A big disappointment by telltale once again.
My review of this game after finishing it a few hours ago-
Gameplay
As always you would have to spill hot coffee on your lap in order to miss any of the QTEs, they could honestly just remove these from their games because I really don't understand what point they serve.
Choices:
Whenever the point about telltale games not giving you any real choices on the outcome of the game is brought up, the counter argument is usually that it would be near impossible for them to have every single choice you make change the game. After the walking dead I thought this wasn't an entirely valid counter point but fine I accepted that. Then this game came out, and I thought "hmm a murder mystery?". Well that is perfect, telltale wouldn't have to change the game based on every choice you make, they could give you clues in a 'who done it' kind of way and at the end they give you the final choice based on all the information you gather. I thought this was a genius idea on telltales part because it would give you reason to really pay close attention to the story and dialog and not feel like you were just part of a television show waiting to see what happens, they could keep the same format as the walking dead and all they would have to do is make a few different endings and they would achieve that. People would probably not even be upset if they picked wrong because they could go back and see all the clues they missed. A lot of games give you multiple endings, so surely this is not too much to ask right? "This might actually be a really great game" I thought, but alas it wasn't so, telltale gave us they same television show bullshit they always do. Also before you say anything, I completely understand that they did not market the game as a who done it, solve the mystery game, and I had absolutely no reason to expect that this would be the case. I am simply saying that this was my strong hope and it definitely would have redeemed the game for me.
So fine, it was like watching a television show but was it still entertaining? Not exactly-
Story:
I was not wanting some terrible m night shyamalan shit with the story, all I was expecting was the story to be even the least bit two dimensional. You know, something that showed us our intentions or beliefs may not have been entirely true as we discover more about what is going on. But it was the most straight forward and bland story you could write. The basic point of the entire fucking game? The fables in fabletown are struggling, and don't know what to do. They took 5 episodes to say THAT? We knew that from the first 10 mins of episode 1. You run around the city looking for the murderer and hearing the sob stories of fables and can't even help like when even if you figure out how to give toad money he goes to the farm anyway.
And what about the murderer? Well here is the big reveal we have been waiting for the entire game. Is everyone ready? Hold on tight!....Oh.... it's just the fucking guy we thought it was halfway through the game, uhh ok. Oh but wait! He wants to go to trial and explain himself. Ah, now this is where he reveals his master plan about how it was never him and he is somehow the good guy.....oh...uh he is just trying to blame georgie....god this is fucking terrible. In the end there is not even enough evidence to say which of the two it was, but either way I could not find myself really caring about which of the two it was. Well what's next?
Oh but there is a shitty shyamalan twist, as it turns out faith and narissa are the same person. Jesus who fucking cares? We knew faith for all of 3 seconds I couldn't care less if she was still alive and trying to help us, this has absolutely no impact on the story what so ever so what was the point of that? Well the point was to throw in a stupid twist at the end so that slack jawed idiots would still talk about this game after it is over and what the ending meant.
Redeeming qualities
Telltales art style mixed with the neon noir setting was great.
The characters were far more interesting and had more personality than all of TWD combined(Except bloody marry, god that was the cheesiest character ever, was she supposed to be intimidating?)
Honestly I wouldn't care that much about this game if people were not always saying that telltale games have very well written stories. Even if the story was mediocre I wold just assume my tastes were different from others. But to have such shallow and bland plots like this and TWD have so much acclaim, is just so confusing to me. I wonder how telltale will handle a story like game of thrones that already has so many layers, perhaps the nights watch will run out of food and you play jon snow trying to find food, and in the end it is ambiguous whether or not he is able to get food for them.
Comments
Don't like it? Don't play it!
A little late for that unfortunately.
"But to have such shallow and bland plots like this and TWD have so much acclaim, is just so confusing to me"
and this is the line that made me stop taking your post seriously lol
Now why can't we have more people like you on the forum, Cazzy. We need more people who are willing to criticize like you.
That's a bullshit rebuttal and you know it, honeychops. Criticising something he paid for is warranted, and if he didn't like it then it's his goddamn right to do so.
