Videogames at their core are an interactive medium. The whole reason you probably play videogames is to experience something that you had a part in, being an active participant. But this brings up its own set of issues. What happens if the player misses something important, or characters and events are ignored completely? What happens if that control is taken away? In order to get around this pesky issue known as “free will,” game developers commonly use things called cutscenes in order to relay critical information to players, story or otherwise. These cutscenes can take various forms, but the important part is that more times than not they strip away control from the player, making the experience more akin to a movie than a videogame. Although I think that cutscenes have their place in videogames to tell a compelling story, I think that the recent abundance of them might be taking mainstream videogames in the wrong direction.
Cutscenes although similar in their purpose can range in execution and quality. More times than not, cutscenes will be compressed cinematics that features characters or events which are non-interactable. Sometimes they will even be run with the in-game engine, using assets available and animating them in ways that players are not allowed to do in-game. The purpose of these cutscenes front and foremost is to establish critical information to the player. Sometimes they are introduced at the beginning of the game to show a new location or set up the plot. Other times Cutscenes are used to establish characters or introduce new enemies. Hack and slash games like Devil May Cry have various enemy types, so giving a small cutscene to not only introduce the enemy but what they can do can expand the story and help increase player immersion. Sometimes however Cutscenes are not entirely un-interactive. Gameplay moments known as “QuickTime events” may be implemented where the player must press buttons in time with on-screen prompts to influence events in the game. If the player fails the quick time event, usually negative consequences ensue resulting in the player restarting the level. Some games base their entire identity off these forms of “gameplay”, interactive stories like Heavy Rain or Detroit: Become Human, having players mimic the movements of on-screen characters with their controller.
Despite the usefulness of being able to express critical information to players whenever a developer would want, they should also be careful not to go completely overboard. A videogame should be played not watched. One particular game with a reputation for having an overabundance of cutscenes is Metal Gear Solid 4. In this game you play as Solid Snake, undergoing secret missions across the planet to stop world domination and watch all the important parts play out in hour-long cutscenes. That’s right, this game has individual cutscenes lasting a whole hour. In total there are over 7 hours of cutscenes in an eighteen-and-a-half-hour game. Thankfully you can skip them. Balancing the length of cutscenes in a game with actual playable levels can be tricky, as you want to use them enough to establish events but not completely strip the player of their sense of agency. Too many cutscenes could lead to not only player boredom, but also frustration as the whole reason for purchasing the videogame in the first place was to play it. After all, if the player the majority of the time just watches instead of plays, why wouldn’t they just watch a movie instead?
At the end of the day, one has to wonder if cutscenes like this go against everything videogames are trying to do. Rigid cutscenes, where they are prerendered and are just made to be watched may fall under that category. However, several games have implemented methods that not only take advantage of the cutscene’s greatest strength but also give the player some modicum of control to not be stuck watching. In the third-person transformers game Fall of Cybertronic, whenever an important moment is happening a button prompt appears. When the player holds down this button the camera is directed toward the event, but still retains control over the movement of the character. Not only does this keep control of the game within the player’s hands, but it is entirely optional. This means if they want to view the event from their own angle or not at all they aren’t forced into the situation. Other third-person actions games like God of War use a technique where the cutscenes are seamlessly integrated into gameplay, literally blending the two mediums in a “one-shot” style. With these examples in mind, cutscenes as a concept are not inherently awful. They are great at giving information to players and in small doses can help set up events and characters in an easily digestible manner. Developers simply need to keep in mind not to overdo them and have the players experience a story instead of it being told to them.
-Brandon Peck, Blogger.
Brandon Peck – Asst Blog Editor, Prose Editor, and Layout Editor: Brandon is a Senior at Lewis University. He holds a great interest in painting miniatures and writing stories in his spare time. In addition, he enjoys many different kinds of media, ranging from movies to anime to video games, always keeping up to date with the latest trends of the time. Some of Brandon’s favorite pieces of writing include Devastation of Baal, Baneblade, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, and Fallout: New Vegas.