My new gaming pet hate.

[Calico Jack]

I think I have discovered a new gaming pet hate, and it is great games, with great game play, that decide for some crazy reason to have the final act/boss as a quick time event. Just WHY!?

So, I have just invested 50 hrs learning to play the game, and after all that practice, the game has taught me to be a death dealing shadow, or a whirling torrent of slashing blades, or I can now confidently shoot someone in the eye from half a mile away, or something. Now I'm at the end and ...

Oh man, finally; this is going to be epic, there's going to be 45 minutes of fighting the impossible fight, using all the skills I've learned, (and those abilities I've painstakingly unlocked, not to mention those weapons I've upgraded). There's going to be the big bad who comes back to life at least twice, and then when I think it's all over, assumes some sort of ultimate form, or unleashes the evil-in-a-can, requiring me to spend another 10 minutes sweating on my diminished health before putting him down for good. Deep breath. Here we go ...

[PRESS SPACE] Ok... [PRESS SPACE] ok...? [PRESS SPACE] ... [CREDITS]

Two of the best games I have played in the last year have done this, and it really leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

Still at least QTE aren't a thing in Elite...

 

[Slawkenbergius]

Thankfully I haven't run into that problem yet. Unless I have, and the boss fights were so forgettable that I can't remember them.

 

[Mephane]

I generally find QTEs annoying. In some cases they are OK, the 2013 Tomb Raider did them fairly well, whereas Saints Row 4 was horrible in this department (to the point where I rather replay SR3 than SR4). I do remember a good QTE end boss fight, however - Space Marine. Because the fight (no spoilers) was just so awesome and I can hardly imagine how it would have worked with the regular game mechanics.

 

[Asp Explorer]

I do remember a good QTE end boss fight, however - Space Marine. Because the fight (no spoilers) was just so awesome and I can hardly imagine how it would have worked with the regular game mechanics.

Space Marine was totally "meh" for me - although it did look great and I found it rather enjoyable - apart from that stupid gameplay system. Far too many games follow the same "press button X at time Y to win in this special frozen time" mechanic, and it's only gotten worse as time goes on.

However, going back quite a few years, there was a Space Marine game with QTE's that simply was awesome, even if only because the "press button X at time Y in this special frozen time" mechanic was there, but not absolute. If you didn't pay extremely close attention, you got your face eaten off. If you did pay extremely close attention, you got your face eaten off anyway if the game decided it was in a bad mood. And time didn't always freeze

Awesome fun! Make a Windows 98 virtual machine and give it a blast, it's far more entertaining than even the newer games in the franchise.

 

[thenickmove]

My first QTE-game was God of War, which I absolutely loved, because the QTE could make the game visually more interesting. I do get a bit tired of them, but I don't mind them as much as other people do.
That said, underused bosses should be forbidden! I'm looking at you Far Cry 3!

 

[Slawkenbergius]

Actually, now I come to think, the Witcher 2 had some awful QTE bosses. That first one was a drag... I must have blocked it from memory.

 

[Ttaskmaster]

Another QTE hater here.
A friend of mine is a programmer at a fairly well-known dev studio and everyone there hates QTEs as well... But it's what the publishers (ie purse-string holders) always insist on.

Never found a game that did QTEs well - Tomb Raider has never managed it in any incarnation and it's mostly just an excuse for lazy game dev, for artists to show off their cinematic skillz and to occasionally reminding you that your computer actually can handle über-graphics.

Devs - If you INSIST on allowing these things in your projects, then please at least make sure the on-screen promts display whatever key the control is mapped to rather than just assuming we're all using your ridiculous default setup.
Kthnxbai.