Episode 202, thoughts?
i dunno.. but this game while it was funny as all hell, and very enjoyable... it just seemed.... short, espically when compared to episode one of season 2
the game only had 2 real acts, plus a teaser and a finale (also the finale puzzle was also WAY to simple for being at the end of the game)
i also find it funny that the puzzles in the first act were much more difficult then the puzzles in the second half, or in the finale (the teaser was the only part of the episode i cant complain about) it kinda seemed like as soon as i saw a puzzle in the second half... i immediately knew what i had to do, or i was solving a puzzle and not even knowing it, most of the others i had to think about for a bit (espically the fountain of youth puzzle, that one was devious)
201 had a structure like this
Teaser (one puzzle - stop the robot)
Act one (one puzzle - get into santas room)
Act two (4 puzzles - one for each horsemen)
Act three - (3 puzzles - one for each christmas)
Act four - (long multistage finale puzzle)
here is 202's structure
it just feels shorter... like there is a missing act somewhere in there with a bit of story and a puzzle or two
the first act of 201 was really one one puzzle (maybe 2 depending on how you look at it) but that one act made the game feel so much longer... i think moai better blues needed an extra "short" act like this... maybe in between the first and second acts
but i dunno... i just felt like i had to mention the odd difficulty curve of the episode and the "short feeling" it gives (even though there is only one less puzzle in it really, but even with the food ordering puzzle, it still feels the same)
but even so, i love the episode.. still feels great
anyways, what does everyone else think of it?
the game only had 2 real acts, plus a teaser and a finale (also the finale puzzle was also WAY to simple for being at the end of the game)
i also find it funny that the puzzles in the first act were much more difficult then the puzzles in the second half, or in the finale (the teaser was the only part of the episode i cant complain about) it kinda seemed like as soon as i saw a puzzle in the second half... i immediately knew what i had to do, or i was solving a puzzle and not even knowing it, most of the others i had to think about for a bit (espically the fountain of youth puzzle, that one was devious)
201 had a structure like this
Teaser (one puzzle - stop the robot)
Act one (one puzzle - get into santas room)
Act two (4 puzzles - one for each horsemen)
Act three - (3 puzzles - one for each christmas)
Act four - (long multistage finale puzzle)
here is 202's structure
Teaser (one puzzle - stop the triangle)
Act one (four puzzles - glen miller train noise, glen miller tune, fountain of youth water, become a waiter)
Act two (3 puzzles - make feet move, get banang, get basalt sandwitch)
Finale - (one single stage puzzle)
Act one (four puzzles - glen miller train noise, glen miller tune, fountain of youth water, become a waiter)
Act two (3 puzzles - make feet move, get banang, get basalt sandwitch)
Finale - (one single stage puzzle)
it just feels shorter... like there is a missing act somewhere in there with a bit of story and a puzzle or two
the first act of 201 was really one one puzzle (maybe 2 depending on how you look at it) but that one act made the game feel so much longer... i think moai better blues needed an extra "short" act like this... maybe in between the first and second acts
but i dunno... i just felt like i had to mention the odd difficulty curve of the episode and the "short feeling" it gives (even though there is only one less puzzle in it really, but even with the food ordering puzzle, it still feels the same)
but even so, i love the episode.. still feels great
anyways, what does everyone else think of it?
Sign in to comment in this discussion.
Comments
What surprised me positively was
Best fart joke of 2008. Easily.
Or maybe I just got stuck a lot..?
I did have to turn the hints on and get one hint from Max to solve the last puzzle.
When I got it, it was less of a "argh, no sane person could have worked that out", and more of a "oh, why the heck didn't I think of that, it's so obvious now", which is the sign of a good game ^_^;;
I love those kinds of puzzles. Sure they make you feel stupid, but at the same time it just shows how more of us need to try lateral thinking now and again
If they CAN...
Exactly my point, Chuck. This joke was so good, the only way it could be beaten would be if Telltale themselves made a better one. XD they rose the bar beyond all expectations on that one. XD
January 11, 2008. The GAUNTLET has been DROPPED.
(And any other game hoping to step up to the challenge should note that 202 has not just a fart joke, but TWO (2) pee jokes. Must be that "highbrow humor" that IGN review was talking about.)
Oh well, I'll just wait for the next one.
theJPster
PS: I think it's worth adding, because my post sounds a little down beat, it was pretty damned funny start to finish!
