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[Salsa]

Thing is, I don't think it's impossible for a videogame to have what many would consider a "legitimate" film-quality cutscene. It's just that they would need to hire legitimately good screenwriters and legitimately good directors, and that's not something that happens often, if at all.

Ok, im gonna play ball with all the "comparing videogames to movies" stuff, even though if i dont agree.

That being the case, what stated above isnt really the problem. The problem is that videogame storytelling is still a new concept. Its been around for a while, but it is still considered a new concept, and the majority of producers, writers, developers, etc just dont quite get it yet. We are not there yet, think about the years of experience we have with films and books, now think about the experience we have on videogame storytelling.

We´ll get there, developers in general will one day realize what you have to do, and where you have to put some effort to make videogame stories of great quality.

 

[Koodo]

The problem with games being compared to films (lol) boils down to one huge issue: with videogames, the developers are, first and foremost, making a videogame. A filmmaker is focused 100% on the film (most of them) whereas a videogame developer has to actually make the game. It's not all about the quality of the movie sequences. This is why some of us don't really care if the cutscenes aren't that great, but people who need for videogame cutscenes to be on the level as something you'd see in a theater need to wake the fuck up. Even what I consider to be the very best of videogame cutscenes still pale in comparison to a standard film. I think it's fine for games to have movie-style scenes, in fact I enjoy them most of the time, but I don't sit there and think "well it was okay but didn't quite compare to any scene from whatever movie I saw last night." That's just dumb.

Other M's cutscenes, I'd say, are more comparable to a Saturday morning cartoon-- along with many other videogame cutscenes. Some people like that, some don't, but I don't really understand what seems to be so confusing about the argument. The problem I have is that I don't think a Metroid game needs to be full of this anime-style horse shit. Metal Gear Solid is fine with it because its been there since day one of the Solid series, but Metroid, not so much.

This is exactly what it is. Apples and oranges.

Comparing the narrative of a videogame with a film is as fruitless as comparing the narrative of a film with a book. But the comparison is especially faulty when it comes to videogames, since there are other more pressing manners at stake.

It boils down to the fact that some people want the cheese. Inane accusations of having no standards is as silly as walking into a Lady Gaga post and going "lulz mj was better." Liking something inferior (and I apologize to myself for calling Gaga inferior) does not prevent liking something with, I don't know, more substance. You can want the cheese and the wine at the same time.

Crunched makes a terrific point that the main fault in gaming narrative is the emulation of film. Games are about interaction; the narrative should be fused with the gameplay. That is why I hold Portal to such high regards. The narrative was divine, and it did not once employ a single cutscene to get the story across.

A game like Portal 2 is where I'll throw a shitstorm if the story underwhelms, because I'm expecting fucking gaming royalty and I know the developers are aware of what their audience is expecting. For a game like Metroid? There's no precedence for a quality scrip and direction, and on top of that, the audience for a Metroid game is not clamoring for succinctly told narrative. An audience for Metroid, like the audience of any other staple franchise, is simply clamoring for the return of the titular character.

 

[brandonh83]

I agree guys, comparing them is dumb. That was my original point. :lol

I just think it's better to argue it within the context of Metroid.

 

[thecouncil]

Baffling ending to a solid game. Now I'm being rewarded with a new cutscene. The reward should be that there ISN'T a cutscene.

:lol :lol :lol i love this thread. when you get past the 'your opinion is wrong' stuff, there are so many funny things said in here.

i think all post-credits game is really good.

Spoiler

even the adam flashback scene in there when she finds the helmet was nice. then the music swells and its a little corny and then its abruptly interrupted with a flashing 'warning' sign. i laughed at that.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Modern Warfare is shitty too, it's like every possible military Michael Bay cliche you can think of, and then some, rolled up into a six hour game. I mean, in MW2 when you find Washington D.C. on fire and it starts playing really dramatic music, it makes me giggle/cringe/eyeroll every single time.

