Poll: Dark souls and the lack of cut-scenes, a positive or negative point ?

ERaptor

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It depends on the game, im fine with cutscenes in games with a storyfocus (albeit not too many), and if it makes _sense_ on why we cant or wouldnt want to be playing while they happen (Devil May Cry has a nasty habit of showing cutscenes where combat happens, no reason why you wouldnt let the Player play instead of just letting him watch). But generally speaking, the more narrative is delivered by actual gameplay and experience, the better. Dark Souls delivers its world almost exclusively by letting the player discover it, and i really wouldnt want it any other way.
 

DementedSheep

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This might be a cop out answer but I don?t think there is a blanket rule for cut scenes except that you should spend more time playing than watching them.
I don?t think Dark Souls would benefit from more or longer cutscenes. It's built around piecing the world and story together from clues in item description and where things are placed which works great IMO. It's non intrusive for the players that don?t care and creates a lot of fun speculation for those that do. It not for all games but in this case it works well and adds to the atmosphere and tone of the game.

While I like Dark souls I also can enjoy more "cinematic" games and like watching cut scenes provided they aren't so frequent or badly placed that it destroys the flow with the gameplay.
 

NeutralDrow

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I'll assume you mean expository cutscenes, and not the little boss intros.

To answer...I was invested in the story during precisely one moment: the ending cutscene. For one glorious half-minute, I was allowed to believe that I was a part of this world, and not simply some schmuck at a computer, guiding a character wandering at random, killing monsters, and trying and failing to get invested just by reading irrelevant post-it note sized snippets of backstory. I had something of my own to claim. I forgot all my frustration, anger, and involuntary apathy, and felt truly ready to let true dark be cast upon the world.

So, I consider it a negative point.
 

likalaruku

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I only watch the cutscenes the first time I play a game & skip them any time after. I think that developers put too much of their budget into making cutscenes.
 

Schmeiser

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I wouldn't mind red alert/tiberian sun type of cutscenes in every game. The acting was just funny as fuck
 

Clive Howlitzer

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I don't care much for cutscenes in most every game. I think you can usually find a way to tell the story without resorting to handing me exposition. I also don't get impressed by watching action scenes that happen in a cutscene. I'd rather be the one playing.
 

Ariseishirou

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OVERWHELMINGLY positive thing. I'm so bored by the cutscenes these days. If I wanted to watch a movie, I'd watch one. I'm playing a game because I want to play a game. Never change, Dark Souls.
 

Kipiru

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For me a game's s troy is above all else and can ever compensate for lacking gameplay and that's where cutscene come in. Done right they can be used to really involve the player and create motivation and immersion. They can be used to set a scene and give depth to an event the player would be involved in. So, yeah cutscene are important, but depending on the game and their correct use.
 

Headdrivehardscrew

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I wouldn't call it 'lack', merely the absence of too many cut scenes. And I must admit that I very much like it like that. When a cut scene happens, it feels special. Everybody is bound to remember first playing Biohazard/Resident Evil - that first zombie encounter might look laughably low-fi these days, but boy did that sudden little exposition scare me into a mumbling, stumbling mess.

There are short introductory cut scenes as in non-essential pans with some gut wrenching and mind numbing orchestral scores before just about every boss fight.

That's plenty enough for me. I could do with some more orchestral music, but I absolutely don't need more cut scenes.

The first cut scene in Demon's Souls, once the 'real' game begins is probably the red dragon one. That one just blew me away, instilling me with fear and anticipation.

In Dark Souls - depending on your approach - the first cut scene is probably the Gargoyle boss one. No matter how long it took you to get there, the first time it happens it's bound to just make you want to run away. I like cut scenes to have impact, not flood you with useless information and over exposition of annoying characters that really only just take away from the actual game play experience. I started playing DA 2 because I quite liked DA:O. I stopped playing DA 2 after maybe three hours. That's about half an hour of actual gameplay and the rest was filled with Oksana the Ukrainian dominatrix and some shaved dwarf. A shaved dwarf! How original! I burned my copy of DA 2, as I don't like to share the same universe with inane bs like that.

