Spiderman 2: too cinematic? When do we switch from how long a game IS to how much of the game we ACTUALLY play?

Victor Omega

Victor Omega

Member
Spiderman 2 is day one for me. Playing devil's Advocate here for discussion (obviously it too soon to judge) I'm sure it gonna be amazing.


we tend to gauge a games based on how long is it....sorta like....a film. However, these are video games.

Should we instead based it on how much time is met actually playing?

I speaking specifically story mode in video games

From start to finish, how much of the story is interactive vs how much of it is cinematic?

And does that ratio matter to you?

50/50 80/20?
 
Ratio doesn't matter to me, a good game is a good game regardless.


It's also a pointless comparison for games with lots of side content
or for games like Until Dawn/Dark Pictures where cinematic and gameplay are the same thing.
 
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You know it's a thing since the very first RPG... and then CD happened where we spend hours watching real actors playing to help the plot... And Dragon's Lair happened between the two... And you should have really hated Shenmue and video games ever since...

Is it just to shit on Spiderman and Sony again since the game gets great reviews (unlike, well you know...) or... did you play Atari today? 🤡

giphy.gif
 
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I think its a mistake making those kinda comparisons. All that matters are that games fall under interactive entertainment. What would you say about point-and-click games? Or QTE based games that lean heavy on the cinema.Or super short games that offer repayability in difficulty modes. Or games that offer up an infinite amount of `gameplay` but the entire game has you doing the same match 3 tiles mechanic from start to end.

Where do you draw the line, and who sets that standard?
 
'feels' have been a pretty hot commodity in gaming the last 10-12 years, & you can't do feels without some extended cinematics. not especially my thing, but there's definitely an appetite for it...

Katajx said:
Did you play MGS2 or MGS3 by chance?
Click to expand...
thing is, people always mention kojima re cinematics because he was more the exception, eh? if more games had extended cinematics, as they do now, no one would've really noticed kojima...
 
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Doesn't matter to me as long as all the layers such as presentation/art direction, gameplay and sound are of a high standard.
 
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I don't think it's w terrible discussion but who enters to make the call on what's the right ratio?

Games adapt over time.

The Model T isn't the car or the year anymore. The world will always continue to evolve and change. Can't expect anything based on any time or whatever perceived view you may have.

Some games are taking the right direction and some aren't. Support good games.
 
I love souls games.
But my fav games are also Death Stranding and UC4.

How can I possibly like both types
 
semiconscious said:
thing is, people always mention kojima re cinematics because he was more the exception, eh? if more games had extended cinematics, as they do now, no one would've really noticed kojima...
Click to expand...
It seemed pretty new at the time, and the presentation really worked well. For me it was like setting the scene, and then leaving me to play it out.
 
You can be a cinematic as you want as long as you never take control away.
If I have to set the controller down at any point to watch a cut scene I consider it a failure of a game.
And if the controller auto shuts off during that cut scene it's getting deleted. (Death Stranding)
 
Traversal looks cool, but otherwise it's about what you expect from a super hero game. Gameplay is mash a button to win. Maybe even QTE something. I got just shy of 6 hours into the last one and my biggest regret was I exceeded Steam's 2 hour refund policy.
 
Victor Omega said:
Spiderman 2 is day one for me. Playing devil's Advocate here for discussion (obviously it too soon to judge) I'm sure it gonna be amazing.


we tend to gauge a games based on how long is it....sorta like....a film. However, these are video games.

Should we instead based it on how much time is met actually playing?

I speaking specifically story mode in video games

From start to finish, how much of the story is interactive vs how much of it is cinematic?

And does that ratio matter to you?

50/50 80/20?
Click to expand...

Why does this matter at all? And whos' going to be the judge of "gameplay" time vs non-gamplay time?
 
If I'm invested in the cutscenes of the game, I can watch that shit all day.

I was wondering if I want to get into sm2 so I started up miles over the weekend. After not too long, it launched into a lengthy cut scene. It was well done, but I just didn't care. It's a very mass market family friendly game and there is no edge or subtext going on in the scenes. I found the cutscene to really drag in that instance.

