Cutscenes in video-games: YAY or NAY?
In this topic I want to discuss cutscenes in video-games and whether they are a positive addition to video-games or not.
First, let me explain what this topic is about. Then I'll present some pro's and con's about cutscenes in video-games. And then I'm curious to what you guys think about this subject.
This topic is about the usage of cutscenes in video-games to present a story or narrative to the player. Cutscenes are often story-driven and used for the single purpose of moving the story forward. Storytelling in video-games is difficult and trying to get your players into a certain state of emotion can be difficult. A cutscene can help with his, as it's easy to make an emotionally loaded cutscene. Well, I have to so relatively easy, because it's still pretty hard to nail a certain state of emotion in a cutscene.
We could argue that cutscenes are a welcome addition to video-games. They help moving the story forward, they help getting the player into a certain mood or state of emotion and cutscenes are useful tools to flesh-out your characters through dialogue, bodylanguage, gestures and facial expressions that would otherwise go unnoticed.
We could also say that cutscenes are an easy way out. Cutscenes are a lazy form of storytelling. It's an easy and familiar formula for storytelling and not always the best choice for a video-games. Cutscenes take away the freedom of the player, forcing the player to passively watch how events unfold. Because of this, cutscenes can break their connection with the player character. After all, in a cutscene, your player character moves and behaves how the directors of the game want him/her to move and behave, not you.
I personally believe that cutscenes are a fine addition to video-games as long as they're not overused. I'm under the impression that a certain emotional reaction from the player can be achieved with cutscenes that are impossible to achieve without cutscenes. An example I would like to give for this argument is this specific cutscene from ME3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrH0Lda0Hds
That cutscene right there is very powerful. I bet plenty of us had to shed a few tears during that cutscene where Mordin died. Not to say that ME3 was a great game, but I have to admit, this specific scene is one of the few very well done scenes in ME3.
Do you think the same emotional reaction could be achieved in video-games without the use of cutscenes?
So, the question for this debate is:
Do you think cutscenes make video-games more immersive and emotional? Or do you think cutscenes take away from the immerison and emotional investment? Do you think cutscenes are necessary to tell a compelling and emotional story in a video-game?
In this topic I want to discuss cutscenes in video-games and whether they are a positive addition to video-games or not.
First, let me explain what this topic is about. Then I'll present some pro's and con's about cutscenes in video-games. And then I'm curious to what you guys think about this subject.
This topic is about the usage of cutscenes in video-games to present a story or narrative to the player. Cutscenes are often story-driven and used for the single purpose of moving the story forward. Storytelling in video-games is difficult and trying to get your players into a certain state of emotion can be difficult. A cutscene can help with his, as it's easy to make an emotionally loaded cutscene. Well, I have to so relatively easy, because it's still pretty hard to nail a certain state of emotion in a cutscene.
We could argue that cutscenes are a welcome addition to video-games. They help moving the story forward, they help getting the player into a certain mood or state of emotion and cutscenes are useful tools to flesh-out your characters through dialogue, bodylanguage, gestures and facial expressions that would otherwise go unnoticed.
We could also say that cutscenes are an easy way out. Cutscenes are a lazy form of storytelling. It's an easy and familiar formula for storytelling and not always the best choice for a video-games. Cutscenes take away the freedom of the player, forcing the player to passively watch how events unfold. Because of this, cutscenes can break their connection with the player character. After all, in a cutscene, your player character moves and behaves how the directors of the game want him/her to move and behave, not you.
I personally believe that cutscenes are a fine addition to video-games as long as they're not overused. I'm under the impression that a certain emotional reaction from the player can be achieved with cutscenes that are impossible to achieve without cutscenes. An example I would like to give for this argument is this specific cutscene from ME3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrH0Lda0Hds
That cutscene right there is very powerful. I bet plenty of us had to shed a few tears during that cutscene where Mordin died. Not to say that ME3 was a great game, but I have to admit, this specific scene is one of the few very well done scenes in ME3.
Do you think the same emotional reaction could be achieved in video-games without the use of cutscenes?
So, the question for this debate is:
Do you think cutscenes make video-games more immersive and emotional? Or do you think cutscenes take away from the immerison and emotional investment? Do you think cutscenes are necessary to tell a compelling and emotional story in a video-game?