The Latest Scourge of AAA Game Design

[NuclearKangaroo]

There was one time when I saw an STE done well.

Spoiler: MGS3 ending spoilers

At the end of Metal Gear Solid 3 when you defeat Boss and have to execute her. After being told that everything you were fighting for was a lie and that she is nothing but a willing pawn sacrificing herself to save the government's global reputation, she asks Snake to finish the job and shoot her, and the game won't continue until you, the player, press square to pull the trigger, placing the guilt of it on your shoulders.
Sure, you have no choice in the matter, but it would have had far less of an impact if the whole thing was just a non-interactive cutscene.

The reason it works here is severalfold:

Spoiler: More MGS3 ending spoilers

• 
  [li]You are using a the square button for the exact same function it's been used throughout the game: shooting a gun.[/li]
  [li]There is no button prompt.[/li]
  [li]It is vital to the story that Snake does this, not some other character. It is central to the theme of the game, and a hugely important step for his role in the larger franchise and eventually becoming Big Boss[/li]
  [li]Snake never fires his gun in any cutscene except this one. This helps reaffirm gunfire as an action which can only ever be player-initiated.[/li]
  [li]As you said (and perhaps most importantly), having the player do this helps the player clock into Snake's emotions here. While this is certainly the biggest reason this STE works, it's by no means the only one.[/li]

There are very few game mechanics which I think have literally zero merit (binary good/evil systems, maybe). Much like most everything else, it's just a matter of putting it in the hands of competent writers and designers. Before putting any game mechanic ever invented, three questions need to be asked: What purpose is this meant to serve, does it effectively serve that purpose, and does this actually benefit the game as a whole? If you can't answer these questions properly, you probably shouldn't be putting a mechanic or system.

P.S. Thanks

snake shot an RPG during a cutscene tough

 

[Piorn]

It's like the appartment ending of the Stanley Parable.
Press G to watch TV. Press Z to be at work in the morning. Press N to question nothing.

My thoughts exactly when I first saw that sreencap. Makes it all the more creepy and sad for CoD...

Yeah, in the Stanley Parable it was deliberately making a point, to make you realize you're basically just pressing the buttons you're told by a computer screen. It's some nice meta-commentary.

But here, it's done completely unironically, like if some Senator proposed racial seggregation in schools to help solve racism.
At first you're just confused, and then you think, wait, decades of developement and insights have led to statements like this? Is this really all we're capable of as humans?

 

[Jingle Fett]

I remember one of the scenes in Black Ops 1 that really pissed me off. There's a scene where you're torturing a guy and it says "Press X to torture" or something. And I was like, 'you know what, I don't feel like torturing this guy'. So I didn't press the button.

I wait a few seconds trying to figure out if there was some way out of it and what happens? The character goes ahead and shoves a piece of broken glass in the guys mouth anyways.

By giving me a prompt like that, you imply I have a choice in the matter because you're asking me to make a decision (press the button or don't). So if you were just going to press the button for me anyways, why did you bother asking me at all as if there was a choice? What did you need my input for? You gave me a choice and I chose the option you didn't want me to take, so you blatantly force your choice on me anyways? Don't give me a choice then.

 

[Nazulu]

Good gameplay is about establishing a set of rules and teaching them to the player just enough that they can intuit the next solution, one not so obscure as to be frustrating but not so obvious as to kill their sense of achievement. The moment you need to flash up a caption instructing the player of what button to press (at least, past the point that the standard controls have been tutorialized), you have failed.

I'm taking this to the grave. It's one of the main reasons I love Half-Life and Super Metroid.

I've always hated quick time events, in almost every form. Hated them in God Of War and other popular games. Heavy Rain even cracked me up during it's most dramatic scenes because of the colourful goofy looking button prompts.

The only quick time events I like (if you can even call it that) is the single button KOs like in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time.

I also hated QTE's especially in the GOW games for some reason. The button mashing, tug-of-war QTEs felt more like an endurance test and some of the more extended sequences were just lazy excuses for player interaction in completely automated sequences. The last Boss fight of Space Marine, imho, is one of the worst examples of QTE boss fights in the last decade.

Yeah, that boss fight looked pretty lame. So many buttons.

I personally think Sonic Unleashed had the worst though. You screw up the QTE's there and you will be sent back down a path with a continuous onslaught of projectiles that are a pain in the ass to avoid, one being impossible to avoid.

 

[RicoADF]

Oh joy.

Portal 2 was next on my list of (long-running) backlogged games to play. I'm SO fucking glad this article/thread showed some awareness of the fact that some people who WANT to play the game still haven't done so.

Fucking fuckity fuck!

I know the feeling, there's been quite a few times where an article does a spoiler for an older game that's on my (huge) backlog. Seriously guys where's the spoiler warning!

