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March 28, 2024, 10:40:36 AM

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Telltale's Walking Dead limps to its end

Started by Rev+, March 30, 2019, 12:29:47 AM

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Rev+

Anyone bothered?  This one was obviously impacted by the studio closing down and a rescue team of ex-employees being scrambled, but it's reached its ending at least.  I played the first two 'seasons', skipped the third (missing nothing by all accounts) but did want to see how it wrapped up.

It feels like a compromised story, with a scene inserted just before the very end that shouldn't be there.  It's like they were shooting for an ambiguous ending but bottled it.  Remove that one scene and it'd be an ending I'd be happy with.

At least we got an ending, eventually. 

Bazooka

I only played the first, it being the first point and click game I had played for around 20 years,and being a fan of the show, it left a lot to be desired personally. But always sad to hear of studios going bust etc.

St_Eddie

It's a shite game experience where you watch a badly written story and occasionally press X.

That is all.

Spoon of Ploff

Quote from: Rev+ on March 30, 2019, 12:29:47 AM
Anyone bothered?  This one was obviously impacted by the studio closing down and a rescue team of ex-employees being scrambled, but it's reached its ending at least.  I played the first two 'seasons', skipped the third (missing nothing by all accounts) but did want to see how it wrapped up.

It feels like a compromised story, with a scene inserted just before the very end that shouldn't be there.  It's like they were shooting for an ambiguous ending but bottled it.  Remove that one scene and it'd be an ending I'd be happy with.

At least we got an ending, eventually.

Aye. Maybe put the flashback scene at the beginning before the main character regains consciousness, and then stop playing once to school gates close if you want your ambiguous ending... continue to the end if you want to see how it actually turned out. I liked it. Its an odd set of 'games' that managed to get under my skin. At some point I should probably explore why that is.


Z

Played season one after Firewatch, having quite enjoyed the structure of Firewatch I was pretty surprised by how crappy the Walking Dead was considering Firewatch's hype was almost exclusively "THESE GUYS DONE THE WALKING DEAD!"


I can only assume the Walking Dead has just dated very badly but was actually extremely inventive on release

madhair60

Quote from: St_Eddie on March 30, 2019, 10:28:24 AM
It's a shite game experience where you watch a badly written story and occasionally press X.

That is all.

This post is stupid.

St_Eddie


Mister Six

Loved the first season, which had some of the best character writing I've ever seen in a game. They were also lovely and dense, with each one feeling like a substantial chapter in the characters' lives and covering a good chunk of ground. And while you couldn't really change who lived and who died, the game was reactive in terms of how your behaviour changed the characters and circumstances along the journey. There were even some puzzles! And the caretaker-child dynamic with Clem was a brilliant way to instill even the smallest interactions with a sense of unease and conflict.

Then everyone with talent fucked off to write Firewatch and the second season was hacky shite with blatantly false "choices" that resisted the changes you attempted to make (rather than gracefully acknowledging them, then switching over to the writers' desired ending with some deft sleight-of-hand), flatly stereotypical characters who acted like morons at all times in order to contrive drama, and "episodes" that were hours shorter than those in the previous seasons - and felt like it.

Didn't bother with any Telltale stuff after that. Given the stories that have come out about them since, I'm rather glad.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Mister Six on March 31, 2019, 06:55:18 AM
There were even some puzzles!

You're really stretching the definition of "puzzles", there.

Harpo Speaks

Quote from: Mister Six on March 31, 2019, 06:55:18 AM
Loved the first season, which had some of the best character writing I've ever seen in a game. They were also lovely and dense, with each one feeling like a substantial chapter in the characters' lives and covering a good chunk of ground. And while you couldn't really change who lived and who died, the game was reactive in terms of how your behaviour changed the characters and circumstances along the journey. There were even some puzzles! And the caretaker-child dynamic with Clem was a brilliant way to instill even the smallest interactions with a sense of unease and conflict.

Indeed, even though there's always a substantial amount of artifice in these games when it comes down to the choices, the writing was emotionally engaging enough that I was drawn in to the point where I was agonising over decisions that in the long run have no real consequence whatsoever - choosing who in the camp should be given food rations for example. The decision mattered to me in the moment, which is testament to how effective the game is at making you invest in the characters and situation.

Mister Six

Quote from: Harpo Speaks on March 31, 2019, 08:31:48 PM
Indeed, even though there's always a substantial amount of artifice in these games when it comes down to the choices, the writing was emotionally engaging enough that I was drawn in to the point where I was agonising over decisions that in the long run have no real consequence whatsoever - choosing who in the camp should be given food rations for example. The decision mattered to me in the moment, which is testament to how effective the game is at making you invest in the characters and situation.

Right, which is why I found the complaints about false choices irritating - it's about the journey, not the destination, and the appeal of the game can't be measured in flowcharts and hard numbers.

Quote from: St_Eddie on March 31, 2019, 08:57:18 AM
You're really stretching the definition of "puzzles", there.

