History Main / GoingThroughTheMotions

* ''VideoGame/SeikenDensetsu3'' manages to get through a good many cutscenes like this while still looking believable. The only really jarring one is the "push" animation, which gets recycled as trying to shove one's way past something and even picking flowers.

** Luckily they still have PictorialSpeechBubbles to express emotions with.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa}}'' has a particular set of expressions for each character, such as anger, fear, happiness, or confidence. The high versatility of their expressions caused several poses to be iconic for some characters to the point where the AnimatedAdaptation slips them into the show fully rendered.

* Every single ''Franchise/{{Grandia}}'' game has been full of this.

* ''VideoGame/{{Grandia}} I'', ''VideoGame/GrandiaII'', ''VideoGame/GrandiaIII'' and ''VideoGame/GrandiaXtreme'', i.e. every single ''Franchise/{{Grandia}}'' game has been full of this.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', Link puts his hand on his hips whenever someone speaks to him. This only occurs when the player initiates the dialogue.

* Present in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}''. Being a Bethesda game it has a lot in common with Oblivion and the like. This is mostly dealt with by characters not moving when you talk to them, though they can continue a few things like smoking or eating.
** The few rare instances of humanoid [=NPCs=] not all using the same stock motions in conversation are almost jarring thanks to their novelty. The first one that comes to mind is in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', where the Courier can speak to a Hispanic Ghoul mechanic, who has some unique response animations when spoken to about certain subjects, most notably an exaggerated head-hanging slump that basically seems to convey "I don't know, but I'll say something anyway."

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', and ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}/[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'' don't even have individualized gestures, which isn't so noticeable when the monologue is delivered in 'Ye Olde Talking Head' style as what's done mostly through ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion''. But it's particularly noticeable in staging what's intended to be a dramatic in-engine cinematic, especially ones the designers felt were so important they had to ''straitjacket the player's controls to force them to watch''. All models have the same wooden and vague hand gesture, elbows locked at their sides, delivering their body language like self-conscious amateur theatre auditioners. Even the celebrity voice-acted characters do this (it must make Liam Neeson wince to see the movement associated with his voice). Any modder can find the vast library of idle animations the designers had at their disposal, but none imagined inserting those into the script.

* And yes this shows up in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', "drinking" seems to always involve drunkenly swaying back and forth to some music with a tankard in one hand, your followers all respond to trading with you with the same gesture (shrugging their shoulders a few times), and people react to finding a dead body by kneeling before it and hovering their hands over it.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' Basically every emotional reaction is represented by ''jumping up and down''. There is even a scene in the first game where the two main-characters try to explain that the world is going to end and stuff by [[CrowningMomentOfFunny running around and jumping.]]

** It gets just plain odd (and [[CrowningMomentOfFunny hilarious]]) in ''Super Robot Wars Z'' where, after completing the ''Anime/OvermanKingGainer'' plotline, the entire team does [[DancingTheme the Monkey to "King Gainer Over!"]]...which is represented by their map sprites, '''including''' the battleships, spinning and "hopping".

* ''Videogame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' is a pretty heavy offender whenever an NPC is talking to you. Not only is it much more noticeable since they go through numerous stock motions in quick succession, but they tend to do little more than move their arms and occasionally shift their weight a bit.
* ''Videogame/{{Metro2033}}'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/MetroLastLight'' exhibit this trait in the friendly stations between action levels, where you can interact with [=NPCs=] and buy supplies. Pretty much every character you can talk to will use the same "place one hand on hip while gesturing with the other" motion at some point or another.

* ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' averted this, surprisingly. Every cutscene is scripted, including the facial gestures and the characters talking. It was surprising for some to play the sequel and learn they had removed ''all motion'', going with select character portraits for the facial animation and stilled 3D shots for what used to be the cutscenes. They must have lost money or something.
** The facial expressions in the first game are actually pretty minor, and the in-game movements are rather undetailed. ''Drakengard'' doesn't have the best visuals in the world (and makes up for it with how ''twisted'' the script is).

* ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' did this quite often; the same animation was often recycled by different characters. One of the most prominent examples is an indignant/belligerent hand-on-hip, fist-shaking motion, shared by [[TheSheriff George]], [[SupremeChef Nick]], and at least one other male character, if not more.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', Link will typically rest his hands on his belt when talking with someone. He also has a few tics that he will display during the conversation, such as a casual wave, a HandBehindHead gesture, and a startled jumping back.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', Link puts his hand on his hips whenever someone speaks to him. This only occurs when the player initiates the dialogue.

* The Franchise/RatchetAndClank reboot for PS4 sadly has this for the in-game dialogue, due to the developers being given a very little time to do them.

* ''TheMovies'' is a movie studio simulation, but in fact can actually be used as a studio for Machinima. It puts the player in the seat of a cutscene director: You can actually write, direct and edit short cutscenes (or long ones if you have the patience) which can include many actors with a staggering array of backdrops, camera angles and costumes. The game has a very large assortment of possible character animations in each "scene", but most of the motions look extremely exaggerated or contrived, making it difficult to make anything which doesn't look like a satire of itself. Still, with the editing tools at your disposal, and a bit of talent it's quite possible to [[http://www.machinima.com/channel/view&id=2 actually make a movie that looks reasonably good]]. Some have won awards.

* ''MegaManPoweredUp'' has a stock set of emotive gestures for use in the short cutscenes preceding a boss fight - since most of the characters have the exact same body type, these animations are shared across all characters except Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, Roll, and Gutsman (Who has his own versions of the exact same animations).
* Creator/EpicGames' early platformer ''Jill of the Jungle''. Jill's 'look up' and 'look down' animations had her facing the screen/camera. Idle animations would post text at the bottom of the screen: "Look, An airplane! (look up animation)" "Your shoe's untied! (look down)" Also at various points, these sprites were cycled to make Jill nod.