COD4 felt self-aware, to me. Even if it has since been revealed that it probably wasn't. It was just a simple military storyline with some really cool magic-tricks thrown in. I can dig watching a rabbit pulled out of a hat every now and then.

 

[Boney]

dunno if you guys know this, but boney is in fact an awesome dude.

oh hey, I'm just not a poor bastard like you.

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

You still got more to go

Yep. It's sort of a non-sequitur, but there is still something very cool to uncover if you revisit the bottle ship.

 

[brandonh83]

COD4 felt self-aware, to me. Even if it has since been revealed that it probably wasn't. It was just a simple military storyline with some really cool magic-tricks thrown. I can dig watching a rabbit been pulled out of a hat every now and then.

Sure, why not. It just depresses me that there are people who actually find it to be genuinely good stuff. :lol

 

[Ridley327]

Like I said, it was just Sgt. Jackson's death that blew me away in CoD4, but I think that scene would have been just as effective in any other game. It's a very bold piece of storytelling that only an interactive game could deliver.

 

[Salsa]

Like I said, it was just Sgt. Jackson's death that blew me away in CoD4, but I think that scene would have been just as effective in any other game. It's a very bold piece of storytelling that only an interactive game could deliver.

Yep. I actually use this as an argument when stating some of the points i tried above. You can say whatever you want about COD4 story, but it is a fine example of using videogame-only tools to get a point across. Both Sgt. Jackson´s death and the No Russian level in MW2 are good examples.

Its still using a very film-like sequence, when you think about, specially in Sgt. Jackson´s death, the only thing that is unachievable in film is the perspective. Its still a scripted event where you cant really interfere. But even just that simple thing, perspective, makes it completely different and uncomparable to a film.

 

[brandonh83]

Like I said, it was just Sgt. Jackson's death that blew me away in CoD4, but I think that scene would have been just as effective in any other game. It's a very bold piece of storytelling that only an interactive game could deliver.

I'll give it this: it was more entertaining and interesting than anything in The Hurt Locker.

 

[Boney]

Yep. It's sort of a non-sequitur, but there is still something very cool to uncover if you revisit the bottle ship.

Yeah, it felt like a really nice easter egg to me. It should've been included in the regular game though.

Spoiler

Like make it self destroy, but you head to the command center to get the helmet first. And then escape or whatever.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I just bet the Crocomirealike. How far am I in, roughly? My last item was the wave beam. Oh wait, maybe it was the grapple beam.

 

[Koodo]

I just bet the Crocomirealike. How far am I in, roughly? My last item was the wave beam. Oh wait, maybe it was the grapple beam.

Half-way? Three quarters? Not exactly near the ending, but the game isn't long, so you're not far from it either.

If you just got the grapple beam, you-know-who is coming up soon.

 

[Boney]

I just bet the Crocomirealike. How far am I in, roughly? My last item was the wave beam. Oh wait, maybe it was the grapple beam.

Should be like 50%

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

Yeah, it felt like a really nice easter egg to me. It should've been included in the regular game though.

Spoiler

Like make it self destroy, but you head to the command center to get the helmet first. And then escape or whatever.

Agreed. The whole thing with the endgame is sort of weird in general. I disliked the fact that you couldn't 100% the game without beating it first. It's also frustrating that

Spoiler

even after you go through to the command center and fight the boss that elevator in the main sector remains locked, making it so that you have to go around the long way if you want to approach from the other side. There are actually several bottlenecks like this in the game that bug me, and make backtracking for items more irritating than it should be.

 

[Snuggles]

Okay. The game is beaten, took me 11 hours over 6 days. Looks like I'm at 39%

Thoughts:

One of the major issues seems to be with the cutscenes. My biggest issue with them is the fact that they exist, there are a few exceptions (like Rockstar or Bioware games) but I prefer my videogame stories to be as minimal as possible. Outside of a few anamolies that manage to hold my attention with some kind of witchcraft, most videogame stories are a straight up waste of time and almost guaranteed to be bad. It's something I didn't like about the game, but it's not worse than most other story focused games I've played so I can't really hold it against Other M. I suffered through Alan Wake's cutscenes this year, so they weren't that bad. Next game should include a fast forward/skip forward function like my DVR or it could let you skip them but see a sum up of what happened like when you boot up the game.

