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Telltale's The Walking Dead - Story Discussion (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Trigger

Member
Yeah that's what I thought as well.

I haven't seen it, but earlier in thread it was mentioned that not bringing Clem and failing the prompt can lead to Molly's fate being left up in the air during the zombie horde stuff at Crawford. I assumed she bites the dust, but there's no body in that case so I suppose it's possible that she still lives.

I think he means its not an attempted abortion, because that's not how pregnancy works. It's fairly clear that its showing she has mixed feelings on her condition.

Edit: Molly can die and Kenny can live? What happens in those cases?

I think in the end Kenny was a really good character, even though he's really annoying in a lot of situations. He's probably not too far off from what a lot of otherwise capable people would be like under that kind of pressure.

Someone said earlier that Kenny doesn't perform his heroic sacrifice if he doesn't come with Lee at all. Maybe he was wrong.
 

TTG

Member
Yea, the brilliantly mapped controls on the ps3 version meant that Clem had to take the shot, inside the school at Crawford, as I fumbled around. It's right after Molly goes all Assassin's Creed on the zombies.
 

Carlisle

Member
He brings it up when you cross the sign.
Out if nowhere I might add. Sure it's obvious but Omar didn't know
He says you're walking for two, which I took to mean that Omid had a bad leg and needed Christa's help getting around. All the pregnancy allusions are pretty vague. I came away with the impression that she was pregnant after all, though.
 

Burli

Pringo
This actually works so well for the story, because unlike nearly every other story game out there, Lee actually stays human. He does not gain the power to overcome his ordeal (become Rambo).

I dunno, he seemed to 'power-up' pretty massively after losing his arm, jumping from a tower and hanging onto a ledge and fighting his way through hundreds of zombies getting to the hotel, I remember thinking "man, this guy is Rambo".

Loved the game on my first play-through, REALLY did. Episode 2 was fantastic, as they all were really. I was however disappointed with many aspects, but my enjoyment greatly outweighed that.

I would've liked to see more scenes such as the sneak and kill mission at the motel, it felt like a nice balance between puzzles and action, something lacking from the rest of the season. After that point it essentially became a 'Simple Puzzle, Action, Simple Puzzle' formula.

My mine gripe with the game came with the start of my second play-through. Telltale did an absolutely brilliant job of delivering an intelligent and mature story, something woefully lacking from games and one of the biggest issues with the medium, however I feel let down by being fed the illusion of choice. I know people are saying 'it's not the control that matters, it's the experience' but the experience feels cheapened greatly when you realise your choices made little to no difference beyond effecting people's moods, not their fates. It's a huge missed opportunity, and I remember when playing the game the first time I was finding myself excited considering the different timelines I was creating, without realising that actually, the story was completely linear.

Still, a very strong game and a shining light in a heavily dumbed-down mass market.
 

TTG

Member
About how much consequence your choices have on the way things unfold, I feel like if the game has you weighing out options frantically or generally has you engaged at the moment when the decision is made, they've done their job.

I am, obviously, grading on a curve here. If the next Fallout went with smoke and mirrors like this instead of their usual stuff for side quests, I'd be pissed. But this is a different animal.
 

Trigger

Member
I dunno, he seemed to 'power-up' pretty massively after losing his arm, jumping from a tower and hanging onto a ledge and fighting his way through hundreds of zombies getting to the hotel, I remember thinking "man, this guy is Rambo".

Loved the game on my first play-through, REALLY did. Episode 2 was fantastic, as they all were really. I was however disappointed with many aspects, but my enjoyment greatly outweighed that.

I would've liked to see more scenes such as the sneak and kill mission at the motel, it felt like a nice balance between puzzles and action, something lacking from the rest of the season. After that point it essentially became a 'Simple Puzzle, Action, Simple Puzzle' formula.

