Game Design 101 - "QTE, more like lazy game design" - The General Public

[Zazubat]

My 3rd installment of my Game Design 101 is about QTEs, or Quick Time Events. These are small sequences, typicly a cut scene of a press of a button at a certain time when an enemy is about to attack you. This topic is going to be mostly about people typicly perception and hatred towards this gaming trope and design technique and how it's used. As you might have guessed, I'm in the favor of actually liking QTEs. I'm going to defend it's side here, and I'm going to explain why I think that QTEs do not suck, are not hurting the industry, are a good design, and why game designers use it so much. So let's start, in no perticular order with why people are so butthurt about it.

 If you're not extreamly familiar with QTEs, and why most gamers hate them so, I'll explain it quickly here. Most gamers criticize QTEs as being lazy game design, with no real payoff other than pushing the button, and sequences that break up the gameplay. These would be all good arguments, but these ignorant comments know not of the reason why game designers use this so much. I'll explain now below:
 
 So let's start with it being lazy game design, as it is the most true of the typical comments. "Oh?" You say. "Didn't you just say that they were ignorant?" Yes, that I did, but they do not know why the game designers are being "lazy" as they call it, only that they would rather have a sense of accomplishment than pushing a bunch of buttons over and over again (even though that's what you're doing all the time). You want to know why they do it? Video games are extreamly hard to make. That's something even the most ignorant of people should know. It takes a lot of time and hard work to put together a video game, and sometimes the developers either have to take things out they wanted in, or use loop-holes such as QTEs.

 

 QTEs might break up the action with a little "oh you got to click right now to avoid this", which is slightly different from what I'm talking about. This is something a dodge button is typicly for, though sometimes you might want to create a more epic feeling other than just going to the side a little. In action games, this is typicly done with counters as well, and can be somewhat seen in fighting games, though they don't really tell you to push B to throw your opponent up in the air, it's simply in the core game mechanics, but fighting games are not a good example as they work differently from long term games such as God of War. Speaking of God of War, that game has good examples of a QTE as a cutscene rather than a quick little "you have to click this now" and while I believe GoW also had those momemnts, it's the cut scene like moments that most people remember it for. GoW does this both to avoid programmars to do even more programmar for something that could be avoided. That said, GoW 3, I believe, has a section where you're climbing a giant, something of a challange which could be avoided with QTEs, but they chose not to.

 

 There is good QTEs and there is bad QTE. Bad QTE is typicly found when it's not rewarding to the player to do these actions, either because it doens't progress anything, or doesn't give you any form of reward, such as EXP or a new weapon. It's also when what you're pressing doens't make any sense, in that normally pressing the X buttom might jump you, but it would rather stab a foe in the eye, while not extreamly important, if you make the Square button actually smash into a guy's eyes, or have Circle button dodge you out of the way normally, as well as in the QTE sequence, it gives players a form of self-satisfaction. Good QTE is also not throwing everything at you instantly, giving you time to relax. It is possible to reduce the response time on harder difficulties to make it more challanging. A thing that Heavy Rain does well is to never change what buttons you press (at least to my knownlage) and always keeping it the same, even if you mess up, that way you have a way of perfection.

 

Of course, if you disagree with any of my points, I'll take it into regards, but let's not start a flame war if possible :)

[?someone?]

QTEs are bunk because they're stealing my boss fights. No, they're no longer PART of the boss fights, they ARE the boss fight.

 

Battlefield 3:

[spoiler=][Media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LTercAEgk8U[/Media][/spoiler]

 

Far Cry 3:

[spoiler=][Media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5Fy8M2080sc[/Media][/spoiler]

 

I understand these games are semi-realistic, and Vaas can't hop into a Robotnik-esque death machine to attempt to murder me; but whatever way you slice it, these moments are supposed to be the climax. They end up being, as "she" may have once said, disappointing. Just lemme shoot them, or fight them, no bullshit.

 

PS: I've read a couple articles about how boss fights are becoming an archaic principle in some games, and I can't help but think of the ones above. Maybe boss fights are just very, very hard to do in modern FPS games.

Maybe it's time to find a new way to deliver on that classic "thing that is exciting, hard and precedes the end."

 

PPS: I gotta admit, the lead-up to Vaas is good. I'm just not liking the boring ass corridor clone fight and then "Oh, he's dead. Okay. Or, he's not."

 

PPPS: I think the issue is that I'm not in control of the character. I feel like I'm controlling a little man on his shoulder, prodding him to do things.

I'm once removed from the action when I most want to be there.