UNMARKED SPOILERS RUN NOW
I went into this game pretty blind. I knew it was based off Fables, a comic I've never read, and that someone, possibly you, were a wolf among other people. After Walking Dead, Telltale's stock was pretty high, and I thought it was a bit strange that they would follow up their biggest success with something fairly obscure. I basically ignored this game until the last Steam sale, where I bought it for six bucks.
I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised, and I think this game is better than Walking Dead S1 in many ways. Partly because my save didn't get corrupted!
The game is a carbon copy of TWD's format in many ways. You have the same "so and so will remember that" pop ups that mean nothing (Telltale basically admits this with a few joke ones), dialogue choices, cel-shaded art style, QTEs, and baby's first point and click adventuring. There are some noticeable changes. For one, the action scenes are far more elaborate. The action consists of fight scenes where you pummel your enemy with everything in the room, and Shenmue-esque running sequences. They are not very difficult, but certainly more VISCERAL than the zombie-choppin' in TWD. The "click on stuff" sections are even more streamlined, which may disappoint pixel hunters.
But no one plays Telltale's episode adventures for the "gameplay." It's all about the story and presentation, which The Wolf Among Us pulls off perfectly. It's a modern noir tale with a Jack Kirby color palette. The game manages a nice balance between bland environments and then cranking up the surreal dial to give us some striking locals and scenery. The electronic ambiance music is memorable and helps establish the setting (I assume this game takes place in the 80s?).
The story is fairly simple at first. It's a murder mystery with a fantasy twist. All the characters are from fairy tales, but now live depressing lives. Kings and queens are broke and live in crummy apartments. I thought part of the fun was trying to figure out who some of them were. Yeah, Beauty and Beast are pretty obvious, but I had no idea who Gren was supposed to be until you had the choice to rip off his arm, WHICH I DID.
You are the cleverly named BIGBY WOLF, AKA the big bad wolf. Everyone hates you due to your history, but really was the wolf so terrible? Yeah he ate two pigs, tried to eat Red Riding Hood, and I guess he ate that boy who cried wolf but he was starting shit. I dunno, I felt like everyone gave Wolf such a hard time when other characters had a far worse rap sheet. Hell Bluebeard MURDERED HIS WIVES (I love that Lee's VA was this character). It's hard to top Lee as a protagonist, but I felt they did a good job making Bigby interesting and complex. He is your prototypical noir detective, haggard as hell, down on his luck, and head over heels for a girl he can never get. I played him as a nice guy most of the time, but I did throw my wolf weight around every now and then.
The game had interesting characters and a good murder mystery story. There were a lot of elements and "rules" to the universe that kept coming into play. I kinda felt the big reveal about who actually did it and why was somewhat underwhelming after they hyped up "THIS IS BIGGER THAN FABLETOWN", but I think the overarching story about how neglected many people in this community feel was very well done. The game is less of a whodunnit and more of a look at how corruption and negligence can have a negative effect on real people, and how others take advantage of it. In the end, you have a feeling that things are better by default, but you can still see rampant problems and issues that need to be handled.
I felt the decisions had a bit more weight than in TWD and were much more grey. When you rip Grendel's arm off, you see the evidence throughout the entire game. If you save Lawrence, he does appear several more times even though his role is fairly minor. In the final chapter, which is a similar "This is Your Life" spiel about all your choices, I felt the trial was a far more interesting way to showcase your actions than how TWD handled it. Even though you probably can't lose the trial, there was a real sense that maybe Crooked Man could get away. I also kind of wondered if you could just kill the Crooked Man in the Metal Works factory. Recently I also played 80 Days, a title where you can see major consequences of your actions. Telltale's choices are pedestrian by comparison, certainly due to the effort it would take to make really different branching stories. TWAU made them more apparent, but I feel like they could take it even further.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game and I am clamoring for a second season. I'm also interested in reading the comic now. Does it follow Bigby? I want more Bigby.
Major choices:
Went to Lawrence's apartment first
Didn't kill one of the Tweedles (trust me, I wanted to)
Ended Georgie's suffering
Threw Crooked Man's ass down the Witching Well
Burned that tree (somewhat regret it)
Went to the bar then the pawn shop, didn't get to go to Crane's apartment
Gave Toad money for the glamor (which did nothing)
Ripped off Gren's arm (awesome)
[Smoke]
Also... what's up with the ending? Is it implying that Nerissa was glamored as Faith at the very beginning? Or was Faith glamored as Nerissa the whole time and Nerissa was really the one who died? I WENT AFTER HER BUT IT ENDED.