The core gameplay is what makes it worth playing for me. It may not be exceptional in any catagory, but it kept me entertained throughout the entire game. The Wheres Waldo and 3rd Person parts were a bone headed decisions, but they weren't enough to seriously detract from the game. They were quick and easy. It looked great and I loved the camera angles and the way that Samus controlled in relation to them. It didn't allow as much freedom as other Metroid games, but there was at least a little extra room to explore and search all the hidden power ups and stuff. It was linear but it had good pacing, which is an even trade for me.

The combat was definitely the highlight for me. Most action games, like Ninja Gaiden, are a bit complicated for me and I usually get frustrated or repeatedly spam the same moves through out the entire game. I just suck at them. Other M was accessible and simple enough for me to grasp and master it, but it had enough variety in enemy types and just enough challenge to keep it from getting stale. I looked forward to encounters instead of dreading them. Most of the boss fights were great, which I think is the most agreeably good thing about the game.

Spoiler

Ridley fight was fucking awesome.

I followed the pre-release hype of this one very closely, it was quite the rollercoaster ride of expectations. In the end I feel about the same as I expected, it's a good but flawed game. It has a lot of positives but a few poor decisions keep it out of grasp of greatness and dear god did that final battle suck. I had a good time, though, I'm glad I played it. I'll be back to work on 100% but I need a break.

Anyways, I had a lot of thoughts on the game and I know it's a long post most people aren't interested in reading so I'll just sum it up in 2 words:

Pretty good....pretty, pretty good.

 

[etiolate]

It's only taken 161 pages for people to come around on game narrative. :lol

 

[Deleted member 30609]

It's only taken 161 pages for people to come around on game narrative. :lol

I think that says more about your persuasion skills than it does on the makeup of this thread.

Spoiler

Oh shiiiit~~

 

[Ridley327]

Yep. I actually use this as an argument when stating some of the points i tried above. You can say whatever you want about COD4 story, but it is a fine example of using videogame-only tools to get a point across. Both Sgt. Jackson´s death and the No Russian level in MW2 are good examples.

Its still using a very film-like sequence, when you think about, specially in Sgt. Jackson´s death, the only thing that is unachievable in film is the perspective. Its still a scripted event where you cant really interfere. But even just that simple thing, perspective, makes it completely different and uncomparable to a film.

I think the fact that the game forces you to make an attempt to survive is what really sells it; you've been on this idea of the player characters being untouchable for not just that game, but for every other CoD title to this point and they cruelly snatch it away from you. That's what sells that moment; it's not about Jackson. It's you crawling through the wreckage of the helicopter. It's you looking around for survivors, knowing full well that it's a miracle that you're alive to begin with. It's you looking into the distance, seeing that fallout right before you fade to black forever. It's a chilling moment in a game that isn't exactly brimming with subtlety and restraint.

 

[Poyunch]

Spoiler

Duuude you're not done yet! Maybe 90% done if you don't go for 100% items found.

 

[etiolate]

People react negatively to me, that is no surprise. But I did have to do all the dirty work for a long time, eating the kneejerk reactions over and over.

 

[Shin Johnpv]

This argument misses the point and diverts attention from the real issue imo. No one expects Crime and Punishment level narratives from a video game, but there are games out there which take great advantage of the medium to deliver compelling stories in ways only possible through interactivity. There are plenty of cogent arguments against Other M's narrative solely in the context of a games in general, and more specifically as a Metroid title. Bu-bu-bu literature is better is not an excuse for sloppy storytelling in games.

edit: I see I was somewhat beaten to the point.

Sure I will give you that, games as a narrative medium have the advantage of the interactivity. I personally though haven't played a game in awhile that really took advantage of this and pushed the medium forward with it. I personally feel that this way of telling stories through interactivity has actually regressed a bit in the last few years. I actually think that how far technology has come along has hurt that aspect of video games.

