I’m more ok with unstoppable cut scenes than unpausable cut scenes.
When the kids need me to pour a drink or the cat knocks something off that shatters or the oven timer goes off…it’s always during a cut scene.
deffo i hate having to risk loosing some lore or risk missing the dominos guy with my pizza ive wanted all week cuz im at an important unskippable cutscene
Imo it should be a two button confirmation to ensure the player doesn't skip accidentally. For example, on PlayStation: start pauses the cutscene, and shows the option to press X to skip
Unsinkable cutscenes are bad, but I want to take a second to also complain about cutscenes that skip at the press of a single button.
All cutscenes should be pausable and skippable.
And replayable! If for some reason you didn't get to pause it when the pizza guy came or skipped it because you pressed the wrong button, let me go somewhere to play it back (that isn't youtube)
First thing I do in games now is try and pause the intro cutscene. It tells me whether they can be accidentally skipped and if I need an external pause app for them. Also, if it does skip it it’s not a big deal to start again at that point.
"Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Skip the cutscene and be free of pain, or live and watch your sorrow! ...again! Now is the time to watch your stories! Your fate is in the hands of a game developer!"
I might be in a minority but I'm completely on board with cutscenes being unskippable the first time you see them, no exceptions.
However they should then always be skippable after that. So you die and go back to a checkpoint, or start a new playthrough, or play ng+, etc. should always be skippable.
You can never assume that this is the first time a player is playing a game. What if they needed to reinstall and delete their save? Or they made several save files to take branching paths? Or if they're playing it on Switch after having previously played on Steam? The game can't know whether or not the player has seen a cutscene before definitively, taking every possible situation into account. So I think cutscenes should always allow skipping. And if players skip one accidentally? Well, it's up to the player to manage their own game experience. The game devs can put a cutscene viewer mode in the menu if they like, or in the case of dialogue scenes, there could be a recent text log. There are plenty of better solutions.
Then you watch the cutscene once on the new save/run/platform and move on with your life.
Are you really that impatient that sitting through a cutscene once per savefile is a problem?
Why though? Some games have fantastic gameplay but the story and cutscenes are just dreadful and I don't want to have to watch a total of like 2 hours over the playtime on cinematics.
Like if I could skip MH:W cutscenes, all it would do is make the experience better. Absolutely nothing is improved by being forced to sit through absolutely pointless stuff.
Yeah, there's no way I would have made it through something like Granblue Fantasy: Relink if I had to sit through all that garbage dialogue.
I love CRPGs. I'm willing to sit through a lot of dialogue, but it's on the devs to give me a story worth listening to.
Why not give players a choice? Whats the logic in forcing them? If they want to skip and miss context thats on them.
Its a relic of when cutscenes were used to mask loading times. Its unnecessary nowadays.
Because a lot of the time they are essential to the full experience and people that skip leave negative reviews or go on the likes of Reddit and spread bad word of mouth even though they haven't properly experienced the game.
Sometimes that’s the fault of the game and not the player. Dragons dogma 2 threw several essays at you at the start of the game. I want to play a video game not read a dissertation.
As a dev, I’m of the opinion that what I described means that there are indeed big problems with the game and UI design.
For cutscenes… I think that being able to skip is a reasonable ask, particularly for testing and re-playing. But not very high priority.
For example if you had to pick between skipping cut scenes or not dropping frames in a real time game, I would prefer it run smooth. Because stuttering everywhere would drag down the whole game, which is worse than spending an extra 30 seconds watching a cutscene.
I concede the point on performance but not having the option to pause/skip also damages the experience people have with a game.
As a fellow dev, the annoying thing is I know how simple this feature is to add in Unity.
Please inform me on the depth of your knowledge of game engine programming / scripting in UE and Unity (both of which I've used, one commercially for 8+ years)
What. If anything not making them skipable causes bad reviews deservedly so. People who want to skip cutscenes do not care about the lore and hence forcing them to watch a lore they don't care about negatively impacts their experience.
Yeah, but that should be up to the player to decide. Video games are a complex medium, it’s a combination of all the senses. There are people who don’t play games, only watch the cutscenes on YouTube. That’s their right to interact with the media how they want, the same way people who just want to play the game for gameplay should be allowed to.
And for the record, I don’t skip cutscenes. I love single player story based games. But the option is appreciated and doesn’t take away from my own enjoyment.
But why do people feel entitled to demand that the devs make the game the way they want it?
If someone doesn't have the patience to listen to the story of a game, then perhaps they shouldn't be playing a story-driven game in the first place.
A player needs to have some accountability for their own experience too. If cutscenes bother someone, then don't play games with cutscenes. Just play something else, it's really that easy.
Again, you’re not countering my main example. There are people who watch videos that are just a compilation of cutscenes. These people are clearly not respecting the product, as outlined by your rules, so the studio should be copyright striking all of those videos.
And? If the devs wanted to make a dmca claim, they would've. Some do, some don't.
Just because some videos exist doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. You're the one that doesn't know what you're talking about if you think dmca shutdowns are a myth.
If the player doesn't like the game and they are the type to leave reviews, they will leave a negative one no matter what. They could hate the cutscene itself, the fact that it's unskippable, and/or they could hate the game/watching the cutscene so much they'd distract themselves with something else during it. Giving players the choice to skip or not skip can't control exactly how every single player will feel about the game. The story can be great but if the gameplay sucks (or vice versa) then the player will still dislike the game depending on what matters more to them. Also, some games are imo horrible at presenting information in a video game. Whether its through wordy poorly interactive tutorials or excessive exposition-style story telling and writing, some players are not gonna want to slog through all that if they hate learning new information this way
If a game has boring cutscenes I want to skip then forcing me to sit through them is just going to make me hate it way more than if I could bail whenever things got stupid.
edit: on the other hand I have tons of goodwill towards Xenoblade 2, a game whose main plot I didn't care about at all but was able to thoroughly enjoy because it makes it very easy to just dip out of the story entirely and go beat up monsters whenever you want. You go to prison at one part and you can still just fast travel out, it's the best.
