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QTEs. Yay or Nay.
rvcontre78
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I remember when I saw one in Shenmue. It really took me by surprise and I thought it was a pretty interesting way to add some interactivity to a cut scene but I'm really starting to dislike the idea now. I'll use Indigo Prophecy as an example. Ok you start the game up and the director gives you this really interesting talk about the focus of the gameplay about how the control was new and different. I loved that game and I was impressed by what David Cage was going for even if the execution wasn't quite there but at least they were trying something different. The moments that took me out of the atmosphere though were the QTEs. I mean how does hitting X, O, ^, X, O equate to dodging bullets or a roundhouse kick? It doesn't. Do I have the answer to fix that? No, of course not. But I have the feeling that game developers are settling for this technique because well... it's easy to do. I think it's stagnating gameplay and I can't wait till we're out of this part of the woods. You may be thinking, "Well it would be difficult to incorporate what you're asking." Well yeah... it would be.
The Top Ten Neglected NES games by The Gaming Standard
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rvcontre78 on
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Creative geniuses, lend your sexy mind juices!
I'm talking stuff like the spanking in God Hand, where it is used as a simple "Do this now bitch!", but is optional and fitting in with what is going on as and when it happens. It is a good way of knowing that a move is definitely going to pull off, and keeps you engaged, and all that happens if you miss it is a lost opportunity.
Cut scenes split up with button presses are very annoying now, and after Shen Mue, Fahrenheit and RE4 I am sick of them.
Edit: I agree Rook, Gears of War does it well too.
Exactly! I just think it takes some thought. Well maybe a lot of thought. But even if they had to Max Payne through an event it still wouldn't have to be a random assortment of button presses.
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Yeah, I'll go with QTEs that are done well. I guess it's not QTEs per se that I'm annoyed with. It's that yeah, most of them feel like you're playing a game of Simon that is completely detached from what your on-screen character is doing. Like No More Heroes I think does it really well and totally uses the Wii-mote without over using it.
I'm just wondering what the next step might be.
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I guess I like them as long as they're not too difficult, and they're used regularly. If there's too much time between instances, you just forget that the game has QTEs at all and you'll die at least once each time one shows up.
In my opinion, QTEs that give you a 0% chance of succeeding on the first try are just really bad design. CoD4's single, unexpected, and incredibly short duration QTE is absolutely the worst use of the technique I've ever seen. Realistic maybe, but in no way fun.
Probably my favourite was RE4's, since you A) have a reasonable chance at succeeding if you're paying attention
Quick Timed Event. Like the little sections in the boss battles of GoW etc. But yeah, that's my big problem with them. They're just lazy a lot of times.
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I thought RE4's were the worst, since you never have any idea when they're coming, save a few obvious situations (Krauser) -- but half the time, you put your controller down, expecting a break from play, a cutscene, and then BAM! pick your controller up dammit this isn't no cutscene bitch!
I'M A TWITTER SHITTER
You Died
Dammit I didn't post fast enough.
They were good in indigo prophecy/farenheit, where they were a major portion of gameplay and fit in the context of the genre.
However, I'm pretty sick of them now, and I don't think they should really have a roll in action games.
No.
Worst offender I've come across has to be Jericho. They just don't work in an FPS.
Actually, I think that's a pretty important distinction. They are really lazy in action games but I guess I wouldn't mind them that much as part of a random battle in an RPG for some reason as a modifier for damage/dodge etc.
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Take RE4 for example. You're about to get crushed by a boulder, press X! You press X, you dodge it. It's one action tied to one button press and I think that works pretty well.
I hate it, though, when you press X and all of a sudden your character does a septuple backflip onto a monster's back, dances a jig, shoots the monster in the back of the head, surfs the carcass down the mountain all the while shooting other monsters out of mid air. From one button press. That's no more interactive than just watching a cutscene.
If the character's going to be doing a shit-ton of badass stuff, don't tie it down to one or two button presses. The amount of interaction on the player's part should correspond to the amount of action on screen.
Do... Re... Mi... So... Fa.... Do... Re.... Do...
Forget it...
The first one is surprising, but after that I expected them constantly.
Probably my biggest gripe with QTEs other than cheap instant kills is that your character is doing some amazingly beautiful choreographed action, but you can't spare the second to actually look at it because you have to watch for the stupid button press prompt. A cutscene would be a better idea here (hi2u Heavenly Sword!).
Oh, I'm not arguing that they look amazing. I mean I think that's what necessitates them. You've got an amazing cut scene where the character's actions aren't translatable to any conventional control scheme. That's just where, in my opinion, more thought goes into things. What sort of input (I"m looking at you Nintendo Wii) would allow me to really feel like I've just sidestepped a roundhouse kick and threw a guy across the room? I know it's just wishful thinking but that's the direction I think games need to go in and we're much closer than we used to be.
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Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage had them before Shenmue, just to be Mr. Anal Cavity. And besides, it's more of a modern utilization of the "gameplay" in Dragon's Lair/Space Ace. I have nothing more to say.
Oh, I guess... yea. Though they need to be restricted in usage. Most developers clearly have no idea how to do them correctly.
Maybe, I'm arguing a gameplay mechanic here more than QTEs. I'll use another example. Lockpicking in Oblivion. It's at least somewhat similar to what goes on if you've got the actual tools. You're trying to get the tumblers to stick by adjusting your tongs. Now if it were just let's say X,O,X,X,X to get things open... that's what annoys me.
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Exactly. Those are my sentiments... er.. exactly. I guess I just like brainstorming on how to work around these sorts of things in games.
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Make them optional at the start of a game, or just remove them. The person who doesn't want to watch the cut scene should be able to skip them. The person who does want to watch the cut scene isn't able to because they are busy looking for random face buttons on the screen.
That said, in games where it is implemented in the actual gameplay (God of War, God Hand, and Kingdom Hearts 2 come to mind), I think they have the ability to improve the game. But in that case, I consider it more of a context-sensitive move than a QTE.
IMHO most developers are too lazy to work on the game mechanics and control, so they prerender anything difficult to make playable and turn it into a Choose Your Own Adventure interactive movie. Jericho, I'm looking at you.
More games should be like Ninja Gaiden. You kick ass because you're a fucking awesome ninja, and you are in control of your awesomeness at all times. If you decapitate eight hapless Spider Clan ninjas, you do it because you are awesome, not because you can mash the X button when dramatically appropriate.
I didn't mind RE4's QTE because, say in the laser hallway, they made Leon do shit he couldn't do under the regular control scheme. But when QTE involves nothing but more dramatic versions of actions your character can do in gameplay, that's when it fails hard (e.g. Heavenly Sword)
Instant death is LAZY QTE, and this is what you are complaining about. Don't confuse the hatred you feel at a cheap instant death with the concept of QTE itself, as not all QTE do this and allowing this association to continue is just you yourself being a lazy thinker.
I don't think there is such a thing as 'good QTE' and 'bad QTE'. They're all bad and cheap and lazy, no matter how cool the following animation is.
Yeah, this is what Shenmue did, and it was cool. QTEs occurred during cutscenes, and if you missed one, Ryo would get hit or run into an object you were supposed to dodge, but you wouldn't fail until you missed a few of them.
Heavenly Sword had great animation too. But in Heavenly Sword you'll get punished if you watch them. You have to concentrate on the little symbols instead of watching the animation happen, because the timing was so so strict.
I really didn't like Heavenly Sword.
Not only that, in God of War I had to force myself to watch the actual "cutscenes" instead of fixing my eyes on the center of the screen, waiting for the next button to appear, very frustrating.
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True story.
I find this very amusing.