Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann wants to focus less on cutscenes and ‘traditional narrative’

From VGC: "In a video interview with The Washington Post, Neil Druckmann was asked for his views on narrative storytelling in video games and how it had evolved over the years.

Druckmann noted that while it could be argued that traditional video game narratives go back to the days of the 1980 video game Adventure, he’s currently more interested in the ways that some newer games tell their story in a less direct manner.

“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,” he explained."

[H9]

He says this and then wants his game to be more like a tv show, which is it Neil

[SullysCigar]

I think you need to go back and understand the context behind your paraphrasing, because that's not what he said at all.

[TheProfessional]

Tired of "narrative" games, especially recent sony exclusives, of using walking or vehicle sequences for exposition. Would be great if they actually try to do something different.

[Broncob]

He didn't, he said they want to have a writers team, like that of a tv show

[frostypants]

Don't see how that would jive well with the sort of narrative approach he speaks of here, though. Something like Elden Ring takes a narrative focus that would not be served well by a room full of bickering hacks.

[jwillj2k4]

Result of being a headline only reader.

[S2Killinit]

Listen to the interview maybe?

[jznrpg]

You are ignorant of what he said so you are misinforming others

[Vits]

Sure, I will believe it when I see it.

[SullysCigar]

Well presumably he has been focussing less on narrative already, if he's been involved in the incoming multiplayer game. That has to be the next game at this point, surely.

[senorfartcushion]

Games as a service bro 👊

[RaidenBlack]

Good news,
but actions speaks louder than words ....

[sammarshall102]

Either way, y'all will try to talk down on it

[frostypants]

Because people consider the person making the claim, and that is entirely fair.

[senorfartcushion]

His next game is multiplayer

[TheEnigma313]

Uncharted does very well with having you play while the cut scene is happening. But of course one is action based and the other is survival.

[hotnickles]

Good for him. It’s definitely his weakest spot or “crutch” although TLOU2 was much better in that regard.

[senorfartcushion]

It means games as a service always-online bullshit.

[Imalwaysright]

Or maybe it means something like Elden Ring.

[senorfartcushion]

That’s the other thing devs have been ripping off over the last decade.

We need less of both.

[hotnickles]

“Inside” is the opposite of games as a service. I think he wants to be more subtle with environmental storytelling instead of hamfisted with cutscenes.

[S2Killinit]

Or maybe listen to the interview?

[senorfartcushion]

Yeah it’s not going to be like Inside.

That game doesn’t get made, nor does that particular story get written, without an indie budget.

[hotnickles]

You’re right. Neil druckman isn’t going to make a side scroller but that isn’t the point. He used that as an example of a storytelling style which is the opposite of his style.

Given his film background it’s not surprising that he relies heavily on cutscenes to tell his narratives. It’s also not surprising to see him wanting to do more environmental storytelling because it’s unique to gaming. He’s evolving from a film writer to a game director. It’s only natural.

There are plenty of big budget games that use environmental storytelling. If Neil druckman made an immersive sim it might be good or it might suck. I can’t hate on him for wanting to get out of his comfort zone. Nothing would ever progress if people “stay in their lane”.

[senorfartcushion]

That’s what every dev has said since “linear” became a bad word in gaming.

[Elda]

I hope ND keep doing what they have been doing & that's video games with great storytelling,good gameplay with top-notch graphics.

[EmperorDalek]

That's interesting, not something I would expect to hear from Naughty Dog. Would be cool for them to do something a bit different.

[CrimsonWing69]

Well, I'll check out from your games then. Some of the best moments in The Last of Us were the cutscenes. I'm one of those weirdos that likes playing narrative heavy games though. Like, I'm talking old school Metal Gear Solid level stuff.

[MrNinosan]

Couldn't agree more

[Silver_ShadoWolf]

That’s not the move, bud. Not it ata lol.

[S2Killinit]

Damn he started as an intern at ND!

[GoodGuy09]

Eh. If done well then it's good. Most people have very little attention span these days so understandable.

