JohnEpler wrote...
Foolsfolly wrote...
Closer to the topic at hand....
I think DA2 could have used more cinematic moments. I think whenever an achievement happens (slogging through a long dungeon, beating a boss, clearing an act, etc.) a cinematic can be a reward to the player.
The player beat this thing, did that task, whatever, and a small cutscene plays. Maybe a cutscene that pulls the camera back and we see something new.
I'll give an example. The opening escape from Lothering. Right before Flemeth shows up there was a chance for a cutscene as a reward. (Not saying it was a missed opportunity it's just a spoiler light area of discussion).
The player's fought their way here, killed an Ogre. Now the story says that there are Darkspawn closing in. The cutscene shows a small handful Hurlocks up close. Hardly anything really, but the characters are behaving as if they're surrounded and escape is impossible.
A cutscene showing the hill Hawke and company are on in the distance as Hurlocks charge towards it, their backs to us (a limited number is needed just to give the impression of larger sizes) would have fit the story and rewarded the player with a sight that should inspire dread or that "Oh, here we go!" attitude of being surrounded. A handful of close up shots didn't convey this as well.
There can also be cutscene rewards that offer vistas, like reaching the top of Sundermount and fighting the enemies there. Then you show a small cutscene of Hawke and company looking down Sundermount and onto Kirkwall in the distance. The camera rising to allow the player to take it all in. We can finally see the whole scale and scope of the city, and make out some of the landmarks.
A little thing like that would go a long way in opening the scope.
At least that's my two cents. Hope it makes sense.
You raise an interesting point. As I see it, there are two types of cinematics - 'reward' cinematics, where the player is rewarded with a neat scene for accomplishing a task (killing blows would fall under this heading, I think) and 'story' cinematics, which are cinematics which occur as a way to propel the story forward. I think, perhaps, DA2 suffered from a dearth of the former and perhaps an overabundance of the latter in some areas.
Ideally, the latter should be minimized wherever it takes agency away from the player. Sometimes, of course, it can be necessary to take away at least some agency, at least temporarily, but if you do it too often you run the risk of ending up with what feels like an interactive movie. Those latter should also be relatively short - a minute, two minutes of stuff happening that the player can't control and it can feel a bit like you're being shoved down a specific path and told 'here's what we wanted you to do, now go do it'.
That's not to say there aren't exceptions, of course - there are exceptions to every rule. However, the exceptions are stronger due to their status as exceptions - if it occurs too often, they become the norm and can damage the interactivity of the game experience.
SPOILERS below.
Similarly, I found the escape from the Qunari compound near the end similarly disjointed. Part of that has to do with the way combat plays - it's difficult to feel threatened when surrounded by a handful of enemies with advantageous positioning when every combat starts in much the same way. But I was left wondering why Hawke was fleeing. I had a similar feeling during the cinematic of the templars breaking into the Gallows. I was supporting the mages, and as the templars burst in and started putting mages to the sword, I was left wondering where Hawke was and why I wasn't being allowed to stop this. Watching it now on YouTube, I see that it takes place in the entrance to the Templar hall, but I'm not sure how well that's communicated (or rather how well communicated Hawke's location is in comparison, given it's somewhere the player's never been before), or whether it's said why there are mages hanging out there waiting to be slaughtered while Hawke, Orisno, and Co. are waiting further in.
Other than those, I can't say there were any other moments that I found the cinematics' usurpation of agency troubling. I will say that there were establishing shot type things in odd places - in Fools Rush In when Hawke enters the chantry and at the top of Act II, when Hawke enters the Viscount's Keep. Both were places I'd explored thoroughly, but Hawke and the camera gazed about like they'd never seen them before. Perhaps those establishing cinematics could be tied to Hawke's first time entering those areas? (Establishing shots upon first entering an area might go a long ways towards developing the setting and mood in general.)
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