I went into this game pretty blind. I knew it was based off Fables, a comic I've never read, and that someone, possibly you, were a wolf among other people. After Walking Dead, Telltale's stock was pretty high, and I thought it was a bit strange that they would follow up their biggest success with something fairly obscure. I basically ignored this game until the last Steam sale, where I bought it for six bucks.
I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised, and I think this game is better than Walking Dead S1 in many ways. Partly because my save didn't get corrupted!
The game is a carbon copy of TWD's format in many ways. You have the same "so and so will remember that" pop ups that mean nothing (Telltale basically admits this with a few joke ones), dialogue choices, cel-shaded art style, QTEs, and baby's first point and click adventuring. There are some noticeable changes. For one, the action scenes are far more elaborate. The action consists of fight scenes where you pummel your enemy with everything in the room, and Shenmue-esque running sequences. They are not very difficult, but certainly more VISCERAL than the zombie-choppin' in TWD. The "click on stuff" sections are even more streamlined, which may disappoint pixel hunters.
But no one plays Telltale's episode adventures for the "gameplay." It's all about the story and presentation, which The Wolf Among Us pulls off perfectly. It's a modern noir tale with a Jack Kirby color palette. The game manages a nice balance between bland environments and then cranking up the surreal dial to give us some striking locals and scenery. The electronic ambiance music is memorable and helps establish the setting (I assume this game takes place in the 80s?).
The story is fairly simple at first. It's a murder mystery with a fantasy twist. All the characters are from fairy tales, but now live depressing lives. Kings and queens are broke and live in crummy apartments. I thought part of the fun was trying to figure out who some of them were. Yeah, Beauty and Beast are pretty obvious, but I had no idea who Gren was supposed to be until you had the choice to rip off his arm, WHICH I DID.
You are the cleverly named BIGBY WOLF, AKA the big bad wolf. Everyone hates you due to your history, but really was the wolf so terrible? Yeah he ate two pigs, tried to eat Red Riding Hood, and I guess he ate that boy who cried wolf but he was starting shit. I dunno, I felt like everyone gave Wolf such a hard time when other characters had a far worse rap sheet. Hell Bluebeard MURDERED HIS WIVES (I love that Lee's VA was this character). It's hard to top Lee as a protagonist, but I felt they did a good job making Bigby interesting and complex. He is your prototypical noir detective, haggard as hell, down on his luck, and head over heels for a girl he can never get. I played him as a nice guy most of the time, but I did throw my wolf weight around every now and then.
The game had interesting characters and a good murder mystery story. There were a lot of elements and "rules" to the universe that kept coming into play. I kinda felt the big reveal about who actually did it and why was somewhat underwhelming after they hyped up "THIS IS BIGGER THAN FABLETOWN", but I think the overarching story about how neglected many people in this community feel was very well done. The game is less of a whodunnit and more of a look at how corruption and negligence can have a negative effect on real people, and how others take advantage of it. In the end, you have a feeling that things are better by default, but you can still see rampant problems and issues that need to be handled.
I felt the decisions had a bit more weight than in TWD and were much more grey. When you rip Grendel's arm off, you see the evidence throughout the entire game. If you save Lawrence, he does appear several more times even though his role is fairly minor. In the final chapter, which is a similar "This is Your Life" spiel about all your choices, I felt the trial was a far more interesting way to showcase your actions than how TWD handled it. Even though you probably can't lose the trial, there was a real sense that maybe Crooked Man could get away. I also kind of wondered if you could just kill the Crooked Man in the Metal Works factory. Recently I also played 80 Days, a title where you can see major consequences of your actions. Telltale's choices are pedestrian by comparison, certainly due to the effort it would take to make really different branching stories. TWAU made them more apparent, but I feel like they could take it even further.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game and I am clamoring for a second season. I'm also interested in reading the comic now. Does it follow Bigby? I want more Bigby.
Major choices:
Went to Lawrence's apartment first
Didn't kill one of the Tweedles (trust me, I wanted to)
Ended Georgie's suffering
Threw Crooked Man's ass down the Witching Well
Burned that tree (somewhat regret it)
Went to the bar then the pawn shop, didn't get to go to Crane's apartment
Gave Toad money for the glamor (which did nothing)
Ripped off Gren's arm (awesome)
[Smoke]
Also... what's up with the ending? Is it implying that Nerissa was glamored as Faith at the very beginning? Or was Faith glamored as Nerissa the whole time and Nerissa was really the one who died? I WENT AFTER HER BUT IT ENDED.
