I have no idea then. I think they may expand on that more later or maybe there was something you could find that explained it more? Also you're right I thought we also stumbled upon it. Guess space is a tiny place.
If I'm piecing it all together correctly, the person that originally stole the MK core was a doctor who was working on whatever the MK project was. She was convinced of its benefits, but her superiors were more interested in weaponizing it. After she caught wind of what her superiors were planning to do, she stole a sample of it and attempted to smuggle it out of the lab. She recruited a security guard to help her escape and stash it in the mausoleum, but the guard was secretly contacted by those same superiors (or a third party claiming to represent them), and given a deal; to 'take care' of the doctor, reclaim the sample and give it back to them. The doctor was supposed to board the Urshanabi with it, but Toussaint's pirates intercepted, hijacked and destroyed the ship before this could happen. The guard held up his end of the deal by killing the doctor, but the people he was meant to trade it back to never showed up, leaving him stranded in the mausoleum. By the time we finally show up, he's nearly out of oxygen, and attacks us in a paranoid delusional state thinking we were sent to kill him.
So I got around to seeing the other ending where you fight to see what happens myself and honestly I was really disappointed. Ends up being one of the worst kinds of Telltale choice where the course correction is laughable.
From what I read here I assumed fighting meant you threw the brothers into the brig. I did not realize that instead Arlen somehow overpowers Maya (with both his shoulders shot) and forces you into the airlock? Honestly felt incredibly dumb. Drummer also leaves from our ship and goes all the way back to the station instead of trying to get back inside. Really didn't like that and I think I would have to put it pretty high up on the worst way a choice was handled in a Telltale game. The fact is is just so immediate makes it comical. Not the worst ever because it does leads to Maya's fate changing but execution was really sloppy. (Also hoping Maya doesn't end up like Cox)
Wow this was probably the shortest episode of anything Telltale, clocked in at essentially 60 minutes for me -- and I made sure to explore e… moreverything I could..
First off, I liked this episode a lot plot-wise.
It was cool seeing a new environment for once that wasn't the Ship or a debris field.
The mystery of delving deeper and deeper into the colony and how morbid the backstory of the people were was really interesting to me. Actually had a hook to it.
(Spoiler)
I'm confused about Drummer's sudden use of the Data Drive from the first episode. Pulling up files of "The First Ones" and being like "yeah I saw this before"
Either I missed something, or I forgot, but I don't ever remember looking at the data drive since Cox did his mutiny, so the fact this place tied into that original drive surprised me.
I thought we just stumbled upon the colony while on the run in the last episode? 🤔
The ending was SUPER intense though, for real.
I'd give this one a 7/10. Good, but I wish there was more.
(Spoiler)
So I thought it was Minecraft episode 2 which I for some reason remember being like 30 minutes long, but going back it looks like it was probably a bit shorter than this episode, so closer to like 50 minutes to an hour?
Wow this was probably the shortest episode of anything Telltale
I swear I remember another Telltale episode, either ANF or Minecraft, that was shorter at like 50 minutes or something.
Yeah i mentioned it in my post but Arlen somehow getting the upper hand and the strength to overpower Drummer with both shoulders shot is pretty dumb lmao
I think the worst part is that Maya breaks free for just enough time to give you a helmet and i was just wondering why didnt she just beat his ass in that moment instead the only threat hes got over them both is the gun but whatever
Hey look on the bright side my dude Cox had a 10 second cameo in this episode lets gooo lmao they really gave him the Nick treatment here's hoping he doesnt get killed offscreen next episode or something.
So I got around to seeing the other ending where you fight to see what happens myself and honestly I was really disappointed. Ends up being … moreone of the worst kinds of Telltale choice where the course correction is laughable.
From what I read here I assumed fighting meant you threw the brothers into the brig. I did not realize that instead Arlen somehow overpowers Maya (with both his shoulders shot) and forces you into the airlock? Honestly felt incredibly dumb. Drummer also leaves from our ship and goes all the way back to the station instead of trying to get back inside. Really didn't like that and I think I would have to put it pretty high up on the worst way a choice was handled in a Telltale game. The fact is is just so immediate makes it comical. Not the worst ever because it does leads to Maya's fate changing but execution was really sloppy. (Also hoping Maya doesn't end up like Cox)
Im not sure i actually have it but i'll take you for your word i could actually play the second episode earlier but not this one and had to wait like i had the standard edition and download it from the PS store it was pretty annoying
Maybe its a regional thing or whatever like the game is not allowing me to get the deluxe edition cause i bought the US version or something wouldn't be the first time
But hey if everyone got fucked over equally then that's lovely,i just really hope i can play the Archangel Bonus episode that i bought for thats one of the only reasons i bought Deluxe and not just Standard.
