Unskipable cutscenes.

Now I’m the kind of gamer that enjoys the storytelling and characters of a game. I enjoy watching cutscenes (even those overtly long Metal Gear Solid ones) and taking in the atmosphere and the unfolding plot of a game…as long as it’s a well conceived and executed story.

I often find the cutscenes of games to be very engaging and can convey a wide range of emotions. From making my jaw drop, asking: “WTF was that all about?”, get me scratching my head as I put the pieces together or even making me shed a tear.
A good cutscene can be a powerful tool to use, when done right and can really get the player invested in the game, it’s plot and characters.

So why would I be annoyed when I can’t skip a cutscene then?
Well there can be various reasons as to why…

1) Some games have great stories that are worth investing time in…some games do not. There are really good games out there that are worth playing, but have dull plots, badly put together cutscenes. These games are certainly ones I’d rather just play and ignore the story but can’t due to unskippable cutscenes.

2) Checkpoint saves are something in gaming I both like and loathe at the same time. They can help and hinder a player, they can make harder games more tolerable or make easier games way too easy. But even worse is having a checkpoint save before an unskippable cutscene. Meaning every time you retry from that checkpoint, you are forced to sit through the same cutscene over and over and over and over again.

3) Replaying through a game more than once is something I often do if it’s a great game I enjoy playing. Like rewatching a good film, replaying a good game can be just as enjoyable several times over. But sometimes on another playthrough I just do not want to watch the cutscenes again and just want to play the game.

4) Some long running franchises use the same tutorials to explain things you already know as you had already played the previous game in the series and know what is being explained to you via cutscenes you can’t skip. But I already know what you are trying to tell me, I don’t want to sit here having the same thing explained to me…again.

Cutscenes are great and a powerful storytelling tool when done right. But sometimes I just do not want to sit through them.