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OMG! I just downloaded the Mass Effect 2 Demo on steam and couldn't believe how much cinematic B.S. was in it. I just Crtl Alt Deleted the task manager up and ended the damned thing about ten minutes in... Nothing but dramatic computer generated acting and dramatic CG scenes that had me begging for a space bar, escape way out... What is wrong with these Jackass publishers forcing all of this time wasting b.s. content on us gamers?????

I just want to play, not watch movies. I wonder how much of the games budget and developement time is wasted on this junk?

BTW I am just using this demo as an example.. Nothing irritates me more than to find out I've wasted my hard earned benjamins on a game that is filled with CG movies I can't skip.

matdem1 wrote:

OMG! I just downloaded the Mass Effect 2 Demo on steam and couldn't believe how much cinematic B.S. was in it. I just Crtl Alt Deleted the task manager up and ended the damned thing about ten minutes in... Nothing but dramatic computer generated acting and dramatic CG scenes that had me begging for a space bar, escape way out... What is wrong with these Jackass publishers forcing all of this time wasting b.s. content on us gamers?????

I just want to play, not watch movies. I wonder how much of the games budget and developement time is wasted on this junk?

BTW I am just using this demo as an example.. Nothing irritates me more than to find out I've wasted my hard earned benjamins on a game that is filled with CG movies I can't skip.

I would have supported you for any other game but not this one. The cinematic is required to show how commander was revived and later you decide his face and other things. If you are judging the game in just 15 mins, you are missing one of the best games in the market.

I love well done cinematics. They can be very useful for fleshing out story and are often treats for beating a tough boss or getting through a level. I think Bioware handled their cutscenes very well in Mass Effect 2 and you need only show a little patience to experience one of the best games of last year.

matdem1 wrote:

OMG! I just downloaded the Mass Effect 2 Demo on steam and couldn't believe how much cinematic B.S. was in it. I just Crtl Alt Deleted the task manager up and ended the damned thing about ten minutes in... Nothing but dramatic computer generated acting and dramatic CG scenes that had me begging for a space bar, escape way out... What is wrong with these Jackass publishers forcing all of this time wasting b.s. content on us gamers?????

If you are judging ME2 on the opening Cinematic then you're wrong. Incidentally the opening cinematic is un-skippable the first time. And its not 10 min long as you say it is.

Now if you had ranted against MW2 or some newer version of CoD, I might have agreed with you.

By now I think you would be used to it as story-driven games have become much more cinematic in the last few years.

On the one hand, if I were to take the feel of your argument and extend it, I agree. I would very much like to see a game do some impressive storytelling without the use of cutscenes/cinematics. Something where the meat of the story is actually told in the first person/third person view and through actual gameplay (without resorting to books or popups either). That would be fantastic.

On another hand, I think there's a place for games where cinematics, etc. have no place. A doom-esque (ok, I know doom had "cut scenes" sort of, bunny heads on spikes! ), here's the meat, just tear through it, course after course simplicity. I'm not sure if there's a place for it in the market today, or just in my own realm of nostalgia.

On a third hand (yes I have three hands), I'm busily playing through Mass Effect 1 again, which arguably has a sparser feeling narrative world, just so that I can bring my character over to ME2 which I have eagerly anticipated playing. I'm more than willing to sit through 20 minutes of intro cutscenes, because I've loved bioware's (and ME's) storytelling. And not only do I expect it to be a good setup for some gameplay, but I would also consider it a treat...so no, we're not exactly agreed. Sorry.

I love a well told story and flashy cinematics. ME worked for me a lot. Sorry I cannot agree with the enough is enough statement...

NeXus 6 wrote:

By now I think you would be used to it as story-driven games have become much more cinematic in the last few years.

Yeah, I mean we're coming up on the 15th anniversary of the game that created the endless cinematic, Final Fantasy VII. It's like this thread stepped out of a time warp.

derFunkenstein wrote:

Yeah, I mean we're coming up on the 15th anniversary of the game that created the endless cinematic, Final Fantasy VII. It's like this thread stepped out of a time warp.

In some ways, its rather appropriate. I would say, while I enjoyed the cut scenes as treats for FF VII, the final fantasy series is where I definitely stand in agreement with the op. FF XIII was just ugly to me. I don't mind story in story-driven games, but when the story is poor, trite, and overused because its repeats patterns seen in dozens of anime titles before it (not to mention other games)...well

...I'd rather just play.


