@chronoschris said:
I'm only chapter 3 so far but I'm enjoying what little I've played of it. The only thing that bothers me is those huge black borders they've included to make it feel more cinematic, much rather it had been full screen.
The borders are actually intended to do more than that. They cut off the view of your feet meaning you have to make an compromise between pitching the camera down to see them (limited view of what is ahead) or look ahead (but not able to see your feet). You're more likely to panic and walk into a trap as a result of shifting between the two viewpoints.
Also keep in mind that unlike other games with over the shoulder where you get one long view over one shoulder, in TEW your character is framed centrally framed giving you two very narrow views over either shoulder. If they removed the borders by zooming in/cropping your view would be even more limited than it already is, to the point of being unfair. And if they just removed the borders without zooming in the viewpoint compromise described above ceases to exist because you can see everything in a single frame without having to adjust the camera.
Notice also how the game has no Resident Evil style quick turn or option to aim where you are facing (aiming snaps to camera direction). Again, intentional to force you to rotate the slow moving camera. When fighting enemies you have a choice between framing them or your escape vector (the camera isn't fast enough to make frequent alternation an option) If you frame the enemies you might run into a dead end or obstruction obscured by the bottom border. Remove the border and the player has more time to react and fewer occasions to panic.
Put briefly: the borders are there to make your life more difficult by working together with limited mobility, horizontal FOV, slow camera and so on. The game certainly isn't more pleasant for having the borders, but then the sick mind that is creator Shinji Mikami isn't interested in making you happy :P
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