As anyone who followed the Gamescom interviews will know, QTEs are going to be revamped for Shenmue III. Although quite sparse on the details, we do know sounds and colours (and possibly Chinese characters, though Yu Suzuki states he was merely toying with the idea) will be at the forefront of the new system, meaning the classic flashing on-screen button and menacing beeping will be a thing of the past.
It certainly sounds interesting, and could work very well in execution, but my question to you is what would be your ideal revamp of the QTE system?
I've had a vision in my head for a while in which, when a QTE is initiated, instead of the classic flashing on-screen button and menacing beeping, the borders of the screen will blur (in a similar fashion to the way in which dream sequences are portrayed in television programmes) in one of two colours, depending on whether the player is required to attack or evade/perform a direction-specific action, giving them the choice to either punch, kick, throw, evade, or perform a direction-specific action (e.g., pressing up to jump over a fence), still confined to a single-button input, depending on the context and what they, themselves, think would best fit the situation. As soon as the initial input is fulfilled, an algorithm kicks in containing all possible outcomes depending on the choice of inputs by the player.
So, in the context of a QTE fighting sequence, one player might, for example, choose to dodge to the left, followed up with a kick (in this case, a scripted roundhouse kick), then a downward dodge, followed up with a kick (a leg sweep), then a dodge in any direction to break an opponent's rear grab, followed up with a throw (an over-the-shoulder throw), whereas a different player might choose to dodge downwards, followed up with a punch (an uppercut), then a dodge to the right, followed up with a kick (a knee to the chest), then a dodge in any direction to break an opponent's rear grab, followed up with a punch (backhand-punch to the face, then a punch to the stomach, similar to what Ryo did to Jimmy's thugs in Asia Travel Co.).
Tonnes of possibilities and potential outcomes.