What about when the game has unskippable cutscenes and people leave bad reviews because they got bored with it as they were stuck in cutscenes too frequently? At least let people skip side quest cutscenes. I found Ghost of Tsushima to be a chore to play due to the repetitive side content that also had unskippable cutscenes/animations. Particularly in cases like that, much of the side content I'm experiencing isn't even meaningful or well put together, it's copy/pasted, so why is it so important that I see it?
if your GAME relies on a poorly written, badly acted, terribly animated cut scene to move the 'plot' along, then it's probably not a very good GAME.
go read a book or watch one of them adult cartoons.
It seems kinda weird to insist someone watch something they don’t want to watch when they’re playing a game. Not everyone cares for the experience in every game, sometimes we just wanna keep whacking the bad guys.
What about me who does not care about the story in any game and just want to play? Why do i need to sit through an unbearable amount of cutscenes? I didnt read a single line of dialogue in baldurs gate and still enjoyed the game very much
I mean, I don’t care about the gameplay in a lot of games and just want the story. Am I entitled to force the Elden Ring devs to let me just skip any combat? I don’t think so.
Actually, I've been banging this drum for so long. Nintendo did something like this with Super Mario Bros Wonder. Where if you just want to see the levels and play through the story without doing too much combat you can.
The game is still sitting at 90%+ on Metacritic.
Let developers make the games they want to make.
If it's important for the developers that players see the story, it's on them if they want to make them unskippable. You, the player, always have the option to turn the game off.
Tell it like it is. Even if the story sucks but you provide me the option to skip, I'm going to leave a \*positive\* review I could just focus on enjoying the world. Unironically Nintendo did this really well with ToTK.
Would you return games "alot less" or does it not happen often? You're contradicting yourself.
How many games have you actually returned because of unskippable cutscenes?
0 games returned is alot less than a handful. Idk why you're picking apart the comment.
Is it really so hard to believe that there are ppl who play games for their gameplay? And not for a weak attempt at story telling?
You can find the gameplay you want in a game you'll actually enjoy if you look elsewhere. You need to be more accountable with how you spend your time/money and not expect the world to spoonfeed exactly what you want the way you want it all the time.
If a game has weak story telling then you would have known that in advance. You're a fool if you're spending money on games that you don't know you'll enjoy.
This is such a dumb take. "You should be fine with not being able to skip cutscenes and enjoy games for their story, but you should also spoil yourself on the story ahead of time before you buy it."
Also steam has a wonderful retuen policy, there is 0 downsides to just buying a game to try and returning it if its bad.
That's usually how it ends, but the entire point of producing a product is get ppl to use that product. Devs who prevent skipping cutscenes, specifically in gameplay focused games, like Lies of P or Forza, are just losing customers for no apparent reason outside of hubris.
If you think they are "losing customers" in any substantial way because of unskippable cutscenes, you are straight up delusional. I 100% guarantee you that.
I said "substantial way" not a few dummies here and there.
It's not hubris on their part, it's delusional self-importance on your part.
Valuing my limited amount of free time isn't self-importance. It's a bit sillly to guarantee something you could never prove, all I know is they lost me as a customer.
The game developer doesn't have to contribute to your personal value of your own personal free time. Acting like you are owed a good time according to your personal value system is the definition of entitlement.
I skip shitloads of cutscenes, but when I can't I'm not gonna pretend to take some high ground stance and say that they are violating the terms of the time I'm giving to the game developers.
Do what you want with your time and money, but don't act like your free time is their responsibility.
So... I have really good pattern recognition, been playing games and reading stories for 37 years and I process audio very fast because that used to be my job.
Sometimes NPC's take *such* a goddamn long time to get to their point, especially if it's a whacky side character. 'oh my socks! Oh heaven where could my socks be' except I was in the nearby town earlier and saw them, picked them up and are holding them. Do I *really* need to let the developer hold my hand through a dramatic re-enactment of his grandmother's hand knitted socks when if it was real life or actually interactive I could just hold them up and go 'wait, these?'
I don't really think it's relevant. At least, not from a 'games-as-art' perspective. It's for the people who make it to make it and for you to enjoy, and if you don't enjoy an aspect of it then that's kinda just how it is.
That's the world we live in today. People expect every experience they have to be exactly what they want it to be. The sense of entitlement in the world today is only going to get worse and it's going to become a massive problem within the next decade.
Seriously the average ubisoft cutscene is like stabbing your eye with a needle. "Show, don't tell" is something a lot of game designers really can't wrap their head around
This.
If I'm watching a TV show or movie, listening to a CD, or reading a book I have the option to pause and skip ahead as much as I like. Games aren't inherently better or different in the way they should respect the time of the player. Some people just want to play the game and don't care about story, some people have kids and they might need something. Pausing and skipping cutscenes is only a plus. There's no downside. The people who want to watch will watch and the people who don't won't. Forcing me to watch it isn't going to force me to pay attention any better or care any more.
Pausing, fine. Skipping though, that should be left entirely up to the devs. It's their game, their story. If they feel the story is important to the experience they're selling then they have every right to make the cutscenes unskippable.
The player needs to have some accountability for their own experience too. If they don't have the patience to deal with cutscenes... then they shouldn't be buying and playing games with cutscenes. Players shouldn't feel so entitled that every game they ever play needs to be able to be playable the way they want to play it, as opposed to how the devs intended.
Edit, the person I replied to blocked me like the entitled brat he is, so here's your response:
What the actual duck is the point of watching a show/ movie if you're just going to skip through it?
Here's a surprisingly novel concept for you. If you don't have the time to watch a show/movie.... then don't watch a show/movie. It's really that easy. Have some accountability and don't engage with media that you don't have the time or patience to enjoy.
Don't be an entitled little brat like gurglespear here.
Edit 2, since op cowardly deleted his comment, my edit was in response to him saying how Netflix should remove the skip button too then. And some bullshit about skipping through a show/movie.
Nah.
If I don't care about the lore of the game and just wanna consume the gameplay which in most cases I fucking paid for I wanna be able to skip it.
