Cutscenes: How many is too many? Thread

So lately cutscenes have been getting a bad rap. Because there are too many of them or too long. I like cutscenes. Love them. But I hate when the ones where they are so frequent and long (Max Payne 2). How many cutscenes should a video game campaign have? I would hate playing Crash Bandicoot and then a cutscene would pop up for some reason. That would give me a headache? Is 7 too many? Does it depend on the level design? How many is too many?

You consistently ask such deliberately vague questions. There isn't a formula of how many cutscenes a game of [genre] should have and at what intervals they should occur at and how long they should be. If unsure, use less. The problems you express are related to user experience field, a branch of applied psychology. If you want an essay on it, you pay me or use google.

Do I know you? If you don't like my threads then you don't have to comment on them. I just wanted other people's opinions on what would make an ideal game. I just want to learn about balance. Other than that, I will make clearer threads for everyone to understand and less curious and unsure.
Thanks.

"How many cutscenes should a video game campaign have?" -> That depends on the length of the campaign, the type of game, the story etcetera. However, a while ago I read some opinions on cutscenes and quite a few people said "Every cutscene in a game is one cutscene too many. If I wanted to sit back and watch videos, I wouldn't have started a videogame." And I understand what they mean, because cutscenes can break the 'flow' of the game and it forces the player to be passive and takes away control from the player.

I personally think cutscenes do have a place in certain videogames, but I most definitely have experienced some frustrating moments with (non-skippable) cutscenes. So if you use cutscenes, at the very least allow the player to skip them.

The problem with cutscenes is that they interrupt gameplay, you know; the basic thing video games have. This makes some people frustrated because they would like to be playing rather than watching.

Scripted sequences such as the ones Half-life 2 have count as cutscenes even though it doesn't directly remove control from the player. Sometimes they can be worse than cutscenes in the sense that you can't directly skip them in any way, which further detracts enjoyment for the impatient.

Having as little cutscenes as possible to offer the player knowledge of what he should be doing should be the optimal for action and adventure games, consequently more story driven titles should be allowed to have more so it can give away more of its plot.

Games that are seeking to immerse the player as deep as possible should avoid cutscenes at all costs and try to sneak in subtle yet noticeable ways to tell the player what is going on, this goes without saying that sometimes having the player lying in mystery over what they're up against can be a very good thing.

I agree with this one. If you have a third person game. It should at least use cutscenes as a reward.

I think you should use them when you think is necessary, as long as you offer the possibility to cut them and then instructions of where you should go or what you should do after the cutscene.

Personally I love games with great story, those games that really catch you but I know that a lot of gamers don't really care

I personally don't like any cut scenes

I generally don't mind cutscenes whatsoever. I don't have that "AAARAAR GAME BE PLAY, NO WATCH" mentality, rather "Games are entertainment and I want to enjoy myself." Though I do think it depends heavily on the game and it's style, complexity, and especially immersion, just how many cutscenes feels right. Immersive? Cinematic? Narrative or gameplay? Are the cutscenes supposed to portray something ingame play cannot (more fluid prerendered animation/graphics, or complex, intricately designed scenes, etc.)?

For example, Portal 2 is an outstanding game, very story-driven, and pretty much cutscene-less. But it's also intended to be completely immersive at all times. The scripted events inside of it are generally small-ish in scale and complexity, and typically want you as a player to interact with the world and be a part of the story. But if you had to stop to watch Chell "catch" Wheatley, or jump off a catwalk, it wouldn't feel quite as nice.

Meanwhile you have something like Devil May Cry 3, another excellent game, but also a game that has hours worth of cutscenes, and I'd be surprised if immersion even crossed the developers' minds. Play and story are generally completely separate. "Have some game, now watch some story," and it works perfectly fine, in my opinion. And the sheer complexity of a lot of them would just not work if the player was in control (for anyone who's played it, the motorcycle fall scene comes to mind). Or at the very least, the effect the developers had in mind would be less likely to come to fruition.

Oh, but screw unskippable cutscenes. Those are Satan spawn, there's no reason for them. If I've already beaten a game and just want to play, let me. If I've lost to this boss 16 times and have to watch his introduction each time, screw you, developer. Can you imagine Resident Evil 4 with unskippable cutscenes? The replay value would be killed.

I do not think the numbers of them counts in a game or mod. When they are unnecessary and possible pointless to the plot and disrupts your gameplay they are not needed.

Yeah, come on now people. I spent 60 dollars on a video game. I demand a epic cinematic experience. Not a casual game at the arcades.

It's good that more and more FPS games these days. No matter how much you hate them are using scripted sequences. Now they can stop being less annoying when you walk into a room.

DMC 3 for all I know has no plot.

I would like games to have more unskippable cutscenes.

3DWorlds wrote: Yeah, come on now people. I spent 60 dollars on a video game. I demand a epic cinematic experience.

Why?

I'm genuinely curious as to why you believe that. I mean, you bought a video game. Why are you expecting a movie?

It's like me going to the supermarket and buying a bushel of apples, expecting them to taste like grapes.

Edited by: Insentience

Well, I just expect my dollars worth. I don't want a cheap bland boring scam. It doesn't have to be cinematic. It just has to be awesome. Especially if it's a Christmas gift.

Cut scene's in my opinion are great, as long as they're funny, creative and interesting. They also have to be placed in the correct spots, otherwise having cut scene's throughout a game, countless times, in the wrong places will just frustrate everyone. If you can stick to the basic rules of cut scene's then all will be good.

Only you yourself can answer the question of how many cut scene's should you have. It all depends on your game.

Good luck!

Yeah, its a pretty overly nonspecific question. I think I should have made this thread. I don't like the cutscenes that are prerendered when the ACTUAL game either has either
1.The worst graphics ever
2. The best graphics ever

Could you imagine Crysis having prerendered cutscenes. In 2007! Wouldn't you feel ripped off? Not even the modders would even know what to do.

for my personal taste, I choose a short cutscene - in the length/duration. Many cutscenes is OK for me... as long as it is placed at the right moment.
Well, perhaps 1-2 cutscene(s) in an hour of gameplay would be enough?

3DWorlds wrote:
I would like games to have more unskippable cutscenes.

This would be a terrible change of direction for games. If the choice is there, then it's up to the player to decide wether he wants to see the cutscene or not. Forcing cutscenes down over peoples heads doesn't really make it more of an endearing feature.

I like cutscenes, but they should be used wisely and sparingly imo, for example to advance the plot, explore characters and make the player aware of certain things. But cutscenes are like sweets. If you have one in a while, you'll look forward to the next. If you get drowned in them, you'll grow sick of them pretty fast because they cease to be special events. And then you'll wonder why you didn't rent a movie instead seeing as you can put the controller down for ten minutes at a time for every five minutes of gameplay.

Edited by: DragonNOR

I believe that cutscenes are good for following up the story in the game. I mean like killzone 3 I wouldn't have understood shite if not for the cutscenes but I agree to some point that some cutscenes are just shit to extend game time and to show off the so called cool animations that the devs made and some times even the animations for the cutscenes cant hold me intrested (also known as Call of Duty)... Now cutscenes are important to games but I agree they should be limited and other devs should focus more on gameplay and the time we actually get to enjoy their games not making some quick shite that a 8 year old can make in Stencyl or something

It depends on the game. MGS franchise is widely known as more of a movie than a game and it still rules.