Topic: Do you like FMVs or other big story sequences in games?

[JonLeung]

I got caught up in a discussion elsewhere about Tales Of Symphonia.  Someone pointed out that it's a good game because it's not FMV-laden.



FMVs (full-motion videos, if you didn't know) and other story sequences in games don't usually bother me.  I was actually hoping that the shots in the opening montages of Tales Of Symphonia and Baten Kaitos (both GameCube RPGs by Namco) would be shots from FMV scenes later on in the game, but as it turns out, they weren't.  You could bring up the point that FMVs can take up a lot of filespace, even with good compression, and the fact that GameCube discs hold only 1.35 GB, but the point that seemed to come up was that it was BETTER because of a lack of FMVs.



I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with FMVs.  I think as long as there is some point to having them (story-wise, or epic OMGness) and that it's not disrupting the flow of actual gameplay that they are cool to have around.



If developers are using flashy FMV scenes to practically replace gameplay time or shoddy graphics elsewhere (especially in ads), then that would be when they're ridiculous.  But I don't think that you can say that just because a game might have FMVs but doesn't that it's automatically better.



And perhaps I shouldn't use the term FMVs, which to me doesn't include in-game cut-scenes.  Take something like Metal Gear Solid 2...I remember one part where after sitting through a long scene, I literally just walked down the hall and into another long scene.  Or Nintendo's Custom Robo on the GameCube...there's a sequence near the end where they try to cram in a lot of story, which, quite literally, is just a few characters standing around talking, and there are something like three save points WITHIN that conversation.  Or at least at the beginning, middle and end, but the fact that they felt a need to have a save point partway through kind of says something, even if it is welcome - I remember one part in FF VII when I was thinking "let me save already!" - but really...just a scene of standing around?  >_<  Well, whether it's flashy or just some blabbish exposition, a half-hour of CHECK THIS OUT or BLAH BLAH BLAH where you do nothing but sit there (or just press the button only to advance text), it begins to take away the point of a game being an interactive story, even if everything has to be linear at some level.



With the increasing sizes of media, like the HD-DVD(-ROMs) and Blu-Ray, developers CAN make bigger, longer, flashier movie sequences, but they shouldn't abuse that power to mess up the flow of a game.

[Thraxian]

...and that it's not disrupting the flow of actual gameplay



I think that statement about sums up FMVs.  I play an obscene amount of role-playing games.  I really enjoy fighting battles, solving puzzles, and exploring new areas.  When an FMV comes along, it disrupts these actions, and therefore is a nuisance.  Especially when you're replaying the game, or resuming from a save point after you died, and you've already seen the 15-minute movie, and just want to get on with the game already.



If FMVs allow you to bypass them by pressing a button (or sequence), then I'll watch them.  If they don't, the game goes back to the store.

[Dan]

Then you should be liking Dragon Warrior VII  It has a total of 3 FMVs, and they're at most a minute long each.  



I personally don't mind them. I'd fall under the "Depends on the game, story, and pace of the game" section because I really enjoyed DWVII even with its lack of FMVs, and I also enjoyed Final Fantasy VIII even though it had a considerable amount of them.  It all depends on the game, I guess.