My mine gripe with the game came with the start of my second play-through. Telltale did an absolutely brilliant job of delivering an intelligent and mature story, something woefully lacking from games and one of the biggest issues with the medium, however I feel let down by being fed the illusion of choice. I know people are saying 'it's not the control that matters, it's the experience' but the experience feels cheapened greatly when you realise your choices made little to no difference beyond effecting people's moods, not their fates. It's a huge missed opportunity, and I remember when playing the game the first time I was finding myself excited considering the different timelines I was creating, without realising that actually, the story was completely linear.

Still, a very strong game and a shining light in a heavily dumbed-down mass market.

A bit true to life in that area, lol. People can do crazy stuff when they're child is in danger.
 

Fezzan

Unconfirmed Member
I dunno, he seemed to 'power-up' pretty massively after losing his arm, jumping from a tower and hanging onto a ledge and fighting his way through hundreds of zombies getting to the hotel, I remember thinking "man, this guy is Rambo".

Loved the game on my first play-through, REALLY did. Episode 2 was fantastic, as they all were really. I was however disappointed with many aspects, but my enjoyment greatly outweighed that.

I would've liked to see more scenes such as the sneak and kill mission at the motel, it felt like a nice balance between puzzles and action, something lacking from the rest of the season. After that point it essentially became a 'Simple Puzzle, Action, Simple Puzzle' formula.

My mine gripe with the game came with the start of my second play-through. Telltale did an absolutely brilliant job of delivering an intelligent and mature story, something woefully lacking from games and one of the biggest issues with the medium, however I feel let down by being fed the illusion of choice. I know people are saying 'it's not the control that matters, it's the experience' but the experience feels cheapened greatly when you realise your choices made little to no difference beyond effecting people's moods, not their fates. It's a huge missed opportunity, and I remember when playing the game the first time I was finding myself excited considering the different timelines I was creating, without realising that actually, the story was completely linear.

Still, a very strong game and a shining light in a heavily dumbed-down mass market.

Telltale wasn't going to make it that much of a big choice.
Sp he can do the exact same stuff with just one arm, just don't ask how.
 

DatDude

Banned
Did anyone else get this addiction while playing TWD?

Like for me, after episode 2 I constantly wanted to play/know "what's next".

I tried to purposely pace myself with 1 episode a day. I have got to say when I finished Episode 5 it felt like finishing the season of your favorite TV show on Netflix, was so bummed out.

I felt like, what am I gonna do now with my free time? lol
 

Fezzan

Unconfirmed Member
Did anyone else get this addiction while playing TWD?

Like for me, after episode 2 I constantly wanted to play/know "what's next".

I tried to purposely pace myself with 1 episode a day. I have got to say when I finished Episode 5 it felt like finishing the season of your favorite TV show on Netflix, was so bummed out.

I felt like, what am I gonna do now with my free time? lol

After I finished the season I watched all of the walking dead TV show up to this point.
 

mrkgoo

Member
See I see the game as rather a pick-a-path style branching story, more of an interactive tv show where you can choose the dialogue.

It really helps you get immersed. Even aside from the ability to choose what the hero says (ever screamed at a TV over the dumb things characters did? You can change that! To an extent), the reason why telltale has made the game hit the right buttons is because they allow YOU to hit the right buttons for yourself.

Why does the game feel so poignant? It's because you chose what actually felt most emotional and meaningful. That last line you gave clem? I'll miss you. Don't be afraid. Whatever it was, it was you who picked it. THAT's why it seems so powerful. You picked what was most powerful to you.

(Incidentally I thought a moving choice for your final words with clem could've been "Happy birthday."
 

Taruranto

Member
Finished it today. So many feels. Clem's VA really did an excellent job in the ending scene.


Dunno why so many people are disappointed by the choices, i thought they did a decent considering the game is fully voiced and they are not a huge company. Characters mentioning conversations we had 2 or even 4 episodes ago felt pretty good. The comparison with 999 is also unfair imo, the game is not voiced and it's pretty much scripted to the beginning to the end. The game doesn't change by how you play.
 

