Extra Punctuation: Action Is Not Finisher Porn

[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

 

[copycatalyst]

I agree that after you've done them dozens of times they start to get old, but God of War did do a few things right with regard to finishers (at least, the first one, I haven't played any of the sequels). 1) Different finishers for each enemy type. Not just animation-wise, but input as well. 2) For regular enemies, it was optional. If you wanted a breather from the combo-fighting, do a finisher when it seems appropriate. 3) Before the aforementioned sword down the throat, he headbutts the minotaur. Let me say that again: He headbutts a minotaur.

[By the way, this was the first CAPTCHA that came up for this post. I'm not sure where to find the Omega on my keyboard...] http://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/image?c=03AHJ_VusXR6ovY9WFk-1H-zjAuX5xAhErzQR0GjALRsgPzDN4k5udeBVorvL3VNGBFqY3C2ZMcQfdLr0ZGkM1FcNkjuLmb8Rl6I0bb8lx8_fDcuog1kmBIFKA5_qB4lY7ApIsngTEWTMx1Z4XvsvlkYiGT1yiC62O-Q

 

[geizr]

Cool features break things because coolness always wants to stand out above everything else; coolness never wants to just be a part of the whole. Games have to be built as a holistic unit, with each element contriving to create a singular, coherent experience. Cool elements and cool features are contrapositive to this goal. Unfortunately, game developers work on the guiding principle of "make it cool.". This leads to creation of cool features and cool elements in the game that vie for the complete attention of the gamer and, in turn, create a jarring, discontinuous experience as each cool feature carves out its own fiefdom of context within the game. The game loses cohesion, which leads to a loss of flow.

I've watched this same problem for years occur in the video games industry. But I've seen the problem not restricted to just the video games industry. I've seen the problem occur with software design in general, and I've seen the problem in other areas of technology, as well. However it was with video games that I first came to the idea that cool things break things. They just don't fit in with the rest of the work, because they are trying too hard to stand out, to be the only thing that gets all the attention.

 

[lord.jeff]

Have to agree, and it's even worse in anime cash in fighting games were you can do the half minute long specials in the middle of matches, sometimes watching it 5 times during one fight.

 

[Espsychologist]

Two harsh realities to bring home: Arkham Asylum was NOT a fighting game (loved it, though), and Mortal Kombat is NOT an action game. Unless a player is the be-all end-all of skill with fighting games, then breakages in flow WILL happen. Hell, every current-gen fighting game actively DOES NOT ALLOW the aggressor to continue attacking when an opponent is prone. That is the textbook definition of "a break in the flow of the action," and it's PART OF THE FUCKING MECHANICS! As for God of War or similar titles: every one of those characters (Kratos, Bayonetta, War [Darksiders], etc.) are all brutal, barbaric 'people' and none of them are Batman, nor should they be. Batman is flawless and must be perfect in everything he does lest a single knife blade to his liver kill his ass dead. Kratos is a mean, nasty, vengeful savage and breaking up the 'action' to highlight said savagery is hardly inappropriate and indeed serves to explore the character and his motivations even further. I would like to agree with Yahtzee this time, but I can't. If you choose to play MK, you DO NOT have to use the X-Ray attacks, I repeat: DO NOT HAVE TO USE! The Super Bar may alternatively be utilized to power up specials or as a Combo Breaker. The X-Ray attacks are not mandatory for killing an opponent! If you don't want to see them, THEN DON'T USE THEM!

Yahtzee has highlighted, not the shortsightedness of developers, but the rampant and wildly out-of-control sense of entitlement of gamers. If I can't have my gaming experience be the one I want, down to the last pixel and polygon, then it's BAD!!!