Extra Punctuation: Action Is Not Finisher Porn

[Falseprophet]

Hilariously, I always considered the 90s Mortal Kombat: Conquest TV series to be porn as well. 10-15 minutes of stilted dialogue and hackneyed plot, just so you could get another stylized slo-motion fight scene, then back to dull plot. Repeat 3 times and you have an episode.

Was it one of Anthony Burch's Rev Rants where he said something similar? That kill animations should be triggered randomly when you kill enemies (Assassin's Creed style) instead of having to break flow to play a QTE every time?

 

[TotalHobNob]

In my opinion, Fable 2 and Fallout 3 are guilty of this, as well. The VATS kill-cam in FO3 is particularly annoying.

I was thinking that. At least in New Vegas you can turn the kill-cam off. And VATS is optional, I really only use it when I'm low on ammo or getting my ass handed to me(you take less damage while vats is playing out).

I agree with with the whole "kill Cam" stuff. When I was Fallout: New vegas I was deeply immersed in it until, the slow kill thing happened and my immersion was shattered. So I turned and everything was fine afterwards, but the point still stands.

 

[TotalHobNob]

damn double post

 

[Katana314]

The X-ray moves were a fair amount of time I thought, they were just repetative. Mortal Kombat on a whole was very well done for a fighting game and for me had the best flow of combat in a 2d fighting game to date. If they changed 3-4 times the game would be much better. Also you can always just not use the X-ray moves since you are given other options such as powered normal moves.

As for Batman: AA having no finishers. The most annoying thing about it was waiting for a thug to stand up or walk over and slowly punch him in the face while other thugs waited around you.

Who's waiting for them to get up? If they're standing, press X and Batman leaps over to him. If they're on the ground, about to get up, do a leaping finisher. If they're on the ground but a thug is preventing you from hitting him, take care of that thug first.

Give me any individual frame of action in the middle of a combo in that game, and I can tell you what attack to use next from there without breaking it.

While I think Mortal Kombat fans should have their Mortal Kombat, my own gameplay tastes mostly agree with Yahtzee. Still, in a long-term fighting game, you do need to sort of have the idea of "breaks and rewards" when someone's thumbs start to hurt and they're getting frustrated. Mid-combat, this is mostly given by Kratos' finishing moves.

 

[Fullmetalfox]

Capcom got it right. Ultra moves in SSFIV are 3 or 4 seconds long. That's enough time to make a spectacle without breaking the action flow.

 

[Realitycrash]

In my opinion, Fable 2 and Fallout 3 are guilty of this, as well. The VATS kill-cam in FO3 is particularly annoying.

I was thinking that. At least in New Vegas you can turn the kill-cam off. And VATS is optional, I really only use it when I'm low on ammo or getting my ass handed to me(you take less damage while vats is playing out).

I always go with a Sniper Rifle in New Vegas, and have Boone as my sidekick. Fuck VATs, who needs them when two snipers can pick off an entire Legion-patrol before they can fire back? Vats don't even work at the Sniper Rifles maximum range, but my headshots still do.

 

[loodmoney]

My challenge to Yahtzee: continue the cook/broth/carrot polishing metaphor in next week's video or essay. Shouldn't be too hard, "polishing the carrot" is pretty much a masturbation joke right there.

OT: agree totally. Five or so seconds of finisher move is too long to pay attention to, too short to go make a cup of tea. Make it less than two seconds, or more than six minutes, and you've got a winner.

 

[Rect Pola]

Reading this I actually thought of another overdone spectacle that the programmers made EPIC like a shocking scene in a movie without regard that it could be done a few thousand times in normal play: Summons in Final Fantasy and other RPGs.

Celestial beasties perform fantastic routines that would realistically wreak the shit of all things a few miles in front of them, only for the fight to go on because their world shattering murder blast didn't take off enough HP. But no worries, because the next character can call them out for an encore. The only saving grace in these in-fight movies is the fact there's no flow to break in turn based RPGs.

 

[rsvp42]

There's finishing moves in The Witcher 2 as well. You basically stun them in exactly the way you mention and then RMB, which switches to another camera and you watch Geralt impale a dude or light him on fire. I don't mind it because it's actually kind of a treat when you get one, but I can imagine a more active system, wherein players can execute a series of LMB and RMB clicks, maybe combo'd with a sign or thrown item. Then at least he finisher becomes a matter of choice instead of a random event. It it important to note that they don't overdose on the gore there though, at least from what I've seen.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I would say save the graphic extravagant finishers for boss fights.

 

[veloper]

Good piece.
Games like MK and FO3 would be better without the slow gore sequences right in the middle of the game.
It gets dull after the first time and it breaks the flow.

 

[CCountZero]

As for Batman: AA having no finishers. The most annoying thing about it was waiting for a thug to stand up or walk over and slowly punch him in the face while other thugs waited around you.

Well. Without wanting to be a ***** about it, you aren't really supposed to wait around once you've floored one of them.

If there are others still standing, you move on to them. Ain't gotta take them one at a time you know

 

[snowman6251]

Perfect example of the good finishers being talked about here can be found in No More Heroes. Very swift, very satisfying, and it flows.

 

[mjc0961]

Dear Burnout: I do not need control taken away from me for 15-20 seconds every time I crash so you can show off your fancy game engine. Give me an option to change it to a simple 2-3 second "crash, respawn, drive" as it should be. I'm pretty sure Burnout Revenge let me do this, which among other things (like alternate and really fun game modes instead of all racing all the time), is why I played it a hell of a lot more than Paradise.

As for Batman: AA having no finishers. The most annoying thing about it was waiting for a thug to stand up or walk over and slowly punch him in the face while other thugs waited around you.

Well. Without wanting to be a ***** about it, you aren't really supposed to wait around once you've floored one of them.

If there are others still standing, you move on to them. Ain't gotta take them one at a time you know

Yep. Sorry Jaminera, but you were playing it wrong. If you're not far enough to have a "finish the guy on the floor" move yet, you're meant to go punch somebody else while the other guy gets up, not stand around and wait.

 

[4173]

I alternate between thinking the bugged finisher in Arkham Asylum [punching the downed mook in the groin instead of the head) is annoying and hilarious. It is the most painful looking thing in the game though, including broken bones.

 

[WickedFire]

I found Dragon Age Origins did this well with the Deathblows. Every so often as a rogue you would do a spin and decapitate the enemy with your daggers, among another couple of similar style blows for each class. They happened rarely enough for it to look good in the game, and they didn't really break the flow of the game either.

 

[lobster1077]

"Beating people with a broom for 5 minutes" Ha, that was the best part of assassins creed 2.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uoJX2vAQYI