That said though I don't think Other M's story is some grand offense to the level of story telling seen in the average game. That's kind of the point. If you look at where the water level is, Other M really isn't that far off. Yeah there have been games with much better stories, but there's also a metric shit ton of games with stories right at the same level.

Sakamoto wanted to tell more about what Samus was thinking and feeling about events in this. That's something that is really hard to do interactively.

I know people are saying that the story telling in Other M is this great departure for the series, but looking at Fusion and Zero Mission you can see the evolution there. Maybe that's just me.

I think a lot of people like videogames but dont really believe in them as a medium to deliver a story, or an experience (other than gameplay) for that matter..

There was a time when I really though videogames were going to become this amazing, awesome medium, this killer new way of delivering a story. Hell I even wrote a like 15 or so page term paper about it back in college in like 1999/2000. I just don't feel that way any more. I would say its still a possibility, I just don't have the hope, or see it happening. Western developers have decided to want to be Hollywood, while Eastern Devs seem all about Anime.

I think it is totally fine to disagree on this stuff too. I mean isn't that what this is all about discussion and trying to see things from different people's perspectives? Unfortunately you have a few people who refuse to accept other people's opinions. You have shit being thrown around like, if you like this you have no standard of quality. I mean come on. (not saying either of you two did that, cause you didn't just making a point)

 

[Boney]

It's only taken 161 pages for people to come around on game narrative. :lol

...

I don't like you.

I like you a lot :lol

 

[RagnarokX]

I went looking via search for some games etiolate likes to try to turn the tables on him and show him why everything thinks he's being an arseface, but etiolate, dude, you never post about games except Other M. And Guild Wars I guess? But that would be like picking on the retarded kid. You seem to hold Metroid Prime in high esteem, and while I really dislike the game, I have a feeling if I pick on it, I'm going to get jumped on by *everyone*, so I'll just let that be.

All I can say is this: Every game has problems. Every game has some areas where it's not up to snuff. And every person holds those areas to different standards and expectations. Basically, if we hold every game to the ideal that in having flaws it is a game that is holding back the standards and keeping things from moving forward, then we cannot enjoy *anything*. You think the story in Other M is terrible. You think the characterization is awful. You think the game on the whole is lacking. Cool. Some other people don't, and you go after them like they're objectively wrong for thinking the story and characterization is fine. Don't try to deny it, you've done it many times throughout this thread.

Essentially the problem is that you think there is some kind of objective criteria, some academic truth, which can be applied to people's experiences with an entertainment product. That's fatally flawed thinking. You can scream until you're blue in the face that Twilight is an objectively terrible story, but people who like it are never going to see it your way, and your constant insistence that people shouldn't enjoy it or that they are stupid for enjoying it or that they have some kind of standard that is holding back the entire art of storytelling by enjoying it serves absolutely no purpose but to try to annoy people, tear them down, or ruin their enjoyment.

You aren't happy with the direction Metroid took. Believe me, I can understand. I went through the same thing with Metroid Prime, which in my eyes took one of my favourite series out behind the woodshed and did naughty Thunder Monkey things to it. You voiced your opinions here, many times, so you've certainly made your feelings known. I'm sure you've written a letter or two to Nintendo, because if you haven't, that would be pretty silly. At the end of the day, as far as this thread goes, as far as this audience goes, you've done your job. You've expressed your dissatisfaction very strongly and nobody here is going to go around saying Etiolate is down with the Other M.

But you've also continued past that point. You've run around, nay, made continuous laps of the circuit, pissing in everyone's Cheerios, calling them stupid, uneducated, or backwards for not seeing things your way, and man, that's shitty. It's a pretty rotten thing to do. And in the end it does not help your cause. It does not make people sympathetic to your angle or your plight. All it results in is everyone thinking you're an asshole, and I've known you on GAF long enough to know that can't be what you want.

