Am I in the twilight zone?
I have been VERY critical of season 2. I thought every episode up until now was mediocre and almost fan-ficiton in terms of quality. The length, my god the LENGTH was awful. 90 minutes was killing the season. Then ep 4 comes out. And I LIKE the episode. By far the most enjoyable experience of season 2 I've had. It was noticeably longer at 1 hour and 50 minutes for my run. I felt that Jane was a realistic portrayal of a girl who has lost everything and has lost her humanity to be able to have emotions, and sympathy. When she was with Luke it meant NOTHING. He felt something, and for her it didn't matter. I really wanted Jane to stick around. Her character was BY FAR the best and most detailed of season 2. They gave her backstory, they gave her time to explain her background. It was great. And now she's gone. And we got this stupid Kenny and Luke drama that will likely fill episode 5 with more of the same.
I can't believe people disliked this episode. Ney, I can't believe people think this is the worst episode of season 2. I ask myself what the hell have people been playing this entire time???? There was a hub. Was it season 1 quality??? No. Were there puzzles? Absolutely not. But there was a hub and it felt good to walk around the different places. I am very sad that this episode is getting panned while the VERY mediocre episodes earlier in the season got praised. I just hope telltale realizes THIS IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. Expand on this episode. Please don't go backwards to the earlier 90 minute episodes with no exploration and no deep characters. Please don't.
This paying customer was satisfied, after being disappointed for a long time.
Comments
There's always something for everyone.
Please tell me what the problem was? Illusion of choice? There were never any choices to be had. If people think that is the problem I direct them to season 1. The choices didn't matter hardly. And it was still GREAT. The earlier episodes had the illusion of choice just like this episode and people didn't cry about it. If you think this episode sucks because of that I don't know what to say.
People who hate this episode tell me why. Like really why.
Again, I'm pretty split on it. One on hand, I'm with you, I liked Amid The Ruins. When the episode did something right, it really did it right. As far as Season 2 problems go, some have been fixed here and others remain unresolved. As far as fixed ones go, I'd say lack of character development was resolved very nicely here. I got to learn a lot more about Mike, Jane, Bonnie, and Luke. I mostly agree with you about the hub moments, too. While I don't think they were handled as elegantly here as they were in Season 1, I'm still pretty with them now.
So this episode is mostly a step in the right direction, yes. But there are still plenty of frustrating things going on here, mostly related to the same haphazard storytelling that marred earlier episodes. This is the fourth one of the season, and I still feel like my decisions don't matter nearly as much as they did in Season 1. Things just kind of happen, regardless of who you trust, who you choose, or who you save.
Being Sarah's friend or not doesn't amount to anything. Cutting off Sarita's arm doesn't change anything, either. Hell, even though whether Sean dies no matter what in A New Day, choosing to save either him or Duck still has a huge impact on Kenny for the rest of the game. I just don't see that happening in Season 2.
But I'll say it again, this episode got a lot of things right. It made much better use of it's time and characters than Episode 3 did. The problems I have with Episode 4 aren't necessarily because of the episode itself, but rather because of Season 2 as a whole.
I thought it was extremely mediocre as a whole, but it had some fairly enjoyable moments, just like the rest of season 2. This episode felt like the longest, and I liked Jane (more than can be said for any other original season 2 character). It doesn't even come remotely close to the worst episode of season 1.
The illusion of choice in Season 1 is nothing compared to the illusion of choice in Season 2. Not only is it more present in this season, but it also negatively effects the story, whereas in Season 1 it didn't reduce the quality of the storyline.
You're not in the twilight zone. You're in the dangerzone starts playing highway to the dangerzone
Choices being implemented poorly, Nick's terrible send off, Sarah's unsatisfying demise, I enjoyed the episode, but it has flaws and it has more to do with Season 2 as a whole.
I love Top Gun!
I liked the first half of the episode immensely, but it turned sour real quick on me. I love it for what it is, I have issues with it, but I don't despise the episode as a whole.
I agree. Playing this episode is almost like being back in Season 1. The writing was better, and there was a bit of exploration and character development. It makes me hopeful that Telltale can get TWD back on track. It's probably too late for Season 2, but maybe they can set up Season 3 and write a story for it.
Maybe the reason people don't like episode 4 is because people are attached to some of the characters and are rightfully disappointed with how they were killed. (Or not used, like 400 days.) And while I agree with this criticism, the good in the episode outweighed the bad for me.
One thing I liked was the return of tough decisions. Season 2 hasn't had many. What was the point of stealing the watch or not? Or taking a photo? Sure, something good or bad happened, but the player had no way of anticipating what would happen, so it was a coin toss, not a dilemma. Other choices were popularity contest. Sit with Kenny or Luke? Run to Pete or Nick? Or backtalk Carver for no reason.
Then think about the choices in this episode. Unfortunately the choices were meaningless, but they were still tough and let you decide what kind of person Clem is and what she values. How did you decide if Mike should help Kenny, get the water for Rebecaa, or check on Sarah? Is it right to risk Jane's life to try to rescue Sarah, especially when Jane doesn't think Sarah can survive anyway? Did you leave Sarah to die without even trying? Did you mug Arvo for his meds?
This episode was a step in the right direction.
i really liked this episode, i felt bad after every decision even though i thought it was the best choice.
i chopped sarita's arm off last episode and i just knew after i had done that it had a high chance of ending badly, so i got that kenny was mad at me and i am glad that the baby is what turned him around, even though it seems like the baby is now his only reason for living.
i stole the medicine from arvo to help kenny, rebecca and luke even though i knew it could come back to bite me, i actually wanted jane to kill him so it would lessen the chance of repercussion.
i saved sarah at the trailer park, but she was screwed at the deck (at the time i thought it was a choice to save either sarah or jane but it occurred to me a short time after that the drop wasn't very high)
i decided to stay a few days so i felt like it was my fault that the bad weather had kicked in and my fault rebecca died, and because i stole from arvo i thought i was my fault they held us up, and because i shot rebecca i thought it was my fault the russians started shooting.
because of all that the episode felt amazing and horrible, admittedly when i replayed it with different decisions, my choices felt like they had less impact, but i always replay with different decisions and it always feels that way, and sure nicks death was meh and it was annoying that the strong female character turned out to be molly 2.0 (loner, dead sister, i suspect some sexual abuse because of the way she shot troy in the dick, proficient in killing, and leaving for no real reason) but they are minor complaints, i think episode 2 and 4 are the best of the season so far
Different strokes for different folks. A lot people probably liked the episodes you disliked and now the reverse is happening. It's just how it is. Personally, I thought the episode was alright. It wasn't the best, by any means. The length was great though. I just wish that the choices had mattered a little bit more, as others have said. That's my only complaint really. I still enjoyed it though.