So, I"m curious as to why these things are used in games at all? Can anyone fill me in as to why I've been seeing these in many of the triple A action/adventure titles that have come out in recent years? They only detract from the experience. That's why I'm kind of turned off to play God of War 3. Because I know it's going to have them. This along with the button mashing you do on the controller. Such as when you are prompted to press "O" repeatedly and do half cirle motions when you grab enemies to finish them off, along with opening doors. Do these inputs even have a name for them? I hate opening chests in that game too (it's like, hold R1 for an hour).

Quick-time events are a throwback to games like Dragon's Lair 2 and Space Ace, "interactive movies" where the limited controls and rudimentary input options allowed game designers to whip up super-awesome visuals and not try to build a system that can generate them emergently. The QTEs in God of War or Bayonetta continue in that vein, since the controls can't be complex enough to have a "do a backflip over the guy's head while eviscerating them, then strangle him with his own innards" button. It's basically an interactive cutscene, and as long as it doesn't screw you over if you mess it up, they don't bug me too much.

The first time I saw one in a modern game was Resident Evil 4, where the rock is rolling after you and you have to mash the pad to run away from it. I liked it, the sudden intrusion of the QTE matched the sense of immediacy and panic of the scene, and my buddy and I were howling at the screen while he hammered on that Gamecube controller.

Yeah, they get stale after a while, and when you can predict them it starts feeling like Doom 3: "What's that? A medkit at the end of a short hallway with a single flickering light above it? I'm 100% positive that space zombies will climb out of the floor in 3...2...1..."

Quote:Original post by Iron Chef CarnageThe QTEs in God of War or Bayonetta continue in that vein, since the controls can't be complex enough to have a "do a backflip over the guy's head while eviscerating them, then strangle him with his own innards" button. It's basically an interactive cutscene...

Yeah, but couldn't the devs have just made it to once you hit the enemy enough, you can just grab them and watch a canned kill sequence? This way you could actually enjoy watching them, instead of concentrating on inputs. Same goes for when your health bar is low. An enemy can grab you and finish you off with a unique animation.

The devs for GoW obviously just wanted you to work for it and make it seem more fun than it really is.

QTE ftl. I did like them in RE4, though i would've liked some more space, some of those QTE were .....well, quick. Immediate death was never my idea of fun either.

The Quick Time Events that I like were the ones like Darksiders. The first boss had a QTE where you punch the boss as he rushes you. Perfect usage of QTE imo. It's small, its unobtrusive, and its not really required yet makes the battles cooler. GoW, on the other hand puts it in every skirmish, battle, ....... everything.

Finally, instant kill like Ninja Gaiden 2 and Darksider's "B" while down aren't QTE or atleast not by my way of thinking, I call em finishers, which are awesome if not overdone and can vary like they do in NG2.

Quote:Original post by Swordmaster

Quote:Original post by Iron Chef CarnageThe QTEs in God of War or Bayonetta continue in that vein, since the controls can't be complex enough to have a "do a backflip over the guy's head while eviscerating them, then strangle him with his own innards" button. It's basically an interactive cutscene...

Yeah, but couldn't the devs have just made it to once you hit the enemy enough, you can just grab them and watch a canned kill sequence? This way you could actually enjoy watching them, instead of concentrating on inputs. Same goes for when your health bar is low. An enemy can grab you and finish you off with a unique animation.

Yep, they could have. However, they're used to make the canned sequences more interactive. The goal is to increase tension and boost adrenaline by keeping the player critically attentive for a short while as they pull off the maneuvers, since there is the risk of failure. Otherwise, with a non-interactive sequence it's "you beat them, sit back, relax, and watch as we take total control over your character and make him do cooler stuff than you could ever get him to do".

I think they're great.