 

[Salsa]

I think the fact that the game forces you to make an attempt to survive is what really sells it; you've been on this idea of the player characters being untouchable for not just that game, but for every other CoD title to this point and they cruelly snatch it away from you. That's what sells that moment; it's not about Jackson. It's you crawling through the wreckage of the helicopter. It's you looking around for survivors, knowing full well that it's a miracle that you're alive to begin with. It's you looking into the distance, seeing that fallout right before you fade to black forever. It's a chilling moment in a game that isn't exactly brimming with subtlety and restraint.

Well i can agree to that, but i still think it all comes from perspective, and not much else. You dont really care for the guy, they dont really try to make you care, you just do, out of perspective. Wich at the same time shows you what an important thing it is, and how it can really make the whole thing a different experience.


It is a different example than No Russian though, there the game basically shows you choice, but it takes it away from you. You can go the whole level without killing pedestrians, but you cant stop the other guys from doing it, you just gotta watch.

While one could say that this doesnt really use a unique set of tools, it does. Even if at first sight this doesnt expand on choice, interactivity, and immersion, it really does, by taking it away.


Where COD fails is at making you care. You just dont really care about all this stuff in the context of the game, wich degrades them to just neat little tricks. When you put this kind of "tricks" in some sort of story that takes itself seriously and makes you care, then you get a good videogame story.


anywayz, Metroid!

 

[Koodo]

Agreed. The whole thing with the endgame is sort of weird in general. I disliked the fact that you couldn't 100% the game without beating it first. It's also frustrating that

Spoiler

even after you go through to the command center and fight the boss that elevator in the main sector remains locked, making it so that you have to go around the long way if you want to approach from the other side. There are actually several bottlenecks like this in the game that bug me, and make backtracking for items more irritating than it should be.

Oh. I thought there was a button or vent I missed somewhere because I could not fathom that elevator being locked. What a silly thing to do. :lol

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

It's only taken 161 pages for people to come around on game narrative. :lol

Many people have taken issue with the narrative from the start, just not for the same reasons you have. In fact, forget 161 pages. I was taking heat for my (accurate) predictions about the potential consequences of Other M's approach to storytelling before the game ever released.

 

[Poyunch]

 

[etiolate]

Many people have taken issue with the narrative from the start, just not for the same reasons you have. In fact, forget 161 pages. I was taking heat for my (accurate) predictions about the potential consequences of Other M's approach to storytelling before the game ever released.

Dude, I was banned for months for it.

 

[pulga]

Finally got the game, can't believe I'm stuck so early on :lol

Spoiler

just after your first encounter with the armadillo dudes

I'm blaming my current brain fart on lack of sleep, my eyes are closing as I type.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Dude, I was banned for months for it.

You were banned for attacking people. Which I'm not sure how you've avoided the same ban in this thread, as well.

 

[Boney]

Many people have taken issue with the narrative from the start, just not for the same reasons you have. In fact, forget 161 pages. I was taking heat for my (accurate) predictions about the potential consequences of Other M's approach to storytelling before the game ever released.

I think everybody was. I just didn't take much offense on it and shrug it down a carpet. I mean, it's a programmer that wrote the storyboard for crying out loud. He can do a marvelous job at creating a setting. But when it comes to filling the blanks.. well.. that's just not his forte.

Finally got the game, can't believe I'm stuck so early on :lol

Spoiler

just after your first encounter with the armadillo dudes

I'm blaming my current brain fart on lack of sleep, my eyes are closing as I type.

I'm pretty sure you gotta go to the right and up the ledge. (or if you're farther in, listen to Rez, which is probably the case.)

Now that I think about it, that was badly explained as well. I kept looking for this dark presence for a while. I felt so stupid

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Finally got the game, can't believe I'm stuck so early on :lol

Spoiler

just after your first encounter with the armadillo dudes

I'm blaming my current brain fart on lack of sleep, my eyes are closing as I type.

Spoiler

you have to watch the cutscene with a 'dark presence' and then go into the room with a tube in the middle and missile the monster in it. Go down it, then start backtracking, a cutscene will start after you reach a certain point.

