I've yet to meet any kid would can "out imagination" me and surely not control it properly. That said, as I said, I agree it's very personal and others will have completely different experiences and approaches to this.Uhm, i think this goes best for children who have a more fertile imagination.
Problem with cRPGs nowadays?
You got people who should be game designers who think they are artistic primadonas and movie directors and instead of focusing on allowing you, the player, to tell the story of your characters, they want to tell their own stories.
Well, as a counterexample cutscenes in Max Payne 3 are top notch. Didn't stop them from making game significantly shittier than it could be anyway. Having controls taken away from you every 5-10 seconds is incredibly annoying in any type of game regardless of cutscene quality.
MY opinion of cut-scenes depends on the type of cut-scene:
1. Player loses control of character and view switches to first person. Player sees all that is going on but can't do anything (but maybe pick railroaded conversation options) Think FO3/NV/Oblvion/Skyrim/DE:HR
The play shifts to first person, you are welcome to bob your head or mouselook, but you lose control of your character. "Wait there, citizen... here comes the Jarl!" "Ah, so you are the one everyone has been talking about... blah blah blah." They happen pretty often in Skyrim. Think about the introduction to the game, where you are on a cart, you can look around but not do anything. That happens quite a bit with almost every introduction or new scene. Stand here and look around while something happens outside your control... You still have 'control', but you can't influence anything.MY opinion of cut-scenes depends on the type of cut-scene:
1. Player loses control of character and view switches to first person. Player sees all that is going on but can't do anything (but maybe pick railroaded conversation options) Think FO3/NV/Oblvion/Skyrim/DE:HR
I don't remember Skyrim or Fallout: New Vegas having any cutscenes where you lose control of your character. If they do, they aren't that common.
The play shifts to first person, you are welcome to bob your head or mouselook, but you lose control of your character. "Wait there, citizen... here comes the Jarl!" "Ah, so you are the one everyone has been talking about... blah blah blah." They happen pretty often in Skyrim. Think about the introduction to the game, where you are on a cart, you can look around but not do anything. That happens quite a bit with almost every introduction or new scene. Stand here and look around while something happens outside your control... You still have 'control', but you can't influence anything.
Not really important how often it happens in Skyrim. It was an example of how cut-scenes are handled in Skyrim. Ironically, I was watching someone play at the ... Council of Greybeards or something tonight. Here they are around the table. The player can headbob, and whatnot, but it goes on for about 5 minutes (or so it seemed.) Arguments, all that, but the player can't move while the story is advanced. Skyrim may do it less than others, but it is indicative of the genre I'm mentioning. (if this helps you understand the part I'm talking about, after this council, you have to trap a dragon.)The play shifts to first person, you are welcome to bob your head or mouselook, but you lose control of your character. "Wait there, citizen... here comes the Jarl!" "Ah, so you are the one everyone has been talking about... blah blah blah." They happen pretty often in Skyrim. Think about the introduction to the game, where you are on a cart, you can look around but not do anything. That happens quite a bit with almost every introduction or new scene. Stand here and look around while something happens outside your control... You still have 'control', but you can't influence anything.
That happens pretty rarely in Skyrim, and barely at all in the previous Bethesda games. If we're complaining about cutscenes and lack of player control the Bethesda games are the last examples I would use.
I don't see slow-mo-kill-cam in the same league as cutscene. Even more horrible, though.Not to mention, Skyrim often takes control away from the player during combat (kill cams).
Cutscenes have been with us commonly since 16bit gaming and 8bit instances exist, they've been more prevalent in certain gens, and on some platforms more than others. Anyone remember the FMV fad, when consoles finally got their CD drives? Publishers inflicted hundreds of FMV-based "games" on the public to show off this new storage medium, and they sold like hotcakes.
