As far back as the 1980s, video games made fairly consistent use of quick-time events, better known as QTEs. The concept is very simple, having you quickly input a controller command in the midst of a cutscene or combat encounter to make cool stuff happen.
QTEs can be a bit tricky to implement in a game in a meaningful way. All too often, they come completely out of left field, and penalize you with instant death if you aren’t ready. It’s from QTEs that gaming critic Yahtzee Croshaw coined the phrase “press X to not die.”
QTEs Are Actually Great When Done Right
Quick-time events can be so much more than pressing F to pay your respects.
With a bit of creative and fair-minded design, though, QTEs can actually make for some fun and flashy moments. It’s not exactly the height of engaging gameplay, but you can usually count on them for an impressive spectacle.
These are the 10 best games that managed to get QTE right, more or less.
10The Wonderful 101
Unite On Command
The Wonderful 101: Remastered
The primary ability of the titular heroes ofThe Wonderful 101is their United Morph, which allows them to arrange their bodies into gigantic weaponized constructs.
They’re a perfectly-coordinated team, ready toassume any of these forms in a split secondto respond to incoming danger.
At numerous points throughout the game, particularly during boss fights, a member of the team will call out for a particular Unite Morph. Time will slow, giving you a brief period to draw the requisite symbol with your joystick. The more members you put into the morph, the more gears you’ll get as a reward.
Unite Morphing is often immediately followed by a mashing command to put your foe firmly in their place. If you botch the morph or the mash, you’ll get a do-over right before, sans some health.
Some fails are actually accompanied by hilarious animations, so it might be worth it to blow them if you’ve got health to spare.
Influence The World With Art
The protagonist ofOkami, Amaterasu, is a capital-G God. A diminished one, certainly, but a God nonetheless, which means it’s her job to provide a little divine intervention every now and then with the help of her Celestial Brush.
During certain cutscenes and character interactions, whatever’s going on will suddenly come to an awkward stop for a few moments, followed by whatever a character was trying to do, failing completely. This sudden stop is your signal to bring up the Celestial Brush and use its powers to affect change.
For example, when Susano is goaded into showing off his sword technique, you need to use the Power Slash brush technique to chop down his dummy right after he dramatically dashes past it.
Technically, Ammy could do most of this stuff herself, but it’s a God’s duty to inspire folks, and that means giving them a little more confidence in their skills.
8Asura’s Wrath
A Spectacle Of Fists
Asura’s Wrath
Asura’s Wrathis a very cutscene-heavy game, with many of its biggest, flashiest moments outside the player’s direct control.
That doesn’t mean it’s just a movie, though; the game makes extensive use of mid-cutscene QTEs, so don’t even think of putting that controller down.
Whenever Asura is about to do something really cool likepunching a Buddhist deity in the face, it’ll usually be accompanied by single button presses, mash commands, or joystick rotation commands. With good timing and a bit of speed, you’ll deal the most possible damage to the enemy’s health while taking the least of your own.
Interestingly, some of these QTEs have degrees of success or failure. Decent timing will pass them and deal some damage, but if your timing is absolutely perfect, you’ll deal even more damage.
Of course, if you botch a QTE, you’re the one that loses health, but then the combat sequence will just start over.
7Marvel’s Spider-Man
With Great Power Comes Great Timing
Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
If there’s anything that distinguishes Spider-Man from his fellow Marvel heroes, it’s his amazing agility and dexterity. The guy knows a thing or two about good timing in a superpowered fistfight, if not in his daily life.
InMarvel’s Spider-Man, we see this prowess on full display in Web-Head’s various superhero antics, whether he’s rescuing civilians or punching out baddies.
In either case, you’ll be presented with various contextual QTEs based on the precise nature of the situation. A good portion of QTEs that occur in combat encounters focus on timing and aim and Spider-Man lines up his attacks and web shots for the best possible moment.
Of course, when necessary, we also get a good old-fashioned mash command. These can arise when Spider-Man is trying to lift heavy debris off trapped civilians or putting a definitive beatdown on the villain of the day.
Besides being flashy, many of these QTEs also served toshow off the features of the PlayStation DualSense controller, particularly the adaptive triggers when firing web shots.
6Until Dawn
Whatever Happens, It’s Your Fault
Until Dawn
As the video game equivalent of a choose-your-own-adventure book,Until Dawnis unsurprisingly jam-packed with QTEs to influence the story’s progression.
Sometimes you have to time a button press, sometimes you have to aim at a target, and sometimes you need to hold your controller completely still.
What differentiates Until Dawn’s QTEs from those of other games is that every QTE is kind of a decision in itself. Your first instinct will be to hit every QTE you can, but as the game points out, sometimes doing nothing is actually better than leaping at your first instinct.
There are times when ignoring or failing a QTE may actually yield a better outcome for the characters in the long run.
Of course, it’s also entirely possible that failing a QTE will result in someone’s violent death, so you kind of have to play it by ear. You need to pay attention to the story and think for a moment before taking actions that may not make sense if you weren’t under pressure.