 

[rollingstart]

I was just thinking about the first person aiming and one reason why I felt it was so jarring was because of the huge change in fov. If they make a sequel, a wider fov would help a lot. Or just keep it third person like in Ninja Gaiden 2.

It's only taken 161 pages for people to come around on game narrative. :lol

Break it down by who posted the most in this thread. You're not even in the top 5!

 

[etiolate]

You were banned for attacking people. Which I'm not sure how you've avoided the same ban in this thread, as well.

Nope. Just like this thread, more people were attacking me.

 

[Poyunch]

I don't think anyone's said the story was perfect. Maybe people liked it or never found it rageworthy but that doesn't mean people thought it was without its faults.

 

[etiolate]

I was just thinking about the first person aiming and one reason why I felt it was so jarring was because of the huge change in fov. If they make a sequel, a wider fov would help a lot. Or just keep it third person like in Ninja Gaiden 2.



Break it down by who posted the most in this thread. You're not even in the top 5!

Not the top five? That's somewhat redeeming.

edit: ack but I have more than AniHawk.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

You were banned for attacking people. Which I'm not sure how you've avoided the same ban in this thread, as well.

He's avoided it by the grace of god. The only mods interested in Other M don't want to get spoiled and haven't played it yet. It's lucky for him the thread has moved as fast as it has, because by the time the mod that banned him last time starts playing the game and looks in here, his ad hominem attacks are going to be long-buried.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

~Rez 4 mod 2011~

 

[jaundicejuice]

Beat it 100%. I was enjoying Other M more towards the end of the main game, and thoroughly enjoyed myself in the post-game.

Spoiler

Phantoon was such an epic boss and excellent bit of fan service

. Say what you will about the more cinematic bent Other M has, I'll likely agree with most of the complaints, that said the gameplay is fucking awesome. I love the more action-oriented gameplay they've introduced with this game.

 

[pulga]

I went looking via search for some games etiolate likes to try to turn the tables on him and show him why everything thinks he's being an arseface, but etiolate, dude, you never post about games except Other M. And Guild Wars I guess? But that would be like picking on the retarded kid. You seem to hold Metroid Prime in high esteem, and while I really dislike the game, I have a feeling if I pick on it, I'm going to get jumped on by *everyone*, so I'll just let that be.

All I can say is this: Every game has problems. Every game has some areas where it's not up to snuff. And every person holds those areas to different standards and expectations. Basically, if we hold every game to the ideal that in having flaws it is a game that is holding back the standards and keeping things from moving forward, then we cannot enjoy *anything*. You think the story in Other M is terrible. You think the characterization is awful. You think the game on the whole is lacking. Cool. Some other people don't, and you go after them like they're objectively wrong for thinking the story and characterization is fine. Don't try to deny it, you've done it many times throughout this thread.

Essentially the problem is that you think there is some kind of objective criteria, some academic truth, which can be applied to people's experiences with an entertainment product. That's fatally flawed thinking. You can scream until you're blue in the face that Twilight is an objectively terrible story, but people who like it are never going to see it your way, and your constant insistence that people shouldn't enjoy it or that they are stupid for enjoying it or that they have some kind of standard that is holding back the entire art of storytelling by enjoying it serves absolutely no purpose but to try to annoy people, tear them down, or ruin their enjoyment.

You aren't happy with the direction Metroid took. Believe me, I can understand. I went through the same thing with Metroid Prime, which in my eyes took one of my favourite series out behind the woodshed and did naughty Thunder Monkey things to it. You voiced your opinions here, many times, so you've certainly made your feelings known. I'm sure you've written a letter or two to Nintendo, because if you haven't, that would be pretty silly. At the end of the day, as far as this thread goes, as far as this audience goes, you've done your job. You've expressed your dissatisfaction very strongly and nobody here is going to go around saying Etiolate is down with the Other M.