Trigger

Member
Did anyone else get this addiction while playing TWD?

Like for me, after episode 2 I constantly wanted to play/know "what's next".

I tried to purposely pace myself with 1 episode a day. I have got to say when I finished Episode 5 it felt like finishing the season of your favorite TV show on Netflix, was so bummed out.

I felt like, what am I gonna do now with my free time? lol

Imagine how it felt to play as they were released. Every month's wait was unbearable.
 

RionaaM

Unconfirmed Member
Did anyone else get this addiction while playing TWD?

Like for me, after episode 2 I constantly wanted to play/know "what's next".

I tried to purposely pace myself with 1 episode a day. I have got to say when I finished Episode 5 it felt like finishing the season of your favorite TV show on Netflix, was so bummed out.

I felt like, what am I gonna do now with my free time? lol
I played the whole season in one night, so I didn't experience that addiction, or constant thoughts about the game.

Now I want to watch the show, or read the comics. Or maybe both.
 

Fezzan

Unconfirmed Member
I played the whole season in one night, so I didn't experience that addiction, or constant thoughts about the game.

Now I want to watch the show, or read the comics. Or maybe both.

The TV show doesn't get good until season 3, just FYI
 

Fezzan

Unconfirmed Member
lol, it's the only thing I'm dreading about a season 2. I hope the episodes are a little longer this go around.

I hope they deliver on the promise they made with Season 1, put them out every month.
They really failed at that in Season 1, bit off more than they could chew it seems.
 

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
I tried to purposely pace myself with 1 episode a day.

yeah, i really like playing episodic games in an episodic format. i think it adds a lot to the experience.

besides, the game is so relentlessly depressing i couldn't play it straight through if i tried.
 

Trigger

Member
I hope they deliver on the promise they made with Season 1, put them out every month.
They really failed at that in Season 1, bit off more than they could chew it seems.

Yeah, I hope they'll be better prepared given how well the first season did.
 
Just finished it and I gotta say: feels bad man. I started with iOS ep1 then played it straight through in past few weeks on PS3. I really liked the game, even if some of the actions didn't matter at the end, they mattered at that second and friggin' always made anxious no matter easy the choice was. I didn't play that many new games in 2012, but Walking Dead is still my GOTY there.
 

AniHawk

Member
Dunno why so many people are disappointed by the choices, i thought they did a decent considering the game is fully voiced and they are not a huge company.

that's why i always say i feel bad to dump on them. i do like telltale, but that doesn't excuse poor game design.

Characters mentioning conversations we had 2 or even 4 episodes ago felt pretty good. The comparison with 999 is also unfair imo, the game is not voiced and it's pretty much scripted to the beginning to the end. The game doesn't change by how you play.

well there are different paths that result in different character interactions and different endings depending on how you played. 999 is much more linear than it lets on, but its strength in it storytelling isn't just that your choices matter in the long run, but how it plays with expectations in video games, and how multiple endings and hardware usually factor into things. the way the story is designed into the game is the thing to take away from 999. the walking dead never approaches that level of care.
 

SteeloDMZ

Banned
One of my favorite parts in this season was in episode 2 when you are at the farm, trying to make the dude come out of the barn and the sky gets stormy. Dat foreboding atmosphere.
 

kenta

Has no PEINS
Finished this game last night and man, super mehgaton for me.

Can't think of a single aspect of the game that impressed me. The technical issues are just all up in your face, extremely distracting for a game that wants to focus so much on the story. And the story was, uh, shallow? Didn't feel any connection at all to the characters. Even as Lee was dying at the end I just didn't care. Clementine wasn't developed or acted very well, she just sounded like a 20 or 30 year old trying to sound childish. I kept waiting for some magical moment to make me care and it just never came. Actually, I liked the hobo, Chuck. He was a great guy and I frowned when I found him.