Cutscene paralysis is a pretty annoying thing in Skyrim, actually. It's pretty common for the game to steal your camera and force you to initiate dialogue at an inappropriate moment, but there are also points where the game just forces you to stand in one place like a moron and watch a scripted event play out. Off the top of my head at least the Thieves Guild has several of these moments. Of course there's not a whole lot of it compared to many other games, but it feels worse because it's an open-world game which supposedly puts a lot of emphasis on player agency and freedom, and then out of nowhere it makes you a mere observer in a way that would better fit a game of an entirely different genre (like some linear action-adventure or corridor shooter).That happens pretty rarely in Skyrim, and barely at all in the previous Bethesda games. If we're complaining about cutscenes and lack of player control the Bethesda games are the last examples I would use.
Cutscene paralysis is a pretty annoying thing in Skyrim, actually. It's pretty common for the game to steal your camera and force you to initiate dialogue at an inappropriate moment, but there are also points where the game just forces you to stand in one place like a moron and watch a scripted event play out. Off the top of my head at least the Thieves Guild has several of these moments. Of course there's not a whole lot of it compared to many other games, but it feels worse because it's an open-world game which supposedly puts a lot of emphasis on player agency and freedom, and then out of nowhere it makes you a mere observer in a way that would better fit a game of an entirely different genre (like some linear action-adventure or corridor shooter).
which is an optional feature you can disable in options. OH NO THE HORRORNot to mention, Skyrim often takes control away from the player during combat (kill cams).
I've yet to meet any kid would can "out imagination" me and surely not control it properly. That said, as I said, I agree it's very personal and others will have completely different experiences and approaches to this.Uhm, i think this goes best for children who have a more fertile imagination.
I do agree about the point of the mass market. AAA game studios are simply too big to produce coherent games (one guy could have an interesting idea, but it gets buried under all the bureaucracy), but ironically, small and mid sized studios don't have enough people to secure that same goal. I also dislike the lack of actual character progression in rpgs. Simple character generatior is fine for me. I've always thought that classes other than fighter/mage/cleric/thief aren't really necessary, and out of all the (arguably crappy) stuff in Dragon Age, having stuff like templars or bards being unlockable "specialties" was a nice touch. However, I do want abilities that make sense, skill that prove useful and other ways to interact with the world. In that sense, I'd say the horrid dialogue wheel is possibly more dangerous than all those cutscenes.
I do agree about the point of the mass market. AAA game studios are simply too big to produce coherent games (one guy could have an interesting idea, but it gets buried under all the bureaucracy), but ironically, small and mid sized studios don't have enough people to secure that same goal. I also dislike the lack of actual character progression in rpgs. Simple character generatior is fine for me. I've always thought that classes other than fighter/mage/cleric/thief aren't really necessary, and out of all the (arguably crappy) stuff in Dragon Age, having stuff like templars or bards being unlockable "specialties" was a nice touch. However, I do want abilities that make sense, skill that prove useful and other ways to interact with the world. In that sense, I'd say the horrid dialogue wheel is possibly more dangerous than all those cutscenes.
Sometimes I think consoles killed the video game. Never had a console myself and banned it from my home so my kids are not totally retarded. When I look around at other families it can feel like battling against the tide. Interestingly I watch my boy play some of my games. He normally follows the "Where to go" compass leader in Bioshock Infinite or Dishonored. In games that are more open ended like Skyrim he just struggles to find something to do - gets overwhelmed by the freedom. I don't think the younger generation play any RPG games at all as I would define them.
Regards the classes - I sort of agree. I still don't know what the Bard is supposed to be - I don't think anyone does. Not a fighter, sort of a thief, can play an instrument. Who has time to play an instrument in the middle of a battle with 99 Skeletons? However, don't knock my Paladin or Monk. I loved Monks in the Bards Tale series and I used many Paladins in those early RPG games. Clerics just feel under developed in most RPGs
Huh, I had similar ideas about what my kids should play.
I'll just lock them up in a room and give them a Pentium 2 with Windows 95, along with Diablo, Fallout, Duke Nukem 3D etc. When they complete a long list of games I've selected for them, I'll "advance" them by providing a slightly more modern PC and more modern games. When a few years later they finally complete VtMB, I'll release them from their prison room and let them see the pathetic ugly world we now live in. Somehow I doubt they will be of sound mind after all that, but hey, whatever.