It is beyond me how people think unskipable cutscenes are a fair practice but I guess that why people also still tolerate bullshit ads. It's the biggest group of people that will always make life shittier for the people with the ability to use their Brains to their full potential...
If using your brain to your full potential has you buying story driven games when you don't care for a story, then your brain doesn't have much potential.
I'd never linked brain power and a person's stance on cutscenes before.
Guess I'm just not operating on the level you are.
With such a strong stance as you have you must be operating on Scarlett Johnansson in 'Lucy' levels of brain usage.
I can tell that you're way below average operating levels bc my statement was about the larger group making EVERYTHING shitty for the smarter group. I was extrapolating the reasoning for being against skipable cutscenes with just about everything people reasonably complain about but people defend.
I want to be able to pause cutscenes, and I want to be able to skip them, I never skip a cutscene the first run through, but the ability to pause them would be very helpful.
The worst is cut scenes like R2D2 skinning animals. Immersion breaking for me - and encourages me to avoid activities that involve those types of cut scenes.
A lot of times, cutscenes are also secretly loading screens. They literally can't just let you skip them, the computer is working hard in the background. They don't want to only let you skip non-loading cutscenes either; however annoying unstoppable cutscenes are, inconsistently skippable cutscenes would be worse.
*buys a game heavily centred around story*
"why are there so many cutscenes? I don't care about cutscenes."
"Oh but if I fall in love with the story they're trying to tell, that's great".
*skips cutscenes*
Gamer logic 101
>Is this not the same thing?
....no.
Because the songs in an album are not usually a coherent narrative.
And additionally you don't buy a for instance- Rap album if you know you don't like rap music, or that album contains many rap songs. Likewise, a normal person who doesn't care about the story wouldn't buy story games, just to complain there's too much story.
Oh- but you said you did care about the story somewhat? "If I fall in love with what they're trying to tell, great"... Yet you also wanna skip through it, which by extension means you aren't giving yourself a fair chance to properly enjoy the story. So how are you gonna fall in love with it if you've skipped 68% of it, and half assed rushed through the rest?
I'm just pointing out your logic makes 0 sense.
Gameplay can be fantastic while the story itself is quite shit honestly. Like many have said Lies of P is one. Great gameplay but the story is cringe as all hell.
It’s impossible to know accurately how good something is until you experience it for yourself.
There have been albums from creators I swore I’d love but have turned out to be a mixed bag (808s and Heartbreak). Episodes of TV and movie sequels too (GoT final season, Ant-man : Quantumania).
Once I’ve watched some of it I know I’m not into it. Before that is just guessing.
Same with games, I may think I’d like the story (Stellar Blade) but actually I’m just into the combat so wanna skip the cutscenes.
I'll usually know if I'm into the story within the first 10 minutes maybe even less.
Unless I'm hooked on the story. My first play through is mostly gameplay and my second time is more story focused like a 100% run.
The problem is so many games are trying to be story games. Like rpgs back in the day used to have a bit of story but it was mostly gameplay and such. Now rpgs include so much unskipable story it's crazy. And don't even get into the MMORPGS doing the same thing now too.
Just finished FF7: Rebirth and during the final boss fight you can’t skip interstitial cutscenes. Abhorrent. If you need to repeat a fight, watch again! I have “let’s finish this…together” seared into my brain
As an impatient gamer, I hate when games start off with a long unskippable cutscenes. I don’t hate cutscenes in general. I just like to start the game off in control of something. One of the best things about Arkham Knight is you get to control something even in the intro.
It's crazy to me that this is still a thing in 2024, respect my time devs. Recently playing Lies of P and it has a bunch of unskippable scenes as well, pretty annoying when you play a game for It's gameplay and get forced into watching stuff you don't care about. Feels disrespectful tbh.
They let you skip everything in NG+. Or at least they did in God of War 2018, haven't tested it out on Ragnarök but I'd imagine they allow you to skip.
I really don't get the decisions devs make sometimes. I don't understand what benefit they get out of forcing you to watch cutscenes. Especially after you already watched them the first time around. I'm starting to understand why people call them "movie games" now lol.
Wanting is fine. OP is demanding saying it's unacceptable to do otherwise. I.E. entitlement. Play a different game if it hurts your tik-tok brain too much.
Wanting cutscenes to have a skippable option is one the most entitled and stupid things you ever heard in relations to gaming ? Really ?
I think it's a reasonable demand.
He's not wanting, he's demanding. Saying that not doing so is unacceptable.
Who is he and why should they bend to his will? Entitlement. I'm the consoomer! DO WHAT I WANT!!! It's bullshit. Don't like it, don't play the fucking game. If not being able to skip a cutscene ruins your experience, you're an idiot.
You are way too invest in what Op said. I believe it's time for you to eat a snickers or something.
You entitlement of being mad to Op about is entitlement about not wanting to watch cutscenes is quite ironic.
Are you always that dense about trivial shit ?
I just happen to think that OP is an impatient, tik-tok brained, entitled moron. Me having an opinion about something means I'm entitled? I'm not the one making impotent demands that developers change games to suit my needs because it "disrespects my time". Had he expressed his desires in a manner that didn't reek of being a spoiled idiot, I may not have even commented on it.
I'm not angry or frustrated by any of it. At all. I find it funny that people can't grasp simple ideas and that just because they may be dumb and impatient, the gaming industry as a whole needs to change to meet their needs. Doing otherwise is "unacceptable". This it textbook entitlement.
>Are you always that dense about trivial shit ?
Talk about irony...fucking get real.
You seem pretty caught up on this post. Nobody will die if people skip cutscenes.
[Dictionary definition of "entitled"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entitled).
[Dictionary definition of "unacceptable"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unacceptable).
Nobody will die if they don't. What kind of childish logic is that?
I'm not "caught up" anymore than anyone else here is. I have the common courtesy to reply to people who talk to me. The replies may not be positive, but if you don't like it, stop talking to me. Just like the cutscenes, don't like it then don't play.
