time on them? If I had tons of free time then I'd probably watch them without pounding the buttons in an attempt to skip them.
I still think it's an ultimately disjointed stylistic choice borne from an era when game designers didn't know any better. It's like when early silent era movies used to have slides of text in-between scenes to convey the story.
That era is long gone (an era that i loved by the way), the only reason why 8-bit and 16-bit games were like that is because they were so damn short so they had to make them hard and keep the 'ggod stuff' hidden unless you beat the game on the hardest difficulty etc, all things to keep you playing what is an hour long game (an hour long tops in many cases).
Games now are more like interactive movies or books and its all about the 'expereience' now and emotion and getting the player involved in the whole game world. Its the reason why we have stuff like regenerating health and arrows showing us where to go etc, its not because they think we are dumb now, its so you don't have to keep breaking off the narrative to search levels for health packs or getting lost looking for the right way to go right at an exciting point in the games story.
SeventhSon
Member
I'm not sure I understand this statement.
For instance, in a shooter, say Gears of War, why does there need to be a cutscene preceding a turret sequence where you kill dozens of enemies that are rushing at your fixed position, Horde mode style? What does a cutscene add to the game information of what you're actually doing mechanically? What value does the cutscene have to the core 'game play loop' . . ?
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
Whats the motivations playing chess or any other board game? Some people play games for the sole reason to learn the underlying rules that govern the game with a view to defeat the game. Its ridiculous to say you need further motivation than beating and mastering the game.
You personally maybe but its not a universal need.
I'm not saying unnecessary cutscenes don't exist. I'm talking about the ones with story/exposition.
I love your avatar, btw.
Same as above: That wasn't the point of my post. I wasn't talking about the game's mechanics and rules, I was talking about the motivation your characters have to do the things they do during the game. I already said in a previous post that I get how to some people they're unimportant, but skipping them you do miss information. It's not about not missing anything, it's about how much importance you place on missing out on that info.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
Its funny how people say that this thread shows examples of ADD but this right here is what id call ADD.
Frustrated that you have got enough health or can find that key? tough. You havent improved in skill enough to beat the level. Learn from your mistakes and try again.
It depends about the context though doesn't it, i mean say you were fighting in a team and you were half way through the game and a team member that you liked (because of the story) was shown through a cutscene to be down injured in 'no mans' land with hordes of enemys rushing him, the game then cuts to gameplay where you have to man the turret and protect your fallen team mate. Now the axctual gameplay won't be anything different really but chances are you will feel more invested in the gameplay and you want to save your fallen comrade etc.
Its all about sucking the player into the gameworld and effecting your emotions. I'm sure most people would rather be emotionally invested in a gameworld rather than just a shooting level them move on to the next shooting level and rinse and repeat for 20 shooting levels, all with no story or characters and cutscenes etc.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
App store says hi.
First of all, i never said i agree with it or not so i don't know why you are accusing me of something.
Secondly could you imagine say a war game like COD for example where you are in this big battle with tons of soldiers fighting on either side AND you had to search around for health packs?, it just wouldn't work imo.
SeventhSon
Member
But aren't there better ways to convey the story/exposition? As RedSwirl noted, aren't cutscenes a rather 'primitive' method?
Thanks
This is my main disconnect; I'd rather provide my own motivations. I'm not an actor in a play. I create the character and story as I play.