We don't "need" people to criticize, but they can if they want to.
nope can't agree with any of the points you made except that it was a bit short
otherwise it was one of the best episodes and pure awesomeness
Yes we damn well do. Considering all the inept threads that are made hourly, we're in desperate need for criticism. For someone to bitch incessantly how everything sucks so that this place can become fun, instead of depressing. I'm doing my part, but Jesus, it feels like fighting the tide.
What do you mean? Are you implying that I don't believe what I am saying?
No im saying when you said "But to have such shallow and bland plots like this and TWD have so much acclaim, is just so confusing to me"
I could no longer take you seriously because you just killed any credibility that you had with that line lol
ok but for what reason?
I liked the episode...
Why would someone need to "bitch" around here, isn't this supposed to be fan base where fans who love the game can talk about it?
With that logig of yours, you should be banned because just "bitching" around for your own "fun" is trolling.
Edit: Oh, I see you actually did get banned. Well, one troll less.
Can't agree more. All this hype you read everywhere about "TELLTALE THE GENIUSES AND MASTERS OF WRITING AND STORYTELLING" does nothing but make you expect something that will blow your mind once you're finished with an episode or the whole game. And then the plot ends up being nothing special.
Not that I am arrogant enough to think anyone from telltale would read my post or change anything that they are doing, but I think criticism is good as it helps change things for the better, if it is just constant praise then everything that was wrong with something doesn't really get effected.
Well I just don't listen to people
People said Episode 4 of TWAU sucked but I enjoyed it.
isn't that what CAZZY doing? talking about it? regardless of bitch and moaning...
He has opinion...they can't change his opinion.
So because people say "TELLTALE THE GENIUSES AND MASTERS OF WRITING AND STORYTELLING" you believe them lol
Here is a better idea how about you "PLAY THE GAME FOR YOURSELF AND STOP BUYING INTO STUPID HYPE" !!!!
Well faith is/was Princess Allereirauh. Her story was written by the Grimm Brothers and if you translate her name into english it would mean "Princess a lot of smoke/skins". Her hole story was about how she disguised herself as somebody else to escape her father. (Thought in the end he found her and forced her to marry him)
So the narissa/faith-thing could be a reference to the fairy tail.
It's really hard to avoid when you see it literally everywhere. In review sites, this forum, other forums and even in the episode trailers with all those little accolades thingies.
Thank you for admitting Telltale are overrated though.
Actually Bigby even remenbers that, It's a really clear reference to her story.
Exactly this.
Telltale are not the best writers in the industry, they aren't even close.
They're good writers, occasionally there is a glimmer of greatness. Hyping up the games as OMG WRITING is just a complete disservice to the games - most people who are well versed in good film, literature, games, really any form of storytelling who purchase the game expecting excellence will be at most slightly disappointed, it's just what will happen.
They are nice adventure games, not a bad use of $25, and they not only have flaws, they seem to be becoming more flawed (TWD S2 I'm looking at you). Like most things, there are things to enjoy and while there are many many valid criticisms of the game, there are many people who are willing to trade their money for the games which is all it really takes. I wish there was more gameplay, because the games struggle to stand up on their own. They remind me very strongly of David Cage games (Heavy Rain, Beyond: TS), although those games have multiple endings and more storyline branching. Of course Telltale is indie and Quantic Dream is AAA, and that will have a part to play, but at the end of the day /okay/ writing with limited gameplay and a faltering illusion of choice will not support a franchise for long.
They need to either start delivering on the choices, including more gameplay, or simply writing better. It's becoming almost a really short TV season (most TV series' have more than 7.5 hours total), with occasional QTEs and some choose your own adventure dialogue flavor. Not sustainable once people get "over" the format, which is starting to happen.
Well, not being able to change much of the story does get irritating and is completely pointless and defeats the purpose of gameplay. May as well turn it into a mini-graphic movie to download and watch without the interactive gameplay.