Waggle Like You’ve Never Waggled Before
As a Wii game controlled with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, the idea of QTEs inMadWorldmay sound a bit unpleasant.
Certainly, there was no shortage of Wii games that got way too carried away in the waggling department, but thankfully, MadWorld used the hardware in a concise, yet distinct manner.
Every single enemy in the game, both regular and bosses, is accompanied by a multitude of QTEs, albeit of slightly differing types. For regular enemies, QTEs mostly manifest as instant-kill finishers.
10 Games That Made The Best Use Of The Wii’s Motion Controls
While misused by plenty of games, the Wii’s motion controls were a big step forward. Here are the best games that show the power of this console!
For example, if you drag a dude up to a spiked fence, you’ll need to quickly swing the Wii Remote down to impale him on it. Jack doesn’t even need hazards to do this; there are several finisher QTEs that he can perform with his bare hands.
With bosses, there are longer, more elaborate QTE sequences both during and at the end of the fight. In the fight with Kojack, you need to rapidly shake both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk when your motorcycles are clashing to overcome him.
4Metroid Dread
Finish ‘Em Off
Metroid Dread
Compared to the other games on this list, QTEs aren’t a particularly big part ofMetroid Dread’s DNA, but they are an important one. There are two primary types of QTE, but they both revolve around the concept of countering, another major mechanic in this game.
Inencounters with bossesor powerful enemies, when they’re almost defeated, you’ll go into a scripted sequence of Samus dodging their attacks.
At the right moment, Samus’ hand will flash, signaling you to press the counter button and finish the fight with a dramatic counter. If you mess it up, you’ll have to damage the boss a bit more to start the sequence again.
The other major QTE type involves the marauding E.M.M.I. units that hunt Samus in designated areas. If Samus is caught by an E.M.M.I., you’ll get one last chance to perform a counter and escape.
The odds of landing it is extremely low, and the game even tells you not to rely on this method. If you do manage to land it and escape, though, it’s immensely satisfying.
3Kingdom Hearts II
Watch For The Green Triangle
Kingdom Hearts 2
The original Kingdom Hearts had fairly straightforward combat encounters, both regular ones and with bosses. Barring an occasional gimmick, it was a simple slugfest of Keyblade slashes and magic.
Kingdom Hearts II, though, added a single element to give its fights a little extra panache: Reaction Commands.
In both regular and boss encounters, a green triangle will occasionally appear when Sora is near the enemy or an important object.
Press the Reaction Command button, and he’ll pull off a slick move to damage or otherwise hinder the enemy. In the game’s more dramatic encounters, these Reaction Commands can lead to entire mini-cutscenes, with subsequent Reaction Commands determining who ends up taking the hit.
Of particular note is thebattles against Xemnasin the game’s climax. During Sora’s solo fight against him, there’s a Reaction Command whose effects change depending on how long you wait to use it.
In the final battle alongside Riku, you need to rapidly mash both the attack and reaction buttons to deflect Xemnas’ beam attacks.
Feel The Heat
As a series that prides itself on cinematic pummeling, Yakuza/Like a Dragon has made pretty extensive use of QTEs throughout its tenure. Pretty much any game in the series fits this bill, but our personal favorite would beYakuza 0for its extra flash factor.
Besides single-button Heat Actions, most proper QTEs are reserved for big, dramatic setpieces, such as Kiryu storming the Dojima Family’s HQ.
These QTEs can be encountered when traversing large areas, often in the form of powerful enemies trying to ambush you around a corner. They’re just timing presses, with circular timers lasting about two-ish seconds, so as long as you’re paying attention, they’re pretty easy to land.
Major boss encounters usually have at least one scripted sequence, wherein the boss will attempt to grapple you or otherwise hit you with a big attack, such as Lee trying to use his “God Hand” on Majima. Again, it’s just a timing press, nothing too complicated or distracting.
1Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Cyborg Reflexes
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
InMetal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Raiden’sextensive cybernetic modificationsgive him unparalleled speed, dexterity, and situational awareness.
The backbone to his ability to chop things up with Blade Mode is that he can slow his perception of time while maintaining his physical speed. Naturally, this time-slowing mechanic is also used for various QTEs against large enemies and bosses.
Whenever something big is about to go down, such as an enemy grabbing hold of Raiden, time will slow and the Zandatsu symbol will appear. This is your signal to activate Blade Mode and quickly slice and dice the enemy before they know what’s happening.
There are also plenty of more traditional QTEs, such as timed button presses to counter Monsoon’s incoming attack or a mash command to rip open Sundowner’s shields.
The final fight with Armstrong in particular has the largest variance of QTEs, reflecting the many different ways he throws himself at you.
The QTEs In Final Fantasy 16 Kinda Ruin The Boss Fights
I expect to play the entire fight, not watch half of it unfold as if I were watching it on Youtube.
