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Favorite cinematic games?

Hey GAF, was wondering what are some of your favorite cinematic games are. Recently I re bought God of War 2018 since I traded it in and started a fresh new game. Something about the experience is...relaxing since the cutscenes are long enough that you can put down the controller for a bit and tune out until the gameplay resumes. So that's one of my favorite cinematic games. Another is Ghost of Tsushima. I liked it's beginning sequence and plan on beating it eventually. So GAF, what are your favorite cinematic games?
 
S

Sidney Prescott

Unconfirmed Member
Heavy Rain, Detroit Become Human. Quantic Dream does a good job of making these games. I wasn't too big on Beyond: Two Souls though, didn't seem as polished or well-thought out.

I really enjoyed Until Dawn, also.
 
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Z..

Member
Probably God of War (2018). Mostly due to it executing the whole "one single unbroken tracking shot" gimmick so well.

Edit: to clarify, there's other cinematic games I like more, but not because of their cinematic inclinations. In that specific regard, though... GoW is my favorite.
 
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01011001

Banned
I think some have very different opinions on what a cinematic game is... Death Stranding for me is not at all cinematic... building structures and walking through difficult terrain while balancing shit on your back is the least cinematic thing I can imagine aside from a 2D platformer maybe...
my favorite Cinematic games are the ones that get cancelled :)

(ok for real, maybe Detroit)
 
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Alan Wake and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Alan Wake, in its presentation, is more like really good TV but it's definitely one of my favorite games.
 
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Z..

Member
The Last of Us is like Children of Men meets The Road :lollipop_smiling_face_eyes:
What about TLoU makes you think of Children of Men? oO
It's a pulpy version of The Road crossed with any zombie movie but I'm uncertain where the CoM comparison is coming from.
 

angrod14

Member
What about TLoU makes you think of Children of Men? oO
It's a pulpy version of The Road crossed with any zombie movie but I'm uncertain where the CoM comparison is coming from.
There are many, many similarities, not only plot-wise (a journey carrying and protecting a girl/woman whose survival is crucial to humanity), but also in regards to themes and overall atmosphere. The extreme nihilistic tone of CoM is very prominent in The Last of Us. Everything is bleak, brutal, and doomed, but here and there you have some lighthearted beats that convey that even in such setting life may still be worth it and there is hope for a better tomorrow.
 

Ryūtō

Member
While not wholely cinematic, Judgment's (Judge Eyes in Jp) dynamic intros for many of it's important battles are pretty damn awesome.
 

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
220px-PC-98_Policenauts_box.jpg
 

Alan Wake

Member
Of recent years, definitely Detroit: Become Human. What a ride that was, filled with emotions that TLOU2 never managed to deliver.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Metal Gear Solid. Any of them. Even 5. But probably 4 taking the cake as absolute fan service for 15 hours. And you can even play 4 of those hours!

The Last of Us - first game. The Road meets Resident Evil 4's village meets basic stealth and resource gathering, and it's packed (narratively and gameplay wise) so much better than Part II. Explore, shoot, scene. And each segment changes just as you're beginning to get bored of the last.

Uncharted 2 and 4. Just powerhouses of their particular release windows. Natural sounding banter. Beautiful graphics. Gameplay that you can pretty much zone out for. Very comfort food type games.

Heavy Rain. Aged rather poorly, but it pretty cool when it came out. Don't have a lot to say about it.
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
Hey GAF, was wondering what are some of your favorite cinematic games are. Recently I re bought God of War 2018 since I traded it in and started a fresh new game. Something about the experience is...relaxing since the cutscenes are long enough that you can put down the controller for a bit and tune out until the gameplay resumes. So that's one of my favorite cinematic games. Another is Ghost of Tsushima. I liked it's beginning sequence and plan on beating it eventually. So GAF, what are your favorite cinematic games?
Never played a God of War game, but I think I’ve watched about 60% of the game’s cutscenes. Didn’t even mean to do that, I never spoil games but it was too good so I had to

My favorite is Resident Evil 6’s cutscenes. They’re dramatic, and given the game’s story it was only right. A lot of inspiring moments took place in that game’s story, surprisingly. I ended up beating every campaign in the game twice, which might sound insane to some fans, but I loved the characters in RE6 and the cutscenes were great. Except for the ones with Simmons, the game could have done without him entirely imo
 

Husky

THE Prey 2 fanatic
What about TLoU makes you think of Children of Men? oO
It's a pulpy version of The Road crossed with any zombie movie but I'm uncertain where the CoM comparison is coming from.
You've been given man's last hope for survival, a young girl, by an old friend of yours, and are leading her to an independent faction across the wasteland. Plus that opening car scene. Been a while since I played so I can't really remark on the tone, but I remember it being one of the films constantly on my mind as I played.
 
