FMV games can use FMV to varying degrees. The last three Tex Murphy games (Under a Killing Moon, Pandora Directive, Overseer) used FMV for cut scenes and conversations, but used an early form of real time 3D for the gameplay areas (where you'd explore rooms, locate and use inventory, and interact with the gameworld). Myst 1-4 also used FMV for cut scenes, but used computer rendered images for the gameplay areas. So did Black Dahlia and Ripper, though they had a lot more conversation than the Myst games. How much FMV does a game need to contain before you consider it an FMV game?
In general, the best FMV computer games used a lot more computer-rendered images than they used FMV. If I recall correctly, Byzantine used FMV for the cut scenes and conversations and still photographs for most of the gameplay world (except the virtual reality part of the game). That makes it similar to Quiet Weekend in Capri and Anacapri. Do you consider Quiet Weekend and Anacapri to be FMV games?
In Phantasmagoria and GK2 you see the FMV character on the screen almost all the time. In TLJ and Syberia you see a 3D sprite on the screen almost all the time (April or Kate), though the backgrounds are computer rendered. Does that make TLJ and Syberia real time 3D games? If not, are Phantasmagoria and GK2 FMV games when most of the gameworld in the background is computer rendered? Most would say TLJ and Syberia are 2D or 2.5D while Phantasmagoria and GK2 are FMV. Why are Phantasmagoria and GK2 considered FMV while Syberia and TLJ are not considered realtime 3D? My guess is that there are relatively few 100% FMV games while realtime 3D games are all over the place.
I haven't played many games that are 100% or near 100% FMV. The ones I have played tended to be very restrictive in what you could do or how you can explore or interact with the environment. The best of these near 100% FMV games that I've played were Temujin and Zelenhgorm, neither of which were as restrictive as most near-100% FMV games. These at least gave you an opportunity to explore and interact with the gameworld. But both of them had blurry graphics. Temujin played in a little window and Zelenhgorm was very short, almost like the intro chapter to a game. Dracula Unleashed pretty much convinced me not to go looking for more FMV games because it was so restrictive and fussy about what you could do and when you could do it.
I like Ray's article. It's especially interesting because it was made back in year 2000. It's a shame that Southpeak was not able to complete "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." There was a demo, which gives a glimpse of what the game would have been like.
Ray wrote:
there's an inherent awkwardness in having to watch a video sprite stand at stiff "attention" waiting for our orders.
That's my main complaint with 3rd person FMV games. It looks so awkward to have a real person "standing at attention" that way. I noticed it immediately when I played Phantasmagoria (the first 3rd person FMV game I played). It actually looked less natural to me than having a 3D character (like Kate or April) stand around waiting for you to make up your mind.
Ray wrote:
Also, I found it really fun to be able to manipulate those hapless video sprites. It really felt like an interactive movie--in a good way. To be able to have my choices reflected in the "live" actions of these characters could be truly riveting.
Well, see, I didn't get off on that like Ray did. I didn't like it at all. Which is another reason I strongly prefer the 1st person type of FMV, where you don't see your character on the screen.
Ray wrote:
People seemed to hate video. The biggest complaint I hear about it is, "I don't feel like I'm playing! I feel like I'm watching a movie!"
The complaint I've heard is about the lack of interactivity. For example, GK1 had more interactivity with the gameworld than GK2. But we get the same complaint with some of today's games that are not FMV. We got it with Dreamfall and Syberia, for example. If someone doesn't think a game is challenging enough, or think there are too many cut scenes or the cut scenes are too long, they say playing it is like watching a movie, or has a lack of interactivity.
It can also depend on which game you're talking about. Games like "Tender Loving Care" or "Point of View" even call themselves "interactive movies." They don't play like adventure games. You watch a cut scene, are presented with choices from a list, watch another cut scene, make more choices from a list, rinse and repeat. It's like a different genre.