I'm gonna side with the images, because I prefer any type of storytelling that doesn't take the control out of your hands and put it into a camera. I think a better image would have been any of those "the cake is a lie" parts of Portal. Or finding a room with all the chairs knocked over. It doesn't have to be an image within the environment, but it can be the environment itself.
That FF12 intro was way too long. Wedding/war/funeral. Could have flashed 3 images, ring, fire, grave, and saved me 7 minutes. I probably would have cared more about the dead guy that way too. In the video he just looked like an idiot.
EDIT: I see this thread is older than I thought and I've been beaten to the Portal images several times. Uh... good work team!