Cazzy has valid points. There really was no point to the twist at the end with the Faith/Narissa dual identity. It served no purpose to the game itself. They could also have really tried harder to surprise us with the killer's identity. When it was Georgie I was so let down, like a big hype over nothing. I expected this grand reveal, like Buffkin or Snow was behind it all. But someone you just meet for a brief encounter half way through the game? Lame. However, the characters were excellent and had more potential had they been given a better storyline, which also had more potential. The scenery and 80s noire feel was really well done and beautiful to look at, but overall, it lacked excitement and too many annoying characters like Jack, Beauty and Beast and mostly Snow. Urgh. Anyone else find her intolerable and annoying as hell?
Conclusion - I just don't find the interactive gameplay that fun to play. At some points it was really repetitive and boring no matter how pretty it looked.
It just goes to show you cant please everyone and Im sure they know that. As long as they have a good enough track record, theyre doing okay. As a fan of the comic, I was very pleased with it, and have been with the whole series, but not everything is for everyone.
Gameplay You do not like the QTE system. Telltale decided to use a QTE system so that now and then you have to react to the story and feel involved. Could they come up with another system? ** Maybe** . Could they design better QTE? Maybe.
Choices The choices don't let you change the outcome of the game. that's true. the outcome doesn't change. It is one story your choices only impact dialogue or characters attitude towards you but these changes remain cosmetic and never change the outcome. True. It is obvious why it is like that. Offering a real custom tailored story would require a considerably higher amount of work. an amount that would grow exponentially from one episode to another. However even though you can not change the story by your choice what you can change is what type of Bigby you are as well as how others perceive you. that is much more than you get from a TV show or a book.
Story You wanted to have more answers at the end of the story.You got the wrong game. You want to know who killed who and why. The fact is at the end of episode 5 we still have no proof of who did what. You do not like it. That is your opinion Do not insult people that actually liked the story and want to speculate on who did what and why. Who is who. your point there is only to troll you don't bring any constructive criticism to the table about the story.
Bitching is an integral part of any fandom, as too much praise makes the creators heads swell and think crap ideas (on rails, dialogue choosers like we have now) are fantastic.
Bitching isn't trolling, junior. Trolling would be me not having a single argument, yet still talking without saying anything. I'mma blow yo' mind right now: trolling isn't a blanket term for assholes. It's a term for assholes who have nothing to say, but are still arguing.
P. S.
You should know you can't keep a good man banned, Vincy.
The plots are amazing in my opinion. Both twd Season 1 and TWAU. Why do you think they're bland?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8v_fF0bbqA
With risk of sounding like a smug dick head, I do sometimes forget that over a third of video game players are under 18 and perhaps don't realize that movies like leon:the professional did what games like the last of us and twd were TRYING to do, years ago and a billion times better. This is why I thought twd is somewhat bland and expected a little more variation on it.
Like I said there was no real point to twau plot except telling us what we already knew early on. twd was somewhat better because at least it made some point that led up to the ending, but I still don't see what made any of it was incredibly original and amazing writing.
Actually the ending had a point, it's a hint (probably) for another season and something to allow us to think about. It was pretty interesting. If that bothers you, then HELL, that's only you so far. Don't forget that the Woodsman told Bigby that there's something he can do about the girls. That leaves another thing to think about. If you ask me, I think we rly r getting another season lol.
However I agree TTG are starting to go downhill with their games.
Exactly. When you have seen great films, played great games, read great literature, and listened to great music, you start to be able to tell the difference between a truly powerful and masterful work and "above average". I view it the same way as I view people who consider the Harry Potter books to be great writing - hopefully it is a jumping off point for people to really immerse themselves in the medium and find some true greatness in there.
Hopefully TWD inspires some people who usually don't play games to play some more, and gain some perspective on what can be done with them.
Thank you for your opinion Cazzy.
It is not easy to go on a specific board where you know will be a lot of fans of the franchise to write a valid criticism and leave an unpopular opinion. Most of all thank you for not being a troll, but someone, who seems to mean sincerely what he is writing about. There are a few things I disagree on:
For example the Gameplay. I have to say that I belong to the people who like to play it for the story, not the gameplay. For me these telltale games are indeed movies or tv shows rather than games. That's also how I described them to my friends.
