• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

What does Cinematic mean?

G

Game4life

Banned
So I am always left confused when gamers use the term cinematic gaming because I am not quite sure what it exactly means.

Do they mean the way the game is framed camera wise? Do they mean high production values? Do they mean any game with significant attention given to story and voice acting? Does it mean it is linear? It seems to me there is no proper definition of what this term exactly means. A game being cinematic does not necessarily mean it has to be associated with a specific kind of game design which is why I struggle to understand what people mean when they say they love or hate cinematic gaming. If it means framing of shots, production values and focus on story then Metal Gear Solid 5 is as cinematic as say The Last of Us. Yet design wise they are so different that it makes it difficult to put them in the same umbrella. Cinematic gaming has been the norm for many generations now. Heck some of my favorite franchises like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, DMC, GOW can all be considered cinematic if it means what I think it means. Yet all these games are very distinct from each other. So I am still confused how people can outright say they love or hate cinematic gaming when the underlying game design for a cinematic game can have numerous possibilities. Does anyone have any other definition of cinematic gaming?
 
When someone says 'cinematic' I just think high production values and sheer spectacle. Something like The Order, God of War, and Uncharted, not Heavy Rain, The Walking Dead, or Rogue Legacy,
 
I think the term is meaningless for gaming, and never contributes positively to a discussion. In my experience the term vaguely means high production values in a narrative game, and more often than not is used to justify bullshit.
 
These days I would call anything that is heavy on dialogue and narrative cinematic. Like use of expositions, background stories etc...

I'm playing Yakuza 4 at the moment and I would call that cinematic, especially after my wife sat watching it and said "so they made having a conversation into a game now?" while I had been moving round the city chatting to people.
 
YianGaruga said:
Focus on story and cutscenes over gameplay
Click to expand...

Not quite that would be 'filmic'
:D

Cinematic just means it looks like or takes inspiration from films, usually in the form of cutscenes. Doesn't mean the gameplay has to suffer as a result though.
 
Does the game ever force you to walk slowly?

If so then it's a cinematic game.
 
diggmcbadass said:
I think the term is meaningless for gaming, and never contributes positively to a discussion. In my experience the term vaguely means high production values in a narrative game, and more often than not is used to justify bullshit.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much what I think as well. No one seems to come up with a valid definition. RE4 has set pieces and high production values. Is it cinematic? According to someone else's definition cinematic means a focus on Story over gameplay so Walking Dead should be considered cinematic?

Where does that leave MGS5? Kojima would argue his games are cinematic but I would never say MGS5 focuses more on story and less on gameplay given the robust systems at play in his games.

I think unless there is an agreed upon definition, throwing generic remarks like I hate cinematic gaming or I love cinematic gaming makes no sense to me as so many games with different game designs can qualify under that umbrella.

Betty said:
Not quite that would be 'filmic'
:D

Cinematic just means it looks like or takes inspiration from films, usually in the form of cutscenes. Doesn't mean the gameplay has to suffer as a result though.
Click to expand...

This makes sense. So any game having cutscenes can be defined as cinematic. I think that is a fair enough assertion.
 
Cinematic means: focus on videogame story + cutscenes (which are almost always way worse than an actual movie) instead of actual gameplay
 
Multiple dynamic angles correlating with the content being presented as if filmed by cameras for cinema possibly operating alongside voice acting or vocal narration which serves the previously mentioned purpose.

That's literally it.

I remember back in the late 90's when my friends and I called cutscenes 'cinemas'.

"Shut the fuck up its a cinema! Aeris is gonna do a prayer or something..."
 
Game4life said:
So Walking Dead is cinematic? At what point does it become not cinematic. What is the percentage distribution that is largely agreed upon between cutscenes and gameplay for it to not be considered a cinematic game?
Click to expand...

Lol, Jesus. There's no determined objective scale for when a game is considered cinematic.
 
A cinematic game is game that takes cues from film and cinema at large. Whether that be it's writing and acting or it's focus on set pieces, much like many action films would be based around large set pieces. It has nothing to do with cut scenes, framerate or anything like that.
 
Ushojax said:
Does the game ever force you to walk slowly?

If so then it's a cinematic game.
Click to expand...

ohhh.png
 
Game4life said:
So I am always left confused when gamers use the term cinematic gaming because I am not quite sure what it exactly means.