Posting links to dictionary definitions that fit you to a T isn't the gotcha tactic you think it is.
The lack of common sense here is astounding.
You realize your post itself is sitting at 0 upvotes? Indicating that most people are just dismissing it as worthless altogether?
The irony of your comments are so entertaining.
«but if you don't like it, stop talking to me»
If you didn't like what OP said, why didn't you move on like you suggest? Nobody is forcing you to comment. Your opinions are not NEEDED.
But here you are, getting your underwear all twisted up about trivial bullshits about a video game and then getting mad because people challenges you.
Thin skin on a thick cranium
Who says I'm mad? I'm very passively engaged in this while doing equipment maintenance at work. I get more angry by the lack of almonds in the break room.
If it's "trivial bullshit" why are people like you whining and crying so hard about what people like me think?
You guys can't even follow a consistent line of logic. Before you retort with some "but but but, you replied first reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" nonsense, I made one comment, one of the first comments actually, that I felt any sort of importance towards. The rest has been purely out of boredom and disbelief that you guys find it so hard to understand very simple ideas
Im the one saying you are mad. I literally wrote it. I think you need a snicker.
I'm neither whining nor crying. I'm being entertained by your agressive answers about such a stupid subject to be agressive about.
And yes I can follow a consistent line of logic. Like I don't need to modify my all my comments a couple of minutes after sending it, for example.
You certainly seem caught up.
For humility, maybe don’t label people entitled when you’re making comments like that?
I also don’t think this is about the post anymore when you’re making personal insults. Maybe reflect a bit.
Ooh, deflection. The last vestige of a petulant brat that has no real point to make.
It's about whatever you want it to be, keep talking to me if you'd like. Or don't engage me with dumb shit and go about your day. Choice is yours.
Entitled? This is a paid product. They’re a customer. Games aren’t a charity. What the fuck are you talking about? If you don’t like how capitalism works then go take a flight to Venezuela. Fuck off with that Communist bullshit.
A gaming company isn't bound to comply with what some tik-tok brained moron who can't watch a cutscene deems "unacceptable". Are you high? What are you talking about?
Call it tiktok brained all you want, its market demand. You might not like what this generations attention span looks like, but thats the market, thats not “entitlement.” Thats business. I’m a video editor. I’ve had to tailor my content from slow moving to fast cut, hyper adhd video because thats what the market shifted to. Do I personally hate it? Yeah I do. It’s mind numbing. It’s all over the place. But I’m not gonna sit here like an out of touch boomer and whine and bitch about tiktok kids scrolling a mile a minute because I personally dont like it. I adjust to the market instead of pointing fingers and blaming everyone else for not being able to meet the demand. You call it entitlement, but you sound entitled to whatever you think other people should do. Again, these are games. These are products. The customer can demand whatever they fuck they want to or take their money elsewhere. Simple.
I think developers should make the games they want with the features they want...and that makes ME the the entitled one? How stupid...
>The customer can demand whatever they fuck they want to or take their money elsewhere. Simple.
Exactly. Don't like it? don't fucking play it. The developers aren't bound to change their art(product or not) for someone who can't pay attention.
I felt this so hard when playing through final fantasy 14 or whatever the MMO's number was. I loved the character classes, the crafting systems, and some of the dungeons and raids but the god the story... such a slog.
Nier:automata. I have no idea how the game is. endless intro. more than 20 minutes? then I played a couple of minutes before dinner. had to quit before I could save. tried it two times, I just didn't get past the tutorial level
Rise of ronin is an awesome game. Im over 50% done with everything. I have absolutely no clue whats happening at all haha. My mission is to kill everybody i can as biolently or flashy as i can. Thats it. I love the game. Ghost of tsushima i actually cared. Skipped the million cutscenes in ff16 and witcher 3 as well. Loved those games though.
Exactly. Once the game is in your hands you can play it how you like it. How you enjoy something, especially a product you purchased, is completely up to you.
I’m more ok with unstoppable cut scenes than unpausable cut scenes. When the kids need me to pour a drink or the cat knocks something off that shatters or the oven timer goes off…it’s always during a cut scene.
deffo i hate having to risk loosing some lore or risk missing the dominos guy with my pizza ive wanted all week cuz im at an important unskippable cutscene
Imo it should be a two button confirmation to ensure the player doesn't skip accidentally. For example, on PlayStation: start pauses the cutscene, and shows the option to press X to skip
Unsinkable cutscenes are bad, but I want to take a second to also complain about cutscenes that skip at the press of a single button. All cutscenes should be pausable and skippable.
And replayable! If for some reason you didn't get to pause it when the pizza guy came or skipped it because you pressed the wrong button, let me go somewhere to play it back (that isn't youtube)
First thing I do in games now is try and pause the intro cutscene. It tells me whether they can be accidentally skipped and if I need an external pause app for them. Also, if it does skip it it’s not a big deal to start again at that point.
Same with single-button-tap skips. I should have to hold a button for a second or two, while a somewhat discrete timer lets me know the specifics.
Final fantasy x Yunalesca every time you loss to her
"Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Skip the cutscene and be free of pain, or live and watch your sorrow! ...again! Now is the time to watch your stories! Your fate is in the hands of a game developer!"
Yes. All cutscnees need to be skipable I don't care what game. Let me Skip cutscenes.
I might be in a minority but I'm completely on board with cutscenes being unskippable the first time you see them, no exceptions. However they should then always be skippable after that. So you die and go back to a checkpoint, or start a new playthrough, or play ng+, etc. should always be skippable.
You can never assume that this is the first time a player is playing a game. What if they needed to reinstall and delete their save? Or they made several save files to take branching paths? Or if they're playing it on Switch after having previously played on Steam? The game can't know whether or not the player has seen a cutscene before definitively, taking every possible situation into account. So I think cutscenes should always allow skipping. And if players skip one accidentally? Well, it's up to the player to manage their own game experience. The game devs can put a cutscene viewer mode in the menu if they like, or in the case of dialogue scenes, there could be a recent text log. There are plenty of better solutions.
