Heavy Rain's David Cage wants to set the record straight on QTEs

by Griffin McElroy on Aug 20th 2009 11:28AM

"No! We don't make Dragon's Lair! This is not Dragon's Lair – do you think I'm crazy? I'm not stupid. Do you think I develop on PlayStation 3 to do Dragon's Lair again? It would be absurd. Of course it's not." We typically lead into quotes with a bit more background than that, but those who've read message board diatribes dismissing the upcoming Heavy Rain as nothing more than a series of Quick Time Events surely understand the frustration of Quantic Dream founder David Cage -- who owns the mouth from which the above quote was uttered during a press demonstration at GamesCom 2009.

Cage went on to explain "when there is an action sequence, yes we integrate [these] QTE sequences," but the rest of the time, the player will have full control as they navigate the game's four characters through a deep, choice-riddled story. That actually sounds pretty reminiscent of Quantic's last game, Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit. That's great and all -- but we actually wouldn't be disappointed by a new installment in the Dragon's Lair franchise. We admit it -- we're Dirkheads, through and through.

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Tags: david-cage, dragons-lair, heavy-rain, qte, quantic-dream, quick-time-events

Reader Comments (45)

He's been saying this for the past year or so, but no one's getting the message (well, except for people who are already fans, of course). I'm not surprised he's so annoyed.

Of course, it's his own fault, really. The first real trailer for the game showed nothing but QTEs, so it's not shocking that most people jumped to the conclusion that the entire game would therefore be nothing but QTEs.

From the video of the gameplay i can say that its Dragon´s Lair HD in terms of gameplay. Press Left, Press Up, X,etc. The only addon i see is that you can walk!!!!! but you can only walk to the next cutscene where you have to decide the next "action sequence".

Are we getting more interaction? shoot at free will? jump,run,hide? if not whats the diference between DL? I love DL!! but will the game be like that only with more buttons to press and more animations?

As long as it doesn't take a turn for the stupid halfway through.

What was it.. an AI intelligence that did something about aliens who were covered up by a council of Aztecs?

I can only remember the first half of the game, because that was the bit that wasn't terrible.

Haha right exactly, Baron!

I beat that game in 1 straight 9hr playthrough (no breaks) but all that stuck was cleaning up the crime scene and the creepy old woman in the house with the dead caged birds.

Anything past that wizard guy throwing cars at you is a total blank cause it made NO sense so I just tuned it all out while following QTE's

I remember the Matrix rip-off showdown with the trenchcoated man on the roof. But a car-throwing wizard?!

Maybe I should play it again and pay more attention.

Wizard, Monk, weird Aztec. Whatever he was. It was after you came out of some house or something. Possibly the old woman's. He was there and he was pissed and he used the force to throw cars or dumpsters or something at you..

Oh yeah!

Remember when you have a nightmare that everything in your apartment is trying to kill you?

A long, long, very very long QTE-filled nightmare. I swear i was dodging chairs and coffee tables for like three minutes.

Haha now I do!!

Geez I think I really am gonna play it again just to remember how absurd it all was!

Well the main draw of the game is the Story, characters, and the choices you can make (as well as people potentially dying during these fights)....not the combat. If the rest of that stuff is good I can put up with it, like I did with Indigo Prophecy. Once the story started sucking there, the QTE's magically became unbearable

That was precisely my problem. I really enjoyed Fahrenheit up until the sudden WTF moment in the story, after which everything started to become really absurd. The QTEs themselves weren't a problem for me.

Space Ace can kick Dirk's scrawny little ass.

Also, his girlfriend's hotter.

I'll save you Kimmy!

And she looks slammin' on an iPhone.

The story is the main part but I also believe people what to interact with the game and so far all interactions I have seen were QTE. If the choices I make are all based on QTE then my excitement for this game is severely shorten.

The way I read it is that you move your character around but when a action scene shows up so does the QTE. Now control is taken from you and you basically make QTE choices and watch how they play out. Not really my type of game but I will rent it to see if I like the concept or not.

David Cage is dreamy.

since i first saw this game it always had a very shenmue vibe to it. i guess shenmue was riddled with QTEs as well, but...well you all know how good the first one was. if the story holds up to these visuals, and the details are given as much care as they were in shenmue, i'll definitely be picking this game up, QTEs and all.