No, I'm not.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Mister Six on April 01, 2019, 04:55:54 PM
No, I'm not.

So every time that my radio runs out of batteries and I have to rootle through my utility drawer to find some replacement batteries and then put them in the radio, that's a real-life puzzle?  If a 'puzzle' can be solved by a 3 year old, then I don't consider it to be much of a puzzle.  The point being that the puzzles in The Walking Dead were beyond dumbed down.

Twed

I'm not sure if it was the first one, but I watched somebody try to play one of these and for some reason all they could do was kill a dog over and over and over and over again because they couldn't master some active time event. And then they just stopped playing.

Timothy

The first season was great. Good story, good puzzles and it seemed choices mattered.

Everything after that wasnt as good.

Mister Six

Quote from: St_Eddie on April 01, 2019, 05:24:56 PM
So every time that my radio runs out of batteries and I have to rootle through my utility drawer to find some replacement batteries and then put them in the radio, that's a real-life puzzle?  If a 'puzzle' can be solved by a 3 year old, then I don't consider it to be much of a puzzle.  The point being that the puzzles in The Walking Dead were beyond dumbed down.

No, there's a bit towards the end of the chapter where you have to use objects in a particular order and fashion to lure some zombies away from an area. There were another couple like that, although they were toned down to simple interactions with objects in fairly short order as the series leaned more into the interactions, which is what it excelled at anyway.

By the way, have you tried not taking such an aggravating tone all the time? For someone who's said they worry about how they're perceived on here, you don't seem to mind writing in a strident - honestly sometimes rather cunty - voice that's inevitably going to put people's backs up.

Mister Six

Quote from: Twed on April 01, 2019, 05:29:42 PM
I'm not sure if it was the first one, but I watched somebody try to play one of these and for some reason all they could do was kill a dog over and over and over and over again because they couldn't master some active time event. And then they just stopped playing.

Did the dog get impaled on a rake following an incident with a tin of beans? If so that's from the second "season", and an early indicator of the poor writing and frustrating railroading there; no matter what you do, the dog attacks, Clem defends herself and the mutt ends up skewered. You can choose afterwards to either put the dog out of its misery or just walk away, but it has absolutely no bearing on anything that follows.

Thursday


Spoon of Ploff

Quote from: Mister Six on April 01, 2019, 05:55:52 PM
Did the dog get impaled on a rake following an incident with a tin of beans? If so that's from the second "season", and an early indicator of the poor writing and frustrating railroading there; no matter what you do, the dog attacks, Clem defends herself and the mutt ends up skewered. You can choose afterwards to either put the dog out of its misery or just walk away, but it has absolutely no bearing on anything that follows.

Innuendo Studios (you know, the guy who does the Alt-Right Playbook videos) has an interesting take on Season 2 called "We Don't Talk About Kenny."

St_Eddie

#18
Quote from: Mister Six on April 01, 2019, 05:52:10 PM
By the way, have you tried not taking such an aggravating tone all the time? For someone who's said they worry about how they're perceived on here, you don't seem to mind writing in a strident - honestly sometimes rather cunty - voice that's inevitably going to put people's backs up.

Bit out of order there, mate.  I'm expressing my opinion.  I haven't insulted you.  Whereas, you just insulted me.  Yet somehow, I'm the nasty one?  Okay, gotcha.

I used the example of the radio batteries because that's an actual "puzzle" from the first season.  Since when has pointing out the overly simplistic puzzles in The Walking Dead been considered as an aggravating thing to do?  They don't exactly tax the synapses and it's a commonly held complaint among the adventure game community.  We live in a world where Portal was a huge hit.  It's patronising for developers to presume that gamers outside of the adventure game sphere are incapable of figuring out complex puzzles, which is why I resent Telltale for going down that route following the release of Back to the Future (and more to the point, Sam and Max season 3).

If you perceive my posts as being written in an "aggravating tone", then that's on you.  It's not the manner in which I express myself.  I'm direct and outspoken.  I'll grant you that but I don't think that's a bad thing and as such I don't feel the need to apologise for being so.  I don't feel it necessary to constantly type "in my opinion" because unless I state something as fact, then it should be implied as being my own personal opinion.

Timothy

TWD was not a classic adventure game imo. It was more a choose your own adventure with some puzzles and QTE's. Its more a FMV style game then a game in the classic adventure genre.

But there were definitely some puzzles.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Timothy on April 01, 2019, 06:54:26 PM
TWD was not a classic adventure game imo. It was more a choose your own adventure with some puzzles and QTE's. Its more a FMV style game then a game in the classic adventure genre.

But there were definitely some puzzles.

Technically, yes.  Pretty darn pathetic puzzles though... in my opinion.

