Are people getting the best experience from their play throughs?
I had a great time over the weekend playing Ep. 2 Atlas Mugged. My first play through was memorable and hilarious and ended with a nail bitting cliffhanger that made me question my decisions. But I was surprised to find out that I was part of the minority that chose the Old Haven path. So out of curiosity, on my second play though, I chose the Hollowpoint and found it to be a surprisingly weaker storyline. To me, it lacked the hilarious and intense moments from the Old Haven storyline and it also made the final confrontation a bit weaker.
The whole "buddy-buddy" aspect from the Hollowpoint storyline seems to be out of place and in direct contrast of what Pandora and Felix's last lesson is about: "TRUST NO ONE." And I personally can't see any reason why Ryse should see Fiona as a friend story-wise. Since Ryse has been on Pandora, Fiona had: conned him into buying a phony Vault Key, try to throw him out of a moving caravan, get him held at gunpoint by her hot-headed sister, get him caught in the middle of a Mad Max style death rally, blow up his $10 million dollars, and get thrown out of a moving caravan for real. All in less than two days!
By going to Old Haven, you keep the distrust alive. This aspect of the story gets real interesting when Ryse and Fiona are forced to work together and makes for a better ending of Ep 2. After the Hollowpoint storyline, I felt like the final decision was simply "Do I continue to trust Fiona?" or "Do I stab Fiona in the back?"
But after the Old Haven storyline, I felt that the final decision was much more heavy and complex. Will you choose Handsome Jack, a malevolent ghost of a tyrant who wants to save you because your death could mean his death? Or will you choose Fiona, the con artist who's seems to be making up her plan as she goes. I love this ending because it makes choosing Handsome Jack a much more natural and logical choice because even though he's an (hilarious) asshole, you know what he's capable of and can possibly get all of you out with ease. On the other hand, choosing Fiona seems like a gigantic leap of faith and even though you want to trust her and she's not Handsome Jack, you are filled with doubt that her plan will work at all.
And watching Handsome Jack taking over the Lance Probes while laughing maniacally gives me the shivers every time.
And to top it all off, here's a list of all of my favorite moments that you miss if you choose the Hollowpoint storyline:
-A funny Stranger moment when he accidentally kills the bandit leaving him to awkwardly ask Ryse and Fiona if they know how to change a tire.
-After Ryse and Vaughn find the GP facility, August and his entourage shows up ending Ryse's story on a cliffhanger.
-Scooter describing Athena and Springs's relationship like a twelve year old boy.
-A hilarious confrontation with Athena who's trying to hide the fact she's still bounty hunting from Springs, and you get to drive off in your new caravan with the "Scooter's Special" paint job and Athena can't do anything about it.
-As an added "fuck you" to Athena, you steal her shield in front of her!
I know this game is all about player choices, but I just feel like a lot of people are missing out on a really good and gripping story about uneasy alliances and betrayal.
This all opinion based so please let me know what you guys feel about the Old Haven/Hollwpoint split storyline.
Comments
Yeah I read half of that and was like this
Too much read
I understand how you feel. I normally try not to think about things too much because I will come up with bat shit crazy ideas. I like to play it in a casual style instead of bending my back trying to think of who is going to die or who is going to betray. Telltale always comes up with suprising twists that nobody would even think about. That is if they are smart about it.
I went to Old Haven on my first playthrough as well. The only downside I think going to Old Haven first is that Loader Bot is just kind of there and doesn't do anything awesome the entire episode like throwing Athena across Hollow Point. As for the whole friends angle, that's optional and Telltale always excel at progressing your playable character and I personally don't think it's too far off base especially when we actually had a few friendly moments in episode 1.
Part of my initial reason of going to Hollowpoint was the fact I knew Athena was going to go after Fiona and Sasha, you hover over Hollowpoint and see Fiona's bounty and it confirms that the two are seriously about to get into trouble. Which they did... but they got out of it by almost just luck and Loaderbot throwing Athena. Plus Fiona had the other half of the core and no way do I think Rhys would want to see that thing get lost.
The best experience is the one "I" pick, not the one I'm told to pick. I'm going to pick something cause I want to, not because meta dictates it. Tales would become stale if we all chose the same options. Wouldn't really be a TellTale game if there were no other options.
i actually went to the wrong place, i had meant to split up but i couldn't remember which one was which (a hint saying which one was which would have been handy) but in the end, saving fiona and sasha is why my ryse would want to do anyway
It does say which one is which, you can click on either dot on the map and it has a little explanation for each so you can weigh up your options.
yeah it says stuff about the place, but not in a way that is relevant to the story ie. A) this is where fiona and sasha is headed
this is where the secret base is and fiona and sasha won't be there
It's Rhys. Not Ryse.
Yeah, my bad.
Every player have different experiences regarding what decision they make. I personally prefer the Hollow Point choice and I was wholly satisfied with the experience I got. I prefer that the group stays together rather than be separated.
It may be a story of greed, betrayal and uneasy alliances, but it is also a story of adventure and on every adventures you need a group of people to share it with.