Neil Druckmann Wants to Rely Less on 'Traditional Narrative' and Cutscenes - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 10 January 2023 / 2,484 Views
Naughty Dog co-president and co-creator of The Last of Us Neil Druckmann in an interview with The Washington Post posted on YouTube stated games like Elden Ring and how they don't rely on a traditional narrative to tell its story has him intrigued.
"I'm more recently intrigued by stuff like Elden Ring and Inside, that don’t rely as much on traditional narrative to tell a story," said Druckmann via a transcription by VideoGamesChronicle. "I think some of the best storytelling in The Last of Us - yes, a lot of it is in the cinematics - but a lot of it is in the gameplay, and moving around a space, and understanding a history of a space by just looking at it and examining it.
"To me that, right now, is some of the best joy I get out of games. [Those] that trust their audience to figure things out, that don’t hold their hand. That's the stuff I’m really intrigued by going forward."
Druckmann added, "It doesn't mean we will never have dialogue or cutscenes. I think those are tools in your toolbox and it's about how to use all these different aspects – some of it from other media, some of it [as] found notes and environmental storytelling.
"I think there's a way to push that stuff forward, at least, for the kind of games we make at Naughty Dog. I'm really intrigued – again, [we're] never resting on our laurels, and trying something a little bit new, a little bit different, that not everyone’s going to like, but that's okay.
"And again, it's stuff that we’re working on now – I can tell you that the teams are very excited by the different projects we have at Naughty Dog."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Show not Tell has been done in gaming for decades and better stories than ND does
I never understood the hate for cutscenes. For me, they are the cream on top and the fighting in between is almost secondary. Reading bits of texts or descriptions is not very thrilling storytelling, it's boring. I need people interacting and talking to each other to feel something. If you want "show, don't tell", then cutscenes are the way you show things rather than tell about them in a text.
This is not to say that cutscenes are the only way to tell a story, but they are the most powerful way.
For as most as people say "if I wanted cutsecene I would rather watch a movie" I say "If I wanted to read text I would pick a book (and I have been reading average 100 a year last couple years)" even worse if we would pick the book and throw the pages all over the house and have no number on them and them read randomly kkkkkkkkkkk
I like both approaches to story telling and it really depends on my mood. Sometimes I'm just not in a mood to have cut scenes constantly interrupting my game play. DMC5 does this a lot and it's annoying. Maybe it stops eventually but by the time I got to the bird guy I was just tired of seeing it. I recently played Ender lillies because I just wanted more gameplay and less story telling interrupting my gameplay.
I think it is good to explore more ways to convey story and make a narrative, and sure that can reduce cutscenes (although I like them), but needing to scavenge lore and having to put it together (even more because you'll likely pick them in somewhat random order) makes it a lot worse for me. But if they can make better ways to tell a story I'm willing to try.
Agreed. The way From Soft does it isn't my favorite style and I prefer more cut scenes. You literally have to read item descriptions in those games to get a real understand of what's going on. That's to much for me. It's fine though I play those games more for the gameplay the story isn't why I play a from soft game.
Every now and then though I get annoyed at constant cut scene after cut scene. Especially when I have limited time to play and I just want some real game play before I have to get off and be an adult again.
The story told of that base with the notes on the floor was some of the best story telling they did in the last of us
Cutscenes often have me taking a bathroom break, getting some food, etc. And it isn't like I don't understand that I should sit there and watch them. It's just that it's my natural reaction. My brain treats them much like a commercial break during a sporting event.
Well most games do have skip cutscene (I use only on a second or third playthrough done in sequence due to platinum). But games where you can't skip cutscene, even on second playthrough, are wrong imho.
I don't really want to skip the cut scenes. It's just that I generally don't get into them. I much prefer games where the story can be picked up in interactive ways. I just am not able to stay focused on portions of the game where I am not controlling my character.
If you don't want to watch or skip and think it is better to read logs of things you find all over the place needing to reconnect guess I can't help you much.
No, reading logs of things sucks. And it isn't that I don't want to watch cutscenes. It's that cut scenes generally lose my attention.
I'm saying it's best when story is presented within the standard gameplay.
Ok, gotcha. No doubt presentation can be improve.
I wish more games had cut scenes that you could pause. Because sometimes I both want to see the cut scene, and take a bathroom break!
That is true as well. Several you can't and usually is when someone come to talk to you =p
They could implement something like:
- press X (or whatever) to pause
-
hold X (or whatever) to skip
I used X because it's the only button common to Xbox, PS and Switch, no other reason. :P
Or even the old and antiquate press pause (yes now each of the three consoles use a different name for the button, but whatever) and it shows two options continue and skip, like 20 years ago =p
It is easier to pause cut scenes in some cases now by just bringing up the menu.