Twed

Quote from: Mister Six on April 01, 2019, 05:55:52 PM
Did the dog get impaled on a rake following an incident with a tin of beans? If so that's from the second "season", and an early indicator of the poor writing and frustrating railroading there; no matter what you do, the dog attacks, Clem defends herself and the mutt ends up skewered. You can choose afterwards to either put the dog out of its misery or just walk away, but it has absolutely no bearing on anything that follows.
A skewered dog does sound very familiar. I think it was outside in campfire-type setting, so the beans would make sense.

(Oh wait, all of The Walking Dead is one big campfire scene anyway)

Spoon of Ploff

Quote from: St_Eddie on April 01, 2019, 06:46:57 PM
Bit out of order there, mate.  I'm expressing my opinion.  I haven't insulted you.  Whereas, you just insulted me.  Yet somehow, I'm the nasty one?  Okay, gotcha.

I used the example of the radio batteries because that's an actual "puzzle" from the first season.  Since when has pointing out the overly simplistic "puzzles" in The Walking Dead been considered as an aggravating thing to do?  They don't exactly tax the synapses and it's a commonly held complaint among the adventure game community.

I always thought the batteries 'puzzle' was just a joke (and not a very good one) with an.. can we call it NPC character who can't tell the radio doesn't have any batteries in it, and then when given some puts them in the wrong way round. It's not as if this needs to be completed to continue the game.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Spoon of Ploff on April 01, 2019, 06:58:34 PM
I always thought the batteries 'puzzle' was just a joke (and not a very good one) with an.. can we call it NPC character who can't tell the radio doesn't have any batteries in it, and then when given some puts them in the wrong way round. It's not as if this needs to be completed to continue the game.

Does it not need to be completed in order to continue the game?  I honestly can't remember at this point, as I haven't played it since its initial release.  In a way, that's even worse; almost as though Telltale were afraid that people might not even be able to even solve that "puzzle" and so made it optional.  I really don't think that they had any faith in people's ability to use their brain (something supported by interviews with the developers from around the time, incidentally).  Not having faith in your audience's intelligence is a big no-no from me, whatever the medium.

Once I'd completed the first season of The Walking Dead, that was the point where I gave up on Telltale and I say that as someone who was with them from day one (Bone) and a mainstay on their forum.  They effectively abandoned all those who had supported them from the beginning in an attempt to go after the casual gamer crowd.  A rather said turn of events considering that the entire reason that the company was setup in the first place was because Lucasarts turned their back on the traditional adventure game audience, due to claims of "market place realities" (for those who don't know, Telltale was founded by disgruntled ex-Lucasarts employees with a passion for adventure games).

Timothy

Telltale's Sam and Max and Monkey Island games (and Strong Bad) were quite fun but I always thought TWD was their best game. Better then the aformentioned games and better then Bone and Hector. Really strong script.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Timothy on April 01, 2019, 07:14:03 PM
Telltale's Sam and Max and Monkey Island games (and Strong Bad) were quite fun but I always thought TWD was their best game. Better then the aformentioned games and better then Bone and Hector. Really strong script.

I was always somewhat underwhelmed by their games but I was just glad that they were making adventure games during a period when virtually nobody else was.  I had a lot of goodwill towards them and I did feel as though they were improving with each subsequent release, up until Back to the Future.  That was the point where a large number of their forum users (myself included) noticed that something was off.  The Walking Dead was the confirmation.  The first season of that game was when Telltale Games died for myself.  The actual closing, years later was merely a formality.

Timothy

Weird to read that! I have the opposite opinion. always enjoyed their games but when TWD was released I remember thinking they finally found their form. Still think season 1 is a masterpiece in interactive storytelling.

Spoon of Ploff

Quote from: St_Eddie on April 01, 2019, 07:04:14 PM
Does it not need to be completed in order to continue the game?  I honestly can't remember at this point, as I haven't played it since its initial release.  In a way, that's even worse; almost as though Telltale were afraid that people might not even be able to even solve that "puzzle" and so made it optional...

the radio was just a 'side quest' if you will. the main thing was working out how to keep the zombies outside distracted while you sneaky peeked over to a corpse to extract some keys... but yeah.. only puzzle games i ever played were from years back - the Broken Sword and Tex Murphy series. Oh, and an escape room up in Worcester back in 2017... which was shite.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Timothy on April 01, 2019, 07:30:42 PM
Weird to read that! I have the opposite opinion. always enjoyed their games but when TWD was released I remember thinking they finally found their form. Still think season 1 is a masterpiece in interactive storytelling.

To be fair, you're far from alone in finding that to be the case.

Quote from: Spoon of Ploff on April 01, 2019, 07:32:01 PM
but yeah.. only puzzle games i ever played were from years back - the Broken Sword and Tex Murphy series.

Not a bad couple of series to have played for someone with limited experience of the genre, it must be said.  They're generally held up as classics (and rightfully so).

Rev+

Quote from: St_Eddie on April 01, 2019, 07:04:14 PM
They effectively abandoned all those who had supported them from the beginning in an attempt to go after the casual gamer crowd.

Git gud at a point-and-click.