Quick Time Events!

[Hero of Lime]

As long as the quick time events don't try to pass off as serious gameplay, then I don't have much of a problem with them, I still don't like them much, but I don't outright hate them.

The only ones I do like are the ones that are made to really test your reflexes, not the ones where "something has grabbed you! Press x a whole bunch of times!!!"

 

[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.

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:

well that was just my oppinion, i like them and cause of that it seems that im allready a pro at qtes so they are not too dificult for me, i have an s grade at all the episodes in asura's wrath in hard mode, im also bored of games that they are too easy, at past the most of the video games were much more difficult and challenging than today.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I thought they were fine in Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, where they worked as a cool way to shoot bitches with no fear of dying and getting lots of points. If you bungle it up, you have to shoot it out normal ways -- no punishment for failing, just a reward for succeeding. How it should be done, if at all.

Other games blow because they punish you for failing and don't reward you for succeeding.

 

[MammothBlade]

Hate them. Can't be doing my controller any good never mind my sanity. They pretty much ask you to throw out anything you knew about the game and mash a random combination of buttons.

 

[Atmos Duality]

They're basically the gaming equivalent of a flashing applause sign or canned laughter, depending on context.

 

[EyeReaper]

I can appreciate them, as one of my favorite genres is rhythm games, which really are just glorified qte's when you think about it.
The only problematic ones are the ones that come out of nowhere, i think. An excellent example of qte's done right is the first Dark Cloud game, as it had a giant exclamation point flash right before it happened, and a special bgm plays. I think if more games did it like that, they'd be less reviled

 

[Maximum Bert]

i like them and cause of that it seems that im allready a pro at qtes so they are not too dificult for me, i have an s grade at all the episodes in asura's wrath in hard mode, im also bored of games that they are too easy, at past the most of the video games were much more difficult and challenging than today.

I dont think I have ever heard anyone call themselves a pro at quick time events before are you one of those people who can perfect through the fire and flames on guitar Hero on the highest difficulty? or some other ridiculous rhythm action game if so I say you have earned the accolade of pro QT eventer but Asuras Wrath is not a hard QTE game its just a good one.

Many games are easier today because many old games were quite frankly shit with broken controls and or riddled with poor design. Of course people only remember the classics and not the huge amount of dross that was released. It was rare games of the SNES and pre Snes era were 100% fair with their difficulty a lot of it was arbitrary (NES and before especially).

I agree with your sentiment that QTEs can be used to make you do stuff that cant be done in gameplay at least as stylishly anyway, Asuras Wrath is a great example and a hype as hell game, but that ending why the hell did they do that? no I am not buying your DLC Capcom even though I want to find out what happens.

 

[A BigCup of Tea]

hate them hate them hate them, which is why i'll be avoiding that new ryse or ryes game on the xbone from what i saw every fight is a QTE

 

[Evonisia]

I like them when they're part of core gameplay and are usually the same (see the chainsaw duels in Gears of War) but when they're thrown in randomly at some points it's extremely irritating and I hate seeing them.

There are some exceptions, Remember Me has a Quick-time event to finish off each boss so while it's consistant and usually it's the same buttons, they're barely highlighted (the colour they're in practically blends into the background) and easily missed causing you to fight the boss for another minute or so.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

Only time I ever fully accepted them was probably TellTales: The Walking Dead

It all aided the storytelling.

 

[Truniron]

It depends on how they are executed. If the QTE has two outcomes (press to win or don´t press to die), it is done poorly. However, if the QTE has more than two outcomes and you are tasked to press one of four buttons, it can be acepted. One example of a shi-...bad QTE is: Press A to dodge. Too easy. But if you have the options to: Press A to dodge, B to counter, X to block or Y to attack, you may want to try it more times to see what may cange if you do that insead of this. That is how to properly make a good QTE, in my oppinion.

 

[Benpasko]

The knife fight with Krauser in RE4 is the best QTE. That game had pretty good QTEs in general, they were a few regular button combinations, and they happened often enough that they were regular mechanics instead of just OH SHIT WHAT. Platinum Games also handle them really well, I find. Vanquish has some really awesome ones in particular.

