What If?
Does anyone else often wonder about the differences minor changes would have made to The Walking Dead Game? What if Lee and Clem never arrived at Hershel's Farm? How different would it be if Lee never met Kenny and traveled with him to Macon? What if Lily didn't snap at Carley/Doug? What if Lee and Clem never passed through Savannah and What if Lee was never bitten? Of course without these Iconic moments, we wouldn't have the great gaming experience delivered by TellTale... Or would we? What do you Guys think?
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
It's very similar to what you're saying, though probably on a smaller scale. One very minor thing causes such a huge difference.
The possibilities are endless.
Yes, if that movie taught me one thing it's that there is only one universal constant, and that's Ed Burn's facial expression.
Seriously though, what you listed really don't seem like small changes to me. I get what you're saying, but that's just kind of life really, wondering what if. If you're asking about from a gameplay perspective, well I guess there could be more divergence decisions like Carley/Doug but I really believe you can only make the story so malleable before it begins to lose impact.
The point of a lot of the decisions in the first season wasn't to let the player control the outcome but to maximize the dramatic impact of certain key scenes. The Carley/Doug split was there because Telltale figured most people would pick the character they liked more, making what happens in episode three more painful.
If you could have saved them again the scene where they'd die would just feel like the "Bad Outcome", one where people would just reload and try again, not unlike most of Lee's death when people mess up.
If Lee and Clem never arrived at Hershel's Farm:
This probably would have gone more smoothly if you chose the go at night option (which I did). You would probably end up going home with the cop, and having to leave after only a day due to too many uncomfortable questions. (You look familiar, why are you with this little girl, I think I know her parents, You sure I don't know you from anywhere, so on...)
If Lee didn't Travel to Macon with Kenny: He would've met the group in his parents' pharmacy before Kenny arrived. (Or possibly been there BEFORE the Doug/Carely group arrived.) Which would have changed the game dynamic a lot. Lee would have been a much more pronounced leader if he got there before anyone else, though he would have had to dispose of his parents and whatnot. Imagine if he had been the kind, knowledgeable man who had let Doug's group in, or the reasonable man who had already established a relationship with that group who allowed Kenny's little family in when they finally arrived there.
If Lily never snapped, Doug/Carely would have been around to help, or maybe even have to put Lily down (or lead to it, as, I love Doug and chose to save him, but don't think he would have killed a woman who wasn't already dead, no matter how much of a bitch she was).
If Lee and Clem never passed through Savannah, I think Clem wouldn't have trusted Lee as much. I also know she would have missed out on two very important things - adults lie (the stranger) and her parents were dead. No one deserves to wonder if the people they love are dead or not, zombies or not. It was a hard reality, but I think it was best for her to know the truth, and to see it for herself. Both things, I believe, made her stronger.
And, of course, if Lee was never bitten, Clem never would've known just how capable she was.
Those are my opinions, at least :P
But I do have to agree that I felt these were pretty big moments in the game, results of many small moments leading up to them. Many smaller choices would've altered game play much more than the few big ones, I think.