Actually, my only complain about the episode was
Other than that - great episode!
I also thought it was one of the best episodes yet
Telltale's less-moderated sense of humour has me in stitches. Always good to see a game flip the bird to political correctness
Get banang puzzle - i was playing with the radio, and all of a sudden you hear boscos voice, instantly it clicked for me... i tried having some fun and trying to freak him out... then he says he is going, and it realised what i had done (i then immediately went to his store to get some banang) the whole part of "memorizing the frequency of his radio then tuning to it" was completely worthless... it solved itself (the only hard part of this, was seeing that you can play with the radio)
Annointed by the feet puzzle - i already knew what i had to do, get the one moai whistling... as soon as i saw the gong portals i knew i had to set them up so i could make her whistle from the cave (i had kinda thought that i had to do something to get all 3 moving, which would have added do much to this puzzle... but in its current version, it was too easy)
Image of max puzzle - i did not even notice the stalagmite, i just knew i had to get the basalt sandwitch and somehow get into stinkys while young, the puzzle to move the red triangle into stinkys was the only one in the second act that had me thinking for a bit... but i made the moai laugh, and i did not even know what it did till i want back into the cave, saw the stalagmite, and knew what it was for (he even said "looks like it was shaken loose" and i did not even see it before it fell
after the beginning of the episode, the second half left much to be desired, the cavern had a good feel to it "very james bond villan" but even so, all the island locations were too cartoony, and jimmy Hoffa seemed more menacing than the sea chimps... i did not feel threatened by them at all, (unlike the corporate presence, Santa, or Hoffa) they should have been replaced by some kind of lava pirahna, or something more menacing... while i liked the chimps and the few laughs they gave, it just did not seem like a proper villans entourage
it seemed like the episode had more jokes and giggles then actual content or puzzles, and in my mind it did not hold up to the standard they have set with the previous games...
Those two are just SOOO cute as kids
My only compliant is that
EDIT: A question that just popped up in my curious hyperkinetic head: is the dialogue about "stopping a volcano in the Philippines" a reference to a plot from the comics?
All the negative aspects are redeemed by
Also, is it just me or did they beef up the game engine so it doesn't need to pause to load every time you more from one location to the next? It's a technicality, but the lower loading times do make exploring much more enjoyable, in my opinion. With both the hints system in place and this faster loading, I think the games have improved significantly on the technical side as well.
So, all in all, I'm very happy with season 2 to so far, although I can imagine people are unsatisfied with the game length, especially if you consider there are only five games instead of six. Still, I'd prefer a short good episode to a longer, drawn-out, boring one.
And is Sam and Max becoming a bit more vulgar than they normally would? They seem to get to the level of Ren and Stimpy (which Sam and Max replaced as my favorite)
Hell, I loved the 'boxers or briefs?' joke.
I especially liked teasing the Moai whose face is half way into the ground :mad::mad::mad:
Roger L. Jackson did a great job
Well, it's been great, hope you'll continue with the great work. I can't wait for the next episode! Just a few weeks to go...
In the writing department, I like how the balancing act is carried even further, adding new depth to the plotlines at the same time as reaching previously unplumbed depths in toilet humor, with several brilliant moments for both. I don't like the abundance of exposition. Often the information wasn't particularly relevant or funny. And it seemed like Sam did too much of it, where Max could have given the same info twice as fast and a lot more funny to boot.
All in all it is a great episode and shows a lot of signs of progress, but that also makes what flaws there are feel all the more disappointing. Without these flaws it would have clearly been the best episode yet. Now I'd peg it below 201.
Generally, I don't mind playing with the hint system on, because 9/10 times I've already thought of what Max is saying. In fact, in some cases you'll miss funny monologue if it's off. Of course you'll be able to replay both on and off.
I've noticed it maybe becoming a bit more vulgar, and I love it! (btw, I adore Ren & Stimpy). These two episodes in retrospect now are so much better in storyline (perhaps with the exception of Reality 2.0) and the jokes than all of S1. Okay, so last season there was a consistent theme to it all, but good laughs is much more relevant to me than a somewhat continous plot. Then again, we don't yet know wheter there is something to tie these episodes in S2 together or not, but so far, I would go with not.
Best laughs I got from Glenn Miller.
And then, having quit playing last night, I saw a rerun of the Mythbusters' Hoffa myth episode on TV here. I found that timing extremely amusing.
