So I finished Red Dead Redemption 2 last night.
And somehow, one of the things I came away thinking about was Genshin Impact.
Now, I know. Apples to oranges. But I can’t help comparing how they handle conversations and cutscenes.
Left click. Left click.
In Genshin, a conversation can feel like getting stuck at a red light. I was on my way somewhere, but now I have to wait because someone has a lot to explain. So I’m either standing there until they’re done talking or mashing left click to get it over with. The flow gets interrupted, and I just want to get back to it.
By then, I’m just not interested in what anyone has to say anymore. The game has a list of things I need to know, and someone is going to explain every last one of them. I’m used to that kind of lore dump in anime, but here it starts to feel like a PowerPoint presentation in the middle of my game.
RDR2 has its share of standing around and talking too. But a lot of that happens at the start of a mission for like a couple of seconds up to a minute or two, and the dialogue is actually interesting and fun to listen to. Even when someone’s explaining a plan, we’re about to go and do it, so I have a reason to pay attention.
Then we get on our horses and keep talking on the way. They’re joking around and getting on each other’s nerves, but they’re also talking about what’s happening and what we’re about to do. In Genshin, it feels like everyone’s explaining things to me; in RDR2, I pick up what I need to know from people having a conversation with each other.
Fade to black
Genshin’s big cutscenes are awesome. They’re epic, and I want to watch them. But some of those scenes are prerecorded videos, and the jump from gameplay to video looks so weird that it pulls me out of the moment. Like, I’m suddenly very aware that I’ve stopped playing.
Take the boss fight with Arlecchino, the Knave, in her story quest. It’s a pretty cool fight. Big, epic, and I have to lock in. I’m caught up in fighting her, but then the screen fades to black and the fight keeps going as a video. The action hasn’t stopped, but suddenly I’m just watching it. It’s like someone took the controller out of my hands and said, “Okay, watch this.”
RDR2 can make a moment feel just as cinematic while still giving me something to do. There’s a scene where the US Army has Dutch and Arthur cornered at the edge of a cliff, with nowhere left to go. Dutch starts stalling with a big dramatic speech, because that’s what Dutch van der Linde does.
It’s a cutscene, but while Dutch is talking, I have to tilt the left stick down to slowly back Arthur toward the edge. Then I have to hit the jump button at the last second. It’s a small amount of control, but I’m still there doing it.
Can I get back to it?
I wish Genshin could keep me in that flow. I want to get caught up in the conversation or the big cinematic moment without wondering when the game is going to let me play again.
Anyway, I’m very late to this, but RDR2 is a masterpiece. Can’t believe I only played it now.