Quick! Press This Button!

 Sorry I'm a little bit later with this post than usual.

The above picture is from Destructoid.com (i.e. not made by me), and it describes something that sort of bothers me with games today. Let me demonstrate.

Take for example the following video:

Again, video isn't mine, it belongs to the Yogscast (and if you haven't heard of them, fix that.)

Around the 10 minute mark, Bruce Wayne is getting his face punched by Penguin. Aside from Hannah mentioning herself that she had to counter it, if you continue letting the Penguin punch you, the game goes nowhere. You must time your button pressing to counterattack Penguin and move the story forward.

In the long run, I guess this works, but what the hell just happened? Did we really have to press a button to make what was essentially a cutscene move forward correctly? I could have sworn I played this game with an Xbox controller, not a TV remote. At least for a segment like this, you don't get any indicators other than the squiggly lines around Penguin's head. The other example is something out of a game like God of War 3 (warning, this one is a bit more violent):

We're shown the actual button we need to press every time? Come on now. That's just ridiculous, especially considering the long, brutal beatdowns that Kratos hands out, all because we keep pressing a few different buttons. For something elaborate like a finishing move in God of War, there should be an equally elaborate gameplay element as well, not just a handful of "press this to go on" buttons.

Don't get me wrong, games like Arkham City and God of War are brilliant experiences and the stories they tell are incredible, but having cutscene-like events that are controlled by you pressing the right button at the right time seems rather dull. Some of the most exciting and interesting moments in the game are passing by, yet I'm here watching them while only pressing buttons. Yes, the scenes look amazing and the actions is awesome, but my attention is misplaced since my eyes are busy looking in the corners of the screen for the inevitable button to pop up.

I guess the quick-time event has its place somewhere in gaming, but in my opinion, it shouldn't belong in high quality action games, or at least during the action-filled or interesting scenes in any game.