Enough with the movie "games", Shadow of the Colossus is how a cinematic game should be done

Prior to this past week, I would have said that the biggest criticism that I have with this current generation, especially from Sony as they are the most guilty of leading this trend, is that games are too focused on trying to be a cinematic experience. This past week, I've learned that a game can provide an amazing cinematic experience that even a "when I want a story, I'll read a book or watch a movie" kind of person like myself can enjoy.

The thing that has inspired this new viewpoint from me is that I'm currently playing the new Shadow of the Colossus remake. This is my first time ever playing it since it's one of the games that I just never got around to on the PS2 (which I now realize was a huge mistake). I now realize that I don't necessarily have a problem with a game trying to provide a cinematic experience since I would definitely have to classify Shadow of the Colossus as a cinematic experience and I'm loving it. I just have a problem with how this is often done in the typical movie "games" that are popular nowadays.

The things that I hate about movie "games" are things like how the "games" hold my hand through scripted automated sequences, or how the gameplay is constantly being interrupted by cutscenes which takes me out of the game, or how the gameplay that does exist is generally filled with annoying QTEs that barely count as gameplay in my opinion. Shadow of the Colossus avoids all of that crap and uses the strengths of the video game medium to tell it's story in a much better way and offers a cinematic experience that you could not get from a movie or a book while also still being very much a game with actual gameplay.

This game still offers an epic spectacle of scenes like you would see in a movie but without the automated platforming or the "Simon says press the square button right now" crap that most other cinematic games rely too much on. In Shadow of the Colossus, if I experience an epic moment of falling but then managing to save myself at the last second by grabbing onto something; that was all me that did that which makes it feel so much more immersive and satisfying. It wasn't some BS scripted event like you would find in a game like Uncharted and my immersion doesn't get broken up by "Press Triangle" flashing on the screen.

The game also respects me as a player and gives me the satisfaction of getting to discover how to play the game while actually playing the game instead of having the game hold my hand through long, boring tutorials. It just gives me a general direction and then I'm off on my journey to discover the rest while I play.

It also doesn't hold my hand through the narrative either. I'm not just pressing the X button to move between one cut-scene to the next as it holds my hand through the script, leaving me feeling disconnected from the character and frustrated over the lack of meaningful gameplay. Instead, it tells a story primarily through the gameplay that I'm actively involved in, as well as through the design of the game world around me, and through subtleties in the visuals and music. I get to truly feel like I'm the character in the story as I slowly start to wonder things like "Wait a second, am I maybe the real villain of this story?" without the game explicitly telling me that. And having that be so much more meaningful since I have been an active participant in all of this through the gameplay. The screen did not flash telling me to "press square" to perform the actions that I performed and it was not shown to me in a scripted cut-scene. It was all me; I did it and now I'm starting to feel remorse that I did it. A video game just made me feel remorse. Wow!

I just had to put what I've been feeling into words. What do you guys think? Do you think that developers aiming to offer gamers a cinematic experience should handle it more like how Shadow of the Colossus does it without all of the scripted automated sequences, cut-scenes, and QTEs? Or are you happy with the current trend of copying from want-to-be movies like Uncharted and The Last of Us that we are getting an abundance of this generation? I for one get very disappointed as I look at the list of the big upcoming games and see that they, especially Sony, are flooding the market with a bunch of clones of Uncharted and The Last of Us instead of more games that offer a cinematic experience the way that Shadow of the Colossus does it.

@storm_of_swords:

It was definitely a marvel in itself as a game but I still think people exaggerate on the concept of "movie games." Uncharted is and always will be one of the most fun adventure game series of all time. It's cinematic, it has a great story to tell and it manages to be fun. Shadow of the colossus falls on that category too.

Are there other great adventure games? Of course! It's far from my favorites but you gotta give credit when it's due.

I agree for the most part, tho not sure whether SotC experience should be called cinematic or just epic.

Still surprised they manage to make that game run on PS2. Lol crazy.

I dont have any problem with cinematic experiences, in fact i like em alot. More options for all kind of tastes, stop crying. You dont like ? Dont buy.

Shadow of the Colossus contains about an hour of cinematics... over the length of a game that will take someone at least 10-12 hours to beat their first time. It is in fact the opposite of what would be considered "cinematic". It's an incredibly open game with little directing the player with what to do.

SotC is a very simple game, that's one of its secrets. This was my first time playing and I loved it, I just wish character/horse controls were more refined. Also cool getting to realise how much of an inspiration it must have been to Dark Souls and even Breath of the Wild.

Not all games need to be the same but I definitely would rather have more games like it than Uncharted all all its derivatives. I do prefer when game design is refined.

SotC is not a cinematic game. It’s no QTE-fest where you’re constantly losing player control to see your character go from one scripted cinematic to the next.

@foxhound_fox:

I disagree. For the most part, you only have one goal to do so even with the open world. Most of it is barren. It also relies alot of cinematic setpieces but with some control of the camera. Every locale you visit leads a new spectacle.

"Cinematic" isn't a game genre. Action-adventure games can me cinematic or gameplay oriented. Modern RPG's tend to have cinematic aspects, but are hardly "movie games".

Did you read my whole post? Shadow of the Colossus is not what the typical cinematic game is like nowadays, which is why I think that it is so great as I described in my original post. But I still think that it offers a cinematic experience since it makes me feel like I'm a part of an epic movie and it has grand cinematic spectacle and a great narrative. It just offers that in a different and, in my opinion, far better way than the typical movie "games" that are so popular nowadays. Which is what this thread is about and why I made a distinction between "cinematic" which I think Shadow of the Colossus is and a typical "movie game" which Shadow of the Colossus is thankfully definitely not.

I wish that when developers want to create a grand cinematic spectacle of a game with a strong focus on narrative, that they would learn more from how Shadow of the Colossus managed to provide that cinematic spectacle and great story without all of the hand-holding, scripted automated sequences, gameplay interrupting cut-scenes, and annoying QTEs that plague so many of the movie "games" being released nowadays.

Shadow of the Colossus and The Last of Us are both cinematic in my opinion, but The Last of Us is an example of a "movie game" that would be better suited as an actual movie whereas Shadow of the Colossus is a real game that also delivers a cinematic experience using the unique strengths of the video game medium to create it's cinematic spectacle and story. The latter is my preference for a cinematic gaming experience and I'm disappointed that the industry is being flooded with more of the former instead.

@storm_of_swords: TLOU is hardly a movie game in my opionion. It still had lots of gameplay and different methods to tackle each scenario. I consider movie games to be like heavy rain and beyond two souls.

SoC is amazing though.

ill take a movie game over sea of piss or minecrap

these make your own stuff games are total crap and need to stop first

Metal Gear Solid 4 is a cinematic game. A game that allows for lots of player agency is not cinematic. There is tons to explore and discover in SOTC. It's not Ubisoft fluff, but it's fun to find.

SOTC at it's core is still a game from 2005. That's not a bad thing though because good games are timeless. I can enjoy the new SOTC just as much as the original. They stayed pretty faithful to the original content. The same can't be said for Final Fantasy 7. I have a feeling Square is going to milk it for all it's worth.