Season 2 Ambivalence (after playing ep 3)
I'm chalking it up to the 90 minute rule maybe as season 1 didn't have that. Also Telltale wasn't working on 4 games.
I love TWD and season 2 is great but there are some problems.
No.1- As good as the episodes are, they're rushed.
You can feel the pacing is a little too quick. Personally I don't have any connection to any of the new characters at all. Even from Clem's perspective she wouldn't have any connection to them either other than being around them. Realistically in the beginning Christa and Omid were her family. At the start of Ep 1 she's all alone but the episode rushes by so quick that theres no time to bond with anyone or really care about them.
The only one realistically Clem could or couldn't bond with would be Sarah depending on your play type. If you're the "nice" Clem, you can bond with Sarah seeing as she's the only other child you've seen FOR A YEAR. If you're hardened, badass Clem. You see Sarah as an annoyance and liability. Something you can't bond with or help.
No2.- There's no char backstory for most of the new chars.
Both Clem and the player don't know much about the new chars and really have no bond with them. In episode 2 for example, It was easy for me to have a shootout with Carver because I had Kenny at my side. (the only person Clem would realistically give a crap about) She's already seen so much death that watching her new found survivors die at the hands of Carver really wouldn't bug her that much with the exception of possibly Luke. If Sarita wasn't there, and if Kenny didnt have her realisticaly Clem and Kenny could have bolted and survived both just fine.
Because season 2 is so rushed you just don't have time to know and bond with people. If you don't see this go back and play season 1. In season 1 with the exception of Mark, everybody's death in the core group had meaning. When Carley died everybody was shocked. Mean while in Season 2 Ep 2 when you can have half of your group killed you just simply don't care.
No.3 - Carver was a missed opportunity.
Realistically there was a bit of lazy writing in Episode 3. As good as it is, its just cliche and you know before you start it or even finish it what is going to happen. You just don't know the specifics. Carver was what you call "stupid evil". He was a charicature of an evil badguy. A cartoon of the governor who had alot more depth to him. In my opinion, Episode 3 should have been 2 episodes or possibly even finished the series. That way it would have more weight when carver dies. More weight when reggie dies. More weight when Carlos dies.
Again it was rushed and you can feel it. When Carlos died, I just didnt care because the only thing he was to Clem was a guy that scolded her. Unless you the player care about Sarah, having him die screaming would be a boon while escaping. Same with Reggie. He died for shock value. But the shock would've been much better if we had had time with him to really know him that he's a nice guy etc and then he ends up dying just like Carley in an instant.
These are HUGE missed opportunites.
The other problem is the 400 days characters. We played a whole episode with them and virtually have nothing to show for it other than some cameos.
This is the problem with TWD series as a whole both on TV and this game, not so much the comic because that goes into depth.
You get into problems when you introduce characters and then kill them off immediately for shock value. It leaves the player or viewer jaded. Realistically it would do the same to Clem in game. If she's seeing people constantly die around her she's not going to care whether they live or die much in the future.
She'll be like Carl, which is good. She should end up being a hardened jaded cynic badass if she's going to survive. But the problem is, where is the story? Without strong character attachment the story turns into Resident Evil and a gore fest of watching some guy you barely knew get murdered. It also gives little reason to the player or Clem in game to approach anything with subtlety. There's no ultimate reason why Clem wouldn't just go in guns blazing anytime she could because she would stop caring.
TL;DR
TellTale needs to slow down, bring back the nuance from season 1.
I love TWD and season 2 is great but there are some problems.
No.1- As good as the episodes are, they're rushed.
You can feel the pacing is a little too quick. Personally I don't have any connection to any of the new characters at all. Even from Clem's perspective she wouldn't have any connection to them either other than being around them. Realistically in the beginning Christa and Omid were her family. At the start of Ep 1 she's all alone but the episode rushes by so quick that theres no time to bond with anyone or really care about them.
The only one realistically Clem could or couldn't bond with would be Sarah depending on your play type. If you're the "nice" Clem, you can bond with Sarah seeing as she's the only other child you've seen FOR A YEAR. If you're hardened, badass Clem. You see Sarah as an annoyance and liability. Something you can't bond with or help.
No2.- There's no char backstory for most of the new chars.
Both Clem and the player don't know much about the new chars and really have no bond with them. In episode 2 for example, It was easy for me to have a shootout with Carver because I had Kenny at my side. (the only person Clem would realistically give a crap about) She's already seen so much death that watching her new found survivors die at the hands of Carver really wouldn't bug her that much with the exception of possibly Luke. If Sarita wasn't there, and if Kenny didnt have her realisticaly Clem and Kenny could have bolted and survived both just fine.
Because season 2 is so rushed you just don't have time to know and bond with people. If you don't see this go back and play season 1. In season 1 with the exception of Mark, everybody's death in the core group had meaning. When Carley died everybody was shocked. Mean while in Season 2 Ep 2 when you can have half of your group killed you just simply don't care.
No.3 - Carver was a missed opportunity.
Realistically there was a bit of lazy writing in Episode 3. As good as it is, its just cliche and you know before you start it or even finish it what is going to happen. You just don't know the specifics. Carver was what you call "stupid evil". He was a charicature of an evil badguy. A cartoon of the governor who had alot more depth to him. In my opinion, Episode 3 should have been 2 episodes or possibly even finished the series. That way it would have more weight when carver dies. More weight when reggie dies. More weight when Carlos dies.
Again it was rushed and you can feel it. When Carlos died, I just didnt care because the only thing he was to Clem was a guy that scolded her. Unless you the player care about Sarah, having him die screaming would be a boon while escaping. Same with Reggie. He died for shock value. But the shock would've been much better if we had had time with him to really know him that he's a nice guy etc and then he ends up dying just like Carley in an instant.
These are HUGE missed opportunites.
The other problem is the 400 days characters. We played a whole episode with them and virtually have nothing to show for it other than some cameos.
This is the problem with TWD series as a whole both on TV and this game, not so much the comic because that goes into depth.
You get into problems when you introduce characters and then kill them off immediately for shock value. It leaves the player or viewer jaded. Realistically it would do the same to Clem in game. If she's seeing people constantly die around her she's not going to care whether they live or die much in the future.
She'll be like Carl, which is good. She should end up being a hardened jaded cynic badass if she's going to survive. But the problem is, where is the story? Without strong character attachment the story turns into Resident Evil and a gore fest of watching some guy you barely knew get murdered. It also gives little reason to the player or Clem in game to approach anything with subtlety. There's no ultimate reason why Clem wouldn't just go in guns blazing anytime she could because she would stop caring.
TL;DR
TellTale needs to slow down, bring back the nuance from season 1.
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Comments
I'm kind of scared that Clem is going to turn into Ellie from TLOU with the exception of not having a Joel or Riley. Which will just make her a lone dangerous psychopath that the audience will lose connection with unless you want to play that type of character.