Worst QTE award goes to Soul Calibur 3, in my book. Beat the game as Yoshimitsu, and you have to do a QTE in his ending cinematic or you don't unlock his ultimate weapon. No retry, go beat his whole story mode again, peon.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

They're fun in small quantities, since they let you do and see stuff you ordinarily don't. But basing gameplay entirely around them can get either very frustrating (because of the level of precision required to use the maccurately, especially when they come out of the blue, i.e. in the middle of a cutscene) or very boring (since it boils down skills to acute button mashing and doesn't carry a lot of empathy with the movement you're watching on screen).

 

[Pyrokinesis]

It really depends on the context of the QTE, if its just "press x at the right time to not die" then yea it gets a bit stupid at times when it comes up again and again. If its more of a "I press right trigger to shoot regularly and this QTE wants me to actually press correct buttons during this event (or perform somewhat correlating challenges)" then its perfectly tolerable to me. QTE's can be good and make you feel more involved during what is effectively a cutscene but if its so simplistic as "press x to not die" then its squandered opportunity.

 

[Bruce]

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

Generally not. They tend to break game design rules in a way that isn't fun.

Let me illustrate this concept with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow ? Mirror of Fate.

That game is mostly an action platformer.

The trouble is it then resolves to a quick time event where you need to hit X to win. It takes a lot of what makes the boss battles fun, and drops them in favour of keypad whackamole. It loses the skill and tactics in favour of pure twitch, and thus totally ruins what would otherwise be decent bosses.

The rule here is that the skills you pick up in the game as a whole, should guide how you fight those big set-piece battles. When you break that rule you end up with boss battles that are at best anti-climactic, they end up feeling like a letdown.

 

[Batou667]

I'm old enough to remember playing (and inexplicably enjoying) games like Road Avenger that were basically just one long sequence of QTEs...

Done right QTEs can be effective. My opinion on how to do QTEs correctly:

- Fair warning, please. If I think I'm watching a pre-rendered cinematic and a QTE suddenly pops up, I'm not going to be ready for it.

- Ideally, signpost the urgency or how long I have to react. The Walking Dead usually does this very well indeed, by introducing a "red vignette = danger" prompt, and often displaying a countdown timer bar.

- Don't include in a QTE anything that could reasonably be tackled through regular gameplay instead.

- Failure shouldn't be the end of the world. If failing a QTE means death, then let us replay from a few seconds before - don't make us sit through two minutes of cutscene each time we fail. Ideally, QTEs should be an optional extra, like the branching/alternate end sequences in Soul Calibur 3, or the contextual interactions in Assassins Creed 2.

- A little leniency in reaction time please! Some of us play multiple consoles and our recognition of individual buttons might not be up to scratch. I remember playing through Shenmue for the first time I'd screw up QTEs every time because I was used to the bottom row of buttons being A, B, C like the Mega Drive and Saturn, not X, A, B like modern consoles. And, a current-gen gripe - if you expect us to use a certain trigger, bumper or stick as part of a QTE, please make it ABUNDANTLY clear which one! I don't want to have to squint to double-check whether that tiny icon says "RB" or "LB" - that's just shitty unintuitive design, not a true test of reactions. A notable offender of this: current-gen Turok.

 

[Palademon]

Most people I see hate them. But I don't consider them bad. Just badly implemented in many cases.

Many problems arise from them coming out of nowhere, and that they seem to circumvent the game design.
However the alternative to trying to achieve the same action becomes more situational controls or the sudden inclusion of another tutorial.

I have really enjoyed games that were mostly made of QTEs, such as Asura's Wrath, but I had the benefit of knowing they were in it, and crucial. Having it whipped out hours in is jarring because it often happens in cutscenes where you're supposed to be able to relax to an extent. In natural game play it isn't so bad, but I can understand not liking them.

Spoiler: On a side note, because of your avatar:

 

[mad825]

well that was just my oppinion, i like them and cause of that it seems that im allready a pro at qtes so they are not too dificult for me

Whenever did I say they were difficult? As I said, they add artificial tension - pseudo difficulty. ~They may catch me out the first time but the second time I just get by them snoozing. hell, I'm so tired of them I "cheat" by using marcos just to get it over and done with.

 

[aguspal]

Only if they are annoying as fuck.

Like the newest game that I played with them, HitmanIdunnowhatelse. God, the QTE in that game rival QTE of Tomb Raider, they are head to head.