Quick Time Events!

[silentNate]

Been playing that Tomb Raider 2013 game and really enjoying it!

Sadly every time I'm getting into it along comes one of these ridiculous Quick Time Events (my wife says this is what they are called) and I forced to twiddle one way or t'other before I die.

Do gamers like this stuff? I'm finding it really tedious, sorry

 

[Maximum Bert]

Usually I despise QTEs in Tomb Raider I didnt mind either way because the punishment for failure wasnt severe I wouldnt say I liked them either but they were passable. Now in the God of War series I frikkin hate the QTEs it seriously never stops and if you miss one on a boss holy hell you will feel the pain, it was just overused so much it became a chore.

However QTEs can be done well Cyberconnect2 does an excellent job of utilizing them or at least they did in Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 and Asuras Wrath I actually welcomed the QTEs in these games which I never thought I would say about any game ever they fit the action so well and hellava crazy shit happens when you push one button seriously theres no way QTEs should get you so pumped as they do in these games especially Asuras Wrath.

 

[Zhukov]

Nah, not keen on 'em. I don't hate them when they're well implemented, but I'm not a fan and they never improve a game.

If you want to give me gameplay, give me gameplay.

If you want to show me cutscene, show me a cutscene.

But please don't try to disguise your cutscene as gameplay by making me press X to not die. That just results in a cutscene that I can't pay proper attention to because I'm looking for the button prompts.

 

[silentNate]

Usually I despise QTEs in Tomb Raider I didnt mind either way because the punishment for failure wasnt severe I wouldnt say I liked them either but they were passable. Now in the God of War series I frikkin hate the QTEs it seriously never stops and if you miss one on a boss holy hell you will feel the pain, it was just overused so much it became a chore.

The rolling down the river or skidding down the slope QTE are so tedious though! Didn't mind kicking the guy in the balls and biting his ear off but the 'OMG Lara has fallen into the river and you have to direct her to safety' is annoying the heck out of me....

 

[Mudokon]

i love qtes cause it seems that you play a cinematic movie and you are doing staff that normaly cant be done with regular gameplay.

 

[LAGG]

QTEs are only good in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series, but taht's because that entire game is already awesome and QTEs only fit right in fighting games. Everywhere else, they're totally awful, if I wanted to play Simon I'd go to a toy store and buy one.

Binary input, binary outcome. Boring.

 

[purf]

As a more optional gameplay mechanic, it can work. I like how in Call of Juarez - Gunslinger you from time to time walk into an ambush with a group of enemies suddenly popping up and the QTE lets you have a chance at taking them out one by one in glorious bullettime. If you fail this, it cuts back to normal gameplay. Why not.

But, yeah, as Press X To Not Die during a cutscene they can just fuck off.

 

[BrotherRool]

QTE's can be really good, and that type of button pressing can create some really fun situations (the fights in Heavy Rain were all excellent) but you need to be smart when making them and they need to be properly integrated into your game as a whole. Sadly basically zero developers except Quantic Dream have ever put any thought at all in how to make them. For example insta-death is incredibly stupid and should never ever happen. The very minimum is they should take multiple failures in a row before things go bad.

Secondly the action of pressing buttons should trigger parts of your brain that feel movement. Each button has to be designed for exactly how it feels and how the action of pressing it feels. Again in Heavy Rain when you were frantically stabbing at buttons, it felt like frantically throwing every in to stop the fight from dying. And by making you hold certain combinations of buttons (on a controller at least) you can replicate in your mind the sort of difficult gymnastics required in say pulling you off a ledge. The language of the QTE's needs to be legible and resonant. When people press circle they need to be associating in their head that circle is block etc.

You can't have one cutscene and paste QTE's on top of it, you need a branching cutscene. If I miss my block, the punch should connect with me and the fight continue's and now I'll feel even more panicked, like I might be losing the fight and need to do everything I can to survive it.


Finally that integrated into the gameplay thing is important. 90% of games shouldn't have QTE's in them, it needs to fit with the way your game plays and it needs to be reliable and understandable enough that a player expects QTEs in certain circumstances and it flows naturally. If someone ever realises that they need to switch into QTE mode and get their head into gear, you've failed utterly as a designer.


So they can work, but you can't be lazy and almost every game that uses them is just using them as a easy stop-gap for action, when actually they're a very difficult mechanic and require as much thought and design attention as any other piece of gameplay in a game. You wouldn't throw in a random shooting segment every now and then without bothering to calibrate the mechanics to fit perfectly to your game, so you shouldn't be doing it with QTE's either (see also, turret sequences)

 

[Tom_green_day]

I don't see them a huge much in all honesty, way less than people like to make out, but I don't really mind either way. It's not like they make the game worse simply by being in it.
I think it was done well in the Mass Effect series with paragon and renegade interrupts (although I don't think they were in 1 and maybe 2?)

 

[Miss G.]

I hate 'em, mostly because I'm a JRPG fan and have long been trained to associate "cutscene" with the action of settling down the controller to watch something. The other reason is I can be very non-observant and I never see the QTE before the symbol for the button is already gone and I die or miss the good turn of events.

 

[FalloutJack]

What are these QTEs doing in my Saint's Row game?

Naw, I don't like quick time events, actually. Only one game I can think of did them right and the rest of all the other games for the most part didn't learn from it.

 

[srm79]

they never improve a game.

With one notable exception that still sticks out in my mind all these years later - in Formula One: Championship Edition back in 2007, pitstops were QTE's. If you fumbled it or mis-timed it, you would find the refuelling hose get stuck or one of the pit crew might fumble with a wheel gun. They made pitstops genuinely exciting as you could lose several seconds just as with real Grand Prix racing when something goes wrong in the pits.

 

[silentNate]

they never improve a game.

With one notable exception that still sticks out in my mind all these years later - in Formula One: Championship Edition back in 2007, pitstops were QTE's. If you fumbled it or mis-timed it, you would find the refuelling hose get stuck or one of the pit crew might fumble with a wheel gun. They made pitstops genuinely exciting as you could lose several seconds just as with real Grand Prix racing when something goes wrong in the pits.

Now that does sound pretty cool, frustrating to get right but a worthwhile addition to the game imho!

 

[Legion]

I don't dislike them if they happen in actual game-play. In Gears of War with the chainsaw duels and in The Last of Us when enemies grab you for example.

When I cannot stand them is during cut-scenes, when I normally put the controller down to have a sip of a drink or something similar. It's not only irritating for that reason, but it's more difficult to get into a cut-scene if you re expecting to having to start mashing your controller while watching what is going on.

That said, if they are used too much in game-play they also outlive their welcome. The game should not feel like it is descending into a button mashing contest.

 

[shrekfan246]

People around here rage about QTEs all the time.

I generally don't mind them, but I don't like ones that have tiny prompts or show an image instead of the damn key. Showing me a picture of a foot doesn't do me any good, game.

Also, ones that are directly after unskippable cutscenes. Though unskippable cutscenes in general are just terrible.

 

[Saltyk]

Well, my first experience with them was in the God of War series. Honestly, I liked them. God of War does seem to implement them pretty well, being used mostly as finishers on several enemies. They are also used in several boss fights, too. It can be fun to bring a God to his knees!

That being said, I don't think of QTEs as a feature to really be advertised. They can work, but don't need to be over used, or used in totally random places. Giving me a five minute cutscene and then telling me to "press X to not die" is annoying and frustrating. Used when they fit and not making them too difficult works fine.

I think the worst I heard recently was the Xbox One title, Ryse. All those QTEs? Useless. Failing them does nothing. You still kill the enemy. You just earn less experience. Seriously, that's worse than "press X to not die". They don't even matter.

QTEs are only good in the Ultimate Ninja Storm series, but taht's because that entire game is already awesome and QTEs only fit right in fighting games. Everywhere else, they're totally awful, if I wanted to play Simon I'd go to a toy store and buy one.

