Best Games That Are Entirely FMV

Fans of video games have always wanted them to be more realistic. With the permanent push for better graphics, more life-like animation, and huge improvements in the quality of storytelling, it was only a matter of time before real video began to be used in the interactive medium. FMV, or Full Motion Video, has featured in gaming since arcade cabinets, meaning that entirely acted and filmed sequences can be used.

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While some Full Motion Video games end up not utilizing the format to its full extent, or limiting player action due to the restrictive nature of FMV itself, some games use the medium to tell impressive stories, make for fully interactive films and create lovable characters. Here are the best games that are entirely FMV — and that are well worth playing for any fans or newcomers to the genre.

7

Super Seducer 2 – Advanced Seduction Tactics

Ridiculous Seduction Training With Branching Narratives

• Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch
• Released: September 13, 2018
• Developer(s): RLR Training Inc

For fans of off-kilter and random humor that is hard to predict and harder to resist, Super Seducer is the viral FMV game that brought Richard La Ruina to the screens of thousands of ‘players’ (pun intended). Richard acts as the protagonist, and fans can select the actions that he should take in a selection of situations where the ultimate goal is to get a girl’s number.

While at first glance, this appears like an uncomfortable dating sim, looking a little deeper reveals wild writing, truly absurd options that Richard will act out dutifully on screen, and a strange approach that really takes itself seriously as a teaching tool — despite how ludicrous the game becomes.

6

Night Trap

High Tech Home Alone Vs Vampires

Night Trap

Systems

Released

October 15, 1992

One of the first fully FMV video games that lives in infamy for its campy tone and strange plot, Night Trap was produced for the Sega CD and saw the player manning security systems through a mansion where they had to flick between cameras in different rooms to step in and save some slasher movie teens from the clutches of a gang of evil vampires.

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Managing the residents in eight different locations can prove difficult, and listening in to the conversations that happen when characters are safe will be necessary for the player to piece together the plot and to ensure that they hear whenever the password for the security system changes. The game feels like a B movie in the best possible way.

5

Dark Nights With Poe And Munro

Radio Show With Supernatural Interference

When players start Dark Nights with Poe and Munro, they are thrown into the deep end and expected to find their way. The protagonists, two small-town radio hosts who tell supernatural stories to a dwindling audience, are on screen for most of the game.

Players will have to interact with the video as it plays to make choices for both of the hosts to lead them on their way and protect them from harm. Managing to walk the line between tense and silly, Poe and Munro pits the lovable heroes against strange visions, murderous listeners, and mysteries galore.

4

Not For Broadcast

Become The Broadcaster And Change The World

Indie

Adventure

Simulation

Systems

Released

December 11, 2019

Developer(s)

NotGames

Publisher(s)

tinyBuild

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Taking control of what gets screened on television gives players a surprising amount of power; there is a reason that Not For Broadcast is known as a propaganda simulator. Players can decide on what adverts play and which headlines the audience is shown to influence the politics of the uncertain country the game is set in. ​​​​​​​

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The protagonist is also in charge of censoring and presenting different broadcasts to the audience, and they must ensure that ratings are up and the government is shown in a good light — unless they have ulterior motives.

3

The Shapeshifting Detective

Take On A Different Form

A randomly generated murder mystery, The Shapeshifting Detective allows fans of crime-solving puzzle games to take on mysteries with fresh new answers using paranormal powers that can be both a blessing and a curse. The protagonist can take on the guise of any of the suspects they have spoken to, which pressures others to confess information, talk about secrets that only two people are privy to, or let down their guard in a way that can only be achieved with these dynamic abilities.

Every conversation has consequences, though, and some decisions can make crimes unsolvable along the way. With incredible performances and brand-new results after numerous playthroughs, The Shapeshifting Detective is a must-play for budding investigators and FMV fans alike.

2

Late Shift

Award Winning Interactive Narrative

Putting players in the role of a graveyard shift parking lot attendant, Late Shift explores the cinematic plot of a normal person being caught up in the criminal underworld of London. Matt Thompson has to work with some established robbers, and players can intervene to make decisions in real time to dive deeper into the nefarious world and to grow closer with the criminals.

With a potential romance and seven distinctly different endings, players who explore this entirely FMV interactive film will grow to love Matt and the cast of criminals that he becomes a part of.

1

Immortality

A Missing Person, Hidden In Film Reel

Systems

Released

August 30, 2022

Developer(s)

Sam Barlow

Publisher(s)

Half Mermaid Productions

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

Playing out like some kind of conspiracy cover-up like The Davinci Code, players of Immortality are given the lost film reels of a fictional actress, Marissa Marcel. Marcel was a model who took to the screen in three movies before she went missing mysteriously; players have the chance to scroll through scenes from the films, interviews with the actress and her colleagues, and to explore clues and strange standouts that can be picked out on the screen.

Playing out like a discussion about film and fame, as well as a gripping supernatural investigation, Immortality is one of the most experimental and innovative games of all time, within both the FMV genre and outside of it.

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