* EpicGames' early platformer ''Jill of the Jungle''. Jill's 'look up' and 'look down' animations had her facing the screen/camera. Idle animations would post text at the bottom of the screen: "Look, An airplane! (look up animation)" "Your shoe's untied! (look down)" Also at various points, these sprites were cycled to make Jill nod.

* ''VisualNovel/Again'': Outside of small cutscenes, character portraits are often animated this way. such as with Detective Lane's does this occasional {{facepalm}}s and some instances of GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', despite being sprite-based, avoided this, with sprites drawn for every conceivable situation. There was a notable scene where one character impaled another character on their sword, which was remarkable since a normal sword attack could have been used. And, at one point, a thief took off his hat and threw it to the ground in frustration, which is probably the only time a Final Fantasy character's clothes have actually budged. Incidentally, he ''doesn't'' have animation where he picks his hat back up - he goes offscreen when the camera pans down to show your party, and when it pans back to him, his hat's already back on.
** He doesn't just impale the other guy, he does a perfect parry and side step first, then stabs him. That 2 seconds is the most realistic fight scene in all of Final Fantasy.
*** All of this becomes a tad less impressive when you realize why - the ''battle'' sprites are so limited that they had plenty of disc space. Every spell is cast with the same "raise arms" gesture, every attack other than using bows or punching is the same sweep-hand-down... The saddest part is that the Summon spells, usually the most technologically impressive attacks, are reduced to ''waving a still image around'' (albeit with a few particle effects).

** In ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', everyone expresses misery, no matter how mild, by grabbing their head and shaking.
The same game features a standard script animation where the characters gesture with their hands, and this is extensively used during conversation. Because the characters are rendered with weapons in hand, this can get unnerving. There's nothing quite like seeing Carth Onasi, ''GunsAkimbo'' fighter extraordinare, talking to you while waving a pair of blasters around wildly. Especially when he's angry at you. More amusingly, performing the 'bow' animation with a sword in hand results in the character impaling their own head.

* A lot of early Bioware games did this, such as ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' (where everyone in the game expresses misery, no matter how mild, by grabbing their head and shaking) and ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights''. Even their otherwise incredible opus, ''Franchise/MassEffect'', there are still generic motions, although, to be honest, they are a lot less noticeable.

** ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' features a standard script animation where the characters gesture with their hands. They use this extensively during conversation. Because the characters are rendered with weapons in hand, this can get unnerving. There's nothing quite like seeing Carth Onasi, ''GunsAkimbo'' fighter extraordinare, talking to you while waving a pair of blasters around wildly. Especially when he's angry at you. More amusingly, performing the 'bow' animation with a sword in hand results in the character impaling their own head.
** Early in [=KOTOR=] 2, the Exile relinquishes her lightsaber to the Jedi Council... by apparently stabbing the guy she's giving it to. Who grabs the 'saber by the cuts-through-anything blade.
*** That depends on what you choose to have the Exile do. Most of the ways that happens will have the Exile stabbing her lightsaber into the monolith there, and then walking away.
** Both [=KOTORs=] have lots of motions doing double- to triple-duty. The same animation is used for cheering, dancing, and being powered up.
** Bioware's ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' does this very weirdly. The characters mostly move very naturally... except that everyone loves to cross their arms while talking. And then uncross them. And then cross them again. In some longer conversations, you may see arms cross and uncross three times. Even better, rarely the game's timing gets a little too predictable, and multiple character will start doing it in sequence, which rather kills the drama.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' does this; during scenes, each textual box is accompanied by a gesture. Played on a loop. This leads to hilarity, particularly with Steiner, since he notably shakes his fists up and down in front of him or actually jumps and has a tantrum: depending on how long you can keep laughing/bear to watch, he can stand there jumping indefinitely.
** Similarly, Zidane will ''always'' go into his high-alert hald crouch position before a boss battle, even if there's a lengthy slab of exposition beforehand. Doesn't matter how long it takes you to read the text, he will be alert until the FightWoosh.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' is one of the more pathetic examples of this. Yes, it's a Gameboy Advance game, but when every emotional reaction is represented by ''jumping up and down''... There is even a scene in the first game where the two main-characters try to explain that the world is going to end and stuff by [[CrowningMomentOfFunny running around and jumping.]]
** Luckily they still have Emotion Speechbubbles.

* ''ValkyrieProfile'' has a truly impressive number of unique situational sprites. There weren't more than a couple scenes that were made with stock poses. You could tell when crap was going to hit the fan by the use of Valkyrie's more emotional reactions or more dramatic poses.

* The ''HarvestMoon'' series makes full use of character portraits during dialogue to to show emotion. However, ''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonMagicalMelody Magical Melody]]'' took this trope to extremes with the characters moving wildly to express emotions such as embarrassment, joy, or panic, turning the characters into [[LargeHam Large Hams]]. While amusing at first, it gets old quickly. Other games like ''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade Animal Parade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonANewBeginning A New Beginning]]'' tend to do this better.

* Lt. Kirce James in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer 3'' acts exactly as the seductress example given above, shifting from one 'sexy' pose to another at the end of every... hang on, she's a ''[[BadBadActing real(ly terrible) actress]]''!
* Every character portrait in ''{{Starcraft}}'' has a few different motions they do while talking. This leads to people nodding about once every third word they say.

* [[VideoGame/StarcraftII Starcraft 2]] normally goes well, well out of its way to create realistic movements in pre-rendered and in-game cut-scenes alike, but most standard conversations display a surprisingly limited number of speech animations. Some, like [[spoiler: Valerian Mengsk]]'s tendency to raise his hand as he speaks, become painfully noticeable.

* Obviously present in most second-generation LucasArts adventure games: