Guest Crossfire with SSMB member, Dan Hibiki. Check it…
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I’m a writer. I write fanfics, of course. Mainly crossovers. The folder containing (most of) my works has so many files with individual chapters that my brother told me he was astounded that I could actually write them all. I’m also the story lead for the 3D Sonic fan-game lead by Chris Senn, Project S (yes, THAT one, it’s still alive and kicking, no worries). What the hell does this have to do with anything, you ask? Well, it helps when I look a discussion involving stories, characters and whatever the hell goes into why Sonic is kicking Eggman’s rounded butt again. What I’m really here for is to write about something fairly simple – deep plot, or simple? Epic cutscenes with full voice-acting, or simple player-controlled scenes with no dialogue whatsoever, ala Sonic 3&K? What an interesting dilemma. Let’s start with…
(Also, I’ll occasionally throw in Tropes with links.)
POINT: No, we’re better off with simple and limited. Longer cutscenes/plots are over-baked, badly written, and poorly delivered.
Part of this point comes from the quality aspect of it all. There’s the writing, for one. And dear GOD, let’s not get started on the voice actors, shall we? Anyway, back in the days of old, this silly little thing called “dialogue” was not at all present, and cutscenes didn’t automatic Sonic’s actions most of the time (one exception in Sonic 2 is justified, though). Though this lead to absolutely hilarious moments such as Robotnik running faster than Sonic. Good times.
And really, this was all that was needed for something like that. Mario still does it will no voice acting (except Sunshine, but I’m pretty sure that’s liked less). And when Mega Man got voice acting, it was so bad that Capcom was wise enough to remove it from the sequels till they could get it right. But that’s another story. Sonic didn’t fare that well. The Adventure games were somewhat more accecptible. Then came Heroes, which had a hilariously silly plot that couldn’t decide whether to be light-hearted or serious (I blame Shadow, lulz), not to mention Metal Sonic and its incredibly narmy dialogue. Then Shadow’s game, as well as Sonic 06 (though one bloody kiss is NOT beastiality, despite what a lot of people thought about it), went straight to the bottom.
Though, as I said, that’s quality. But to be fair, the whole format of video games seems to be poorly suited for techniques stolen from cinema. Video games are an interactive medium. Cutscenes arguably tear the player away and lose the immersion. Half-Life and its sequels pull off games without cutscenes, yet these games have brilliant plots, impressive writing and voicing… Despite Gordon Freeman being a heroic mime. Quite impressive, really.
I should note that there was a modern game with smeg all dialogue. Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s Subspace Emissary. Sure, there were cutscenes… But EVERYONE kept their mouths completely shut, except Snake, who snuck in one line with his entrance. It was done well enough to tell the story from start to finish. Though it could be argued that the finer details had to be explained in trophies and on the site, they weren’t needed to tell a story of “bad guy wants to take over the world, heroes kick his ass”. Even Braid made a lot less sense, really. Speaking of Braid, that one didn’t have a single automated cutscene, and it was all told in books, which didn’t get in the way of the wondeful gameplay, and that plot was wonderfully written… If not incredibly confusing, what with the princess being a metaphor for everything from perfection to the atomic bomb.
Arguably, when it comes to “deep” writing, it has resulted in some serious narmy dialogue, whether it be the writing, or the voice acting, or both:
“What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!” (Though Dracula made it awesome by throwing that wine glass)
“You were almost a Jill Sandwich!” (Oh, Barry, you’re so funny…)
“I was to be the one to fill your soul with LIIIIGGGGGHHTTTT!!” (She’s not dead, Dante…)
“That tornado’s carrying a car!” (NO SHIT, SHERLOCK.)
Basically, the plots of old were simple and didn’t get in the way of the game itself. If it worked back then, what’s wrong with continuing the trend?
COUNTERPOINT: Simple plots are boring, dialogue makes things interesting, and there’s nothing wrong with cutscenes.
However, that was the ninties. Back then, simplistic plots were excusable due to the hardware limitations and whatnot. These days, “epic” plots are expected of games. We see Final Fantasy (though it did have the best villain ever IMO… Kefka. What, you expected me to say “Sephiroth”?), Gears of War, and others continuing the trend of “epic” storylines. Not that this is nessesarilly bad, mind you. As said, it’s quality that counts.
And one of the best examples comes from a Sonic game, incidentally. Sonic Chronicles has the BEST written plot and dialogue in the entire seires, IMO. It was an RPG, but still. You have to give Bioware credit for rescuing Big from the Scrappy Heap. And there’s Eggman’s lines too. And who couldn’t resist having Sonc be so incredibly snarky?
And for every bad line, there’s always a wonderful one right around the corner:
“Son of a submariner!”
“Wait, he says. Do I look like a waiter?”
“Run, run! Or you’ll be well done!”
“This is sickening… You sound like chapters from a self-help booklet! Prepare yourselves!”
… Oh, wait, those are all Kefka’s lines, aren’t they? Still a good example. Also, another wonderful plot-centered game was Beyond Good and Evil, designed by Michael Ancel (the guy who made Rayman, no less), and everyone who has played it can agree it was a stellar title, not to mention its story was impressive.
Maybe the cutscenes need to be re-tooled a bit, done in a different style. Maybe… Take a page from Devil May Cry? Those were action games, so the designers decided to just up the awesome as much as they possibly could with every possible oppertunity. And it’s not just the fight scenes (which are INCREDIBLY awesome). From slow-mo pizza eating, to Dante answering the phone in the most stylish way possible… And it was quite campy, which was the intention. And it fit with the games, where you could be equally awesome in-game if you wanted to. I swear, Sonic is supposed to be cool, and I think of him as the G-rated version of Dante. So why the hell isn’t he doing equally awesome stuff? Take a look at Sonic CD’s FMVs, and you’ll see what I mean. Sonic was born for the Rule of Cool, and they haven’t given him enough justice in that department. You want DMC examples of the kind of thing that I’m talking about? Alright, then.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtiXwvni6ng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr336JzMBmY (Dante DRIVES UP A TOWER. Then he USES HIS BIKE AS A WEAPON. In MIDAIR. You can’t say that’s not awesome.)
And once again, I cannot emphasise enough the quality aspect of it. If the writers were actually competant, and the voice actors did the lines right, it would be quite swell, I’m sure. I think even I could write a better plot than the idiots who wrote the plots for Heroes, Shadow, and Sonic 06. But then there’s other factors. So many to count…
DECISION: Where do you stand? Of course, there might be more than just these two opinions, so speak your mind on the SSMB!
Heh, I hope you enjoyed reading this guest edition of The Crossfire, as much as I did writing it. Dan Hibiki, signing out.
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