SOTA Opening Cinematic

So the latest weekly update newsletter includes a video of the SOTA opening cinematic narrated by Bill Johnson. I thought the video was put together quite well. The narration and artwork allowed your imagination to create your own picture. The music fit quite well and reminds me how well classical guitar works in a fantasy RPG setting.



I did however feel some of the narration slightly cringe-worthy on first listen, "hidden in corners of the dark net" ... "the temptation of forbidden [aura?] was enticing" ... "the documents you have found". I understand RG's concept of the otherworlders and this intro fits in well with that idea. I just kept feeling that jar-jarring immersion break that was common amongst the midichlorians in the Phantom Menace.
To this day, I still feel the intro to Ultima 8: Pagan was the best intro cinematic, drawing me into the story immediately. Unfortunately I just didn't feel that here.

 

I like the cinematic but it makes me think of a game like The Secret World, not an Ultima.
And even though I don't think the music is bad, this tune really does not fit the images and voice, especially from the 2 minute mark onward. It's anachronistic to hear someone talk in such a dramatic way and hear a jig in the background. The climax should be far more in your face.

Then again, I feel most intro movies are a waste of time anyway. I watch them once and then I immediately look for a way to auto skip them since they usually slow down the loading of the game.

 

just an example probably poor example but good for thieves



I thought it was pretty well done. I did think when the words Shroud of the Avatar came up the flames should have been licking the letters or animated and jump out at you in some way like
SHROUD
OF
THE
AVATAR
but of course this is just a teaser so it could have all that.

 

I like the intro movie - and yes, it reminds me of Ultima Looked at that way everything is in order

 

I liked the intro alot.

 

I liked the opening cinematic. It felt like an Ultima intro, just updated to have the player lost on the internet vs. something older like the television.

 

I liked the intro, but the music as it went on felt rather... out of place. Like, we're discussing awesome secret place known only to the obscure and then WOOT bizarro new age Celtic / renfaire music.

Didn't quite mesh well with the visual themes, particularly when things turned into a Faith No More "Epic" video with all the lightning bolts.

Barring that nitpick - it's cool, man.

 

I like the cinematic and even Ultima 8. XD

 

Not bad!

 

I felt that too the first time I watched it. I watched it again this morning and didn't seem as off. I think maybe it's that the narration is almost hypnotic suggestion with all the "you feel...", but then it breaks that cadence when it injects extra descriptions like "friends both real and digital" when just "friends" would have sufficed.

I do really like the art with it's subtle animations and the concept in general. The opening music adds a nice layer of mystery. I'm less a fan of the lightening at 2:04 though I liked it indirectly in his glasses / eyes at 2:08. The twirling transition at 2:38 feels a little cliche. I agree that the end music doesn't really fit the I stumbled on black magic which is transporting me to a new world theme.

As game intros go, it's definitely not as memorable as Ultima 7's but I'd say it's on the better side of average. And given the budget limitations, I think that's a solid accomplishment. I'd rather they focus their resources on the game rather than the intro.

 

Obviously I'm ready to play as my Illuminati character in TSW already has an Alienware t-shirt and everything

 

I miss that 'Guardian' laugh.

 

Captain Jack enjoyed the introduction but thinks the Alienware logo right in his face was only slightly too obvious...

 

I liked the emphasis on the "your character is you" avatar idea, which I feel is one thing that sets Ultima apart. Yet this has been undermined by multiple characters per account, so I wish it wasn't so prominent in the cinematic.

 

I liked it. It brought the now and the world of the Avatar together. Sort of like traveling through the monitor into the world that is being created and the avatar that is you.

 

I enjoyed it. Even the celtic music was fine in my opinion.

 

It was a really cool cinematic for sure. The one thing I would recommend is to perhaps to add some real parts of the game itself. The environment is really awesome at this point and could be put in the cinematic. Without completely characters or crafting systems would have to put them in later or just render them in awesome quality. I think it really needs to show the sandbox/interactive world that is going to be part of this game and that is missing from the cinematic.

 

I think that is good and honest feedback. I agree with what you said. It had elements of a nice build up of suspense, you could tell where it was going, but I don't feel like it quite fully delivered in the end. This video begins to build suspense, then it ends feeling not quite finished. Here's what I mean:

Let me start by saying what I think was great...
The music was awesome. The narration was awesome. The buildup was awesome. The websites and images were awesome.

Now the part that I think needes help is the transition after he reached his hand toward the laptop screen. That's where the dialog for me got a little bit odd to me. He said, More and more, and then he said more again (referring to our desire to be in this world). I think our interest was well defined when it showed us doing the research on the web and reaching toward the screen (But why did we feel drawn to reach toward a computer screen?). Instead at this point this transition could have been used to increase suspense while at the same time giving us more clues or context regarding some greater event that was happening to us at that moment. We feel xyz..., or our perception became xyz... XYZ was happening elsewhere?... whatever those contextual cues would be.

Either way it did seem a little strange after the he reaches out to the screen to me, and it left me feeling like more context was needed rather than just our desires at that point.

Otherwise I enjoyed it, and it did inspire a buildup of emotions and suspense.

 

For me the whole cinematic seemed rushed. Some of the narrator's words were unclear. The music was the best, the spacebards arranged a fantastic piece. The video images were nicely done I thought.

I say slow down the pace of the intro. Have the story unfold more slower, and have the narrator slow down a tad.

 

They had me at hello.... they had me at hello.