QTE rant time

[Sack of Cheese]

QTE frustration... Ninja Blade is built on QTE frustration!! I hate QTEs, especially in hack 'n slash.
It's even more infuriating when you fail and the boss automatically regain health, or yours get chipped. After a big boss fight I just wanna enjoy my bloody cutscenes in peace.

I don't mind QTEs in games like Heavy Rain or Fahrenheit though.

 

[LtFerret]

I think the absolute worst QTE I have encountered was the torture sequence in Metal Gear: Peace Walker. None of the other Metal Gears had a torture sequence this difficult. You have to mash the A button so damn hard and for so damn long that its ridiculous. Well maybe in Metal Gear 1 but you had the option to just give in and get the bad ending. Peace Walker doesn't give you that option even, it just kills you and sends you back to the beginning of the cutscene. For a stealth game to stonewall all your progress until you become a master button masher is stupid.

 

[anthony87]

I honestly don't understand the vitriol geared towards QTEs.

If I had to guess I'd say it's because Yahtzee doesn't like them.

 

[Terramax]

QTEs are the reason I'm not buying the new Tomb Raider, despite how good the rest of the game looks.

I don't buy games with QTEs anymore. Simple as that.

The only game I know to have don QTEs well is Sword of Berserk, simply because you don't die, but you just end up on a different path if you miss it, which actually encourages replays, there's only about 2 or 3 in the whole game, and they're very short. Only one of them causes you to immediately die, but you won't fail it more than 2 times.

Most annoying ones for me are in Shenmue. I just want the story to continue. I don't want to be held back by QTEs.

 

[Nazulu]

I honestly don't understand the vitriol geared towards QTEs.

If I had to guess I'd say it's because Yahtzee doesn't like them.

Please don't do that. People could easily counter that with something as painful as "blind fanboy for the game" or whatever and it's never ever been good for discussion.

Read peoples posts and find those reasons why people dislike them, you'll always find something new that Yahtzee never brought up.

 

[LAGG]

Simon is the worst "game" ever. Simple as that.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

I'm not sure anyone can complain about QTE's until, like me, they have played a game such as TellTales: Jurassic Park.

It's a game literally made up entirely of QTE's. The entire game....Oh sweet Lord.

 

[EHKOS]

QTE's killed what little bile fascination I had of Sly 4 Thieves In Time. That's all the final boss is.

This is why you don't hand over game production to the fanboys that made your HD collection.

Now I'm the worst person to talk about new studios taking over old IPs, but I feel as though I have to defend Sanzaru. Are they a little too big for their britches? Yes. Are they new at developing big titles? Yes. But they did a damn fine job with Sly 4. Sometimes, you need fanboys to take over, in fact, it's prolly the best decision. I could tell they were passionate about the game, and they really made a good entry.

I won't go further into it because I don't want to come off as a huge jerk. I do want to point out though, that Ms. Ruby was also a QTE boss.

 

[Happiness Assassin]

The game that did it best was Mass Effect 2, IMO. They don't change anything beyond some really interesting actions, they give you enough time to react on most occasions, and best of all, they aren't necessary for completing the game. They are more often than not there exclusively for the entertainment value.

 

[Bat Vader]

I think some QTE's can be pretty fun when done well. They can help make a fight easier too I believe. I liked the QTE's in The Witcher 2 bar brawls. They were pretty fun I though.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

I do want to point out though, that Ms. Ruby was also a QTE boss.

Yeah, I played Sly 1 and ragequit because I kept dying on Ms. Ruby. That fight is just unwinnable.

 

[Mordekaien]

The only game that had reasonable QTEs was Prince of Persia- Two Thrones.
And Kingdoms of Amalur did a pretty good job, making QTE entirely optional, giving you more exp, if done right, but you could skip them if you wanted.

 

[Bedla]

I think some QTE's can be pretty fun when done well. They can help make a fight easier too I believe. I liked the QTE's in The Witcher 2 bar brawls. They were pretty fun I though.