Do they mean the way the game is framed camera wise? Do they mean high production values? Do they mean any game with significant attention given to story and voice acting? Does it mean it is linear? It seems to me there is no proper definition of what this term exactly means. A game being cinematic does not necessarily mean it has to be associated with a specific kind of game design which is why I struggle to understand what people mean when they say they love or hate cinematic gaming. If it means framing of shots, production values and focus on story then Metal Gear Solid 5 is as cinematic as say The Last of Us. Yet design wise they are so different that it makes it difficult to put them in the same umbrella. Cinematic gaming has been the norm for many generations now. Heck some of my favorite franchises like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, DMC, GOW can all be considered cinematic if it means what I think it means. Yet all these games are very distinct from each other. So I am still confused how people can outright say they love or hate cinematic gaming when the underlying game design for a cinematic game can have numerous possibilities. Does anyone have any other definition of cinematic gaming?
Click to expand...

It's interesting you bring up Silent Hill since I always felt very conflicted about later games in the series and how goddamn boring they are both visually and artistically even in terms cutscenes (especially Downpour and Homecoming). Watching the Two Best Friends LP of Silent Hill 2 and replaying through Silent Hill 3 made me realize just how much I miss the old fixed camera perspective of old survival horror games.

I mean sure, I understand why a lot of developers switched to over-the-shoulder 3rd person camera or even exclusively first person since it gives the player a finer degree of control over the action and camera. The thing I love about the SH2 and 3 is the way they set up the shots during gameplay without taking control away from the player. Whether a slow reveal of a creature in the distance shrouded in darkness, when the camera focuses on Pyramid Head staring at you behind bars or an incredible moment in SH3 involving a red door in the subway level which I won't spoil (seriously amazing moment).

Both games, I'd easily describe as cinematic because of the way they utilized the camera and environmental design to set up scenes and strike a mood to the player just like a horror film would. The highlight is that they rarely took control away from the player except exclusively in cutscenes. This is what I personally look for in "cinematic" games except a lot of developers use the term to describe how awesome their cutscenes and QTEs are, which don't get me wrong definitely still have their uses but more often than not almost always misused especially at the expense of player agency.
 
Overt focus on story and cutscenes, lot's of QTEs and instances of taking control away from the player, cutscenes where you mash a button to make the character do something menial so the game can still pretend it's a game.
 
It's about presentation and atmosphere.
Making you feel like more engaged, as oppose to the arcade feel that doesn't hide you're playing a game.
It is not black and white, some games need one over the other.
 
It means the game has annoying animations where your character stumbles on rocks, leans up against walls, etc which makes basic movement feel terrible.

But it's cool to watch in pre release videos and stuff.

I'm playing Uncharted 3 right now and I need to vent.
 
AJ_Wings said:
It's interesting you bring up Silent Hill since I always felt very conflicted about later games in the series and how goddamn boring they are both visually and artistically even in terms cutscenes (especially Downpour and Homecoming). Watching the Two Best Friends LP of Silent Hill 2 and replaying through Silent Hill 3 made me realize just how much I miss the old fixed camera perspective of old survival horror games.

I mean sure, I understand why a lot of developers switched to over-the-shoulder 3rd person camera or even exclusively first person since it gives the player a finer degree of control over the action and camera. The thing I love about the SH2 and 3 is the way they set up the shots during gameplay without taking control away from the player. Whether a slow reveal of a creature in the distance shrouded in darkness, when the camera focuses on Pyramid Head staring at you behind bars or an incredible moment in SH3 involving a red door in the subway level which I won't spoil (seriously amazing moment).

Both games, I'd easily describe as cinematic because of the way they utilized the camera and environmental design to set up scenes and strike a mood to the player. The highlight is that they rarely took control away from the player except exclusively in cutscenes. This is what I personally look for in "cinematic" games except a lot of developers use the term to describe how awesome their cutscenes and QTEs are, which don't get me wrong definitely still have their uses but more often than not almost always misused especially at the expense of player aganecy.
Click to expand...

Yeah. In fact thinking back about SH1 is what made me really think about this term and made me create this thread. There is so much dismissal of the term cinematic gaming when stuff like Order and Walking Dead should not be allowed to be the poster child of what that term means. A game can have camera angles, story, production values inspired by cinema but not necessarily have their gameplay undermined like it is in certain cases like Order, Walking Dead etc. Order and Walking Dead are not the sole representatives of cinematic gaming and should not be thought of as such.
 
Game4life said:
This is pretty much what I think as well. No one seems to come up with a valid definition. RE4 has set pieces and high production values. Is it cinematic? According to someone else's definition cinematic means a focus on Story over gameplay so Walking Dead should be considered cinematic?

