Are video games becoming too cinematic?

[Kane99]

Do you guys think that video games are becoming too cinematic? I feel that is the case. The reason I bring it up, is because of Hellblade 2. That trailer featuring the giant and sections where you could throw spears. The studio states that it's gameplay, but I think most of it was cinematic for the most part. 

Do you think that video games are too cinematic? Or are they just becoming more cinematic just because? 

[m76]

I have no problem with a cinematic experience in games, in fact I prefer to have long and deep cutscenes.

What you describe however is when the game randomly takes control out of the player's hands for a minute then suddenly releases it. I hate when they do that too. The line between gameplay and cinematic should be clear and defined. The worst offenders are games where the cinematic starts to play and during these I usually relax and release the controls, then BAM suddenly a QTE is on the screen.

[Kane99]

19 hours ago, m76 said:

I have no problem with a cinematic experience in games, in fact I prefer to have long and deep cutscenes.

What you describe however is when the game randomly takes control out of the player's hands for a minute then suddenly releases it. I hate when they do that too. The line between gameplay and cinematic should be clear and defined. The worst offenders are games where the cinematic starts to play and during these I usually relax and release the controls, then BAM suddenly a QTE is on the screen.

I have no issues with games being cinematic, it's just when games only focus is to be cinematic. Maybe the rest of the game is mediocre and paint by numbers, but the cutscenes and other aspects are presented better. 

With Hellblade 2, even though you are mostly moving around, to me, it feels more like you're on a track, and have to follow it. That's how I view it more as cinematic compared to being in control. Because sure, I could stop moving, and get killed, but you're essentially moving into a direction that is predetermined. Does that make sense? Anyway, I know the game will have combat, which I'm psyched for. So it's not 100% just cinematic. 

QTE events are worse for sure. I absolutely hated them in Indigo Prophecy and any other game to come after. 

[Withywarlock]

With all the cutscenes I've seen for the playable characters in Call of Duty: Vanguard, I think I'd honestly prefer live-action scenes to the animated ones. Granted, that's not solving the problem much, but if we're going in this direction we might as well do something unique with it. Remember the PAYDAY web series? I do, because nobody else seems bothered about emulating it, and it stands out among its peers as a result of it simply being live-action.

But to the point you were trying to make rather than me barging in with my own opinions based off the title,

On 12/16/2021 at 4:57 AM, Kane99 said:

That trailer featuring the giant and sections where you could throw spears. The studio states that it's gameplay, but I think most of it was cinematic for the most part. 

Trailers seem way more staged, and despite the criticisms people such as us level at them... they work. Especially with microphones. But I know what you mean about Hellblade in particular. I didn't enjoy that as a game. I don't think I'd have enjoyed it any more as a Let's Play. But as a movie, a short film, as any other medium that fully embraces the cinematic qualities rather than tries to use video games for something besides gaming, I would've enjoyed it significantly more. The things they did with motion capture, voice acting and audio engineering were stellar, but being a video game didn't make any of that any better.

[Reality vs Adventure]

I like the cinematic cut scenes. They don't necessarily have to be long, but it's always cool when you open a door and a scene kicks in, instead of strolling on in and a character waits for your interaction. 

[m76]

4 hours ago, Kane99 said:

I have no issues with games being cinematic, it's just when games only focus is to be cinematic. Maybe the rest of the game is mediocre and paint by numbers, but the cutscenes and other aspects are presented better. 

With Hellblade 2, even though you are mostly moving around, to me, it feels more like you're on a track, and have to follow it. That's how I view it more as cinematic compared to being in control. Because sure, I could stop moving, and get killed, but you're essentially moving into a direction that is predetermined. Does that make sense? Anyway, I know the game will have combat, which I'm psyched for. So it's not 100% just cinematic. 

QTE events are worse for sure. I absolutely hated them in Indigo Prophecy and any other game to come after. 

I get what you mean but I would not describe that as being cinematic, the right phrase for that is on rails. And hellblade 1 was definitely on rails, you have no choice you move in a singular direction and every action and reaction is predetermined. It's not to be confused with being linear. In a linear game you still have multiple options on how to deal with enemies, how to solve puzzles, what items / weapons you use, but in an on rail game everything is decided for you, you either follow the prescribed path or quit.

[Shagger]

34 minutes ago, m76 said:

I get what you mean but I would not describe that as being cinematic, the right phrase for that is on rails. And hellblade 1 was definitely on rails, you have no choice you move in a singular direction and every action and reaction is predetermined. It's not to be confused with being linear. In a linear game you still have multiple options on how to deal with enemies, how to solve puzzles, what items / weapons you use, but in an on rail game everything is decided for you, you either follow the prescribed path or quit.

 

That's not on rails, that's liner level design. The Last of Us, Uncharted, Tomb Raider and the first two Witcher games follow a similar philosophy. On rails is when you are not in control of the speed, pace and direction your character follows and are only able to change direction of focus. Kind of like riding on a train, that is literally what the term refers too. Examples of on rails video games or video game sections would include turret sections, on rails shooters like Time Crisis and House of the Dead, the driving in FFXV and so on. Cinimatc can refer to a visual style or to the cinimatc parts of a game, whare you literally have no control at all. So unless you beat Hellblade without pushing a sit button, what you said makes no sense at all.

 

Hellblade is not on rails anymore than The Last of Us. What you've tried to do there is falsely and deliberately apply a gaming term that tends to be regarded as a pool mechanic to a game where is doesn't apply because you don't like that game and want to make it look worse in the hope that we're idiots and will just go with it. That's the truth, wether you know it or not. The alternative is that you don't really know what you're talking about.