I don't mind the interaction with the game, but I don't need an overly complicated gameplay. I feel that this is not the point of this kind of game. And it is a nice change of pace for me as a longtime gamer.
Now regarding the choices and story. TWAU, unlike TWD, was a disappointment for me. Almost half the time, I felt like the dialogue options and their outcome were not at all reflecting what I wanted to say and their impact was limited. Dialogue in general felt dumbed down, characters repeatedly listing facts we already knew or stating the obvious. There was no need to make the player feel that dumb in TWD, why now?
I like the way you think about the changing outcome of a murder mystery and I would have appreciated if they went that way.
The story involving the "mastermind" The Crooked Man as well as the murderer Georgie felt very flat and rather uninteresting. It was like pointing at Stalin saying: "Look this guy is really not nice and he did some horrible things." - "Oh really?" There was no surprise, there was no shocking moment... maybe it doesn't have to be like that, but I just couldn't care. At the end of the game I disliked most of the characters for their selfish and ungrateful behaviour I wasn't blown away by the conclusion of the murders and even the potential for a romance between Snow and Bigby was just killed. The reveal of Nerissa/Faith felt a bit forced to me and at that moment, I struggled to really care about who she actual was.
There was so much potential to tell a gripping film noir story, and I thought episode one ste the table for what's to come... and then the big letdown. There are rumors that the big gap between episode one and two & three happened to a rewrite of the story. And I feel like this is exactly what happened. I feel that TT set out to tell a whole other story. They had me hooked with the first episode and I even expected this to become better than TWD. Episode 2 felt rushed, clumsy, unsubtle even very stupid sometimes.
I noticed that you didn't like TWD either, but I have to disagree again. Yes, the story was not a new one, great stories rarely are. There are those themes that will get retold over and over again in different form, because they are essential for us, they touch us emotionally, because we all are familiar with the issues. A love story like romeo or juilette, or even the story of redemption of a sinner (through the means of an innocent child). TWD had such a theme. I felt the story was evolving slowly, the bond between Clem and Lee grew stronger and it felt natural, subtle and realistic. I never before felt with the characters of a computer game like this and while I played I really became Lee. Therefor the emotional impact of the story was far greater than it had been on TWAU. Which is so strange, for the lone wolf type, the misunderstood (anti)hero, that is a role I always liked and I like to identify with, more so than a redeeming sinner. But the story around it... the frame in which those characters had to operate felt uncomfortable, uninspired and forced sometimes.
All in all, it is a solid game. I still recommend it to others. But it is a "broken promise" for me.
PS: Maybe one day TT will tell us if there in fact was a rewrite of the story or even just one episode. And why it had to be done and what the alternative was.
^
I was just making a point about QTES, I understand it is a story dependent game which is why I am criticizing it in the same fashion as someone would criticizing a movie. It's not like I would hold the plot of a mortal combat or mario game to the same standards.
I do think that the twd story was better than twau simply because you know, it actually had a point.
Also, I don't think that themes in a story can only be told once and never be told again, I just think that twd offered basically no variation or creativity on that particular theme, so it came off as bland to me.
I do agree with you on the point of it being natural though, I give them some credit for not throwing the whole emotional thing in our faces and handled it with some subtly so it did at least feel somewhat genuine, though they did come close to crossing the line a few times (clem being too cutesy at times, and the whole duck thing).
And just to bring up choices again, when I heard about twd I thought it was perfect, being the leader of a zombie survival group usually means that your choices can save people and get people killed. This, just like the murder mystery plot line, are usually themes that suggest how important choice is, but again none of it really meant much in either game which is where some of the letdown for twd came from for me. It's not like I was expecting them to have crazy choices that would change the game entirely like "hmm fuck savanah lets head to alaska", just simply that maybe you choice gets someone killed and every so often someone says something like "man I can't believe you did __ and got __ killed". I already said what I was expecting from twau.