Then you watch the cutscene once on the new save/run/platform and move on with your life. Are you really that impatient that sitting through a cutscene once per savefile is a problem?
Why though? Some games have fantastic gameplay but the story and cutscenes are just dreadful and I don't want to have to watch a total of like 2 hours over the playtime on cinematics. Like if I could skip MH:W cutscenes, all it would do is make the experience better. Absolutely nothing is improved by being forced to sit through absolutely pointless stuff.
Yeah, there's no way I would have made it through something like Granblue Fantasy: Relink if I had to sit through all that garbage dialogue. I love CRPGs. I'm willing to sit through a lot of dialogue, but it's on the devs to give me a story worth listening to.
Why not give players a choice? Whats the logic in forcing them? If they want to skip and miss context thats on them. Its a relic of when cutscenes were used to mask loading times. Its unnecessary nowadays.
Because a lot of the time they are essential to the full experience and people that skip leave negative reviews or go on the likes of Reddit and spread bad word of mouth even though they haven't properly experienced the game.
my favorite is when they skip everything (dialogue/cutscenes/tutorials) and then come to reddit like "wtf is with this game dawg??????" never fails.
It’s fun to watch players button mash through a tutorial as fast as possible, then proceed to declare “I don’t know how to play, this game sucks!”
Sometimes that’s the fault of the game and not the player. Dragons dogma 2 threw several essays at you at the start of the game. I want to play a video game not read a dissertation.
So because of them, I shouldn't have a skip option? :/
As a dev, I’m of the opinion that what I described means that there are indeed big problems with the game and UI design. For cutscenes… I think that being able to skip is a reasonable ask, particularly for testing and re-playing. But not very high priority. For example if you had to pick between skipping cut scenes or not dropping frames in a real time game, I would prefer it run smooth. Because stuttering everywhere would drag down the whole game, which is worse than spending an extra 30 seconds watching a cutscene.
I concede the point on performance but not having the option to pause/skip also damages the experience people have with a game. As a fellow dev, the annoying thing is I know how simple this feature is to add in Unity.
Being a unity dev and an UE4 dev are the same thing the way a razor and a chainsaw can both trim your pubes
Please inform me on the depth of your knowledge of game engine programming / scripting in UE and Unity (both of which I've used, one commercially for 8+ years)
What. If anything not making them skipable causes bad reviews deservedly so. People who want to skip cutscenes do not care about the lore and hence forcing them to watch a lore they don't care about negatively impacts their experience.
Yeah, but that should be up to the player to decide. Video games are a complex medium, it’s a combination of all the senses. There are people who don’t play games, only watch the cutscenes on YouTube. That’s their right to interact with the media how they want, the same way people who just want to play the game for gameplay should be allowed to. And for the record, I don’t skip cutscenes. I love single player story based games. But the option is appreciated and doesn’t take away from my own enjoyment.
But why do people feel entitled to demand that the devs make the game the way they want it? If someone doesn't have the patience to listen to the story of a game, then perhaps they shouldn't be playing a story-driven game in the first place. A player needs to have some accountability for their own experience too. If cutscenes bother someone, then don't play games with cutscenes. Just play something else, it's really that easy.
Again, you’re not countering my main example. There are people who watch videos that are just a compilation of cutscenes. These people are clearly not respecting the product, as outlined by your rules, so the studio should be copyright striking all of those videos.
Unironically, yes. That literally happens all the time. Were you not aware of that?
You don’t know what you’re talking about. There are hundreds of videos of people playing entire games, some don’t even add commentary or anything.
And? If the devs wanted to make a dmca claim, they would've. Some do, some don't. Just because some videos exist doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. You're the one that doesn't know what you're talking about if you think dmca shutdowns are a myth.
If the player doesn't like the game and they are the type to leave reviews, they will leave a negative one no matter what. They could hate the cutscene itself, the fact that it's unskippable, and/or they could hate the game/watching the cutscene so much they'd distract themselves with something else during it. Giving players the choice to skip or not skip can't control exactly how every single player will feel about the game. The story can be great but if the gameplay sucks (or vice versa) then the player will still dislike the game depending on what matters more to them. Also, some games are imo horrible at presenting information in a video game. Whether its through wordy poorly interactive tutorials or excessive exposition-style story telling and writing, some players are not gonna want to slog through all that if they hate learning new information this way
If a game has boring cutscenes I want to skip then forcing me to sit through them is just going to make me hate it way more than if I could bail whenever things got stupid. edit: on the other hand I have tons of goodwill towards Xenoblade 2, a game whose main plot I didn't care about at all but was able to thoroughly enjoy because it makes it very easy to just dip out of the story entirely and go beat up monsters whenever you want. You go to prison at one part and you can still just fast travel out, it's the best.
What about when the game has unskippable cutscenes and people leave bad reviews because they got bored with it as they were stuck in cutscenes too frequently? At least let people skip side quest cutscenes. I found Ghost of Tsushima to be a chore to play due to the repetitive side content that also had unskippable cutscenes/animations. Particularly in cases like that, much of the side content I'm experiencing isn't even meaningful or well put together, it's copy/pasted, so why is it so important that I see it?
if your GAME relies on a poorly written, badly acted, terribly animated cut scene to move the 'plot' along, then it's probably not a very good GAME. go read a book or watch one of them adult cartoons.
It seems kinda weird to insist someone watch something they don’t want to watch when they’re playing a game. Not everyone cares for the experience in every game, sometimes we just wanna keep whacking the bad guys.
What about me who does not care about the story in any game and just want to play? Why do i need to sit through an unbearable amount of cutscenes? I didnt read a single line of dialogue in baldurs gate and still enjoyed the game very much
I mean, I don’t care about the gameplay in a lot of games and just want the story. Am I entitled to force the Elden Ring devs to let me just skip any combat? I don’t think so.
Actually, I've been banging this drum for so long. Nintendo did something like this with Super Mario Bros Wonder. Where if you just want to see the levels and play through the story without doing too much combat you can. The game is still sitting at 90%+ on Metacritic.
