Telltale, there's something weird going on here
Okay, yes, I liked Season 2 and as you can tell...Yeah I like Season 3!
But hold on, I will admit there is something very...odd going on here? Like, Telltale...What happened? You gave us all so much hope that you had learned from Season 2's mistakes and were gonna build on them, the teaser was interesting, the trailer, key art, all of it seemed to make for a more interesting story and so far it's...eh? I mean, it's good, don't get me wrong. But the quality seems to ping pong between Season 1, Season 2, and sometimes even worse.
Let's get right ahead. Episode 1, opens up spectacularly, strongly written, well directed, the sounds even sound just much better and authentic, I hear the panic in people's voice, I feel every heart racing moment and the complexity of the situation and family dynamic building up. We start off four years later (surprisingly having lost nobody but that's okay), the cast is unique, they feel real, siphoning gas and looking for supplies.
The moment we meet Clementine is when things seem to go downhill (I know right?) Okay so you mean to tell me over two years she has learned to drive (which I guess is fair given what happened at the end of Season 2), and also chopped down a tree to get a truck. The Clementine I know, wouldn't do that. Clementine is always someone who has been passive, who makes sure to get herself out of situations and uses her skillset when she needs to, to her advantage.
Things like ACTIVELY going out of her way to get a car or ACTIVELY staying behind to shoot at A New Frontier bandits seemed just really odd, but not character-breaking.
So they have not only confirmed our worst fears of playing through flashbacks, but oh my god Telltale, you guys need to seriously talk to your fans.
"We don't want Clementine to only be playable via flashback"
"I hope our Season 2 choices/ending matters"
"I hope Jane/Kenny don't die within the first five minutes"
Well, spoilers but Jane hangs herself. Why?
I will admit the scene was saddening because of how cold and dark it was, when it came to atmosphere of Season 2 Telltale really nailed it.
But why does Jane hang herself? Do you know Jane?
I mean, my god, YOU LITERALLY had her mention her suicidal sister, the one Jane could never understand/frowned upon. But now she finds she's pregnant, she kills herself? And I'm not even mad about that, I'm disappointed because I wish we could have had buildup to that.
Or at the very least, WHY NOT have Jane/Kenny/AJ/Luke Jr. be a hostage of A New Frontier, it would have made a great ending to Episode 2 and been a good way to not only bring the flashbacks together, but also end the flashbacks.
Like what if the gate opens and we see not only (you know who), but Jane/Kenny with AJ (and also Luke Jr if it applies to Jane), in the back who recognise Clementine also.
This fixes everything. Clementine is a recent runaway from A New Frontier with Jane/Kenny with AJ (and Luke Jr) not making it out and telling her to run for it. Clementine meanwhile has spent the last few weeks, tracking New Frontier people. That's why she tried to stop the truck, in order to interrogate the guy and also just get a truck. That's why she stayed behind to shoot at members of A New Frontier, because she is emotional and angry at what they've been doing. That would make a lot more sense, and keep the endings clear and effective.
Telltale, I really had faith in you.
You had good PR (finally), you were releasing great trailers, an interesting extended look, you claimed we would have 42 starting points for Clementine, Javier is great, all the new characters are great, the plot is interesting with some decent antagonists. The more urban environments we get are great, and not only that but I assumed 'Ties That Bind' would count as ONE episode coming in two-parts, so we'd get another 4 episodes. But no, I'm guessing due to the engine probably dry heaving by now they just had to split it up with pretty short episodes. ALSO TELLTALE WHERE ARE THE HUB AREAS? These characters are good, I want to know more about them!
At the very least, I'm sticking with it to the end but after this season, I won't be surprised if there is no more Walking Dead from Telltale
Comments
I honestly thought "A new frontier" was going to be the last walking dead product and after playing ANF I kinda hope they stop before they reduce what is an excellent and wonderful series into a watered down, cash grab that ruins the overall series.
If you chose to stay with Kenny, he is shown teaching Clem how to drive. Not really relevant to your scenario, but TTG is worse than ever when it comes to making your choices matter. It's clear most of the dialogue is the same no matter what.
Honestly, yes. It's just so disheartening how far they fell considering everything looked super fucking good. And I mean it would have been easy (I mean not truly easy, but doable) to make Kenny or Jane appear with The New Frontier as hostages. I also believe AJ actually is currently with them, but that's not the point. Like the rest of the game is great, it's just the flashbacks. And they're not even bad either, they're just abrupt. Like I wouldn't have minded those flashbacks if they had been doing way more of them, like 3 or 4 per episode. That also would have padded the run time to make people happier. Actually I think the real reason this feels so rushed is because Telltale wanted it out by Christmas. I just wish they would realize we don't care about the wait time if it means a better product.
Honestly... and I never say this, but I seriously think Telltale should consider redoing these two episodes. It would drastically increase their likeability if they did. The thing is, they don't even have to change much. I truly think everyone's gripes with this game could be fixed by putting in more flashbacks and having them be well written. It would be the "reward" players who have stuck with the series were supposed to get.
I know they most likely aren't going to, it's just at this point I think it would be best for them if they did.
Worst Telltale game for me so far... and I played them all multiple times.
I expected the endings of season 2 not to matter but I don't expected to get a nearly non-playable Clem, that is acting like I never knew her.