In this case though I've already played Portal 2, well worth it too

 

[TinmanX]

This is probably the most disengaging, badly done QTE I have encountered in a game that is literally littered with them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziypLB1QFUM

 

[Dalisclock]

Press button to do thing reminds me of one of my complaints about Bioshock Infinite: The skyrail kills. You just point at the guys on the ground and hit the "kill" button to win. Game design used to make it where you had to detach from the rails, and then hit an attack button when the foe was in range. Thief 1 and 2 did this when you were falling from the rafters to KO an unsuspecting guard, and you felt SO AWESOME when you pulled it off right. The single button approach kills that feeling entirely.

Maybe the skulls of the dudes you were sky rail killing were magnetic?

I assumed it was an anti-frustration feature, considering how the skyrails could easily send you flying off the edge of Columbia and fall to your death(yes, I know you can't fall off the city. Shut up).

That and considering booker didn't break his arm and legs every time he went skyrail riding, I kind of gave everything relating to it a bit of a pass.

 

[Dalisclock]

Anyone else now want the game to have a QTE which goes "Press F to use coffin as a shield and shoot at people"?

Or am I just having flashbacks of Hot Shots! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK-yy_NRKiI

 

[Signa]

Press button to do thing reminds me of one of my complaints about Bioshock Infinite: The skyrail kills. You just point at the guys on the ground and hit the "kill" button to win. Game design used to make it where you had to detach from the rails, and then hit an attack button when the foe was in range. Thief 1 and 2 did this when you were falling from the rafters to KO an unsuspecting guard, and you felt SO AWESOME when you pulled it off right. The single button approach kills that feeling entirely.

Maybe the skulls of the dudes you were sky rail killing were magnetic?

I assumed it was an anti-frustration feature, considering how the skyrails could easily send you flying off the edge of Columbia and fall to your death(yes, I know you can't fall off the city. Shut up).

That and considering booker didn't break his arm and legs every time he went skyrail riding, I kind of gave everything relating to it a bit of a pass.

I certainly liked it as a landing feature, because you just pointed where you wanted to land, and you'd go there, but insta-killing the soldiers was too much. There was a battle or two where I just kept hopping on and off the rail to kill the bad guys. It felt like a joke by that point.

 

[J Tyran]

There was one time when I saw an STE done well. (Possible spoiler) At the end of Metal Gear Solid 3 when you defeat Boss and have to execute her. After being told that everything you were fighting for was a lie and that she is nothing but a willing pawn sacrificing herself to save the government's global reputation, she asks Snake to finish the job and shoot her, and the game won't continue until you, the player, press square to pull the trigger, placing the guilt of it on your shoulders.
Sure, you have no choice in the matter, but it would have had far less of an impact if the whole thing was just a non-interactive cutscene.

The "thank you kindly" scene in the first Bioshock did the same and gave you no choice, in the context of that scene and the point it was trying to make made it fairly effective there as well.

Generally though this is a good article, however the term "slow time event" or STE as its TLA isn't that fitting. I propose a motion to call them either "slow time interactions" or "slow time interruptions" instead as they hardly qualify as an "event" most of the time and the new three letter acronym is much more appropriate to an overused gameplay trope like this.

 

[Signa]

There was one time when I saw an STE done well. (Possible spoiler) At the end of Metal Gear Solid 3 when you defeat Boss and have to execute her. After being told that everything you were fighting for was a lie and that she is nothing but a willing pawn sacrificing herself to save the government's global reputation, she asks Snake to finish the job and shoot her, and the game won't continue until you, the player, press square to pull the trigger, placing the guilt of it on your shoulders.
Sure, you have no choice in the matter, but it would have had far less of an impact if the whole thing was just a non-interactive cutscene.

The "thank you kindly" scene in the first Bioshock did the same and gave you no choice, in the context of that scene and the point it was trying to make made it fairly effective there as well.

Generally though this is a good article, however the term "slow time event" or STE as its TLA isn't that fitting. I propose a motion to call them either "slow time interactions" or "slow time interruptions" instead as they hardly qualify as an "event" most of the time and the new three letter acronym is much more appropriate to an overused gameplay trope like this.

Ah yes, STIs, the disease of modern gaming.

 

[mrdude2010]

Going back to Portal 2, I thought that opening "press A to talk" sequence where you jump instead was hilarious. It might have been an intentional mockery of buttons randomly changing their function for these sorts of things, or it might have just been something the writers thought would be funny.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

The only time I recall enjoying any QTE or STE was in The Walking Dead. Mainly because they use them to force the player to be involved and feel responsible for their actions. The main one was hacking that dude's leg off to get him out of a bear trap. Firstly it's very visceral and the fact that the QTE put me in control made it all the more horrific. What's more the QTE is also a decision for you to make. You can just not participate and that's a valid choice to make too.

 

[lordloss217]

There was one time when I saw an STE done well.

Spoiler: MGS3 ending spoilers

At the end of Metal Gear Solid 3 when you defeat Boss and have to execute her. After being told that everything you were fighting for was a lie and that she is nothing but a willing pawn sacrificing herself to save the government's global reputation, she asks Snake to finish the job and shoot her, and the game won't continue until you, the player, press square to pull the trigger, placing the guilt of it on your shoulders.
Sure, you have no choice in the matter, but it would have had far less of an impact if the whole thing was just a non-interactive cutscene.