I think there is an overall plot, but is not quite obvious like the plot on S1. Maybe by the time we complete Episode 4 we will all pat on our head realizing the obvious plot and getting angry at ourselves because we didn't get it earlier.
Regardless, we have already some things and people recurring in both eps, for instance we have T-H-E-M, Stinky's stinky business, The Birthday guy (did someone say.... Birthday?), whatever Flint is working on, Mr Spatula, The Theory of Everything
We just need a third episode to discard coincidences and start to get the real overall plot.
I hate drugs jokes though, it s like trying to give a positive image to them, and when like myself you are severely allergic to the active principle (a puff can send me to the hospital, or to death without cortisone) it instantly breaks the mood.
Anyway, great setting and even if the link to the previous episode -and the whole big picture- is not so subtle (end credits) i am sure we will see other great locales.
Difficulty wise, it was easy. But i replayed the game with hints on and there are some great max monologues happening !
I am eager to play the next one
Totally agree with this. Either boss or just exciting and thought-provoking finale. Season 1 Episode 1 got this right, so there's no reason Moai Better Blues shouldn't have.
What I didn't like?
1.
Nevertheless, I'm really looking forward to Night of the Raving Dead. Screw that one up at your peril, Telltale! (although I'm sure you won't)
About the challenge, I LIKE challenge in my adventure games, I'm a big of the difficult puzzles in Grim Fandango for example, but I don't like randomness. I think the solution to the puzzles should be logical. I'm not gonna say the puzzles in the episode were completely random, but it seems like you guys are going down that path because people were asking for it, and I personally think it's a mistake. Please always keep in mind that the solution to the puzzles should be logical first and foremost, not some silly and random thing that you bang your head against the wall trying to figure it out and ended up doing it through sheer luck or looking at a walkthrough.
Sorry about the rant, but this is something pretty strongly about. The game really was great. The story, the characters, the humor. And some of the puzzles too.
What I like about the hints is that they don't give you a clear answer; you still have to think what to do, which imo, doesn't make a person feel as emabarass of not thinking about it. Furthermore, it doesn't take the satisfication of using hints and solving the puzzle as oppose to reading something on gamefaqs.
I knew that
however, before I used hints, I didn't know it was used to blow the cloud away to fry the fishes despite knowin the cloud was a puzzle.
Yup, in the comic "Monkeys Violating the Heavenly Temple" (which, despite the name, contains neither monkeys nor a temple), Sam & Max go to the Philippines to stop an evil volcano worshiping cult. It's mentioned briefly at the end of this Summer of Sam & Max article: [http://www.telltalegames.com/summerofsamandmax/history/history1b/]
And I might add, seeing how the comic had a proper volcano god makes it so much more disappointing that this episode misses one...
- red herrings..the first solution you think to a puzzle is not always the right one.. jimmy hoffa excepts your baby rash drink, drinks it and says thanks hehe
- there are levels to the puzzles..you have to go through steps a b and c to get your solution
- the craziness..the storyline the characters were completely out there and in the sam & max zone..loved it
- the writing..i think chuck really nails the sam & max humor
-the music..well brilliant as always
-the voice acting.. absolute highlight of a telltale game..i loved the depressed moai head cracked me up
- sam and max as kids! man that was great
- the majority of the game takes place on easter island..away from the neighborhood and not so much back and forth
- flint paper..and yes he smokes in telltales version of sam & max!
- i think the game was more targeted to an older audience which frankly i suspect is the majority of sam & max buyers
I'm really surprised you went for such cheap laughs there chuck...
loved the Lost joke by the way hehe
the humor was a bit different from the last episode, i guess. where ice station santa had some grand lines with word play and such, 202 had a more instesive use of cultural references. i didn't laugh so often, but was more grinning all the time.
voice acting was amazing this time, maybe there were a lot of new characters, but still..
with all the plotting going on i think the whole season might develop a nice background story. now keep going and don't screw it up like they did on lost..
oh, and i totally liked the shirt of small sam..i wonder those things are available somewhere..*g*
i see you're point, but there are a lot worse drug references in everyday media and i think one doesn't quite get the one in 202 unless having already been in contact with the drug in question.
Yeah, that basalt's really killer stuff.
Am I the only one with this problem? Thing is, as soon as you enter the cave your (well, at least mine) attention is drawn by the sea chimps on the right. Then you go there and do stuff. There is nothing to see on the left side of the entrance, nor does the camera ever pan there to indicate that there's anything there.