Third Season, mid-season turn off

edited December 2010 in Sam & Max
"Hello Friends ..."

anyway, I pre-ordered season 3 and played it up until episode 3.
Some where at the end of EP3 I completely lost the drive to continue
the season. Even tho I found the noir part of the ep to be quite amazing at least in its beginning.
But I forced my self to continue to play Alley of the Dolls (EP4). Failed.
It's gone :(. For some reason I seem to be turned off...

Episode 4 was a bit of a struggle in the end. Maybe because of the annoying plot of the specific episode and the very blunt puzzles. Maybe the whole concept of the Toy-Box is just not working for me in the Sam&Max Universe. Also they don't fit the Comic-Indiana Jones style. Well at least not for a longer time-period ...

Since I'll get the DVD soon. I will give it another shot.

Yet I wonder ...
Why is this happening to me?
Is it going to be like this foooreeever?

Anyone with a similar experience?


EDIT:
Even tho I found the noir part of the ep to be quite amazing at least in its beginning.
(Typo)

Comments

  • edited December 2010
    Nope.

    Admittedly, I went on a 10 week European holiday just after Ep3 was released (and didn't have time to play it before I went) so when I got home I had Ep3,4, and 5 to play all at once :) I didn't hurry it, but after a few months drought past Ep 2, I found the last three to be absolutely brilliant.

    The 'Noir Sam' segment of Ep 3 had me in tears of laughter at times... it was soo good.
  • edited December 2010
    I actually hated the second half of Episode 3 and used a guide to get through it, not because I couldn't figure it out, just cause I wanted to get it over and done with quickly and leave asap.

    Apart from that I've enjoyed the rest of Season 3, Episode 4 going on to become one of my fave Sam & Max episodes of all time, just that second half of Episode 3 that drags the fun down for me.
  • edited December 2010
    I'd say that Episode 3 definitely dampened my spirits for the season a little. But Beyond the Alley of the Dolls picked 'em right up and sent 'em into the air like Jimmy Two-Teeth after inhaling helium.

    And that, my friends, is the best comparison you will ever hear.
  • edited December 2010
    It happened to me during the first half of Tomb. I just sort of prodded on. They stole Max's Brain was completely awesome from the very beginning ahem Noir Sam :D :D :D :D

    Beyond the Alley is no doubt the best single episode in the whole series. The only one that can go around its level is the finale of season 3.
  • edited December 2010
    Well,

    thanks a lot for your feedback. You got my hopes up again. I'll definitely will give it another shot around Christmas....
    Hopefully EP4 will pick up my spirit again.

    Cheers!

    PS:
    Molokov wrote: »
    The 'Noir Sam' segment of Ep 3 had me in tears of laughter at times... it was soo good.
    The Noir Segment was great. Yes!
  • edited December 2010
    bambi wrote: »
    Episode 4 was a bit of a struggle in the end. Maybe because of the annoying plot of the specific episode and the very blunt puzzles.

    (...)

    Anyone with a similar experience?

    I enjoyed EP3 even though it was significantly weaker than EP2, but I had similar issues with the 4th one. Up to the end of the scene in Stinky's, it was great, but after that, it was more often boring than fun. Then, the ending was again excellent.

    Telltale tried a more grim approach with the second part of TDP, which didn't always work out perfectly. Then again, repeating Season 2 wouldn't have been such a great idea, either, so at the end of the day I'm glad they tried something different.
  • edited December 2010
    bambi wrote: »
    Well,

    thanks a lot for your feedback. You got my hopes up again. I'll definitely will give it another shot around Christmas....
    Hopefully EP4 will pick up my spirit again.

    Cheers!

    PS:

    The Noir Segment was great. Yes!