FEED MY BIRDS!

DAT ASS

David Cage is the type of visionary that Peter Monolux would die to be.

Commoner. I have revolutionized what it means to be a visionary. I have become so progressive that I've started to regress. Soon, I'll start going the other way again.

Also, if you are going to insult my greatest, which shows your lack of understanding of my brilliance, try to at least spell my name right.

Also, my avatar isn't showing up correctly again Joystiq. Fix it or I'll ensure that Milo will haunt your dreams.

" I have become so progressive that I've started to regress. Soon, I'll start going the other way again."

i almost choked

@Jack_Jackington

How dare you correct the greatest that is Peter Molyneux? Take it back.

@Jack: Actually no, I meant "greatest". I'm changing the rules on grammar. Using "-ness" is useless. See? I'm even innovating the English Language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lyPl8wv7PA

My nostaligia for Dragon's Lair makes me hate David Cage for not implying that being like Dragon's Lair is a bad thing.

I know I could get downvoted for this, but personally I like QTEs.

Why?

Because in real life, often there is only one correct, fast way to avoid a disaster. If you have buttons for "attack" "jump" and "special" then you effectively can't have gameplay segments that involve "slide under that desk, kick the chair into the air, and throw it at the bad guy." QTEs bypass the game's normal controls for a short segment while still staying in game mode (as opposed to a cut scene).

I don't like games that are ALL QTE (Dragon Lair, some Sega CD games, etc), but occasional QTEs help add variety to action games by expanding on the actionable sequences and preserving the real aspect of the need to make a correct split-second decision.

hope u don't as you are only stating an opinion.

plus i like QTE games too, even more so when you have credibility behind it (minus the last half of your game

I think the same.
Its ok to have action sequence but i dont want that to be the game. I remember a game (but not the name of it) that you walk to investigate a crime and there was no action until you find the criminal and then you can use youre gun to shoot. It has no replay value.

I hope that doesnt happen in HR. That you only replay the game to see how you die, or that if you dont rescue a character they just delete that cutscene that connect the ending with that character.

I think you are right on. It can be pretty frustrating when your playable character makes a sicky move in a CGI scene and then you come out of it with the ability to do a jump punch as your most advanced move because the control scheme is set up that way. If used properly, I definitely think it can be used for good. I have a feeling developers know when they are using it as a cop out.

This is the one game that has me seriously contemplating getting a third console.

It's the game that convinced me to three months ago.

Is that really Peter Molyneux? I have seen this guy in a few post now impersonating Peter Molyneux and now I'm starting to wonder hmmmm.

Sounds like Shenmue!

Action sequences are controlled by QTEs... Sounds like standard QTEs usage to me. :\

Honestly tho.. Is there anyway to make QTE's not standard.. They're pretty much exactly the same in any game they're in. You press buttons while watching a cutscene. That's more or less it.

i like qtes and contextual button presses in some games.

D-Von...........................................................................
...........................................................................
GET THE TABLES!!!!

Please save that for wresltezone.com or prowrestling.net

it makes no sense here.

It does when the character in the screen shot looks uncannily like D-Von Dudley

Oh no...3-D!!!

People who are curious about the gameplay just need to try out Indigo Prophecy. It doesn't sound like Heavy Rain will play exactly the same, but it gives you an idea of what to expect.

The irony, of course, is that the easiest way to play Indigo Prophecy is on 360 as an Xbox original.

Just saying, Sony...just sayin'

And then of course there would be the BEST way to play it, which would be on the PC, in it's unedited form as Fahrenheit.

The very reason I gave up on Indigo Prophecy, which I otherwise thought was a good game.

not copying draons lair as much as copying shenmue which was both full control and qte

I loved Shenmue. I had no problem with the action QT parts. This game looks great and the story seems like its something that will pull you in and has great replay value if you die.

If he's so adamant that this game is not HD Dragon's Lair then he should SHOW US. He said that towards the end it becomes a more freeform type game. Okay, he should show us, let the trailer viewer know that it's not just QTEs. If all they show are trailers and gameplay sequences full of QTEs, he can't blame us for the perception that it's full of QTEs.

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Heavy Rain's David Cage wants to set the record straight on QTEs

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