Beginnings and Endings to games

[kaze950]

I generally like it when games get right into the action, but for my game I have a semi-long intro scene, partially because I want to A) Show all the main characters (they are all unrelated to each other) and B) They all get "spirited away" to the world the game takes place in, so I can't really have the game start immediately in some fortress or dungeon. I'd say the intro scene is probably 5 minutes, which isn't that  bad as far as RPGs are concerned.

I guess it all depends on the type of person you are. My friend wouldn't sit for a 2 minute cutscene and generally skips every cutscene at every opportunity. I, on the other hand, enjoy watching them and don't mind a cutscene of xenosaga length.


EDIT
I liked the Wind Waker's intro, mostly because of the music though

 

[mawk]

If I was making a game's intro, I'd just want to briefly establish the setting and set the player up for whatever their immediate task will be once they get control back, without words if I can manage. If I can merge some of the context-defining stuff into the actual playable part, that's fantastic. A game where I can do without an into is even better. For an ending, I think it's a horribly cheap move to leave off on a cliffhanger if it's not contributing anything to the game but a statement that "ha, you gotta buy the sequel now, jerks!," and a nonsensical one given that as indie developers few of us will actually make money off our games, so an obvious sequel wouldn't do us much good. If you're going to act as if everything's resolved and then spring a twist on the audience, be a man and finish what you've started -- since you won't make any cash off of a sequel anyway, you might as well work on making a game enjoyable rather than profitable. A cliffhanger can be put to good use as a literary tool, but it's just not cool to do it just for the sake of plugging a sequel.