Where does that leave MGS5? Kojima would argue his games are cinematic but I would never say MGS5 focuses more on story and less on gameplay given the robust systems at play in his games.

I think unless there is an agreed upon definition, throwing generic remarks like I hate cinematic gaming or I love cinematic gaming makes no sense to me as so many games with different game designs can qualify under that umbrella.
Click to expand...

I agree. MGS3/MGS2/MGS4 are probably some of the more cinematic games out there, in terms of set pieces, and they have robust gameplay.

IMO that's what it is. You have an amazing set piece to play around in, not just flashy cutscenes or graphics. For example, the first time I saw a game that I would call cinematic is FFVIII- You have these 2 giant floating schools that bash into eachother, then you're fist punching a guy over the freaking hover blades of your own school, then you're running along a literal battlefield.

When I think Cinematic, I don't think flashy cutscenes or graphics. That's just a cutscene. Cinematic has to put you into the game in a way that normal gameplay or cutscenes don't.

Again, a recent example is the MGS4 Microwave Scene- It's a small part of a greater game, but nothing is sacrificed for this scene in terms of cutting corners or making the game shorter. The whole game itself is a perfect example of a cinematic game done right IMO- There's enough gameplay and challenge in it that just pays off when you complete it. The Microwave scene, to an MGS fan from the beginning, works so well because it's a breakdown of a legendary soldier they've played and seen for the past 10 years at the point of release. If there is a bar for cinematic scenes, then in my eye the Microwave sets that bar as achieving it. Because nothing is sacrificed to achieve that level, the player is invested enough that it becomes more than a game and it reaches into the level of what is generally defined as cinema.

In essence, I think to achieve a Cinematic game is to have the perfect blend of gameplay, set pieces, and story driven content. Cutting down any of those pillars only hurts the game in achieving cinematic quality. If it doesn't have the perfect balance, than it'll become either a game with great gameplay but crappy story, or a great story with crappy gameplay.
 
SuperAngelo64 said:
Multiple dynamic angles correlating with the content being presented as if filmed by cameras for cinema possibly operating alongside voice acting or vocal narration which serves the previously mentioned purpose.

That's literally it.
Click to expand...

That would be my take. It's more about the cinematography trying to replicate Hollywood. Uncharted would be a perfect example, it's basically a videogame take on Indianna Jones set today rather than the Nazi era. The orignal Max Payne would be another example for me, albeit leaning towards a Film Noir style rather than straight up Hollywood
 
SuperAngelo64 said:
I remember back in the late 90's when my friends and I called cutscenes 'cinemas'.

"Shut the fuck up its a cinema! Aeris is gonna do a prayer or something..."
Click to expand...


Oh yeah, haven't thought about that in years, used "cinema" often, especially in the 8 and 16 bit eras. The term "cutscene" wasn't really used by us until maybe the PS2 era. I think we called FF7-style cutscenes "CG"s for a while.
 
There's two ways to look at it, one is what most people are saying here that it focuses on story-telling over game play.

The other is when you're at a moment in a game and think "this is cinematic as fuck!" like when I'm in arma2/3 with 100 other people in a massive coop with tanks rolling past in a massive charge, tracers flying everywhere with attack helos strafing in front of you or flying right past you.

While those moments are rare for everyone to culminate in a single area and open up, it's cinematic in both view and gameplay.
 
It means everything. It means nothing. I don't even think devs use it right anymore, if they ever did.

What does cinematic mean? THIS.

The sound design, the camera behavior (from the normal wide follow shot to the zoomed in view), the way the landscape is framed (and reframed, and reframed) dynamically, the use of music cues, the use of lighting + fog + silhouettes, the post processing. It's about using cinematic language in gameplay to emulate the feel of a movie, from aesthetics, to camera work, to effects, to sound, to intensity, to intimacy, to spectacle. The goal is to make gameplay movie-like in presentation. Has nothing to do with being story driven, has nothing to do with a lack of gameplay, and most importantly- has nothing to do with cutscenes (which ARE short films in and of themselves).
 
To me..

Cinematic would just mean cutscene, where a person takes on a role of only a spectator during the session where some form of visual component/media is displayed on a screen (mostly for entertainment).
 
An excuse for devs to use when they cant manage to hit a decent frame rate. /s
I take it as focusing on story rather than gameplay which doesn't interest me.
 