But you've also continued past that point. You've run around, nay, made continuous laps of the circuit, pissing in everyone's Cheerios, calling them stupid, uneducated, or backwards for not seeing things your way, and man, that's shitty. It's a pretty rotten thing to do. And in the end it does not help your cause. It does not make people sympathetic to your angle or your plight. All it results in is everyone thinking you're an asshole, and I've known you on GAF long enough to know that can't be what you want.

Now that's what I call a

Segata Sanshiro
You can't tentacle rape
the tentacle willing

Spoiler

you have to watch the cutscene with a 'dark presence' and then go into the room with a tube in the middle and missile the monster in it. Go down it, then start backtracking, a cutscene will start after you reach a certain point.

Spoiler

Huh? Never got any cutscene. Beat the armadillos, went up some ledges to the right, grabbed a missile tank in the next room, was in some kind of cylinder up above and I get to a door which tells me I need super missiles.

 

[Boney]

Nope. Just like this thread, more people were attacking me.

That's funny. I seem to remember it differently. Something more like this.

I hereby renounce everything I have said in defense of Nintendo fans. You dumbfucks are on your own from here on out.

to the person that asked about game narrative:
http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/games&narrative.html

to all future replies to me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3foXJfWlgoM

It came completely out of the blue as well. And let's not forget all the villager talk and all that.

 

[Ramirez]

I beat it, but it was the

Spoiler

first person part where you have to shoot at the bugs and the android or whatever the fuck lady. It was sloppy as hell, I failed the first few times because I couldn't keep up but then I just shot a few beams at her and locked on and it was over

Baffling ending to a solid game. Now I'm being rewarded with a new cutscene. The reward should be that there ISN'T a cutscene.

Yea, if I hadn't of read a spoiler on GAF prior to that I wouldn't have even noticed her in the room with all of the other crap going on. :lol

 

[Boney]

Spoiler

Huh? Never got any cutscene. Beat the armadillos, went up some ledges to the right, grabbed a missile tank in the next room, was in some kind of cylinder up above and I get to a door which tells me I need super missiles.

You can keep going after the missile tank.

 

[Nessus]

Thing is, I don't think it's impossible for a videogame to have what many would consider a "legitimate" film-quality cutscene. It's just that they would need to hire legitimately good screenwriters and legitimately good directors, and that's not something that happens often, if at all. I agree with you, I like it when the story progresses naturally through the gameplay, but I don't necessarily think every game should have to follow that mold. Like I said, I like it in MGS because I see MGS as a crazy-eyed, over the top videogame action series with heavy anime inspiration and I was able to have loads of fun with that, but Metroid was doing a fabulous job without it.

I just don't get why we'd want that.

You wouldn't have rather been able to play out the final scene in Metal Gear Solid?

Maybe be able to control Grey Fox while he fought Rex, complete with every move he uses in the cutscene?

I'd rather developers work towards making the game world more interactive to the point where anything that could happen in a non-interactive cutscene is instead something YOU can actually do in the game, and look just as cool while doing it.

 

[pulga]

You can keep going after the missile tank.

Well now I feel stupid :lol New job is killing my brain.

 

[Shin Johnpv]

I'd rather developers work towards making the game world more interactive to the point where anything that could happen in a non-interactive cutscene is instead something YOU can actually do in the game, and look just as cool while doing it.

I think that would work really well for some stuff. For showing a characters internal feelings, or for their internal reaction to events going on around them, that would be much harder to do.

 

[etiolate]

I think that would work really well for some stuff. For showing a characters internal feelings, or for their internal reaction to events going on around them, that would be much harder to do.

These can be expressed in non verbal ways.

You also have to acknowledge that the player's feelings are also the character's feelings since they inhabit the same space.

Trying to shove big fat thoughts into the character and onto the player is a mistake.

 

[Nessus]

I think that would work really well for some stuff. For showing a characters internal feelings, or for their internal reaction to events going on around them, that would be much harder to do.

True, then take the Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time route and have the character's internal monologue going as you play the game, without disrupting the gameplay.

There are ways to do it, I just think a lot of devs have fallen back on the easy way of just telling you everything with expository dialogue, which to me is lazy.