If it's any consolation, the achievements confirm that all the crew members can indeed survive to the end, just as they said was possible in one of the interview video things. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not they'll do something interesting with them ala Conrad in ANF, or if we'll indeed get the Nick treatment. Gonna try to stay optimistic about that for these last two eps.
Yeah i mentioned it in my post but Arlen somehow getting the upper hand and the strength to overpower Drummer with both shoulders shot is pr… moreetty dumb lmao
I think the worst part is that Maya breaks free for just enough time to give you a helmet and i was just wondering why didnt she just beat his ass in that moment instead the only threat hes got over them both is the gun but whatever
Hey look on the bright side my dude Cox had a 10 second cameo in this episode lets gooo lmao they really gave him the Nick treatment here's hoping he doesnt get killed offscreen next episode or something.
I remember reading that and I thought what you were saying would lead to still being airlocked out the station and are separated from Maya. Not that you win the fight and he is passed out and we drag him back onto our ship where he wakes up and somehow is fine and strong enough to overpower Maya lmao. Was watching the scene and was like "Oh this is a pretty cool different outcome" just to have that shattered.
I'm guessing Cox will either stay worthless or they will give him one more scene where he may die. Maybe something along the lines of he dies to redeem himself or something. Not the biggest fan of how Cox is determinate and now he might as well be dead. Bro is competing with Nick for most important determinant character award. Virgil and Khan not existing in episode 3 was also pretty lame considering after episode 2 I was looking forward to spending more time with them. I am also getting a suspicion episode 4 will probably have very little supporting cast because we are abandoned. So I hope episode 5 brings Cox back in a meaningfully way and if Maya is alive she doesn't just sit in a corner.
Yeah i mentioned it in my post but Arlen somehow getting the upper hand and the strength to overpower Drummer with both shoulders shot is pr… moreetty dumb lmao
I think the worst part is that Maya breaks free for just enough time to give you a helmet and i was just wondering why didnt she just beat his ass in that moment instead the only threat hes got over them both is the gun but whatever
Hey look on the bright side my dude Cox had a 10 second cameo in this episode lets gooo lmao they really gave him the Nick treatment here's hoping he doesnt get killed offscreen next episode or something.
Now that you and Poogs mention it, there have been a few other shorter episodes, True, but Telltale are usually good at nailing a 90-minute (or slightly shorter) average.
Pretty sure it was ANF episode 3 that was the shortest? I know that one was like extremely linear, with no hub areas.
Minecraft, I think I remember episode 2 being short, but it had great replay value with two completely different first halves.
Wow this was probably the shortest episode of anything Telltale
I swear I remember another Telltale episode, either ANF or Minecraft, that was shorter at like 50 minutes or something.
Now that you and Poogs mention it, there have been a few other shorter episodes, True, but Telltale are usually good at nailing a 90-minute … more(or slightly shorter) average.
Pretty sure it was ANF episode 3 that was the shortest? I know that one was like extremely linear, with no hub areas.
Minecraft, I think I remember episode 2 being short, but it had great replay value with two completely different first halves.
This new expanse ep was definitely shorter than MCSM ep2 if we're talking speedrunning. You can do the expanse ep in 35 minutes easy, maybe even under 30 if youre real quick. MCSM I recall being more at a 45-50 min range, but its been a long time.
Episode 3 was 85+ mins at least! huh? Ties that bind part 2 was the shortest episode of the season. That was like 60-65 mins.
You could e… moreasily speedrun michonne episode 3 if you ignored all the optional conversations I guess.
But, I think minecraft EP2 actually takes the cake.
If you want me to be cheeky I would say law and order. Those episodes are 30+ mins a piece if not shorter
Yeah that is a good point. I keep forgetting that while Minecraft ep 2 is short, you can't rush through it like Expanse where you can just hold forward to reach the end points. Not that you'd really play like that but could drastically take off time.
This new expanse ep was definitely shorter than MCSM ep2 if we're talking speedrunning. You can do the expanse ep in 35 minutes easy, maybe even under 30 if youre real quick. MCSM I recall being more at a 45-50 min range, but its been a long time.
Yeah that is a good point. I keep forgetting that while Minecraft ep 2 is short, you can't rush through it like Expanse where you can just hold forward to reach the end points. Not that you'd really play like that but could drastically take off time.
So, finally got around to playing The Expanse and... it was fine I suppose. Certainly not the bombastic return of Telltale that some of us were expecting, because, as others have pointed out, this feels more like a Decknine game.
Having only 2 dialogue options is unfortunate. What is double unfortunate is that they don't even appear as much as I'd like - most of the times Drummer talks on her own. (Which was especially jarring in episode 3 when she made a major decision on her own. I know that it's something Drummer would do, but it felt like the game was leading towards a classic major choice and then Drummer was like "nah"). I hope this is more of a Decknine thing and we'll get to cassic Telltale formula in Wolf.