Game4life said:
So Walking Dead is cinematic? At what point does it become not cinematic. What is the percentage distribution that is largely agreed upon between cutscenes and gameplay for it to not be considered a cinematic game?



Framerates below 60?

Bayonetta 2 and Vanquish are cinematic by that definition am I correct?
Click to expand...

Alltough I sense a bit of an undertone in your post, I think cinematic games are focus largely on story (mostly through cut-scenes, but that can be accomplished through other mechanics as well), while being average in game play, or at least pretty standard. The balance is lost and when its viewed purely on gameplay, the game doesn't accomplish what its set out to do. That doesn't mean cinematic games are bad per se, some people prefer a high focus on story and cutscenes.

I think you cannot attach an percentage to it. However, I believe cinematic games are where the most important driving factor of progressing through a game, and eagerness of what the rest of the game holds, is mostly based on story as opposed to gameplay itself. (gameplay becomes the secondary focus).
 
Net_Wrecker said:
It means everything. It means nothing. I don't even think devs use it right anymore, if they ever did.

What does cinematic mean? THIS.

The sound design, the camera behavior (from the normal wide follow shot to the zoomed in view), the way the landscape is framed (and reframed, and reframed) dynamically, the use of music cues, the use of lighting + fog + silhouettes, the post processing. It's about using cinematic language in gameplay to emulate the feel of a movie, from aesthetics, to camera work, to effects, to sound, to intensity, to intimacy, to spectacle. The goal is to make gameplay movie-like in presentation. Has nothing to do with being story driven, has nothing to do with a lack of gameplay, and most importantly- has nothing to do with cutscenes (which ARE short films in and of themselves).
Click to expand...

Really like this example and agree with your interpretation.
 
CSJ said:
There's two ways to look at it, one is what most people are saying here that it focuses on story-telling over game play.

The other is when you're at a moment in a game and think "this is cinematic as fuck!" like when I'm in arma2/3 with 100 other people in a massive coop with tanks rolling past in a massive charge, tracers flying everywhere with attack helos strafing in front of you or flying right past you.

While those moments are rare for everyone to culminate in a single area and open up, it's cinematic in both view and gameplay.
Click to expand...
Well I think a good way of distinguishing 'cinematic' from your ARMA example is developer guidance. I would say that being cinematic implies a strong element of higher direction in your game experience. The developers act as something of an analogue to a movie director and guide things in the way they want the player to experience something. Your ARMA example, to me, would simply be an example of a very dramatic emergent gameplay experience. The players themselves are creating the intensity and drama of that specific experience.
 
Game4life said:
some of my favorite franchises like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, DMC, GOW can all be considered cinematic if it means what I think it means.
Click to expand...

It doesn't and they aren't.

'Cinematic' gaming is an emphasis on non-interactive elements over interactive elements.
These are things like;
- Highly scripted linear corridors rather than levels with multiple gameplay approaches (eg Half Life 2 versus Deus Ex)
- Emphasis on visuals over mechanics (eg Heavenly Sword being animation locked versus Bayonetta being input driven)
- "Tell don't show" narrative (eg cutscenes versus world building)
 
It's another word for "I want to be a movie director but all I get to do is to make this crappy game and turn it into something it's not supposed to be".
 
MrNyarlathotep said:
It doesn't and they aren't.

'Cinematic' gaming is an emphasis on non-interactive elements over interactive elements.
These are things like;
- Highly scripted linear corridors rather than levels with multiple gameplay approaches (eg Half Life 2 versus Deus Ex)
- Emphasis on visuals over mechanics (eg Heavenly Sword being animation locked versus Bayonetta being input driven)
- "Tell don't show" narrative (eg cutscenes versus world building)
Click to expand...

Which Gaming Dictionary did you get your definition for cinematic gaming. My Gaming Dictionary says it has 3 pillars of importance-Gameplay, Story, Cutscenes.
 
Makes you feel like you're playing a movie rather than a game. Heavy story focus, cutscenes, and usually good audio/visual.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Zelnick says GTA 6 will do "what's never been done." What does that actually mean?
2 3
146
184
Memati187 replied
Terror: Endless Night – Official Cinematic Trailer
Trailer 
1
104
poodaddy replied
Does your spouse also game? What does he she they think about gaming?
2 3
115
1K
Bondo replied
What does the "death of generations" mean for the PS6 Portable?
Opinion Hardware Platform  2
58
2K
Knucklepux replied
Malediction - Official Cinematic Trailer
Trailer 
0
175
IbizaPocholo replied
Top Bottom