Vraptor7 on 24/11/2009 at 16:42
(
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/61366) This isn't really big news or anything, but what the heck:
Quote:
Eidos Final Fantasy developer Square Enix will be creating the cinematics for Eidos Montreal's Deus Ex 3, studio general manager Stephane D'Astous has told Edge.
"The people in Tokyo are just so glad to work on it," said D'Astous. "This is the first project for them that's a non-Final Fantasy title--they even want to work on Thief 4 too."
The Japanese publisher and developer purchased Eidos earlier this year after the Tomb Raider developer and Deus Ex publisher struggled financially and courted buyout bids.
The_Raven on 24/11/2009 at 17:40
Just what Deus Ex needed: prerendered cutscenes. :rolleyes:
My low expectations for this game have been set even lower. Congratulations, Eidos Montreal.
I really shudder to think what they'll do to Thief.
Jashin on 24/11/2009 at 19:22
You mean Square Enix Montreal.
Nothing's wrong with cinematics, which has no baring whatsoever on how the game plays. DX had them on ps2, beats the crap out of in-game cutscenes.
EvaUnit02 on 24/11/2009 at 19:45
Quote Posted by Jashin
Nothing's wrong with cinematics, which has no baring whatsoever on how the game plays. DX had them on ps2, beats the crap out of in-game cutscenes.
Have you seen a cutscene from a recent Final Fantasy game? (
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/unskippable/512-Dirge-of-Cerberus) They're over-long, incredibly self-indulgent and utterly cringe worthy.
Of course it remains to be seen how they'll will turn out, but the pessimist within me is screaming loudly.
Renzatic on 24/11/2009 at 19:56
Now this is something I've got mixed feelings about. On one hand, I have no doubt that Square Enix sport of the best CG artists around, and that'll ultimately produce something stunning. On the other hand, everything they do is so cheesy and overdramatic it's almost painful to watch. Just check out any of the Final Fantasy 13 clips to see what I mean.
Provided they try to emulate the old style seen in the previous games (specially so with Thief 4) and let someone else write the dialog, it might turn out decent. If not...oh god.
The_Raven on 24/11/2009 at 20:41
Quote Posted by Jashin
Nothing's wrong with cinematics, which has no baring whatsoever on how the game plays. DX had them on ps2, beats the crap out of in-game cutscenes.
What always bothered me about most cutscenes is that they have a completely different visual style compared to what you see during actual gameplay. As much as in-engine cutscenes have their problems, they are at least visually consistent with what you see during gameplay. While the prerendered cutscenes in the PS2 version of Deus Ex were of far superior graphical quality to the ones in the PC version, I still prefer the original versions for the reason just mentioned.
While I do adore Thief's cutscenes, they too are guilty of some of this. At least for the most part during the briefings, Looking Glass tried to use in-game art when talking about locations within the upcoming level. The rarer, after-mission cutscenes were just as guilty of this as the PS2 version of Deus Ex. It is worth mentioning that the first two thief games were made during a different era where in-engine cutscenes just weren't technologically feasible for what they were actually doing. Today, however, that isn't quite as true.
Sulphur on 24/11/2009 at 20:59
The standard reason for the stylistic/quality gap between in-engine graphics and cutscenes is pretty much your second-last sentence in that post. If a game could have all its in-engine graphics displayed with the fidelity of a pre-rendered cinematic, it would. PS2-era games couldn't quite cut the mustard because, given the horsepower under the hood, in-engine scenes could never really be as good-looking.
Today is a different story, as you rightly said. FF XIII looks to be bridging the gap effectively enough, last I checked.
Aerothorn on 24/11/2009 at 22:01
While I agree that out-of-engine cutscenes can be obnoxious, I felt they worked in Thief, and actually worked in Invisible War 2. Regardless, it was pretty much a given that DX3 would have them.
Ignoring my feelings about them doing Thief (which I'll keep to the Thief forum), I feel mixed about this. On one hand, they're technical master there, so should be very pretty. But, yeah, both Square writing and Square aesthetic do not mesh with Deus Ex.
However, given that Square Enix Montreal is doing the game, I imagine they will write and script the cutscenes; Japan will only do the technical stuff. I'm hoping. Because honestly, I can't imagine Montreal just giving up such an important part of the storytelling experience unless the Head Office ordered them to, and I have no idea why Square HQ would do that, particularly given their official "hands off" policy on Western development.
d'Spair on 24/11/2009 at 22:26
I salute you, Eidos Montreal.
What we have now? Regenerating health? Cover system? Stealth based on line of sight? And finally, movies made by Final Fantasy creators. Yeah.
Vraptor7 on 25/11/2009 at 07:32
Maybe I'm too hopeful, but perhaps they mean in-game "cinematics" ... yeah, that's too hopeful. Especially with a game like Deus Ex 3 they could take full advantage of the fact that the character's augmentations are mechanical and fully visible on his body, it would be a nice little touch to have your character with your unique set of enhancements in all the cutscenes. We are long past the stage in games where in-game cutscenes can be of the quality of pre-rendered ones, and frankly I think we should demand no less now.
