I think the huge switch in atmosphere and tone halfway through made it tough to appreciate both halves. As soon as I started to get into the noir atmosphere, I was tossed into the other reality. And as soon as I started to get into the other reality, the episode was over.
That being said, it's definitely not the worst of episodes. I'd rank it somewhere between the less-than-stellar Penal Zone and the stellar Tomb of Sammun-Mak in terms of overall quality.
I've written about this elsewhere, but my major quarrels lie with the overuse of Rhinoplasty and the simplicity of the puzzles using it. I liked the story a lot, but the psychic toys just weren't used well throughout it.
I think the huge switch in atmosphere and tone halfway through made it tough to appreciate both halves. As soon as I started to get into the noir atmosphere, I was tossed into the other reality. And as soon as I started to get into the other reality, the episode was over.
That being said, it's definitely not the worst of episodes. I'd rank it somewhere between the less-than-stellar Penal Zone and the stellar Tomb of Sammun-Mak in terms of overall quality.
I agree with you that the change is abrupt - it's almost as though this was written as a six-episode season and then they were compressed into one episode through lack of any real lengthy puzzles in the museum section
I agree with you that the change is abrupt - it's almost as though this was written as a six-episode season and then they were compressed into one episode through lack of any real lengthy puzzles in the museum section
Exactly my thoughts. I think as separate episodes that these different themes would have worked perfectly. The lack of puzzles in the museum was a major disappointment, especially due to the size of the place. When you see the size of the location, you expect to solve a nice amount of puzzles there. Heck, it took more time for me to explore the place than it did for me to solve the puzzles there. I was especially disappointed that the little switches on the anamatronic displays were never used. There was some major potential for those.
Yup, I didn't like it. I wanted to. And as another topic reminded me, this episode also didn't have a musical number. It leaves an emptiness in my heart.
tabstis I really don't see how that signature is good for anything.
Yeah, just done on the spur of the moment - I'm gonna change it.
I thought the second half of the episode was a lot of fun and the plot twists in the first half helped keep me interesting despite a heavy lack of gameplay.
I liked a lot of things but didn't really like the puzzles. It's weird playing an adventure game with hardly any inventory. It's like they forgot to put any item using puzzles in, other than
giving the guy the headset
which was pretty obvious. The toys are a nice addition to the game but why do all the puzzles have to involve them or dialogue choices? They were all really easy too since at worst it comes down to trial and error with very few permutations. Give moar items in 304 please
I really liked the noir section of the game. At first I thought it was going to be the best TT episode ever, but I soon realized it wasn't for me, only for difficulty level and length reasons.
I also went into the episode with no expectations really, I just figured whatever happens, happens. So it's not a case of over-hyping from the month long wait or anything.
The episode was very good, indeed. A lot of variety, some interesting characters, good length, difficulty was perfect (not too difficult, not too easy), and in fact, the only bad thing is what you can reproach to the whole season : empty locations, with just a few details, almost always here because we need to have them (that’s a gameplay concern, now we have to deal with gamepads -_-), reuse of every character (like the world of sam&max is made of 10 people doing everything and always involved) and bad puzzle pretexts… like for the pin’s you have to collect, it’s quite easy for anyone to have those three, so it’s not like you’re finding an intelligent or very dangerous way to approach the pharaoh, everyone could if they really would, which is for me quite strange when there is only one guy side to the pharaoh himself.
Still, it was a good game, and a very good episode to me… that’s strange because I saw almost everyone saying the second episode is fantastic, while to me it was just "ok", and now many people are saying this one was bad, while to me it’s way better.
Still, it was a good game, and a very good episode to me… that’s strange because I saw almost everyone saying the second episode is fantastic, while to me it was just "ok", and now many people are saying this one was bad, while to me it’s way better.
I know that I liked the episode, but I can't make a true judgment of it yet, as I played most of it while in a very tired state; yearning for my bed but forcing myself to play. I did enjoy it though, I'll replay it tomorrow maybe.
Also, was I the only one who was reminded of Monkey Kombat in the final puzzle of the game?