But the choices they presented just started to feel so hollow, after a while I knew that my choices just didn't make that much of a difference and that certain things would happen regardless of what I chose. And what tipped me off to that was the "Previously on The Walking Dead" intros that would glitch out and show me things that *would* have happened if I'd made different choices, but things ended up the same. So, I played the game once but thanks to the glitching I saw multiple choice-fallouts and the end result was the same. So... What's the point? Also by the end I'd get super annoyed at how the choices presented didn't do an adequate job of conveying what Lee would actually say or do. They'd want me to make a difficult choice and I came to feel like any of the choices were unreliable because I couldn't trust Lee to say/do what I think he'd do, nor could I trust the blurb to be accurate. I did appreciate that they started labeling choices as [LIE], though.

Really disappointed. At least I got a free platinum out of it, I guess
 

Aggrotek

Member
Holy shit. Just finished it, and I absolutely loved it. Was definitely tearing up at the end. The attachment to these characters is the deepest I have seen in a long time.
 

mrkgoo

Member
Finished this game last night and man, super mehgaton for me.

Can't think of a single aspect of the game that impressed me. The technical issues are just all up in your face, extremely distracting for a game that wants to focus so much on the story. And the story was, uh, shallow? Didn't feel any connection at all to the characters. Even as Lee was dying at the end I just didn't care. Clementine wasn't developed or acted very well, she just sounded like a 20 or 30 year old trying to sound childish. I kept waiting for some magical moment to make me care and it just never came. Actually, I liked the hobo, Chuck. He was a great guy and I frowned when I found him.

But the choices they presented just started to feel so hollow, after a while I knew that my choices just didn't make that much of a difference and that certain things would happen regardless of what I chose. And what tipped me off to that was the "Previously on The Walking Dead" intros that would glitch out and show me things that *would* have happened if I'd made different choices, but things ended up the same. So, I played the game once but thanks to the glitching I saw multiple choice-fallouts and the end result was the same. So... What's the point? Also by the end I'd get super annoyed at how the choices presented didn't do an adequate job of conveying what Lee would actually say or do. They'd want me to make a difficult choice and I came to feel like any of the choices were unreliable because I couldn't trust Lee to say/do what I think he'd do, nor could I trust the blurb to be accurate. I did appreciate that they started labeling choices as [LIE], though.

Really disappointed. At least I got a free platinum out of it, I guess

I treated the game like a TV show, but one where you got to alter the dialogue somewhat. I considered being presented with the choices as meaningful for me in a 'what kind of person am I?' kind of thing as opposed to an action-consequence series of events.

I got invested and enjoyed the game immensely.
 

Tookay

Member
Finished it over a weekend.

The whole thing peaks around the end of the second episode... or arguably the midway point of the third. The scenario in the farm gets to a sinister place with human conflicts (which is much more narratively interesting than the zombie ones). And then the game jettisons Carley/Doug and Lilly and loses all momentum. Something happens where the limitations of your choices begin to crack through and the new characters aren't as compelling as the previous ones.

Part of that just comes from the fact that the season blew its load too soon. You can only "shock" me so much with cast members dying left and right until I just start to become cynical, realize I'm being manipulated, and not care anymore because it feels like the game is just being needlessly cruel. Maybe this is part of the source material's appeal, but there needs to be rays of hope or moments of happiness to punctuate the darkness, or it just starts to feel senseless.

Additionally, I also feel like the narrative also starts to go off the rails in terms of believability and intriguing scenarios around the third episode as well. The train stuff is silly, but Krista and Omid are boring characters who don't really make up for the people we lost. The fourth episode feels pretty listless until the proposed Crawford confrontation, which promises a three-way fight between Lee's group, a bunch of elitist pricks, and zombies, but turns out to be a red herring. Instead of copping out with a boring zombie scenario, we could have had some bartering, threatening, or negotating, and even a brawl with the Crawford folks - y'know, human drama - but nope. Also the ninja girl is pretty preposterous and really damages the credibility of the setting, but whatever.

