Perhaps I'm confused here, you guys all seem to be trashing on Raphael as if his entire plot arc is already in the game. As far as I've seen, he shows up one time, dangles the possibility of helping, and then vanishes regardless of how you talk to him and never comes back. This is clearly not fully implemented.
Sure, any criticism needs to be taken with "it's not finished yet". Still, to me it seemed like one of the most polished encounters, and one that was advertised heavily, so it not working, and not intruiging me at least, is worrying.
Something that came to my mind while writing - just rewatched the cutscene. "Direction" is rather unexistant. Just set of boring shots with stiff animations - at best showing objects talked about (like food or wider shot of the room) but not communicating anything. Having cinematic look can make things better or worse. Having a scary devil talk to us fully lighter from a generic medium closeup does make him rather unintimidating. What's more, through visual language we are presented as equals.
For now, I feel, BG3 cinematics detract from the experience - it's better to imagine conversation, than watch a dull one. It's Dragon Age: Origins bad. Are they going to revise major encounters? Are they just building technology? It could be, but considering the sheer size of the game, I can't imagine it getting Witcher3 treatment. That use of cinematic language (shot composition, framing, lighting etc) is what elevates Mass Effect 1&2 (ME3 visibly stumbles in that regards) and WItcher3, and lack of it makes other RPGs looks like dolls awkwardly muppeting at each other.
EDIT: See O'Dim's reintroduction in HoS (timestamps 38 minute mark in case the timestamp doesn't work). Geralt sitting in dark selling his situation, O'Dim literally appearing from shadows, throughout the whole encounter he is shot from underneath and Geralt is from above. And yes, it is because he is standing and Geralt is sitting and having viewpoints and camera shots allign is critical, but they are shot there way to communicate the towering presence of O'Dim. He kneels when he offers help, gets back up when mentioning his capabilities (he doesn't need to say much as his VO and shot compositions reinforces his power). They come back to the same level as they "negotiate", Geralt in a clear "prisoner pose" and Master Mirror still being somewhat taller then Geralt is.
That's basic choreography but actually enhances the conversation.
Hmm, interesting argument with some good points thanks.
I had another look at the scene. I would disagree that his introduction necessarily hints at malice, that sense grows throughout the scene. It's not so much as he appears from the shadows, rather the devs use the shadows to gradually bring him into focus to be visible just as Geralt says 'someone to talk to'. They could have achieved the same by blurring and focusing on him as Geralt says these words. But yes, definitely he's introduced with a visual clue that there is something supernatural about the timing. He appears just when Geralt is at his lowest.
The shot composition would be the same if say he was a jailer who was offering Geralt's freedom in return for a favour. So it doesn't especially say he is a being of great power, not yet anyway. It's not so much that this guy is uber powerful, though, more than Geralt here is screwed and in a bad spot. But you are right, it absolutely highlights the imbalance of power in the scene.
Here is the Raphael scene: This is a patch 1 version, a lot clunkier than later versions which are smoother.
You can see they do in fact play with angles and shot composition. But nowhere near the level of the Witcher scene. The camera is a bit flat. This is especially true for the MC shots. They should definitely change some angles for these, tilt the camera a little. A shot from behind Raphael's back pointing downwards to the MC would definitely add a bit of menace too. I think they do this once or twice quickly, but most of the time when the MC has dialogue it is a flat close up.
Like. your core choice in this scene - how to reply to Raphael - in this version they seem to focus on a painting of him, while you make that choice. This seems a bizarre artistic decision. For that dialogue, he should definitely be in focus looming over you as you ponder this lose/lose proposal. (As a side note why even include the option to accept his deal if he's going to reject it? This shouldn't be an option)
There are a few capstone scenes in act 1, this being one of them. Your post has definitely convinced me if they are going for cinematic with this game, they should use the tools of cinema a little more. But they are definitely doing it and also refining as they release more patches. Hopefully they also take note of interesting observations such as yours.
Watching the scene as a youtube video, rather than actually playing it myself, I did however feel Raphael is perhaps the teeniest bit over campy. They could dial that down a little without losing whatever it is they are trying to get across. (I personally think they could dial Volo down a notch too).