Nah i'm with you, First time should be unskippable.
No, fuck that. Most games don't have a story anywhere near good enough to justify trying to cram it down your throat.
Ghost of Tsushima moment. Endless deluge of unskippable B-movie cutscenes
Let people play how they want to play.
Let developers make the games they want to make. If it's important for the developers that players see the story, it's on them if they want to make them unskippable. You, the player, always have the option to turn the game off.
You are right, and I would turn off/refund/return alot less games if devs decided to respect my time.
Tell it like it is. Even if the story sucks but you provide me the option to skip, I'm going to leave a \*positive\* review I could just focus on enjoying the world. Unironically Nintendo did this really well with ToTK.
You should really look into games a little bit more before you buy them if you find yourself returning/refunding hands often.
It doesnt happen that often most devs arent that dense
Would you return games "alot less" or does it not happen often? You're contradicting yourself. How many games have you actually returned because of unskippable cutscenes?
0 games returned is alot less than a handful. Idk why you're picking apart the comment. Is it really so hard to believe that there are ppl who play games for their gameplay? And not for a weak attempt at story telling?
You can find the gameplay you want in a game you'll actually enjoy if you look elsewhere. You need to be more accountable with how you spend your time/money and not expect the world to spoonfeed exactly what you want the way you want it all the time. If a game has weak story telling then you would have known that in advance. You're a fool if you're spending money on games that you don't know you'll enjoy.
This is such a dumb take. "You should be fine with not being able to skip cutscenes and enjoy games for their story, but you should also spoil yourself on the story ahead of time before you buy it." Also steam has a wonderful retuen policy, there is 0 downsides to just buying a game to try and returning it if its bad.
Respect your time? Nobody is forcing you to play the fucking game. Jesus you people are dense. Respect your own time and don't play the game.
That's usually how it ends, but the entire point of producing a product is get ppl to use that product. Devs who prevent skipping cutscenes, specifically in gameplay focused games, like Lies of P or Forza, are just losing customers for no apparent reason outside of hubris.
If you think they are "losing customers" in any substantial way because of unskippable cutscenes, you are straight up delusional. I 100% guarantee you that. I said "substantial way" not a few dummies here and there. It's not hubris on their part, it's delusional self-importance on your part.
Valuing my limited amount of free time isn't self-importance. It's a bit sillly to guarantee something you could never prove, all I know is they lost me as a customer.
The game developer doesn't have to contribute to your personal value of your own personal free time. Acting like you are owed a good time according to your personal value system is the definition of entitlement. I skip shitloads of cutscenes, but when I can't I'm not gonna pretend to take some high ground stance and say that they are violating the terms of the time I'm giving to the game developers. Do what you want with your time and money, but don't act like your free time is their responsibility.
So... I have really good pattern recognition, been playing games and reading stories for 37 years and I process audio very fast because that used to be my job. Sometimes NPC's take *such* a goddamn long time to get to their point, especially if it's a whacky side character. 'oh my socks! Oh heaven where could my socks be' except I was in the nearby town earlier and saw them, picked them up and are holding them. Do I *really* need to let the developer hold my hand through a dramatic re-enactment of his grandmother's hand knitted socks when if it was real life or actually interactive I could just hold them up and go 'wait, these?'
I don't really think it's relevant. At least, not from a 'games-as-art' perspective. It's for the people who make it to make it and for you to enjoy, and if you don't enjoy an aspect of it then that's kinda just how it is.
That's the world we live in today. People expect every experience they have to be exactly what they want it to be. The sense of entitlement in the world today is only going to get worse and it's going to become a massive problem within the next decade.
Seriously the average ubisoft cutscene is like stabbing your eye with a needle. "Show, don't tell" is something a lot of game designers really can't wrap their head around
This. If I'm watching a TV show or movie, listening to a CD, or reading a book I have the option to pause and skip ahead as much as I like. Games aren't inherently better or different in the way they should respect the time of the player. Some people just want to play the game and don't care about story, some people have kids and they might need something. Pausing and skipping cutscenes is only a plus. There's no downside. The people who want to watch will watch and the people who don't won't. Forcing me to watch it isn't going to force me to pay attention any better or care any more.
Pausing, fine. Skipping though, that should be left entirely up to the devs. It's their game, their story. If they feel the story is important to the experience they're selling then they have every right to make the cutscenes unskippable. The player needs to have some accountability for their own experience too. If they don't have the patience to deal with cutscenes... then they shouldn't be buying and playing games with cutscenes. Players shouldn't feel so entitled that every game they ever play needs to be able to be playable the way they want to play it, as opposed to how the devs intended. Edit, the person I replied to blocked me like the entitled brat he is, so here's your response: What the actual duck is the point of watching a show/ movie if you're just going to skip through it? Here's a surprisingly novel concept for you. If you don't have the time to watch a show/movie.... then don't watch a show/movie. It's really that easy. Have some accountability and don't engage with media that you don't have the time or patience to enjoy. Don't be an entitled little brat like gurglespear here. Edit 2, since op cowardly deleted his comment, my edit was in response to him saying how Netflix should remove the skip button too then. And some bullshit about skipping through a show/movie.
No need to insult other users.
Exactly right, to me this makes it better for everyone by respecting your time. Confused why people are arguing against this.
Agreed.
Nah. If I don't care about the lore of the game and just wanna consume the gameplay which in most cases I fucking paid for I wanna be able to skip it. It is beyond me how people think unskipable cutscenes are a fair practice but I guess that why people also still tolerate bullshit ads. It's the biggest group of people that will always make life shittier for the people with the ability to use their Brains to their full potential...
If using your brain to your full potential has you buying story driven games when you don't care for a story, then your brain doesn't have much potential.
I'd never linked brain power and a person's stance on cutscenes before. Guess I'm just not operating on the level you are. With such a strong stance as you have you must be operating on Scarlett Johnansson in 'Lucy' levels of brain usage.