Um... Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi...

Not even Lanipator of TeamFourStar could make that seem interesting. If you saw one battle, you saw them all.

 

[Bluestorm83]

I'm not against the existence of QTEs, but I think they need to be adapted a bit. I remember in Shenmue 2, in QTE sequences, you could screw up a couple times for no real penalty, besides seeing your character stumble or slow down or accidentally clip an opening door instead of juking past it. I remember watching my stepbrother fail at the very first QTE in the game where you had around 10 seconds to press A to not trip on marbles. He failed every time. Then he failed the climb the fence quickly QTE where you had a minute and a half to press X. Then he'd just plain lose when he failed the QTE to press any button OR NO BUTTON and they gave you half a day to do so. This went on for around an hour. And also, it was HIS DAMN GAME, not mine, and he'd had it for months still. SIGH. But I'd like to keep that idea, where you QTE to do something BETTER instead of Do or Die.

Another thing would be multiple choices in a QTE. Instead of one button, flash two different ones. I can headbut the dude OR kick him in the junk. I can hop over that crate OR shoulder bash right through it. Make a QTE more about style. Maybe give some sort of a bonus if you get it right, extra XP or Reputation or something.

Hate hate HATE the ones where you play a game for 15 minutes then blow it at a sudden, unexpected QTE and have to go back to that checkpoint 15 minutes ago.

 

[Raggedstar]

The first Uncharted has perhaps some of the worst examples of QTE ever. I watched an LP of it and even as a viewer I barely saw the prompts (and of course, they're insta-kills). Some in Tomb Raider 2013 (again, as a viewer) I barely saw as well. Bayonetta on higher difficulties is a pain in the ass with QTE, because if you're not mashing the button where it hits max, it's often a failure (like fighting Jeanne. You mash a button so you can punch/kick each other. If you don't get it to max, then Jeanne gets a free hit on you). Generally I'm not a huge fan of them. If they're in gameplay and expected, then they're not TERRIBLE, but I hate the ones that happen in cutscenes. Cutscene should be "put down the controller and relax" time. You don't suddenly decide for, nay EXPECT, me to interact in a situation that is usually meant to be non-interactive.

I don't really know of any QTEs I feel were done 100% right. Heavy Rain I guess is close, though it would have to be since it's essentially "QTE: The Game". Though I must say that the QTE in Indigo Prophecy was downright silly 0-0 (let's play Simon Says! How is it relevant to the story? Absolutely none, but just press all the pretty colours in the right order and we'll let you continue). Walking Dead wasn't bad either. They were usually pretty forgiving (except for those times were you must mash one button and then press another one soon after. I'm so frantic that I don't notice them) and the button you press is often pretty predictable. Mind you I feel sorry for the keyboards though *played on PS3 and didn't torment her keyboard*.

 

[mad825]

i love qtes cause it seems that you play a cinematic movie and you are doing staff that normaly cant be done with regular gameplay.

In nearly all cases, it can be done within gameplay. Besides, I don't know a person who wouldn't like a small break during the cinematic.

OT:QTEs are like sitting on leadbox filled with plutonium. Not only does QTEs remove the "reward" for cutscenes, they also make them Unskippable and hard to process simply because you're waiting for that wobbly stick to appear.

QTEs outside cutscenes are often unnecessary and shoe-horned into gameplay to add artificial tension and realism. Why must I perform this repetitive action when the computer itself can perform these actions for me?

Everyone song along:

 

[Shinsei-J]

QTE is like shaky cam for me, they have their place but when you over use it it ruins things

This is most likely the best analogy for QTEs I've heard and agree whole heartedly.

It's a secondary mechanic that serves to improve a game by adding variety to it in it's downtime or climax allowing the player to take breather from the main mechanic. These days triple A games have just over saturated themselves in QTEs because people saw it used and loved in a few commercially successful games while missing what made it work in the first place leading to there misuse.