[Inverno]

I love story based games, but I've been getting really annoyed by how linear they are. I get some wanna tell a story but I'm seeing that the video gamey part of a video game takes a back seat. They're filled with a repetitive gameplay loop that's only really there to get to the next cutscene and it's the cutscene where everything cool happens. It's one of the reason I've been going back to games from the late 2000s and further back.
We praise Elden Ring and BoTW but forget that games like Deus Ex, Thief and Stalker were already doing some cool things with narrative while having a lot of freedom to go about things the way you wanted to.

[Imalwaysright]

Don't forget Morrowind wich also offered a great deal of player agency and freedom. With Elden Ring and BoTW being so successful imo it would be great if Bethesda designed the next Elder Scrolls to be more similar to Morrowind than Oblivion or Skyrim.

[Inverno]

I've yet to play Morrowind, but it's on my to do list. I tried Skyrim after being set on not ever playing it and I couldn't get into it cause of how much I enjoyed Oblivion.

[LightofDarkness]

This is good news, especially considering how respected and influential he is in the industry. Elden Ring may not have won GOTY for its narrative alone, but it certainly wouldn't have won without relaxing the bounds and structure of traditional game storytelling.

[HyperMoused]

Honestly i dont want more games to be like Elden Ring, the only reason anyone knows anything about the lore is because some people do deep dives into the lore looking at the description of every item etc to piece something together, and lets face it, thats not a great way to tell a story its easier i guess.

[MadLad]

That's far from easier.
Cheaper, maybe. Definitely not easier.

[HyperMoused]

Scripted dialogue and cut scenes, meaning voice actors and probably motion capture etc for movement vs leaving a bit of text throughout the game...surely its easier to just leave text crumbs throughout the game. but hell yeah a lot cheaper as well.

[Petebloodyonion]

Translation: My boss wants us to invest less in cutscenes and cinematic since they are costly in terms of production and resources and eat at our potential profits.
Where did I hear similar things in the past?
Oh yeah basically every company who wanted to focus on multiplayer or cut on production cost Cue EA, Nintendo, MS, Konami, etc

[Knushwood Butt]

Kojima's out of a job then.

[Petebloodyonion]

Funny cause he's been fired from Konami due to MSG5 costing too much to produce
I could also recall him telling the EXACT same thing for why suddenly Snake went from a massive cutscene fest to Snake almost silent with Grunt and UMPH in MGS5.
https://www.gamezone.com/ne...

and Kojima explains the change in MGS storytelling
https://www.gamespot.com/ar...

[Knushwood Butt]

I was thinking more Death Stranding.

Konami is history.

[S2Killinit]

But if you listen to the interview you see that the words are taken out of context.

[Rimeskeem]

It's funny to me that a man can help create stellar games for over a decade and get praised but the second they make a controversial game no one gives any trust.

[-Foxtrot]

Are you surprised, he was a co lead in the original TLOU with Bruce where they worked as a team, even in Uncharted 4

The controversial game was all him

Do the math

Oh and trust? The guy who said for 7 years that he cared for the characters and how Part II was a Joel and Ellie story, while showing trailers of Joel only for it to be bullshit, the latter being Jesse they swapped out the model for. It’s not like people are pulling things from thin air here.

We need to stop feeding this guys massive ego

[S2Killinit]

I’ll feed whatever it is that makes him make stellar games I cant live without.

[Rimeskeem]

You understand that games aren't made by one person right? TLOU2 had 3 directors and 2 writers. It's not like the game was exclusively Druckmann's idea. Now if his next game is similar in terms of controversy then you certainly have a point, but to say that he is the ONLY reason for the game's narrative then you are horrible at math.

[EternalTitan]

Make Abby killable in a cinematic way?

[MrNinosan]

I rather not see storytelling as in Elden Ring.
Many of my favourite games are storytelling during "cutscenes", like Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Xenosaga, Silent Hill, God of War, Quantic Dreams games etc.