FMV's Renaissance Continues with I Saw Black Clouds on PS5, PS4

I've always been fascinated by 90s FMV games. They can be great in theory but so many of them are incompetent, like would it be hard to hire some decent writers or producers who have movie or TV experience? I haven't played any modern ones even though I have Erica in my backlog so I might give this a shot.

That video perked my interest. It's been many years since I played one of these. I'm hoping to see they've come a long way in the acting department. I think I'll try this. Love a good Psychological Horror/Ghost story.

WIll it utilize the ps5's specs well

@TechaNinja Yeah... being FMV it doesn’t have any meaningful graphical upgrading to be done on PS5. Faster load times? Haptic feedback? Probably not much different from the PS4 version I would think.

I have a soft spot for these. I played through Erica with my wife and folks as an alternative to movie night and we had a pretty good time. It’s great to see video games be more accessible for everyone.

From an entrepreneurial perspective, I think this genre of game is a great way to get a foot in the door for game development. Something I’ve pondered.

As an aside, the music in this trailer did a good job selling me on an intense, psychological horror experience.

I remember how the FMV game, She Sees Red is supposed to of released on PS4 October 2020 and it still hasn't. It's been on Xbox since then. I wonder what happened to it?

@Snake_V5
Hmm, weird...did a search on it. Looks like it already came out on microsoft and steam, but when I checked ps4, the only mention that popped up was from pushsquare, saying it was going to come out Oct. of last year.

@LordSteev Yeah, that's what I find strange. I don't know what happened to it.

Where FMV was once an innovative way to overcome gaming's technological limitations, it's now just kinda corny and lazy imo (I'm looking at you Remedy). I grew up on games like Phantasmagoria, Tex Murphy, Ripper etc, and I look back on those fondly but not everything needs to make a comeback.

Having said that, if this your thing, more power to you. I don't get it but these days there's a lot of things I don't get; the earth keeps spinning nevertheless.

@zupertramp
I don't know, sometimes I just want a passive experience, more like watching tv. I remember Phantasmagoria, that's what I meant by hoping the acting was better now. Still, I liked it then, and it's been long enough since that I think I'd like one now. Maybe it won't be great, but it's a safe bet that it'll be short.

@zupertramp honestly, PushSquare is on to something with covering these games. With the current state of filmmaking and the world in general, I predict a huge influx of this type of game in the near future.

If I was an executive at WB or Universal, I would be taking a real hard look at an organic way to penetrate an exponentially increasing market using resources already available to them. It’s a no brainer in the current economy, as the cost of development is still lower than the average blockbuster, the market is hungry for new content that can be utilized at home, and games generally sell for a higher price, lowering risk.

If it’s not your thing, I hear you, but for better or worse, it’s coming. Cheers!

@LordSteev @Jimmer-jammer You're probably right that it's not going anywhere. And, given the economic framing outlined, I have a greater appreciation for its appeal from a dev/studio perspective. I can see the desire for passive gaming as well though I'm not sure this has to come in the form of FMV. But admittedly there's potential there so who knows, if given enough, idk attention and resources, maybe I'll become a convert. Or a re-convert?

I mean, I wouldn't say no to a Phantasmagoria 3.

@zupertramp
I always thought maybe Hollywood could do a better job with this style than game developers. Like Jimmer-jammer said, it'd be smart of them to maybe look at pairing up with a developer and trying to make something special. No one's going to theaters and they're having to release new movies on tv anyway. I think a big budget joint effort could end up paying huge dividends, with the added side bonus of bringing gamers something interesting to play/watch.

Dream Interlude: Peter Jackson working with Quantic Dream might turn out alright.
End Dream Interlude.

@LordSteev that could be so awesome 👍, but what QD does is almost still too interactive.

In order to keep costs down and to legitimize the viability of being greenlit, I would suggest keeping interactive elements to dialogue options and point and click environmental manipulation, such as opening a book or a fridge.

Animation blending during dialogue could be eliminated by well planned and clever camera cuts. Keep it as analogue as possible. Motion capture and animation are incredibly arduous and expensive processes.

I’m thinking an escape room situation, where you, family and friends have to work to solve the puzzles to get out while a well written, well filmed and well acted narrative plays out with multiple outcomes for each scenario while also solving an overarching central mystery.

Or perhaps a hard boiled neo noir with a sci-fi twist and a distinct visual style (think Minority Report meets Sin City) choose your own adventure where you’re put in the shoes of a detective and have to navigate through interrogations as a group with different, impactful outcomes.

Striking that balance of familiarity for the uninitiated with just enough agency to engage beyond complete passivity is key. As a microcosmic example, my folks aren’t all that interested in games, but they were into Erica...I don’t know, there’s something there.

I’m sure smarter folks than us are already exploring the possibilities.

@Jimmer-jammer
I agree. Maybe even less interaction than that. No matter what the team, the Hollywood Director type should lead, and the developer follow.

I really love games that explore moral decisions, but feel the gameplay itself usually gets in the way. With some Hollywood style production values and a really good writer/director, I think a deep dive could be made into this idea.

It sounds like the game in this article wants to lean into that, I'd just like to see someone with more financial clout team up with some really great writers and give it the old AAA try.

@LordSteev yeah I’m looking forward to playing it. Mammoth names like Spielberg have been dabbling in video games for a while. It’d be great to see what he could do in this realm. At this point I just have to say that you, sir, make the internet a better place. Cheers!

@zupertramp i wouldn't call it lazy , i mean now its just an interactive movie which i think is pretty cool imo.

@twitchtvpat I guess I just mean rather than taking the time to render everything via animation, which seems fairly labor intensive, they just hire people to act everything out.

And I feel the need to reiterate, you could still do an interactive movie without FMV. That's kinda Quantic Dreams' whole schtick and while I don't really get into their "games" I do think they look cool. Cooler than just filming actors doing things and giving the viewer/player a few choices along the way a la Bandersnatch.

TLDR - it seems lazy creatively speaking. it'd be like Bob Ross showing up with a photograph and calling it a day.

@zupertramp @PegasusActual93 I suggest you try "The infectious madness of doctor Dekker". It's a FMV game with free text input.

Huh wow. Looks pretty cool actually! Im all about ghost stories!

I quite enjoy these. Haven't played Erica yet, but The Bunker was fun, as was Late Shift. Good when you want something to play, but want a slower pace.