What really bothers me is that there is not often an easy way to rewind or go back to a cutscene that I may have missed or accidentally skipped through (which happens fairly often by trying to pause it).
Rewind and Forward in cutscenes would be a welcome addition to, I don't care if it is compared to movie/series on stream because of that, and sure there are those games that keep a galery that if you go on the menu you can rewatch any cutscene you like. There is also those novels and similar where you go unlocking media and show what is missing and links.
Reading books in the game to make narrative is an old thing for me.
yeah, ngl, putting sex scenes and tiddy up-front in games doesn't really count as narrative pushing to me.
I still remember the memes from TLOU 2 with Abby's sex scene and it wasn't in the positive sense either.
Like if I wanted sex scenes, I'd go watch porn or something. Sex in games just isn't as big of a narrative push as Druckman/others think it is. Gaming is usually cantered around being engaging/fun, not getting one horny and going for a ham shank, instead of actually playing the game.
Uh oh, we better tell BioWare and CD Projekt then xD
I'll die on that hill lol. I honestly did not at all care for any sex scene in any of those games, especially the pole dancer in Metro/sex scene near the end, none of them did anything for me, besides taking me right out of the serious experience those games were trying to push.
(ME being a game about galactic domination/eradication, Witcher giving us death-like antagonists, and Metro focusing on factions out to kill us and malformed-like creatures hunting everyone every day makes sex scenes really not vibe with those games with what is at stake).
Next crash Bandicoot will be M rated and will have a sex scene.
HYPE!!!!
Ape Escape SPANK THAT MONKEY!
e621 already beat them to it
Besides that I play on the couch, and my children can go there at any time, so I usually avoid playing games with hot scenes. Yakuza I had to avoid the ero portions like the plague during daylight.
I do agree, same for movies for me. When I was a horny teen pre internet sure I loved these soft porn sex scenes in action movies, nowadays I find them just pointless. Not that love can't be possible on an action movie or that people don't make sex during war or tense situations, I just don't need to watch it on a movie, I can just grab a porn video on net.
Yeah, especially for old movies with me. I originally was like "wow tiddy in Nightmare on Elm Street", but now I look back and I'm asking myself "did this really need to be in a horror movie, where it's mainly about death and escaping a horrifying antagonist?"
That film Blood Surf was especially raunchy in having an actual sex scene in it (you don't see any bits, but you def see some tiddy and obv sex going on in a pool of water), despite that entire film being about killer Gators.
I feel like sex scenes gel super well with say, Romantic movies, since romance/Sex pair well with one another, but sex being paired with horror/action just feels janky and the pair do not compliment one another (though sex comedies exist and sorta compliment each other, like "There's something about Mary", for example).
That being said, I'm not against sex scenes, I just feel like movie writers/game writers don't think that far ahead on what best fits their narratives when it comes to feeling like sex has to be added to boost appeal, when it often than not doesn't need to be added, and can instead be replaced with higher stakes instead.
We've already seen Neil ante up the drama by showing us Joel getting his face utterly smashed in, and that was probably more gripping from a player perspective than it was for us to watch a moody and roided Abby having a weirdly directed sex scene, that didn't really add much to the plot, nor it's ending.
Agree, sex scenes in a romance movie (perhaps even romantic comedy) can fit (but not always do or is needed), but for a lot of the 80-90s movies were unnecessary.
I do know that during the 80-90s had sex scenes to increase sales, saying you could see nude or partial nude of some famous actor/actress dunno if that is still applicable or just that we are more used to sex scenes so they are still around.
Even gore isn't needed but sure can improve the experience when well done.
Oh yeah, back then during the 80's and 90's it was the whole reason for R -rated films, which never really made that much sense to me, but looking back on it, it makes sense with execs pushing it for more sales and gaining notoriety for those films being R-rated.
That would be a great departure for ND. That's one of my biggest gripes is way too many cutscenes in narrative driven games that can be immersion breaking for me. Combat, cutscene, more combat, another cutscene. Let the gameplay tell the story and speak for itself. I have no doubt they'll be able to execute it well.
Hopefully other PlayStation Studios will be encouraged to give a crack at it too.
Hope they don't do it like elden ring completely as that's boring way of telling a story. They need to find balance with it
Cool. I hope he succeeds in this "new " (new for him) approach on developing games. I do think it is the best way to tell stories in video games.