It is hard to approach the pharoh because everyone was already exposed as a heretic before he changed the world so no-one became one (ho sal got it without ceating I don't know),the present has to be perfect and special otherwise you do not get the badge and the only way to do that would be by magic (how paperwaite and sam goty it) and the other is just weird.
It's my least favorite for the season so far, although saying that, the first two episodes were just brilliant. It just didn't flow as well as the first two, and like others have said, it was a little jarring. The noir section was hilarious however (although at the same time I was missing Max).
It was too easy. When i got into the mueseum I was stuck for a while, so I turned it off and came back to it an hour or so later. After that everyone was just too obvious I found, and identical solutions near the end were dissapointing.
However I loved how Papierwaite and Skunk'ape grew in this episode, I wanna know more about Norrington and I really liked the Sal character
It was maybe a tad dissapointing after 302 blew my socks off, but I enjoyed it and had fun with it regardless
I dunno if it's just me but I can't say I find many of the episodes challenging. The hardest one for me was Moai Better Blues, and that was only because the instructions for the gongs were mentioned at the start in the middle of a rant from Bosco, which pretty much meant if you weren't giving it your full attention you may have missed it.
I do find the episodes fun though. As for this one I liked it. The Noir part reminded me of the Phoenix Wright series of games, so I found that interesting. The museum did seem slow, not really many puzzles. The second half brought it up again though.
I like it, but don't love it, it had its ups at the first half and downs at the second half. In the end I found it not one of the best S&M episodes, but still a good game. I try to distance myself from extreme judging. Saying I either "hate it!" or "love it!", because that wouldn't do justice to the game.
From a cinematic point of view: Excellent. Whoever wrote the story did an excellent job. I want to know more about Norrington, I wonder about Papierwaite's past, and I loved the new characters, Sal especially. And the voice acting was great as usual.
And do I even need to mention badass Sam?
However: Gameplay, not so much. Sure, there were some nice new elements such as the Noir part in the beginning and the dialogue puzzles in the end, and the few puzzles that were there were actually not too bad.
But most of the game felt like I'm just playing an interactive novel, not an adventure game. Most puzzles just solved themselves and clicked right into place after looking at them once. Idk, maybe I was just lucky to notice the pictures of things right away, but maybe it was just too obvious at parts.
I wouldn't say the puzzles were BAD, just, compared to the other episodes they were shorter, easier, and less.
I enjoyed the Noir Sam part, but the lack of control (by which I refer to movement) during it made it feel as though it overstayed its welcome. I though the Museum part felt really rather short by comparison (if you don't go about in the mindset of dialogue whore at least) with only two real puzzles, but Sal was awesome during it so it gets a pass. I usually like reality altering cataclysm, so the Sammun-Mak world part was pretty good if only the "Hail Sammun-Mak" didn't overstay their welcome, puzzles were fun at least. I absolutely loved the final battles. It isn't often that we get to see Sam whale on someone and have it on-screen.
I dunno, overall I liked this episode, I want to love it, but between this and 302, it feels as though Telltale is missing some opportunities here and there (or rather it feels as though things are being cut). And that's somewhat disconcerting. Makes me wonder what would come of a Two-Month or a Month-And-A-Half gap between episodes.
303 was brilliant. If 302 and 301 hadn't been made, then 303 would be game of the year so far. The main negative bit was the sudden change of atmosphere. Felt very disjointed and made it hard to get into the new setting for quite a while. The other thing was that it felt a bit 'safe', but after the wild inventiveness of 302, most games would.
Meh. I liked it, as if anyone is surprised. None of it felt abrupt, and people are seriously complaining after being able to visit Egyptian New York and the museum? I get the complaints, but for me, just those two things were good enough. I love Egyptian settings, and I love dark spooky areas like the museum. None of it felt too abrupt, I thought everything transitioned smoothly. Idk, it seems like it's just me though.
Bah, I really liked the part in the museum before the big change, but the rest of the episode parts with the interrogation and after the change wasn't all that great. Best thing about this episode to me is
they revealed that Sal from Stinky's Diner is a cockroach
First episode of this season is still the best so far imo.