What really lost me was the fifth episode. The stranger's motivations was so contrived that my eyes rolled to the back of my head and remained there for the rest of the ending. The guy goes through this elaborate plot... for... that reason? Ugh. Wasn't too happy with the direction they went with the boat and Kenny, either; after that being the focal point for four episodes, a bunch of elderly cancer patients grab it, disappear, and then Kenny dies pretty pointlessly. That's it?

You'll notice that I haven't spoken about the gameplay. That's because there isn't much to say. The puzzles are so basic the game might as well toss them completely, unless Telltale's going to bother to make them better/more complex/more intuitive. The illusion of choice represents the other half of the gameplay problems: I get why this is an episodic series, yet I can't help but wonder if the need to account for a bunch of potentially different stories over five episodes is a burden. Maybe there could be some one-offs that allow you to really branch out? That way they're not tied down by continuity....

As for Lee and Clem's relationship... it was well done. First child character in a while who wasn't super annoying (even during the requisite part where she got kidnapped). But I won't say I was super emotionally affected by their parting either.

I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm just going in a different direction than most of GAF when it comes to this stuff.
 

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
The shadowy figures after there credits are Christa and Ohmid right?? In really want them to be, anyway.... I liked them. Hope they are in season two!
 

AniHawk

Member
The shadowy figures after there credits are Christa and Ohmid right?? In really want them to be, anyway.... I liked them. Hope they are in season two!

why would clementine look worried when she realized what she was looking at if it was them?

and tookay: don't worry, you're not the only one to think about this thing the way you did.
 

Tookay

Member
and tookay: don't worry, you're not the only one to think about this thing the way you did.

Yeah, I read through your comments a couple pages back and was tempted to just quote your big block of text to Jake and just add "."

But then I figured I should share my own frustrations with the direction of the game.

I honestly think that maybe if this season had been an episode or two, I probably wouldn't have noticed the man behind the curtain as much as I did toward the end. It just totally peters out and left me unsatisfied.
 

Wazzy

Banned
I hope it's two new characters. I'm probably in the minority for this but I don't want to see a grown up badass Clementine in season 2. The dynamic of her and Lee was the best part of the game and I would like to see how new characters handle a child that's been through what she has.

I would even love another Lee type relationship developed with her but with a woman instead.
 

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
They were far off in the distance, she was nervous because who wouldn't be after what she went thru? Besides what was the point in all of the options to have Christa taken care of her and to meet out in then fields if it weren't? :(
 

Fezzan

Unconfirmed Member
I hope it's two new characters. I'm probably in the minority for this but I don't want to see a grown up badass Clementine in season 2. The dynamic of her and Lee was the best part of the game and I would like to see how new characters handle a child that's been through what she has.

I would even love another Lee type relationship developed with her but with a woman instead.

Yeah maybe they will die at the end too!

Come on, the same story for the second season? They should try something new.
 

linko9

Member
Finished the game a few days ago. I mostly share the opinions of kenta and Tookay, etc.

The game is a choose-your-own adventure book, but without the actual different outcomes. Perhaps it's well done for what it is, but choose-you-own adventure books are never very good. Also, this is rarely the case, but this is a game where the graphics needed to be much better. It lives or dies on whether it's a believable experience, and the whole thing looking so ugly/glitchy/robotic just makes it really difficult to conceive of the characters as real people, or the locations as real locations.

The game isn't bad, and it did compel me to want to keep playing, but I never really enjoyed it much at any point. The game actually felt really, really restrictive in terms of choice. Ironically, you have much, much more choice in most other games that don't tout "choice" as one of their selling points.
 

spekkeh

Banned
Yeah, I read through your comments a couple pages back and was tempted to just quote your big block of text to Jake and just add "."

But then I figured I should share my own frustrations with the direction of the game.

I honestly think that maybe if this season had been an episode or two, I probably wouldn't have noticed the man behind the curtain as much as I did toward the end. It just totally peters out and left me unsatisfied.

