I was looking for the average cutscene total time in mainline Final Fantasy and stumbled across this https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/22/18235914/anthem-cutscenes-low-quality-final-fantasy-cgi and the point made is quite compelling. Until this gen I had the sensation that the cutscenes in games like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, God of War and the like where showing what would be the baseline graphics next gen and it mostly proved true. The in game graphics of FF X are on similar level to FFIX cutscenes, FFXIII in game is equivalent in graphical prowess (not presentation and always cinematic will be telling a story, have angle working, etc) to FF X custscenes and FF VIIR in game looks even better than the cutscenes of FF XIII.

We do know that this gen most of the cutscenes are being made "in engine" (If I`m not wrong Uncharted on PS3 used clever trick of farming 3 or more PS3s for rendering the cutscenes in engine and recording it) be it because of cost, to avoid a big discrepancy between the game and cutscene, be it to make it easier to skip cutscenes, etc. But this have made the difference in quality between game and cutscenes very small, and in some games as mentioned in the article to be even worse (on this I will put the possibility of game assets being scalable on PC while the cutscene is static so for people that have top end HW the game would render better than the cutscene, but I do remember how much I laughed with the GoW 1 and 2 remasters on PS3 where the cutscenes were ugly compared to the game).

I`m not talking about we having less time of cutscene (I would say it mostly increased) nor the setpieces and  things happening, but purely on an image quality point of view are we close to the death of cutscene (or the used moniker CGI, hope you are healthy my friend)?

I don't mind cutscenes. What I do mind is companies only showing cutscenes in ads trying to pass it off as gameplay. They've been doing it since late 90s/early 2000s. I suppose there has been so much backlash that most have cut it out or added words gameplay scene shown or whatever. Even then some publishers have misled the public at game shows or ads.

I think so yes, and it has to do with more than just in game visuals improving to diminishing returns (though definitely a contributing factor).

The culture of the gaming community itself has gone through a shift. Back in the day, pre-rendered cutscenes were HOT! I can remember a time when review scores for some RPGs would actually be negatively affected because they, "had a lack of CGI cutscenes". Back then, just seeing those visuals in a game was mind blowing, even if it was pre-rendered.

But now, people are more interested in what the in-game engines can do. You show off a CGI cutscene in today's climate and you get responses like, "That is not how the game will look, its just a cutscene." We all know that to be the case, but no one is impressed by them anymore. Throw in the fact that having them rendered with the in-game engine in real time is a fancy way of giving gameplay trailers with no real gameplay...and what we see is more incentive to do away with them altogether than to keep adding pre-rendered scenes. After all, what devs can do in games these days is already pretty damn flashy as it is. Technology has come a long way and there is little need for super flashy pre-rendered clips when the general consumer is less interested in them anymore anyway.

i hope so i dont play games to watch a movie

Oh, you mean pre-rendered ones. Not cutscenes in general. Those were created in the Saturn/PS1 era when 3D graphics or even 2D were not expressive enough to convey the impact of the scene. They have been pointless since the 7th gen. Lost Odyssey boasted about how the visuals were so good the transition from CGI to gameplay would be seamless. Sounded impressive but also proves CGI is pointless then. CGI cutscenes are not just dying they are dead. I mean LO did live up to it's promise. Just watch. Start at the 3-minute mark.

So if they can do that in 2008. What the hell is the point now in 2020? Look at the facial animations in games like Injustice 2 running on current hardware in UE3.

Why do you need a pre-rendered cutscene when the hardware can do this in real-time?

Even Switch with the Xenoblade games are expressive enough and good looking to convey everything they need to do in the engine.  Pre-rendered cutscenes were invented out of necessity. On SEGA CD and Turbo CD, they were animated FMVs. They stayed longer than they needed to. Most of the 7th gen didn't need them and we certainly have no need for them now.

Same here... I love them. I know that's mostly nostalgia-driven, but still, they represent some trully fond memories of my childhood

For me cutscenes are to be watched and the better possible quality the better. And yes I was talking about pre-rendered ones (and even that not in-engine, because you can do either pre-rendered in engine or totally outside of it).

I can still spot the differences between both when devs really try to do a good pre-rendered game. And considering we are still improving in graphics and the game graphics aren`t on par with the best possible if you pre-render for me there is still a point.

And of course they needed black bars to give the cinematic fell.

Yupp it was... loved to rewatch them as well, if the game offered the opportunity, after finishing the game. I still remember drooling over how good some of the cutscenes were for Warrior Within and Splinter Cell. The 6th gen was probably the last gen where the difference between pre-rendered cutscenes and in-game footage were night and day

The Unreal Engine 5 demo already gave us the answer. The full Movie Quality assets will be used in game. They will be cut down in software based on the systems capabilities, but still, the system is working from raw assets. Cutscenes should have some advantages due to scripting, but for the most part in-game should be more equal to cutscenes than ever.

This will most likely be the case in all modern engines as the generation progresses. Microsoft and Sony 1st Party Studios and Engines will more than likely continue to be the pinnacle in parity between the two.