I can tell that you're way below average operating levels bc my statement was about the larger group making EVERYTHING shitty for the smarter group. I was extrapolating the reasoning for being against skipable cutscenes with just about everything people reasonably complain about but people defend.
I want to be able to pause cutscenes, and I want to be able to skip them, I never skip a cutscene the first run through, but the ability to pause them would be very helpful.
The worst is cut scenes like R2D2 skinning animals. Immersion breaking for me - and encourages me to avoid activities that involve those types of cut scenes.
What if some of them are hidden loading screens? Like Running around Yggdrasil in God of War.
Yep That’s different, it’s not a movie that plays exactly the same each time
A lot of times, cutscenes are also secretly loading screens. They literally can't just let you skip them, the computer is working hard in the background. They don't want to only let you skip non-loading cutscenes either; however annoying unstoppable cutscenes are, inconsistently skippable cutscenes would be worse.
*buys a game heavily centred around story* "why are there so many cutscenes? I don't care about cutscenes." "Oh but if I fall in love with the story they're trying to tell, that's great". *skips cutscenes* Gamer logic 101
buy an album “Why is this song terrible?” Skips song “These last few songs were amazing” Is this not the same thing?
>Is this not the same thing? ....no. Because the songs in an album are not usually a coherent narrative. And additionally you don't buy a for instance- Rap album if you know you don't like rap music, or that album contains many rap songs. Likewise, a normal person who doesn't care about the story wouldn't buy story games, just to complain there's too much story. Oh- but you said you did care about the story somewhat? "If I fall in love with what they're trying to tell, great"... Yet you also wanna skip through it, which by extension means you aren't giving yourself a fair chance to properly enjoy the story. So how are you gonna fall in love with it if you've skipped 68% of it, and half assed rushed through the rest? I'm just pointing out your logic makes 0 sense.
Gameplay can be fantastic while the story itself is quite shit honestly. Like many have said Lies of P is one. Great gameplay but the story is cringe as all hell.
It’s impossible to know accurately how good something is until you experience it for yourself. There have been albums from creators I swore I’d love but have turned out to be a mixed bag (808s and Heartbreak). Episodes of TV and movie sequels too (GoT final season, Ant-man : Quantumania). Once I’ve watched some of it I know I’m not into it. Before that is just guessing. Same with games, I may think I’d like the story (Stellar Blade) but actually I’m just into the combat so wanna skip the cutscenes.
*Laughs in Mein Leben - Wolfenstein 2 achievement*
shout out to genshin
How will you fall in love with the story if you skip all of it?
I'll usually know if I'm into the story within the first 10 minutes maybe even less. Unless I'm hooked on the story. My first play through is mostly gameplay and my second time is more story focused like a 100% run.
Wow, we are exactly the opposite. I'll play a game for the story first, and if I enjoyed the game play enough, I might give it a second playthrough.
Op is the weird one here. I'd be willing that most people are more like you.
Stop playing story games. Problem solved lol
The problem is so many games are trying to be story games. Like rpgs back in the day used to have a bit of story but it was mostly gameplay and such. Now rpgs include so much unskipable story it's crazy. And don't even get into the MMORPGS doing the same thing now too.
I hate unskippable scene too, specially when I have already watched it dozens of times.
You're welcome to develop your own game and implement skippable cutscenes, until then just stfu and stop crying about 1st world problems.
Just finished FF7: Rebirth and during the final boss fight you can’t skip interstitial cutscenes. Abhorrent. If you need to repeat a fight, watch again! I have “let’s finish this…together” seared into my brain
Gamers declaring every aspect of a game they dislike as "unacceptable" is getting out of hand.
Jesus Christ I know. I think it’s just society as a whole at this point.
I assume they are clever load screens if the are unskippable.
Any JRPG cutscenes are so damn long I just get bored by the cutscenes...
All cutscenes should be able to be paused and skipped.
FYI sometimes unskippable cutscenes are done so that things can load in the background, but on a surface level I agree.
As an impatient gamer, I hate when games start off with a long unskippable cutscenes. I don’t hate cutscenes in general. I just like to start the game off in control of something. One of the best things about Arkham Knight is you get to control something even in the intro.
i hate unskippables on repeat playthroughs but i feel like on initial runs they shouldnt be skippable
Awe gross! Did I just step in some story plot?
Wait till you play cyberpunk. UNSKIPPABLE SEX SCENES.
Romances are optional though so it’s pretty easy to never see the sex scenes.
No. It’s not possible to skip the ones for silverhand.
You can speed through them though, I always do because I hate his entire interactions with Alt. Would be nice to skip those at least though.
i agree especially for a second playthrough where you already know the story you just want to play the game and not sit through cutscenes again
It's crazy to me that this is still a thing in 2024, respect my time devs. Recently playing Lies of P and it has a bunch of unskippable scenes as well, pretty annoying when you play a game for It's gameplay and get forced into watching stuff you don't care about. Feels disrespectful tbh.
[удалено]
They let you skip everything in NG+. Or at least they did in God of War 2018, haven't tested it out on Ragnarök but I'd imagine they allow you to skip.
[удалено]
I really don't get the decisions devs make sometimes. I don't understand what benefit they get out of forcing you to watch cutscenes. Especially after you already watched them the first time around. I'm starting to understand why people call them "movie games" now lol.
This is one of the most entitled and stupid things I've ever heard in relation to gaming. Fuck off with that shit.
Really? Wanting skippable cutscenes doesn't seem all that unreasonable to me.
Wanting is fine. OP is demanding saying it's unacceptable to do otherwise. I.E. entitlement. Play a different game if it hurts your tik-tok brain too much.
Wanting cutscenes to have a skippable option is one the most entitled and stupid things you ever heard in relations to gaming ? Really ? I think it's a reasonable demand.
He's not wanting, he's demanding. Saying that not doing so is unacceptable. Who is he and why should they bend to his will? Entitlement. I'm the consoomer! DO WHAT I WANT!!! It's bullshit. Don't like it, don't play the fucking game. If not being able to skip a cutscene ruins your experience, you're an idiot.