I really liked the interrogation section, particularly the voice work and facial expressions. For a while after that I wasn't really 'feeling' the episode but by the end I found I'd enjoyed it somewhat.
If I'm completely honest I haven't been entirely 'bowled over' by this season. Something has felt missing - whether it's because they're not on a 'case' per-say, the locations not having many random clickables, a lack of reference-based humour that drew me to the series in the first place or perhaps even the story itself.
The visuals are beautiful, definitely the best looking TT game that's for sure and the voice work has been excellent.
Comments
That being said, it's definitely not the worst of episodes. I'd rank it somewhere between the less-than-stellar Penal Zone and the stellar Tomb of Sammun-Mak in terms of overall quality.
I agree with you that the change is abrupt - it's almost as though this was written as a six-episode season and then they were compressed into one episode through lack of any real lengthy puzzles in the museum section
Exactly my thoughts. I think as separate episodes that these different themes would have worked perfectly. The lack of puzzles in the museum was a major disappointment, especially due to the size of the place. When you see the size of the location, you expect to solve a nice amount of puzzles there. Heck, it took more time for me to explore the place than it did for me to solve the puzzles there. I was especially disappointed that the little switches on the anamatronic displays were never used. There was some major potential for those.
http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=332001&postcount=74
Don't want to repeat it all.
Certainly not the worst, but for a season 3 episode, sorely dissapointing...
Yeah, the episode was very awesome. It's one of my favorites!
Other favorites:
101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 301, 302.
Yeah, just done on the spur of the moment - I'm gonna change it.
I thought the second half of the episode was a lot of fun and the plot twists in the first half helped keep me interesting despite a heavy lack of gameplay.
Still an amazing episode!
I also went into the episode with no expectations really, I just figured whatever happens, happens. So it's not a case of over-hyping from the month long wait or anything.
Same here.
Still, it was a good game, and a very good episode to me… that’s strange because I saw almost everyone saying the second episode is fantastic, while to me it was just "ok", and now many people are saying this one was bad, while to me it’s way better.
Besides, Sal is a wonderful design.
I agree 100% with this part.
Also, was I the only one who was reminded of Monkey Kombat in the final puzzle of the game?
Im pretty sure thats the next episode so far all musical numbers are on the 4th episode remember.
But the second half was cool too. I guess it's better than splitting both of them into separate episodes.
However I loved how Papierwaite and Skunk'ape grew in this episode, I wanna know more about Norrington and I really liked the Sal character
It was maybe a tad dissapointing after 302 blew my socks off, but I enjoyed it and had fun with it regardless
I do find the episodes fun though. As for this one I liked it. The Noir part reminded me of the Phoenix Wright series of games, so I found that interesting. The museum did seem slow, not really many puzzles. The second half brought it up again though.
Also, much too easy, and significantly shorter than 301 and 302, and probably marginaly shorter than the episodes of season 2.
Not a bad episode, but not one of the best. Average.
And do I even need to mention badass Sam?
However: Gameplay, not so much. Sure, there were some nice new elements such as the Noir part in the beginning and the dialogue puzzles in the end, and the few puzzles that were there were actually not too bad.
But most of the game felt like I'm just playing an interactive novel, not an adventure game. Most puzzles just solved themselves and clicked right into place after looking at them once. Idk, maybe I was just lucky to notice the pictures of things right away, but maybe it was just too obvious at parts.
I wouldn't say the puzzles were BAD, just, compared to the other episodes they were shorter, easier, and less.
I dunno, overall I liked this episode, I want to love it, but between this and 302, it feels as though Telltale is missing some opportunities here and there (or rather it feels as though things are being cut). And that's somewhat disconcerting. Makes me wonder what would come of a Two-Month or a Month-And-A-Half gap between episodes.
*blurgh*
excuse me, i just puked in my soup
First episode of this season is still the best so far imo.
If I'm completely honest I haven't been entirely 'bowled over' by this season. Something has felt missing - whether it's because they're not on a 'case' per-say, the locations not having many random clickables, a lack of reference-based humour that drew me to the series in the first place or perhaps even the story itself.
The visuals are beautiful, definitely the best looking TT game that's for sure and the voice work has been excellent.