Why do video game cutscenes look better than the actual game?
In: Engineering
A cutscene is playing a small movie. Nothing to figure out just hit play.
The game is figuring out where all the objects need to go and what they look like in real time and takes a lot more effort to do that. All that effort cuts into how good the graphics are.
Depends on the game, sometimes the models used for cutscenes are different than the ones used for gameplay, since they’d need more detail and expressions during close ups than would be necessary or unseen during gameplay. Think of the quality and durability difference you’d expect in an action figure meant to be played with, vs a figurine meant to look good on the shelf.
If they’re pre-rendered, it’s like slipping a YouTube video in there, they can go nuts without caring about console power. Funniest examples that comes to mind are the opening cutscenes for Shadow the Hedgehog or Sonic 06, then the whiplash of seeing the actual in-game models when starting level 1 lol.
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