CAA Gamecast - Episode 36 - "Where are my Blue Shellz?!"

[Link Antilles]

In this show, we talked about the why some companies are leaving the ESA, epic Metal Gear cutscenes, and end will a rant about Mario Kart.

http://www.linkantilles.com/caagamecast/

Question Audience:
In games, what method of conveying narrative do you prefer? For example, cutscenes that take control of the game (Metal Gear, Devil May Cry), cutscenes you are a part of (Bioshock, Half-Life), or maybe ones where you take part in the dialogue (Mass Effect, Monkey Island, Neverwinter Nights)?

[Bobtheduck]

sorry for double post... oops

[Bobtheduck]

Downloading now. If this is about the 90 minute cutscene thing, a couple of game review publications that have played through the game said that's not true... I mean, a LOT of reviewers have played it already, so it makes sense that if there were such, um, Epic cutscenes that they'd have said something before, since so many people were eager to talk about it...

If you WEREN'T referring to said controversy, well... Nevermind... Still downloading the gamecast.

As for cutscenes, I like some cutscenes you can control, if it's done really well... And example of NOT doing it well: Silent Hill 4... The prison thing... God forbid the guy in the cell was saying something important, because I just started running around the prison right away. Mass Effect's branching dialogue seemed pretty awesome... Overall, though, I like MGS4... Cut Scenes you watch are better than an overuse of QTEs (RE4, Heavenly Sword) which are usually (note that word) the worst of both worlds... You're not playing, but you're not watching... You're just maintaining, and that's annoying to me.

I certainly hope the 90 minute cutscene thing is a gross exaggeration, because while I love MGS, I hated Xenosaga... I'm sure the cut scenes in MGS4 are better than the ones in Xenosaga, but still... 90 minutes... Xenosaga was unbearable with its hour-long cutscenes...

[uc pseudonym]

For me the form of the cutscene is secondary to the plot it explains, but my favorite type is cutscenes that take control of the game. While I think there is merit to stories that you enter as the player, I prefer ones where I control a character that acts as an individual independent of me. For the most part, getting to choose your answer has always felt trivial and gimmicky to me, especially when you are forced down the same game path regardless.

My basic feeling is that if you want to do something other than a standard cutscene, you need to use that to its fullest extent. Some of the cutscenes in Bioshock, for example, make themselves more effective by giving player control. Also, I'm all for selecting options if they create a significant impact upon the storyline.

But I also don't think cutscenes should be abused. Some games fall into the trap of alternating between a level of action, then some plot. The player's actions should contribute to the plot, as should NPC dialogue, locations, and other methods of storytelling such as journals.

[bigsleepj]

I got mentioned by name. Cool.

I though long and hard about the question. All of them can be good and all of them can be bad. I'm going to say I prefer whatever works for the story being told by the game.

[Fish and Chips]

Actually I was traveling when this episode was being recorded.

My preferance for cut scenes depends on how well it is executed and the reasoning behind that choice. Metal Gear Solid 3 has a very cinematic edge to its cut scenes, and really added to that pulp Cold War spy thing they were going for. By contrast, Half Life 2 deliberately throws you into a sudden and strange world, and it simply makes more sense to have the plot unfold around you as a bystander to current events than inexplicably taking a third person camera angle and narrative.

Both games present a different gaming experience; Half Life immerses you, YOU, in the desperate desolation of escape and revolution from the ground floor up, while Metal Gear Solid is essentially front row seating to the many varied and violent exploits of Snake (hilarity ensues). Both mediums have their own tailored style of story telling, and I honestly could not see them swapped and retain the same effectiveness.