People often complain about the irritation of quick time events. Understandably so, they often come out of nowhere with no real warning. They change up the rules of how the game is normally played. What makes matters worse is that a failed QTE means certain death and failure. This is problematic.
I think that there are three different kind of QTE types:
1: The kind of QTE that is suddenly sprung on you out of nowhere. These are bad. They are frustrating, and don't make any sense.
2: The finisher. These QTEs come into play in moments where it isn't necessarily essential that the player gets all of the button presses right, and usually the penalty is minimal.
3. The whole damn thing. I haven't seen many games that are entirely quick time events, save for Heavy Rain, Indigo Prophecy, and recently, Beyond: Two Souls. All of which were written and directed by David Cage.
So, let's start with the first kind.
Shenmue for the Sega Dreamcast was one of the first games that I, and many others, experienced the QTE. The QTEs were not the central mechanic of the game, but they came up a lot. They were frustrating, as all QTEs of this kind are, and failure meant that I would have to try it over, and over, and over again. Most button presses are arbitrary and don't hold any context within the quick time event. Games are made up of rules, and when suddenly the rules are changed, it's uncomfortable and it isn't fun anymore. I'm not really sure as to why the game industry kept this game mechanic, and why they keep perpetuating it is kind of beyond me.
2. The Finisher.
Usually this kind of QTE will show up in games like Baynetta, God of War, or Devil May Cry. These QTEs are just kind of there. Most times they exist to create a more interactive experience when finishing off enemies, as opposed to watching a short movie of your character doing something awesome. Having these QTEs puts all of that awesome on you. That's a lot of pressure, and if you mess up, you make the character look bad, and usually cost them a chunk of health. I think that God of War is the prime example of this.
Players take the reigns of Kratos, badass Spartan Greek God killer, and is completely reliant on QTEs to get the job done. The thing with these quick time events in particular, is that if you mess up, and get the chance to do them again, for some reason, the button changes. That's right, if you accidentally press circle rather than square, and are absolutely determined to press square the next time that button press comes into play, it will be something different. It might even be a joystick movement. These quick time events are unpredictable, and each one is never the same as the last. Each enemy in God of War has its own execution animation, and with it, its own quick time event. Players can be facing down two of the same kind of enemy and execute them with a different combination of button presses. That sounds interesting, but it puts me on edge every time I hit the button to start the sequence. These kind of QTEs are just unnecessary.
3. The Whole Damn Thing....
David Cage is praised by some, and loathed by others. His games only operate using quick time events. This system doesn't really quite work all the way. Usually quick time events force players to use buttons that generally have some type of context. In Shenmue, the A button will prompt when Ryo has to do something related to his legs (jumping, juking, kicking, etc.). While games like Heavy Rain, have no context for any of the button mapping. Triangle has no relation to anything, nor does any other button. There is a sequence when the player has to shoot some dudes, and it uses the R1 button to pull the trigger, it makes sense because the players trigger finger naturally falls on the R1 button. However, for the rest of the game, players press buttons like some kind of DDR. Generally the buttons, or joystick movements, will related to objects in the environment, or directions the characters are supposed to go. But when a fight breaks out, and players are assaulted with button presses, it's a frenzied panic of confusion. Admittedly it is exciting, and visceral, and really entertaining to watch, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to Simon Says. and if you ask me, Simon doesn't know what he's talking about.
What are your thoughts on Quick Time Events? Do they add to the gameplay? Are they unnecessary? What are some of your favorite, or least favorite moments in QTEs? Let me know in the comments?
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