Too bad FF XIII's "play" component of the game felt like George Lucas' dialog (just an excuse to get us to the next special effects scene).

No argument there, I only put about 5 hours into FF XIII. Still, the argument is not "enough is enough" if it's OK for some games and not for others. You're misdirecting your nerd rage, when you should be raging against bad stories, not the cut scenes that tell them.

I actually enjoy the cinematics, as long as they're done well and actually support the story. It can be a little frustrating when you can't skip through them after having already seen them, but it's not like it's the end of the world or anything. Are you really in that much of a hurry?

derFunkenstein wrote:

No argument there,

I'm not arguing with you (see my first post). Stop arguing with me!

You're misdirecting your nerd rage, when you should be raging against bad stories, not the cut scenes that tell them.

I am not! This is not an argument. I'm just contradicting everything you say!


Final Fantasy stories (and their cutscenes) have gone the way of modern anime. Yep, I've turned into that old guy that pines for the way things were

I didn't mean to imply that an argument existed, just merely that I'm not going to disagree with the broad, sweeping generalization that Final Fantasy XIII is, in fact, a pile of digital garbage ISO a giant broom.

And "you" wasn't you; it was really "you" directed at the OP. You! YOU! NO YUO!

gbcrush wrote:

On the one hand, if I were to take the feel of your argument and extend it, I agree. I would very much like to see a game do some impressive storytelling without the use of cutscenes/cinematics. Something where the meat of the story is actually told in the first person/third person view and through actual gameplay (without resorting to books or popups either). That would be fantastic.

Like Valve games?
I do like the way the do their storytelling in the HL and Portal games. But it only works for some kinds of games. It wouldn't really work for story heave games like Mass Effect, or DragonAge, or most other RPG style games.

matdem1 wrote:

I just want to play, not watch movies.

Methinks you just want to shoot things. Which is fine, if a little limited.

You do seem to be in the minority, though. A lot of us like a well-crafted cut scene that tells the backstory, sets the mood and provides us with some context. It gives us a sense of where our character fits in within the story. 'Cause we actually like knowing the characters, as opposed to just controlling a heavily armed avatar.

So to answer your question... the money spent to create those cut scenes was not "wasted". It was spent to create something which a lot of people enjoy and you do not. You are obviously not their intended audience.

I would gladly trade a cutscene for dialog. I looke at is one of the big differences between NWN and NWN2. With NWN, the story had to be discovered. With NWN2, it was spoon-fed to me. I prefered the discovery.

This was actually my exact same complaint the first time I loaded up Mass Effect 1 when it first came out. I brought it back to blockbuster that same evening.

However, many years, and much patience learned later, I did grab ME2 when it came out and I really liked it. I've gone back and played through ME1, giving it a fair chance this time, and I wasn't disappointed.

Blur would like to have a word with you, OP.

there should always be the option to skip, but personally i really enjoyed the cut scenes in ME2. They're pretty important in terms of understanding and enjoying the rest of the game, I can understand skipping it if you've already seen it though.

You should play something made in Japan, then ask yourself if American games have too many cinematics. Final Fantasy games only let you play about half of the time.

From what I can recall of ME2, the only cinematics were right at the start, and that was just to set the story up. I don't mind a good intro, as it sets the environment/plot for the game. Half-Life is another great example. Although it wasn't cinematic per say, it was still an intro that you couldn't skip.

Now, if there's cinematics in the middle of the game, then yes, you have a point.

I think "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty" is a good example of what the OP was trying to point out. While, like all MGS games, you can skip through the FMVs by pressing [Start], MGS2's FMVs were pretty poor in terms of actually moving the story along - which is why they were/should be there in the first place.

This is especially true as you get closer to the end of the game. The plot had hard-to-flesh-out complexities all of its own, but those cinematics weren't any help in actually explaining them. Worse, the actual gameplay sequences - the final two boss battles - felt disjointed from each other because there were so many of these FMVs in between! It makes me wonder, maybe Konami could've snuck in one or two more actual gameplay segments in the time frame of all those FMVs.

As such, when I finished MGS2, it wasn't quite as satisfying as the other games in the franchise...although I've never played MGS4 as I don't have a PS3. "MGS3: Snake Eater" was a majestic return to form, but the damage had already been done.