During the last days of the SNES and the beginning of the N64 era a new trend seemed to be creeping into games.
This was the introduction of overly explicit tutorials telling you exactly what to press and when. I'm not sure if this was due to a shift of thinking on Nintendo's part or simply due to change in technology, but it quiite often irritates me, and here's why:
-These tutorials can go on for an hour before you actually start playing, or at least it can seem that long (and you can't always skip them). -If you don't know what to press you can look in the manual, that's what it's there for. -Mini-tutorials interupt the gameplay. -I like to find out for myself. Presumably these tutorials are there for the benefit of younger gamers, but if anything I think kids pick up stuff in games quicker than adults. -It's quite weird having a character telling you to remember to 'Press A'. What's going on? Is this character in on the whole thing? Do they know the world they are inhabiting is fictional? Stop messing with my head Nintendo!
Having blocks telling you things in SMW isn't that intrusive, & I like the 'Press B' on the SMK title screen but games like Paper Mario (which I otherwise love) go too far with these tutorials in my opinion.
Am I moaning for no real reason, or do I have a point?
You do sort of have a point, but many games have poorly written manuals or complicated controls. I cannot imagine playing Zelda: Twilight Princess without some kind of basic tutorial to hold my hand, and the in-depth tutorials in Fire Emblem are quite impressive in their scope and deserve lots of praise.
Certainly I'm in favour of giving people an option to turn them off, but what game doesn't allow you to skip them?
You do sort of have a point, but many games have poorly written manuals or complicated controls. I cannot imagine playing Zelda: Twilight Princess without some kind of basic tutorial to hold my hand, and the in-depth tutorials in Fire Emblem are quite impressive in their scope and deserve lots of praise.
Certainly I'm in favour of giving people an option to turn them off, but what game doesn't allow you to skip them?
I can't think of any off hand, but I've played quite a few games where I haven't been able to skip the tutorial, but maybe I just wasn't pressing the right button. I think tutorial modes are quite good.
Sonic and the secret rings was one of the worst offenders. It wouldnt let you skip or turn off tutorials, so frustrating. It made playing the first level such a grind when they keep telling you to tilt the remote left, to go left, tilt the remote right, to go right. EVERY FRICKIN TIME!! GAHH!!!
360 is more guilty of this trend than any system. I test games, and if you have only a 15-60min run with the title... You're usually just going through tutorials... At least I get paid to sit through them. The biggest non-skippables come from Square Enix and Disney Interactive from my work experience.
@Will: This annoyed me too, but SEGA went for such a far-out control scheme it was kinda necessary for longer-than-usual.
As long as the tutorial is optional, there is no problem, but forcing the player through a tutorial is unacceptable, and I have simply stopped bothering with games that do this. As much as I'd love to play the Fire Emblem (GBA) because I've heard it's quite good, I can't stand having to skip through tons of text telling me what I already know. The in-game tutorial is a wonderful device because instruction booklets are easy to lose and most kids just toss them aside (though perhaps this is because of the in-game tutorial and not vice versa... I'm not sure), but the required tutorial is absolutely pointless and annoying.
I like how it's handled in Earthbound and Mother 3. When you see a mole in EB or a bird in M3, you know you can talk to it for advice or skip if you don't care, and it always feels like just another good joke rather an intrusion. I especially like when one of the characters says something like, "Imagine there is something called an "A" button and you are pressing it. Do something like that."
Certainly I'm in favour of giving people an option to turn them off, but what game doesn't allow you to skip them?
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time.
Also, Phoenix Wright comes close with the opening cases, because you generally have to sit through a lot of drivel about remembering to check the Court Record and/or they have to remind you about the Magatama/your bracelet and blah-blah-blah. Some sequences you can skip over, others you can't.
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In Mario Sunshine could you skip the stuff FLUDD was telling you? That really annoyed me. It's a Mario game, I'll press the buttons and find out. Tutorials are probably fair enough in the 3D Zeldas though.
Tutorials have affected a game's replay value for me, sometimes I will want to play it again but can't face going through the instructions again. Probably says more about me, ho hum.
Adam:
I like it when games use humour for the instructions, it helps sugar the pill, I think Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is good for that.
The in-game tutorial is a wonderful device because instruction booklets are easy to lose and most kids just toss them aside (though perhaps this is because of the in-game tutorial and not vice versa... I'm not sure), but the required tutorial is absolutely pointless and annoying.
...really? I always thought that in-game tutorials were for the possibility that the game is rented (since games are not usually rented with manuals).
I wasn't saying that's why the tutorial was created; I have no idea what spurred the popularity of the in-game tutorial. I was just listing the one benefit that came to mind, though you bring up another good point.
You know what is the absolute worst? In Wii games when an onscreen picture of the Wii Remote/Nunchuk appears and does an animation to show you exactly how to move the controller. I don't want to see this taking up half the screen. People should learn to read the manuals that come with games so that we can avoid this kind of thing. Nothing takes you out of the gaming experience like a neon nunchuk rotating across your screen.
i will agree with you except for fighting games -- when you're in the thick of things, sometimes it's helpful to see which way you need to move it (Smackdown vs. Raw 2009's way of doing it is nice IMO; it's present but it's not too godawful intrusive). then again, i've always been a button-masher at heart (i have no capacity for remembering combos or setting up moves... it's not like i haven't tried... the most recent was Budokai Tenkaichi 2, and it sent me into conniption fits ), so I like the on-screen reminders of what i need to do to complete the move IRL.
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In Super Paper Mario, after they tell you to push A to flip, they say, "What's this A button? I'm sure if someone was watching this conversation, they'd know what it is, don't worry about it." Or something along those lines.
Seriously, I hate tutorials. Are people not smart enough to look at an instruction manual anymore?
I think that there is enough proof throughout this thread to prove that there is a lot more to in-game tutorials than just a replacement of the regular manual. The manual still has it`s place, I use them when I can`t remember how to do something or whatever a lot because I tend to take long brakes from games.
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Snowball fight in the beginning of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. I loved that game to death, but if you've played it, then you know exactly how long and daunting that tutorial was.
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Yep that bugs me. Especially when you are into a game than all of a sudden one of the characters pops off with Press A to do blah blah blah. Personally if they want to do tutorials they should either have an tutorial mode option on the title screen or have an optional room in the game like they did in Final Fantasy IV for example. Dont put it in the main game. The worst ones are the ones that you cant skip oh do I hate those.
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