Edited December 17, 2021 by Shagger

[m76]

1 minute ago, Shagger said:

 

That's not on rails, that's liner level design. The Last of Us, Uncharted, Tomb Raider and the first two Witcher games follow a similar philosophy. On rails is when you are not in control of the speed, pace and direction your character follows and are only able to change direction of focus. Kind of like riding on a train, that is literally what the term refers too. Examples of on rails video games or video game sections would include turret sections, on rails shooters like Time Crisis and House of the Dead, the driving in FFXV and so on.

 

Hellblade is not on rails anymore than The Last of Us. What you've tried to do there is falsely and deliberately apply a gaming term that tends to be regarded as a pool mechanic to a game where is doesn't apply because you don't like that game and want to make it look worse. That's the truth, wether you know it or not. The alternative is that you don't really know what you're talking about.

You can't help attacking me can you? I specifically said not to be confused with linear games, but you still went there. Is this how you get your kick, trying to vilify me all time?

I did not even try to demean the game. I think an on rails game can still be fun. In fact I even loved some old school classic on rails shooters like the ones you are describing. I used on rails in broader terms, not literally saying hellblade is an on rails shooter, which is its separate genre in video games. "on rails" in of itself is not a gaming term.

Being on rails means you can't control where you are going or what you are doing. You can only go where the game designer wants you to go and do what they want you to do at that point. Any attempt to do something else will lead to frustration, or be completely impossible.

 

[Shagger]

4 minutes ago, m76 said:

You can't help attacking me can you? I specifically said not to be confused with linear games, but you still went there. Is this how you get your kick, trying to vilify me all time?

I did not even try to demean the game. I think an on rails game can still be fun. In fact I even loved some old school classic on rails shooters like the ones you are describing. I used on rails in broader terms, not literally saying hellblade is an on rails shooter, which is its separate genre in video games. "on rails" in of itself is not a gaming term.

Being on rails means you can't control where you are going or what you are doing. You can only go where the game designer wants you to go and do what they want you to do at that point. Any attempt to do something else will lead to frustration, or be completely impossible.

 

 

What you literally said was Hellblade 1 was definitely on rails and not to be confused with liner level design, something that is, quite simply, incorrect. I then try to figure out why someone with such undoubted gaming knowledge would get that so incorrect. Maybe my explanation was wrong, I'm man enough to admit that, so if you could provide another explanation I'd be happy to hear it.

[Crazycrab]

3 hours ago, m76 said:

Being on rails means you can't control where you are going or what you are doing. You can only go where the game designer wants you to go and do what they want you to do at that point. Any attempt to do something else will lead to frustration, or be completely impossible

 

I can tell you mostly understand what On Rails is, but there is a couple of details you don't seem to have nailed down quite right and it's causing a little confusion.  I'm not trying to be patronising here but I think it is important that we get this cleared up because I think it's fair to say I'm not the one who's getting a little sick of you and @Shagger's mud slinging at this point, and I'm not defending him either.

 

In the context of gaming On Rails is where the movement is following a sequence outside of the players control but the player retains some other aspect, usually shooting.  The most common examples are on rails shooters like House of The Dead and Time Crisis where the player has control of aiming and reload but the game itself controls the characters lateral movement from cover to cover.

 

 

Another example would be something like this sequence in MGS3 where Eva is driving the motorcycle and player (Snake) is in the sidecar shooting.  Again this is On Rails since the player has no control over the lateral movement of the motorcycle.

 

 

Here's another very interesting one from the criminally underated Jedi Starfighter.  In Mission 9 in co-op mode player one (above) flies the ship and fires the main weaponry while player 2 (below) is controlling the turret.  So player 2 is "On Rails", but it's being steered by the other player.  It's pretty cool.

 

 

4 hours ago, m76 said:

I get what you mean but I would not describe that as being cinematic, the right phrase for that is on rails. And hellblade 1 was definitely on rails, you have no choice you move in a singular direction and every action and reaction is predetermined

 

I'm assuming this is the type of sequence your talking about:

 

 

This is... Not On Rails.  During the gameplay the player has full freedom of movement, it's just if you don't do what the developers intended you to do like go in the wrong direction or stay still for to long you enter a fail state.  I remember another section of the game where enemies will spawn infinity unless you do something specific.  Your often directed by one method or another to perform specific actions or go in certain directions but at no point in Hellblade is control partially taken away from you, which is what On Rails is.

 

I'm hoping this has cleared things up because I'm not throwing my hat in the ring again here.  If it doesn't please don't bother to @Crazycrab me telling me wrong because I know I'm not and just keep throwing mud.  I don't care.

Edited December 18, 2021 by Crazycrab

[Reality vs Adventure]

9 minutes ago, Crazycrab said:

I'm hoping this has cleared things up because I'm not throwing my hat in the ring again here.  If it doesn't please don't bother to @Crazycrab me telling me wrong because I know I'm not and just keep throwing mud.  I don't care.

 

 

[StormyFire]

I do definitely feel that as a whole, games are focusing more on flashy cinematics and aesthetics rather than innovative gameplay, let alone story.

[Heatman]

Personally, I do think that getting games to have a better cinematic experience is somewhat of a trend for most game companies now. It's why we see it very often used in games now. 

[Justin11]

11 hours ago, Heatman said:

Personally, I do think that getting games to have a better cinematic experience is somewhat of a trend for most game companies now. It's why we see it very often used in games now. 

I'm not surprise seeing video games be on the steady revamp, appearing in a cinematic form is very much satisfying to the view of the players and spectators as well. 

[Heatman]

14 hours ago, Justin11 said:

I'm not surprise seeing video games be on the steady revamp, appearing in a cinematic form is very much satisfying to the view of the players and spectators as well. 

For video games getting to be cinematic means that developers have realized their errors in their ways of making the game.