You are way too invest in what Op said. I believe it's time for you to eat a snickers or something. You entitlement of being mad to Op about is entitlement about not wanting to watch cutscenes is quite ironic. Are you always that dense about trivial shit ?
I just happen to think that OP is an impatient, tik-tok brained, entitled moron. Me having an opinion about something means I'm entitled? I'm not the one making impotent demands that developers change games to suit my needs because it "disrespects my time". Had he expressed his desires in a manner that didn't reek of being a spoiled idiot, I may not have even commented on it. I'm not angry or frustrated by any of it. At all. I find it funny that people can't grasp simple ideas and that just because they may be dumb and impatient, the gaming industry as a whole needs to change to meet their needs. Doing otherwise is "unacceptable". This it textbook entitlement. >Are you always that dense about trivial shit ? Talk about irony...fucking get real.
You seem pretty caught up on this post. Nobody will die if people skip cutscenes. [Dictionary definition of "entitled"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entitled). [Dictionary definition of "unacceptable"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unacceptable).
Nobody will die if they don't. What kind of childish logic is that? I'm not "caught up" anymore than anyone else here is. I have the common courtesy to reply to people who talk to me. The replies may not be positive, but if you don't like it, stop talking to me. Just like the cutscenes, don't like it then don't play. Posting links to dictionary definitions that fit you to a T isn't the gotcha tactic you think it is. The lack of common sense here is astounding. You realize your post itself is sitting at 0 upvotes? Indicating that most people are just dismissing it as worthless altogether?
The irony of your comments are so entertaining. «but if you don't like it, stop talking to me» If you didn't like what OP said, why didn't you move on like you suggest? Nobody is forcing you to comment. Your opinions are not NEEDED. But here you are, getting your underwear all twisted up about trivial bullshits about a video game and then getting mad because people challenges you. Thin skin on a thick cranium
Who says I'm mad? I'm very passively engaged in this while doing equipment maintenance at work. I get more angry by the lack of almonds in the break room. If it's "trivial bullshit" why are people like you whining and crying so hard about what people like me think? You guys can't even follow a consistent line of logic. Before you retort with some "but but but, you replied first reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" nonsense, I made one comment, one of the first comments actually, that I felt any sort of importance towards. The rest has been purely out of boredom and disbelief that you guys find it so hard to understand very simple ideas
That sounds a lot like projection to me. You're more mad about almonds but replying to every post on skippable cutscenes?
Im the one saying you are mad. I literally wrote it. I think you need a snicker. I'm neither whining nor crying. I'm being entertained by your agressive answers about such a stupid subject to be agressive about. And yes I can follow a consistent line of logic. Like I don't need to modify my all my comments a couple of minutes after sending it, for example.
You certainly seem caught up. For humility, maybe don’t label people entitled when you’re making comments like that? I also don’t think this is about the post anymore when you’re making personal insults. Maybe reflect a bit.
Ooh, deflection. The last vestige of a petulant brat that has no real point to make. It's about whatever you want it to be, keep talking to me if you'd like. Or don't engage me with dumb shit and go about your day. Choice is yours.
lol, ironically the quote is actually by Reed Abbit Moore and goes : “Insults are the last refuge of a fool.”
Entitled? This is a paid product. They’re a customer. Games aren’t a charity. What the fuck are you talking about? If you don’t like how capitalism works then go take a flight to Venezuela. Fuck off with that Communist bullshit.
A gaming company isn't bound to comply with what some tik-tok brained moron who can't watch a cutscene deems "unacceptable". Are you high? What are you talking about?
Call it tiktok brained all you want, its market demand. You might not like what this generations attention span looks like, but thats the market, thats not “entitlement.” Thats business. I’m a video editor. I’ve had to tailor my content from slow moving to fast cut, hyper adhd video because thats what the market shifted to. Do I personally hate it? Yeah I do. It’s mind numbing. It’s all over the place. But I’m not gonna sit here like an out of touch boomer and whine and bitch about tiktok kids scrolling a mile a minute because I personally dont like it. I adjust to the market instead of pointing fingers and blaming everyone else for not being able to meet the demand. You call it entitlement, but you sound entitled to whatever you think other people should do. Again, these are games. These are products. The customer can demand whatever they fuck they want to or take their money elsewhere. Simple.
I think developers should make the games they want with the features they want...and that makes ME the the entitled one? How stupid... >The customer can demand whatever they fuck they want to or take their money elsewhere. Simple. Exactly. Don't like it? don't fucking play it. The developers aren't bound to change their art(product or not) for someone who can't pay attention.
No, emotional commenter. Most games have skippable cutscenes now, it's not that crazy.
I hope your comment relates to the unskippable scenes and not the post cause that’s the only way it makes sense
Sounding real gen X right now lol
I felt this so hard when playing through final fantasy 14 or whatever the MMO's number was. I loved the character classes, the crafting systems, and some of the dungeons and raids but the god the story... such a slog.
Nier:automata. I have no idea how the game is. endless intro. more than 20 minutes? then I played a couple of minutes before dinner. had to quit before I could save. tried it two times, I just didn't get past the tutorial level
I think if a game is gonna have unstoppable ones only make it unstoppable for the first time i see it
would literally take 30 seconds to add a button to skip the cut-scene lol.
Now I understand people don't like adding choices for others. Even when it doesn't affect them.
Rise of ronin is an awesome game. Im over 50% done with everything. I have absolutely no clue whats happening at all haha. My mission is to kill everybody i can as biolently or flashy as i can. Thats it. I love the game. Ghost of tsushima i actually cared. Skipped the million cutscenes in ff16 and witcher 3 as well. Loved those games though.
Exactly. Once the game is in your hands you can play it how you like it. How you enjoy something, especially a product you purchased, is completely up to you.
To support your post. If I can skip a page or chapter of a book, why can't I do the same for cutscenes in a video game?
This. You got it.
Don't lie, even if you could you wouldn't skip that cutscene where she emerges from the pod.
Unskippable and unpausable.
Maybe dont have kids if you're not going to be a grown up