The lack of charaterization is killing Telltale
First and foremost, I wanna say that I'm a huge fan of TWD, both seasons 1 and 2. Enjoying season 2 less than season 1, but it's still a good season. Also, a lot of the complaints I'm gonna raise go along with TWAU.
Anyway, I've noticed less characterization for the characters in S2. In S1 of TWD, you got the chance to stop and talk to all of the secondary characters. You got to know them more as people, learning about their past life and current personal struggles dealing with the apocalypse. It made the player care about these people more because, well, you got to know them as people instead of just plot devices; i.e. things to be introduced, then to just hang out for a certain length of time until they're needed to perform a certain action, then eventually die when the plot needs them to. It makes all of the characters feel artifical and the whole experience hollow.
Out of all of the gameplay mechanics Telltale's ditched recently, this is the one I feel strongest towards (the others being exploration and puzzles). These games are based on an interesting plot and well-written characters, and we just aren't getting a lot of the latter. Enough to make me care for these characters? Yes. Enough for a lot of fans that I've spoken to? No. Without good charaterization, any of Telltale's games are going to drop in quality, and in a big way; and I'm not the only one echoing this concern from what I can tell.
As a side note: the decrease episode length has me dreadfully depressed. Don't like it and a big reason why there is a decrease is because of the ditched gameplay mechanics. As far as I can tell anyway.
But anyway, I've gone on long enough. What do you guys think? You guys share similar concerns?
Comments
Yup, we have discussed this to death. I might go necro a thread or two today or tomorrow.
http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/14/the-walking-dead-season-two-episode-3-review-in-harms-way-4727035/
This review sums up why Season 2, as a whole, has been rather disappointing when compared to Season 1.
It's a good read, I urge you all to check it out.
Well, we're much further into the apocalypse now. So who people were before the outbreak becomes less and less relevant. But I do agree with you that there should be more quiet moments where nothing's really happening and you're just talking to people--not because you want to plan something-- but because you want to get to know them a bit better as people.
I can sort of understand why that wasn't done with the new characters in this recent episode. It's a prison. People aren't supposed to be all friendly and open with you in prison (and if they are, RUN). There was a little bit of background talk with Reggie and Kenny about how he got his name, but it didn't really have the same impact because we weren't supposed to be paying attention to what he was saying. It was just a way for Kenny to distract him while we looked around the yard. Everything seems to have a purpose this time around. While that does streamline the episode and makes things more action-packed, you lose out on a lot of the charm that make those action sequences feel more significant.
Back in Season 1, every time Lee met a new person, it was followed by a whole hub sequence where he'd asked them who they were and what they thought about the situation. Clem doesn't really do that in this season. Maybe that's a conscious choice based on her characterization. She was a pretty curious little scamp in Season 1, always asking Lee about his life and stuff. But I guess with her approaching adolescence now and with everything she's been through, they thought it would make more sense for her to be a bit more reserved and cautious of interacting with others. It's a shame because one of my favorite things about her was her childish boldness.
Well that's certainly a different review to others I have read, where they do nothing but praise the episode. A good read. Thanks for posting.
Does it make sense that Clem wouldn't be as open to just talking with people? Sure, there'd be a limit to how much she'd be willing to interact with people. But getting rid of those quiet moments is in no way a good idea. Even if it makes less sense for her to be doing so, having more quiet moments is damn near necessary. And in regards to the "it makes it more action-packed", having stuff happen with the plot isn't a bad thing, but if we're really gonna appreciate when shit hits the fan then we need some times of calm.
Yeah, I agree with you. I'm just trying to guess at what the devs might have been thinking when they made those design decisions. Calm moments of quiet reflection are necessary to keep us from only thinking of these character as "zombie apocalypse survivors" and more as "normal people who've been forced to become zombie apocalypse survivors."