I decided to look into cut scenes and how different they are between games, some are interactive whereas some are non-interactive. Most of the games I have played (bearing in mind I am not a huge gamer and have only played a small handful of games) the cutscenes have been non-interactive where you would just sit through it and watch it play. There are many pros and cons to this as you could say does it actually take away the immersion from a game? You would be playing a part of it and sometimes I have felt the cutscene has been really abrupt and takes you off guard. Other times however it is a nice break inbetween almost like a point in time where you have reached a goal.
An interesting article I came across was on Gamasutra found HERE where game writers are discussing whether the non-interactive cutscenes should not exist anymore. It gives an interesting view and brings up the point whether gamers these days actually have the patience to sit through cutscenes. There are some cutscenes that are just too long for their own good, it may have been the fact that it was just too long or maybe the story didn't grab me enough but I have found myself loosing attention and the patience to sit through them. Cutscenes should be an extension of the story within the game and hold your interest to carry it through to the next level. Another interesting point that is brought up is the fact that "...the jump to a cutscene removes much of the empathy that you might have in a movie...". The cutscenes themselves may be produced to a high standard and hold a great deal of emotion however because of the jump from interactivity to non-interactivity you loose the immersion; it breaks the player away from being engrossed within the game.
There are very simple interactive cutscenes such as 'Deus Ex: Human Revolution' where the gamer is still able to move the characters head around so you can take in the surrounding area. This is still just as effective as it keeps the gamers interest with other things but doesn't take away the full immersion of the scene. Cutscenes don't have to be complicated interactive cutscenes to be successful.
At the end of the day it's the gamers personal preference, peoples opinions differ and it depends on the game itself. It may benefit the game to have non-interactive cutscenes as it gives a break form the game, almost like a breather. This is similar to Studio Ghibli films where in every film they always include a section where it's very tranquil and you can just take in the environment and scenery. It gives a break and allows you to take appreciation for the art style. In accordance to our own cinematic, ours is non-interactive, however it could easily be made into an interactive one by adding a first person controller into the scene and making the gamer move around with our character.
"Let the entire character -- the model, the voice, the animation -- tell their story" - Chet Faliszek
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