Why is Telltale always making the semi-finale episodes of their games so weak?
Like seriously, we always see the semi-finale episodes of their games to be the least enjoyable episodes and the badly written compared to other episodes. Here are the examples:
- TWD Season 1: Around Every Corner (Slow, boring, not much action, too much talking etc.)
- TWD Season 2: Amid The Ruins (You know why)
- The Wolf Among Us: In Sheep's Clothing (Like TWD S1)
- Game of Thrones (Gared and Mira having little screentime, Ramsay, AKA Plot fucking armor, making the Forresters fall apart, Finn's development fallen apart, traitor reveal, plot holes)
- Batman: Guardian of Gotham (Catwoman staying at Wayne Manor became pointless, less action etc.)
The only semi-finale episode successful is Tales from the Borderlands: Escape Plan Bravo while Minecraft Story Mode: Access Denied and TWD Michonne: Give No Shelter were just OK but not least favourite.
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Strange, because some of the penultimate episodes in earlier telltale games were the best in the series. The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood was the best.
Yeah, I often find myself wondering why they are always experiencing this problem. The one thing I can say is that penultimate episode always have the unfortunate job of being the one episode who is more focused on setting up the final episode. There is simply just more build ups, sets up and talks in order to make the final episode more impactful.
I think the reason why Tales from the Borderlands: Escape Plan Bravo avoids this, is that the whole episode still felt like an episode and not a set up. I still felt like I was doing meaningful stuff. And it was meaningful, I was having an exciting infiltration with the gang in Helios, emotional space journey, experiencing fun finger-gun fights, having witty dialogues, some twists revealed and a good cliffhanger that it alone set up the final episode. It didn't felt like I was watching bricks getting placed, I was simply enjoying an normal good episode from Tales from the Borderlands. Sure you can argue getting Gortys' last upgrade was a set up, but that was used as a goal, the end point for the episode.
So I guess I am the only one who liked Around the corner.
yeah that is really odd. depending on the series it used to be episode 2 that was the weakest.
Because it's build up for the Grand Finale.
I actually liked the penultimates but of course, they are meant to build up for the final episode as GSSalvador stated^
my real issue with wolf's episode 4 was it was to short and got rid of the part i liked from episode 3 where areas change depending on when you go to them.
They should make them look darker and more shocking. But no, they look disappointing.
I feel as if I'm the only one who really liked Around Every Corner.
i like it just fine but is kinda slow at points.
I like penultimate episodes. I mean I guess it seems slow/weak as one episode, but they are essential for a complete playthrough, and they always manage to do a fantastic job setting up for a great finale.
That's all pretty subjective.
All the episodes of Game of Thrones and Batman were all pretty much of the same quality to me, so I can't say I liked one episode better than the other.
Around Every Corner is actually one of my favorite episodes of Season 1.
I fully agree with Amid the Ruins. That was easily the worst episode of Season 2.
I kinda agree with In Sheep's Clothing, although I personally think Smoke and Mirrors is the worst episode.
I remember Double Visions from Back to the Future: The Game being pretty good. Although, it's been forever since I've played it.
Being honest, the only episode 4 episode that I found a little bit disappointing was Wolf ep 4, it wasnt bad, but it was just a little underwhelming.
However, that was before Batman episode 4, and as much as I loved that series, I almost dont want to accept that episode 4 is real. Something about it just felt completely different from all the other episodes, and it just felt super weak, and having a bunch of characters not used in it did not help it at all.
Funny, that's exactly how I feel about it, though I was unsure how to put it into words.
No, I liked it too, it had tons of character development and lots of little details which were pretty hard to notice, sure it didn´t have much action but it made sense to slow down a little and to establish the new characters that were being introduced before that bang of an ending that was No Time Left which to be fair also had excellent character development but a lot of it wouldn't have worked if Around Every Corner hadn't advanced the other characters so much, plus AEC is the episode that has the most variations based on your previous choices, I think.
Around Every Corner was the only episode ever in a Telltale game which I thought was too long and slow paced. Still loved it though.
It's a bit harsh because all those episodes all served purposes and had meaning. If anything, i'd call the first episodes the "weakest" purely on the fact that they have to introduce us to characters and storylines.
I haven't played game of thrones, so i can't comment but the others have their roles.
The Walking Dead Season 1 Episode 4 : Around Every Corner : It was long, but it served the purpose that Clementine was kidnapped and that there was a stranger seeking revenge, Lee getting bit set the tone for the final episode and we saw Kenny's turn into depression and seeking revenge for his family and Ben's final decision in do we let him fall to his death, or put away what he did and save him.
The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 4 : Amid The Ruins : I can agree that the deaths of Nick and Sarah were poorly written, but the episode has it's strong points. Rebecca having her baby, Luke;s betrayal of the group, Kenny dealing with losing Sarita, Arvo and his group, the final scene. It's not perfect, but it's not weak.
The Wolf Among Us Season 1 Episode 4: In Sheep's Clothing : This wasn't as bad as people say, it introduced as to the crooked man, had Bigbys nightmare with bloody mare, had choices weather to send toad and colin to the farm. It sets up the final episode pretty good as well.
Batman Season 1 Episode 4: Guardian of Gotham : This is my favourite out of all the episodes, it wasn't suppose to be action packed, it was to tell the story more. The Arkham Asylum was great, it introduced us to telltales Joker, The battle with Harvey at the end is great, Selina leaving was a great curveball. The only thing wrong with the episode is that it could've be longer.
Should you really expect a dramatic one with a series like TWD though? It's a slow burn and that's part of what makes it... it.