Ratio of 70%:30% Cutscenes vs Gameplay

Assuming we've all experienced the master piece of Metal Gear Solid 4, I'm starting to notice more and more that cutscenes have become a game's main influence. If you think about it, no good game has poor cut scenes. As lengthy as MGS's cutscenes are, we can all agree that it took majority of the gameplay away. I'm not complaining one bit, I love the series, but my point is, do you think that future gaming are going to soley concentrate on a game's cutscenes or other non playable sequence. With Heavy Rain coming out, I see the same exact thing going on, and it seems like developers now are targetting that type of method in order to support a stronger story character build and/or story line. Do you prefer a game that is roughly about 60-%70 Video sequence and the rest actual gameplay?

i certainly hope not. i come from the generation when games didnt have cut scenes. gameplay will ALWAYS be more important. and from what im told the bulk of heavy rain is interactive cut scenes. i do appreciate the detail and time devs put into them. i loved mgs4. (i loved them all) i dont think they really hindered the gameplay so much. i mean you could skip them if you choose. it was the final story and a lot of ppl had never played any of the series, so the majority of the mgs history stuff was for them. im a bigger fan of the seamless cut scenes (like dead space) i hope to see more of that in games in the future. i feel as if ive never left the gameplay.

Aggghhh, I was interested in the argument until you used Heavy Rain as an example.

It's not cutscene heavy like MGS4 because it's a new trend, it's cutscene heavy because it's a point and click adventure game and Quantic Dream has been known for cinematic adventure games.

Other than that, I don't care either way. 10% cutscene or 90% cutscene, as long as the developer can get across to me a great story with interesting characters, I don't care how they do it.

No. I prefer gameplay. And take Uncharted 2 for example. It had a well told story, but there was only about thirty minutes total of cutscenes. Or another example would be inFAMOUS. Great story (imo) and there's very few cutscenes. Much of the story is told while playing the game, be it a cellphone call, dead drop, or television broadcast; the story was always progressing but it never got in the way of gameplay.

I don't agree with you when you compare MGS4 to Heavy Rain. MGS4 had a clear, distinct line separating its gameplay and its cutscenes. You'd play a little, then watch a movie (more often than not, brown stills with voiceover explaining some backstory), then play a little more, watch another cutscene... That's why I have such mixed feelings about that game. It was worth the 25$ I spent on it, but definitely NOT the way I want storytelling to evolve in future games.

Heavy Rain's cutscenes, on the other hand, go hand in hand with its gameplay. If you want to be blunt, you could almost call it a series of QTEs, but from what I've seen, it will still be a very dynamic experience.

It's quite a challenge to merge gameplay and story into a seamless experience, that's a fact. When I play a game, I want to play the story, I don't want to simply watch it. If I wanted to watch a story, I'd rent a movie. MGS4 disappointed me on that aspect, but Heavy Rain's approach is very interesting. I haven't got my hands on the game yet, so I can't know for sure, but it is pre-ordered.

I'm not saying Heavy Rain's method of storytelling is the best, but it certainly is interesting, and while I don't want every game to copy that method, I'm eager to see how it turns out.

Some of the best stories and characters I've ever seen in video games were done with only a normal amount of cutscenes. Some of the absolute worst stories and characters I've ever seen were done with gigantic amounts of cutscenes. That's my opinion on the subject.

Assuming we've all experienced the master piece of Metal Gear Solid 4, I'm starting to notice more and more that cutscenes have become a game's main influence. If you think about it, no good game has poor cut scenes. As lengthy as MGS's cutscenes are, we can all agree that it took majority of the gameplay away. I'm not complaining one bit, I love the series, but my point is, do you think that future gaming are going to soley concentrate on a game's cutscenes or other non playable sequence. With Heavy Rain coming out, I see the same exact thing going on, and it seems like developers now are targetting that type of method in order to support a stronger story character build and/or story line. Do you prefer a game that is roughly about 60-%70 Video sequence and the rest actual gameplay?

HoVDaHuSTLa1

Heavy rain has very little in terms of cutscenes most of it is interactive.

MGS4 is the only game I know that has overlong cutscenes, and not much gameplay. Overall, thats what failed in the game.

Gameplay is far more important in all games.

MGS4 is the only game I know that has overlong cutscenes, and not much gameplay. Overall, thats what failed in the game.

Gameplay is far more important in all games.

M0wen10

Which is why I feel certain games are "hurt" by the long cutscenes. However, other games like Uncharted 2 know how to mix both in while not making you feel like you've been dragged into a long cinematic sequence.

I dont mind long cutscenes in games that are heavily driven by story like RPG's.

I would prefer no cutscenes. I would always skip cutscenes if there wasn't a chance that I would get lost/confused during gameplay. I don't really care about story at all, I just want gameplay, gameplay, and more gameplay. Whichis probably why I hate Final Fantasy and Metal Gear games, and I'm not interested in Heavy Rain at all.

I would prefer no cutscenes. I would always skip cutscenes if there wasn't a chance that I would get lost/confused during gameplay. I don't really care about story at all, I just want gameplay, gameplay, and more gameplay. Whichis probably why I hate Final Fantasy and Metal Gear games, and I'm not interested in Heavy Rain at all.

BubbyJello

Well I agree, sadly to say that I AM a MGS fan and it seems like Hideo wouldn't be stopping that any time soon, I'm just afraid it might refrain me from the franchise being that the cutsence are getting excessively lengthy..Time will tell I guess..