Witcher 2 is an interesting example, containing (at least for me) both a good and bad examples of QTE use.

The bar brawls were a QTE minigame, and I liked them and had fun with them.

However, QTEs in the boss fights (Kayran and Dragon) were just "Oh, you pressed a wrong button! Do It Again Stupid!". I think the reason I always failed them the first time was the same as what OP is describing: sudden change of mechanics, don't look at the game, look at the bottom of the screen and the prompt, and god forbid you don't get it right on the first try.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I never met a QTE I enjoyed, and I actually managed to injure myself in Peace Walker's interrogation sequence. When my thumb was better (a week later), I looked it up on the internet and it turns out the most popular method is running a toy car across the button back and forth. I decided I didn't want to damage any toy car of mine or my PSP, so I manned up and injured myself again, this time succeeding in the process. I needed to practically have a local seizure in my hand to do it.

 

[Bat Vader]

I think some QTE's can be pretty fun when done well. They can help make a fight easier too I believe. I liked the QTE's in The Witcher 2 bar brawls. They were pretty fun I though.

Witcher 2 is an interesting example, containing (at least for me) both a good and bad examples of QTE use.

The bar brawls were a QTE minigame, and I liked them and had fun with them.

However, QTEs in the boss fights (Kayran and Dragon) were just "Oh, you pressed a wrong button! Do It Again Stupid!". I think the reason I always failed them the first time was the same as what OP is describing: sudden change of mechanics, don't look at the game, look at the bottom of the screen and the prompt, and god forbid you don't get it right on the first try.

I know what you mean. I think if developers are going to have a boss fight have QTE sequences that they should allow players to be able to turn off the QTE sequences if they are able to work that option in. I think the reason I like QTEs during boss fights is that it can help make a cheap overpowered boss fight easier. There have been times where I was almost dead and starting a QTE sequence in a boss fight let me take down the boss faster. I hate the QTEs that only come a screen for a second and then disappear. If developers are going to add a QTE to their game they should at least make it say on the screen for a good 15-20 seconds or so.

I must admit I find it funny how QTEs are really hated yet games like Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain, and the upcoming Beyond: Two Souls are considered innovative for using nothing but QTEs.

 

[Offworlder_v1legacy]

I've got nothing against QTE in general, if they're done well that can be good and intuitive. My biggest gripe with them is that nearly every single final boss fight I've had over the past few years has bee a QTE event. That's the best you can do for a final showdown? A string of Quick Time Events? It really takes away from the excitement of it and is hugely anti-climatix.

My most recent experience of this was Bulletstorm. Everything is obviously leading up to a final confrontation with the evil General who you final have cornered and alone without any stipulations saying you can't kill him and you finish him off with a QTE sequence that is actually slowed down for your convenience. No epic battle. No battle of skill and wits. Half speed timed button pressing.

How bout no.

 

[lapan]

The only QTEs i hate are those that instantly kill you when you mess them up. Beyonetta comes to mind in particular.

 

[Kopikatsu]

I'm not sure anyone can complain about QTE's until, like me, they have played a game such as TellTales: Jurassic Park.

It's a game literally made up entirely of QTE's. The entire game....Oh sweet Lord.

Asura's Wrath is similar. But Asura's Wrath was frickin' sweet.

I actually happen to like QTEs, but only if there is some logic behind them. As was mentioned earlier in this thread, 'A good QTE is one that could work without visual aids' is a good indicator of that, I think.

 

[Siyano_v1legacy]

I just don't like QTE, most of the time they don't serve any purpose other than to fake interaction.
I think the one I just don't like is the one that you have to rapidly press a key to do a simple task, such as God of War opening a door or Tomb Raider prying open something, I just don't see the point.
I also despise the one that you either succeed or die, how fun is that?
Ex: The raped scene (one of the first real QTE) in Tomb Raider I had to do it like 20 times because I wasn't sure what key to press and with which timing, it was very aggravating