No, a 30fps cap is not a good "cinematic" choice for modern video game cutscenes

Source: Polyogn

Over the past few years, there are still games that have released on modern consoles and pc that still cap their frames at 30 (cutscenes). I understand that newer games still being released on decade old hardware need some kind of buffer but why should the latest generation have to suffer?

In defense of the 30fps cap

Right away, I want to make one thing clear. I don't really have a problem if a game tries to limit it's frames if the engine technically wasn't built for 60fps. The problem I have comes in the form of cinematics, more specifically, in-game cinematics. That is, when the game itself still renders 3D objects and scenes to play out. That is when you have an "in-engine cutscene," one that renders the characters and/or objects in real time.

Usually, what is called pre-rendered CGI, has a 30fps cap. This is no problem because, you aren't seeing gameplay. So, it becomes difficult to compare and hold a certain standard to both cinematics and when you actually play the game. Pre-rendered scenes don't really need to hold a candle to a solid 60fps gameplay experience because, it's told in an entirely different way. For example, most COD games like Modern Warfare 2 (2022) and Black Ops Cold War use pre-rendered cutscenes to show cinematics (albeit, not all the time). Like they say, the cinematics in a game is a chance to put the controller down and watch, not actually play.

One major flaw

The biggest flaw when games have 30fps cutscenes is when they attempt to use what's called in-engine footage. That means, your computer/console is computing objects on the screen, just as it does for when you play the game. That means, you can easily discern what is told between the two.

So, when you notice hitching and stuttering, it becomes painfully obvious. This is especially painful when you see that the game want's to create this illusion of a smooth transition. One perfect example of this is both God Of War (2018) and God Of War Ragnarok. Thankfully, both for pc and PS5, both games can run at a steady 60fps no problem. The game itself uses in-engine footage to render it's cutscenes. The kicker is, there is no "camera cuts." Even when some other games attempt to render their scenes in-engine, there is still this cinematic fade to black. In both 2018 and 2022's God Of War, it's a flawless transition of gameplay and cinematics. Now imagine, in this flawless transition, the game just decides to rapidly drop about 5-6 frames. It catches your eye very easily. Now, this is an extreme example of in-engine 60fps cutscenes but the same standard still applies. Is it worth it to run a cutscene at a stable and consistent framerate at the cost of some cinematic quality? (Especially when that quality could be matching the gameplay).

Even with solid camera cuts and set-ups towards initiating in-engine cutscenes. Sometimes, they fail to even render at a full 30fps like they are attempting. Take the recent Mortal Kombat 1 for example, the game's in-engine fatalities and intros all play at a solid 30fps. With the case of fatalities, they initiate right in the middle of gameplay. Although there is technically a camera cut, the characters initiate the fatalities from where they stand. So, one moment you have a character moving at a solid 60fps to start-up his or her fatality. The next thing you know, the camera cuts in an instant to show that same character model moving at half of the frames. Even worse, is when that scene may drop a few frames, leaving you with (sometimes) less than 30fps.

This is especially strange when it comes to Mortal Kombat 1 as the previous game launched like this (not for long). Back in 2019 NetherRealm Studios released a patch for pc that removed the 60fps cap entirely, now it runs buttery smooth on pc and modern consoles. Why then, for the sequel Mortal Kombat 1, they regress back into the 30fps cap. When MK11 released for the Xbox One and PS4, it was clear that the game struggled to even hold a solid 30fps in gameplay, let alone fatalities. But, in May of 2019 it was confirmed that the developers were looking into ways of making 60fps for fatalities a possibility on pc. Why is it then, they chose to not do it for the sequel?

I already know the answer is to provide "higher quality" fatalities but it's still a shame. Sure, MK11 fatalities aren't as good-looking as they are in MK1 but at least they ran smoothly.