    Curious, have you actually finished Episode 4? Because the final part of Episode 4 was just insane brilliant and awesome, I actually felt that was the REAL end of the story since the Toybox gets destroyed and Episode 5 just went off on a different threat compared to the Toybox centered Episodes 1-4.
  • edited December 2010
    304 was the shunshine between the season's worst (303) and second worst (305). Not sure if I put it higher than 302 or not though...
  • edited December 2010
    303 wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good as I thought it was gonna be

    304: was one of the BEST OF THE SEASON!!! It had a mysterious ambience that made the audience uncertain of what was gonna happen next, and it had a lot of twists and turns..overall, I thought 304 was AWESOME!!!!
  • edited December 2010
    Telltale tried a more grim approach with the second part of TDP, which didn't always work out perfectly. Then again, repeating Season 2 wouldn't have been such a great idea, either, so at the end of the day I'm glad they tried something different.

    I repeat that in my head every time I think of the 3rd Season. ::trying to shake the bad vibes::
  • edited December 2010
    I agree that the season started off stronger than it ended but I think the other two seasons finished strong after weaker starts.
  • edited December 2010
    For me S1 & S2 started better : \ Maybe except 102
  • edited December 2010
    Ash735 wrote: »
    Curious, have you actually finished Episode 4? Because the final part of Episode 4 was just insane brilliant and awesome, I actually felt that was the REAL end of the story since the Toybox gets destroyed and Episode 5 just went off on a different threat compared to the Toybox centered Episodes 1-4.

    I only started EP4, quit at the very beginning. Just out of the mentioned frustration from EP3.
  • edited December 2010
    bambi wrote: »
    I only started EP4, quit at the very beginning. Just out of the mentioned frustration from EP3.

    I'm not going to say trust me, but once you get out the Diner and out of the tunnels for the first time, the episode just steps up a lot, the music, the feeling, the locations such as The Docks, all of it just felt really good, and then the finale of the episode is just amazing, the best ending to any Sam & Max finale in my opinion.
  • edited December 2010
    I'm always surprised at the hate episode 3 gets, because I really enjoyed that one. Maybe it's because I don't really visit the forums or the blog while a season is underway, because I want to jump into each episode without knowing anything about it. I guess that after the trailer for episode 3 (which I only watched after finishing the episode) most people were expecting a longer Noir-part, but I actually liked that they didn't let that part (which was indeed great) overstay its welcome. I liked all the twists and turns in the episode, and I laughed a lot during the second part of the episode as well. I thought it was pretty genius to have Sammun-Mak's brain in Max's body and Max's brain on Sam's back. That entire alternate reality New York-part was one of my favorite things of the season. The introduction of Sammun-Mak's reality was great at doing the 'Well, here we are in ...'-thing they do in the comics. And, of course, this is the episode that gave us Sal. I do agree that the puzzles were pretty weak though.

    It's true that this season had a different feel to it than the previous seasons. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But in the end I still think that this game is the best Sam & Max-game so far, and possibly Telltale's best game so far. It's a slightly less witty game than Season 1 and 2, and the puzzles often weren't as interesting to solve, although I do like that they tried to shake things up with Max's special powers. But besides all that I still had a blast with it.
  • edited December 2010
    Am I the only one who didn't like the Noir part, especially since dialogue based "puzzles" are just a horrible idea? (no thinking, just milking. Although accidentily picking the wrong answer exits the convo prematurely without hearing it all, which is equally bad)?

    I thought the second part was better than the first (though too little time spend in that awesome museum set), though not enough to save it from being the worst ep. of the season...
  • edited December 2010
    Episode 3 is a very big turnoff for me I'm afraid, the Noir part however and Sam's Noir outfit was brilliant and I wished they'd have kept it for the entire Episode. Sammun-Mak's little reality killed it for me BUT I did find it very amusing to see the streets like an ancient Egypt scene.

    Episode 4 was my all time favorite, ruling out Episode 2; however..... The fact that they built up that whole Sammageddan thing and then after you leave the diner, it's gone, nothing left. I did love the plot and everything else about it, but I think that should've been the epic finish instead of Episode 5's sucky ending. But the real turnoff of the Season was indeed Episode 5, nuff said.
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