Season 2 had 1 CANNON ending.
Since I've played season 3 which only has four episodes this year not five, as Episode 1 and 2 are one episode, apparently, It's become clear to me that season 2 had one cannon ending and that was Clem alone with either Jane and Kenny dead, or one of them still alive somewhere out there. There were more options to leave Clem alone than saving Kenny or Jane.
Kill Kenny and Jane, Clem alone.
Kill Jane abandon Kenny, Clem alone.
Kill Kenny abandon Jane, Clem alone.
Kill Jane go to Wellington, abandon Kenny, Clem alone.
vs
Kill Kenny go to howes.
Kill Jane go to Wellington, leave with Kenny.
As you see a lot more options to abandon those characters because they never were intended to be a canon ending.
The 5 minute flashback EACH for these characters sees them wiped from the board and Clem alone where regardless of what choice you made, Clem will act the same regardless. Seeing Kenny and Jane again was just simple fan service, although fan service done badly.
Now you might ask why bother introducing those choices anyway? Because they have to PRETEND our choices matter to justify their whole "this game is tailored to how you play"
Comments
They clearly picked the alone ending and then did everything they could to change the other endings to fit that.
I cannot comprehend how they have let us Role-play a character in dozens of different ways, and develop her personality with both our choices, and our own individual thoughts, actions, reasoning and interpretation of her words, expressions and motives. But then strip that all away and make her a completely one line, defined npc that has a completely forced line of reasoning, and is completely different to her original character.
That is the strangest decision I've seen in an interactive story in ages.
Not to mention, via skipping four years ahead and tying themselves so closely with the comics, they have ruined and dismissed dozens of special stories, world building, and locations that were possible.
I remember in an incredibly old interview way back with the original creators, they discussed how Kenny has a massive list of dialogue choices and decisions he remembers, that there was so many options in the players interaction with him that could allow for a tonne of potential dialogue alteration in regards to Kenny remembering certain things they said. (I wish Telltale would make characters recall small talk and smaller dialogue choices more, especially the "they will remember that" moments, characters pointing these things out and discussing them would be far more dynamic and engaging).
I was incredibly saddened that Kenny mentioned none of the dialogue options from season 1 (of which there were dozens of potential lines they could've written to flesh out the interactivity), and in season 3, they literally allow you to build a save file, and only around eight choices are accounted for eight! Eight choices! None of the dialogue, none of the character moments, none of the story telling up to that point mattered, because out of all the stat tracking they did, they could only bother to count eight choices, absolutely ridiculous.
There has been no closure for the plot points from season 2, nothing about the 400 days cast, nothing about the russian gang, no stories about the group that was in a Fubar situation in episode 1, nothing about the original bandits in season 1, no side stories about the cancer group, no side stories about anyone featured, no stories about Christa, or Lily, or when Omid and Christa were raising Clementine, nothing. They just completely wiped the slate, and made unrealistic new groups for the sake of the comics.
It's more than frustrating. I cannot recall a single person going "we want a brand new story new players can jump into." I have seen nothing but people wanting to see more of the world Telltale made (not the comic creators), and more of the creations they fleshed out and developed.
That was what was initially exciting and promising about 400 days, and how it showed characters near the main cast, but they didn't expand on this idea, nor the main plot.
I have to agree with this.
That's.... fair. But I don't want Clem to lose a finger