The reason it works here is severalfold:

Spoiler: More MGS3 ending spoilers

• 
  [li]You are using a the square button for the exact same function it's been used throughout the game: shooting a gun.[/li]
  [li]There is no button prompt.[/li]
  [li]It is vital to the story that Snake does this, not some other character. It is central to the theme of the game, and a hugely important step for his role in the larger franchise and eventually becoming Big Boss[/li]
  [li]Snake never fires his gun in any cutscene except this one. This helps reaffirm gunfire as an action which can only ever be player-initiated.[/li]
  [li]As you said (and perhaps most importantly), having the player do this helps the player clock into Snake's emotions here. While this is certainly the biggest reason this STE works, it's by no means the only one.[/li]

There are very few game mechanics which I think have literally zero merit (binary good/evil systems, maybe). Much like most everything else, it's just a matter of putting it in the hands of competent writers and designers. Before putting any game mechanic ever invented, three questions need to be asked: What purpose is this meant to serve, does it effectively serve that purpose, and does this actually benefit the game as a whole? If you can't answer these questions properly, you probably shouldn't be putting a mechanic or system.

P.S. Thanks

Well said. This should be entered into a textbook about game design. So many developers seem to throw stuff in without thinking about why it should be there.

Has anyone ever thought of literally creating a textbook on game design? It would be a very good idea plus we can send then to all the AAA developers with note telling them to read it and stop pissing about (*cough*ubisoft*cough*)

 

[JET1971]

All QTE/STE/*TE events needs to be removed from games as far as I am concerned. press X key to have the game play itself for you is how I view them.

Yahtzee it sounds to me like you just want to play Portal and Portal 2. I say play em and have some fun doing it! I love the 2 games myself.

 

[elvor0]

There was one time when I saw an STE done well.

Spoiler: MGS3 ending spoilers

At the end of Metal Gear Solid 3 when you defeat Boss and have to execute her. After being told that everything you were fighting for was a lie and that she is nothing but a willing pawn sacrificing herself to save the government's global reputation, she asks Snake to finish the job and shoot her, and the game won't continue until you, the player, press square to pull the trigger, placing the guilt of it on your shoulders.
Sure, you have no choice in the matter, but it would have had far less of an impact if the whole thing was just a non-interactive cutscene.

The reason it works here is severalfold:

Spoiler: More MGS3 ending spoilers

• 
  [li]You are using a the square button for the exact same function it's been used throughout the game: shooting a gun.[/li]
  [li]There is no button prompt.[/li]
  [li]It is vital to the story that Snake does this, not some other character. It is central to the theme of the game, and a hugely important step for his role in the larger franchise and eventually becoming Big Boss[/li]
  [li]Snake never fires his gun in any cutscene except this one. This helps reaffirm gunfire as an action which can only ever be player-initiated.[/li]
  [li]As you said (and perhaps most importantly), having the player do this helps the player clock into Snake's emotions here. While this is certainly the biggest reason this STE works, it's by no means the only one.[/li]

I'm glad MGS3 came up as quickly as it did. It's a shame that in the HD version the scene plays out after a certain amount of time even if you don't press the button.

Spoiler: Spoilers for MGS3 + Peace Walker

Then Kojima takes it one step further in Peace Walker with The Boss' Horse. Which is almost as many years later for the player as it is for Snake, a fantabulous double whammy use of the fourth wall.

.

 

[Kahani]

All QTE/STE/*TE events needs to be removed from games as far as I am concerned. press X key to have the game play itself for you is how I view them.

As others have said, there is almost no mechanic entirely without merit. "Press x to continue game" is a terrible use of QTEs, but there are situations where they can make perfect sense. Mass Effect, for example, used them very well as part of the paragon/renegade system - sometimes during a cutscene you would have the opportunity to interrupt it and change the direction of that scene. Importantly, the options actually made sense as part of the gameplay; it wasn't simply press a button to have the scene continue, but to punch someone in the middle of a sentence or dive to save them from a bullet. And even more importantly, it was impossible to fail. If you missed the chance, or simply chose not to take it, the game would still continue rather than sending you back to try again. Of course, the morality system as a whole had plenty of its own problems, but it did give a perfect chance to show how QTEs could actually be a useful mechanic.

The same goes for STEs. Most dialogue systems boil down to that really. "Press X to have your character say something that doesn't actually change the outcome of the conversation in any way." But even when your choice of response, assuming you even have a choice, doesn't make a difference, it still usually feels better to actually make that choice rather than just watch every conversation play out as a non-interactive video. The mechanic is essentially identical to the "press X to pay respects", but the exact use and context makes one sensible and the other terrible.

 

[Thanatos2k]

Oh joy.

Portal 2 was next on my list of (long-running) backlogged games to play. I'm SO fucking glad this article/thread showed some awareness of the fact that some people who WANT to play the game still haven't done so.

Fucking fuckity fuck!

Don't use Aeris, Sephiroth kills her.