I agree with nearly all of your criticism. But while Omid and Christa weren't nearly as interesting as the previous characters, I thought the game, atmosphere and writing were still great, or maybe by that point I was engaged too much to care for the game starting to creak. If it was just the last two and a half episode, I wouldn't have liked it nearly as much.
 
Are there any older threads for discussions of individual episodes? Just on ep4 now and wanna see what people thought of ep3, specifically. Have to say, Kenny is kinda pissing me off now.
 

Trigger

Member
Are there any older threads for discussions of individual episodes? Just on ep4 now and wanna see what people thought of ep3, specifically. Have to say, Kenny is kinda pissing me off now.

No, not really. You're better off beating the game first and then rereading the thread. lol, in hindsight it's funny to see certain complaints after beating the first season.
 
Finally got the time to sit down and play it giving it the attention it deserves. Yeah it was more of an interactive story than a "game" and your choices were more of an illusion than a meaningful impact on the narrative but Clem....how can you not feel for that girl? A great experience and I will be there for season two.
 

Dreaver

Member
Just finished it! Such a refreshing experience and a lot of fun (especially the characters were well done). First few minutes were a bit meh, but it soon turned good! Episode 3 was the most boring (but still pretty good) and 2 & 4 the best. I loved the relation between Clem and Lee.

The ending was pretty wicked as well, loved the connection to the car in e2 (I stole the food!). I already recognized the car, but I thought it would be a recycled model most likely, but I was wrong!

Can't wait for season 2!

I also would love a survival RPG in The Walking Dead universe for the Xbox... Make it big with sparse ammo and make it "hard" to survive, I'd love that!
 

Nert

Member
Just finished it! Such a refreshing experience and a lot of fun (especially the characters were well done). First few minutes were a bit meh, but it soon turned good! Episode 3 was the most boring (but still pretty good) and 2 & 4 the best. I loved the relation between Clem and Lee.

The ending was pretty wicked as well, loved the connection to the car in e2 (I stole the food!). I already recognized the car, but I thought it would be a recycled model most likely, but I was wrong!

Can't wait for season 2!

I also would love a survival RPG in The Walking Dead universe for the Xbox... Make it big with sparse ammo and make it "hard" to survive, I'd love that!

You might be interested in Lone Survivor. It's very exploration heavy and your toolset (including ammo) is deliberately limited. It's not really an RPG in the traditional sense, but you do build up an inventory and (sort of) become more powerful/capable over time.
 

Trigger

Member
Just finished it! Such a refreshing experience and a lot of fun (especially the characters were well done). First few minutes were a bit meh, but it soon turned good! Episode 3 was the most boring (but still pretty good) and 2 & 4 the best. I loved the relation between Clem and Lee.

The ending was pretty wicked as well, loved the connection to the car in e2 (I stole the food!). I already recognized the car, but I thought it would be a recycled model most likely, but I was wrong!

Can't wait for season 2!

I also would love a survival RPG in The Walking Dead universe for the Xbox... Make it big with sparse ammo and make it "hard" to survive, I'd love that!

Me too. There's a pc game called Dead State in development that has a similar concept.
 

Dreaver

Member
You might be interested in Lone Survivor. It's very exploration heavy and your toolset (including ammo) is deliberately limited. It's not really an RPG in the traditional sense, but you do build up an inventory and (sort of) become more powerful/capable over time.
Me too. There's a pc game called Dead State in development that has a similar concept.
Thanks, I'm not really interested in pc games though, but I'll keep them in mind! I am really interested in The Last of Us as well, as it looks like Uncharted x The Walking Dead.
 

katkombat

Banned
So I just replayed this game and is it odd that I only teared up the first time but cried the second? Now I have never cried at any form of media like this before (movies, games, etc.), and I did the second time I saw the ending. I didn't bawl, no, I just had like a tear or two run down my face...my girlfriend cried too at least!
 
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