Meanwhile, death stranding with it's much maligned writing had me hanging off every word even during the longest scenes.
 
the older spider games are much better than spiderman on ps4 and ps5. You actually get to play the game and moves arent automated for you, i feel they watered the ps4 and ps5 game down by making the combat casual and barely having control on the moves.
 
Katajx said:
It seemed pretty new at the time, and the presentation really worked well. For me it was like setting the scene, and then leaving me to play it out.
Click to expand...
well, it was new at the time. & i also really enjoyed it. my point is that it went from being pretty distinctive back then to basically omnipresent now. & i'm not so sure that, in general, that's a good thing (not to mention, today's cinematics are much more about feels & emotional manipulation, whereas kojima's were much more about political/social commentary mixed with over-the-top lunacy)...
 
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I'm sure it'll be fine, but there's certainly going to be some big cinematic moments.

On a side note that's what I love about Nintendo. Their games are pure gameplay.
 
Compared to most other games Spider-Man doesn't have many cutscenes?
It averages around 35-40hrs in length and has 2-3 hours of cutscenes in total.
 
Idk, kinda like how 360 was the shooter box? Is this keep coming up cause ps4/ps5 exclusives being all talk bout being a walking simulator box or something?
 
ideally 0.01% or less for me.

I just don't care for cutscenes. I mean if you have something worth watching then why do you need the game? Might as just make a show.

If you have a game worth playing why do you need cutscenes?

It's tough enough to do one or the other well.
 
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Spider-Man 2 is not out yet so maybe not the best game to use in an otherwise interesting topic about cutscenes versus gameplay.

My take: I'm not going to skip the cutscenes if it's a story-focused game so the cutscenes gets included in the playtime for me.

But a bigger problem in general with story-focused games is that I'm only playing through them once and then drop them. Not sure I've ever seen the credits roll twice in a story-focused game during my time as a gamer.

So it usually means I'll go through them in a week, sometimes two, sometimes less. And those games don't come out that often. That's a problem and why I'm more focused on game systems and non-linear open-world games, preferrably with some creative mechanic like No Man's Sky, means less waiting between big releases.
 
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If the first and MM are any indication, this isn't the game to start this debate with. There's tons of gameplay and the ratio definitely favors gameplay by far.
 
It matters a lot to me, but I'm probably more sensitive to it than most. It was a major turnoff, for example, in that first Spiderman demo. There was a lot of talk about the graphics, but I was just sitting there thinking about how on-rails and "A-to-Awesome" the whole lizard chase looked. It's the same reason I can't get into most Naughty Dog games.

Again though, for most players, action sequences like that may be the highlight of the game. It'll just be a chore for me.

Still better than poorly done stealth though.
 
Aren't the spiderman games heavily gameplay focused? This seems like a bait thread rather than a legitimate call for discussion.
 
Why did you have to bring Spiderman into this? you could have just brought up the topic you wanted to discuss instead.

This is blatant clickbait
 
I care about the experience mostly.

Some of my favorite games had lots of cutscenes, to the point that gameplay sometimes took a backseat. (Heavenly Sword, Hellblade, The Order 1886)
 
One of the reasons why I lost interest in Playstation and Sony games after PS3 is how hard they lean on cinematic set pieces and experience. It's a personal preference, I would gladly pay premium for a new Deus Ex, Thief, Dishonored or System Shock, or a deep RTS or 4X game, but I rarely replay cinematic driven games so kind of a lost value there.

I prefer games to be high on interactivity and player agency and less hand holding.
 
Shrap said:
Aren't the spiderman games heavily gameplay focused? This seems like a bait thread rather than a legitimate call for discussion.
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Yeah I had no issues with cutscenes in Miles Morales. The contextual action mechanics by using predetermined spots for action can be a bigger problem depending on how much you like that. But again had no bigger issues with that either.
Interesting discussion but the wrong game to bring up for this discussion.
 
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