I played through both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls several times, but I am still forcing myself through Beyond: Two Souls. Some sections I play over and over again, because they allow me to feel somewhat human. I like that. I also think David Cage has one brilliant idea for every ninety-nine stupid and silly ones. While there are some scenes that genuinely touch me in places I generally don't like being touched, I find it really hard to consider Beyond: Two Souls to be a game. Both Souls titles we got so far are very much loved by me, so much that even their plenty of little faults and technical limitations are of absolutely no concern to me. Games like DA 2, Ass Effect or Ass Creed have stuffed me chock full of cut scenes, I think I am generally allergic to them now.

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls equate to gaming bliss for me. Stray too far from what they are and how they do things and you lose that magic.
 

josemlopes

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shrekfan246 said:
josemlopes said:
It only bothers me when the cutscene is pre-rendered as fuck, like they used a different engine/3D software for it (Batman Arkham Origins or Darksiders) because the moment it goes ingame it looks like shit in comparision.
By your wording, I can't tell if you mean the pre-rendered cutscene looks terrible in comparison--which I would agree with--or the actual game looks terrible--which I wouldn't, at least on their PC versions. The only time I find pre-rendered cutscenes to be of higher quality than the in-game engine tends to be on titles from Square Enix. Or when it's like old Playstation JRPGs where the actual game is 2D or something, but the teaser movie that plays at the Start Menu is some flashy 3D cutscene.
Its mostly the ones like this (05:12):

Its kind of hard to explain, maybe if the cutscene had a better transition (like ending when he is about to hit the ground meaning that you never see the place where you will be fighting all pimped out in CGI before showing the lackluster ingame version).
 

Riddle78

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You don't need a cutscene to tell you a story. Cutscenes may be one of the easiest ways to tell a story,but they're not the only tool in the box. Dark Souls is a great example of this: The story is mostly told through item descriptions,what characters say when you talk with them,during which time you can simply stroll away from them...Much to their displeasure. And the player drawing lines between the points.

Hell,some plot elements are told without any words at all. Moonlight Butterfly,for instance. A prototype of Seath's. How do I know? There are smaller versions in the Crystal Cave. Nothing was said in relation to these things.

Also,as an aside...

"Now,watch! And see how Gough hunts dragons!"
 

Terramax

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I've always thought less is more. When I look back at games such as the very first Tomb Raider, it's amazing how they can piece the plot together with so few cut-scenes. The original Silent Hill series manages to say a lot with so little cutscenes also.

Furthermore, as an old-skool arcade gamer, I prefer games to cut to the action. I like my games with all meat and no fat.
 

Casual Shinji

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Whatever works works.

Dark Souls has no benefit from cutscenes, because the story it tells is not a traditional one. A lot of what makes the game special is that it keeps you in the dark and forces you to discover things on your own. Narrative cutscenes would only detract from the fragility of being in the unknown.

With story-first games like Metal Gear Solid, The Last of Us, and Silent Hill I quite like the cutscenes. Heresy, I know.
 

Trippy Turtle

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May 10, 2010
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Cut-scenes can be very good in games, but in Dark souls the bosses were 'cinematic' enough to get the epic feel without taking away control from the player.
I'd have to see a cutscene to judge properly though.
 

LoreFF

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tiredinnuendo said:
It's stated that "Dark" magic and enchantments could kill the gods. Thus the dark ember is hidden away in a painted world. There is one dark weapon hidden in the game, in a secret room in Anor Londo. In the same room with Havel's armor. Havel the Rock was a bishop of Gwyn who was locked away in a tower for reasons unexplained. Was he a traitor?
I do belive somewhere it tells us that he was going hollow , so he was locked away by a *friend* to keep him safe and other people safe from him most likely.
 

w9496

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I think cutscenes can serve a purpose in any game. I personally prefer them when the story/plot is being explained, as in I couldn't sit through each Metal Gear without them. Could you imagine trying to play a game while simultaneously having all of that information thrown at you?
 

MeChaNiZ3D

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In Dark Souls' case, it does really well without them as far as characterisation and player agency are concerned. Some games you like to see a bit of CG. But generally I like to see it done without, with the exclusion of delicious CG intros.