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KungFucius

King Snowflake
I like games with a heavy story component, but the gameplay needs to be serviceable. I am early in TLOU2 and the story has not grabbed me and the gameplay just kind of pisses me off. I liked the first one as a story and probably would consider it a semi favorite, but recall thinking the gameplay was so so.

Alan Wake was awesome but the following games Remedy failed to capture that level of quality and style. Control was kind of cool, but the gameplay was too over the top shooter that sucked ass with a controller.

Maybe MGS 1-4 + Alan Wake are the only story heavy games that managed to nail both story and gameplay well enough to be favorites. Others seem to be a tradeoff between good story or good gameplay with the other side being lower quality.
 

REM2000

Neo Member
I enjoyed Until Dawn and Detroit, i dont know if they can be included but enjoyed most of the telltale games such as the wolf amongst us.

The Dark Pictures Anthology is not bad, like until dawn and detroit, the graphics are good but the story is a little predictable, but well worth a play through, ive played through both Man of Medan and Little Hope.

A game which is kind of a slightly more fleshed out telltales game is Blacksad which wasn't bad.
 

Spaceman292

Banned
What about TLoU makes you think of Children of Men? oO
It's a pulpy version of The Road crossed with any zombie movie but I'm uncertain where the CoM comparison is coming from.
The car ambush scene is pretty much lifted straight from the movie
 

Physiocrat

Member
Can anyone help me out on what cinematic means in this context? Is it the length of the cutscenes, lack of interactivity in parts or something else?
 

Humdinger

Member
The Uncharted trilogy was the first thing that came to mind. I'm not sure if that's "cinematic" or not. I consider it an action-adventure with a bunch of good cutscenes. Those cinematics make the game what it is, because they do what a cutscene is supposed to do -- flesh out the characters, make them believable and likeable (or at least understandable), set up and advance the plot, and show big action scenes that can't be translated into gameplay.

I think Uncharted struck the right balance between cinematics and gameplay. I dislike games that have a heavier emphasis on cinematics (e.g., Death Stranding, which has over 11 hours of movie embedded in it). If I wanted to watch a movie, I'd watch a movie. I like cinematics that flesh out and support the action, not take the place of it.

Can anyone help me out on what cinematic means in this context? Is it the length of the cutscenes, lack of interactivity in parts or something else?

I take "cinematic" to mean a game that has a lot of cutscenes. That's all. It doesn't necessarily mean the game lacks interactivity or gameplay in its other aspects; it just means it has a lot of cutscenes, aka cinematics. What's "a lot"? I don't know, at least a few hours' worth.

There are different degrees. Like I mentioned above, some games are heavily cinematic and come off more as attempted movies than games. Others use cinematics to support overall immersion (motivation, drama, identification with characters, etc.).
 
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Can anyone help me out on what cinematic means in this context? Is it the length of the cutscenes, lack of interactivity in parts or something else?
When I originally made the thread, I meant the Sony exclusive type of modern single player cinematic game. But reading many of the replies in this thread actually opened my eyes up to how the term "cinematic" has evolved in the context of gaming over the years and such. So really any game that you think is "cinematic" is fair game, you could even explain why you think it's considered cinematic I think that would make for a great discussion
 

Physiocrat

Member
When I originally made the thread, I meant the Sony exclusive type of modern single player cinematic game. But reading many of the replies in this thread actually opened my eyes up to how the term "cinematic" has evolved in the context of gaming over the years and such. So really any game that you think is "cinematic" is fair game, you could even explain why you think it's considered cinematic I think that would make for a great discussion
I think one of the most cinematic games I have played was actually Deus Ex Mankind Divided. They put a lot of effort into camera movements for explosions and in particular dialogue sequences. It is not just cross cutting between the faces of the people talking.
 
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