The episodes are too short (especially the latest one), which might have been fine if we got some major variances based on your decisions, but so far it doesn't look too hot on that front either. I expected better for the price. Because of this we barely get to know the crew. I liked the little interactions we got with them in episode 2, but even that feels like a bare minimum. (and the twins were asleep during that lul)
I actually do like the space exploration, even though it can be disorienting and too open at times. From a technical standpoint, it is pretty impressive for a Telltale-like game. However, it would be cooler if we got that on top of more meaningful story and character moments, because now it feels like a random fluff to pad out the episode time (which is super short anyway).
QTEs exist, I suppose. Nothing too exciting there.
And yes, it's pretty clear that the episodes were supposed to release all at once. No "Previously on..."s, the episode trailers being just a 10s long teasers and the end of episodes sometimes not being too exciting - Episode 2 especially, that was probably the most boring ending to an episode I've ever seen lol. Might also explain why there are so few major decisions per episode.
Maybe bit of a nitpick, but Khan's VA is clearly someone young trying really hard to sound old and cranky.
Another nitpick, but the "romance" dialogue was a bit too cringey for me. But hey, Maya died for me, so no more of that at least lol.
Still, I did enjoy my time with it. My expectations weren't that big to begin with, so... We'll see if they incorporate major choices better in the last two episodes.
I'm all for choices and consenquences, but this one is a bit weird, because this should have been more about his relationship with Maya than with Drummer. Like he'll let Maya get spaced because he doesn't like Drummer enough?
So, That was an episode! After 2 crashes I finally got past the tunnel puzzle! To then be bombarded by some of this worst info dumping monologuing I have heard in a while. The conversation with Dawes was long and boring. I felt no impact cause I have very little idea who this person is outside of the data logs, and it had no semblance to the plot. Drummer may be a tight lipped person who doesn't like to talk about her feelings so I get being under distressed might awaken things, but the execution just wasn't it. After 30 mins I was getting ready to call this episode trash but then thank god the space pirates came! Actual proper conversation with an interesting antagonist. She may be a psycho pirate but her morals aren't entirely off. The episode was actually going somewhere finally, but once again with this series just as it was starting to get interesting! The episode ends...MAN. Not even a good MAN just a "this should have NOT been an episodic series!" M a n. I would forgive this episode more if I was able to play the next episode rn but no! I'm blue balls once again by the story going somewhere!
First mediocre episode for this series. I'm a big telltale guy. I don't feel strong hatred for some of the more less regarded telltale episodes. This episode wasn't bad (...overall) but it wasn't good either. I'm just kind of annoyed how this series has really good writing, but alienates itself with its awful pacing. Feels really bad. I'm looking forward to the last episode but I'm not hopeful the whole episode will be interesting. Maybe the last third will be. Ugh.
I really hope Telltale gets their episode releases on track for Wolf 2. The good thing about Telltale Tool was that each episode basically worked by having something similar to each episode having their own executable. (That isnt the actual correct term for what it was, but basically each episode functioned under its own files. Like I am pretty sure you could like delete all episode files for like episode 3 and everything would work unless you tried episode 3, it would act as if you didnt have a save for episode 3 if you played episode 4) I guess most game engines don't do this which I think is part of their release mess.
Did episode 4 have the least amount of choices so far? Felt like it. Not much gameplay over all really. Don't have much hope on episode 5 being better.
I clapped when Julie Mao showed up. It's cool to see her. This was a pretty good transition episode into the finale, getting a bit onto Drummer's trauma and some closure for Maya (if she died). Feels like the finale will be setup in a way that you try to help your crew as much as you can, and I absolutely believe the Chekov's gun on hearing Khan's past will be coming into play to help get rid of the pirates.
If you're on PS5, if you go to the game and then down to the bottom, it shows the episode downloads for you, just really strange there's a new way to download these episodes every release, lmao.
How way too many writers think people will react to "prequel where main character everyone knows is fucking alive finds themselves on the brink of death that takes up the bulk of the story and they talk to a character in their head that has nothing to do with the actual plot"
Has to be the absolute worst trope there is. This is what I meant earlier with hoping it wouldn't do a lis true colors episode 5. Just wander around the cave as you "die" and see some CraAaAazy stuff!
Honestly probably one of the worst Telltale episodes, if we even call it Telltale. Sure games like ANF have some really bad writing and some terrible choice and consequence integration but I would never say playing the worst of Telltale was ever boring. It had its own "so bad its good charm" to it. This is just putting me to sleep. Luckily once we catch up with the pirates I feel like I woke up as I was actually enjoying this part of the episode a lot but then as expected it ends right away.
General problems. Now 2 episodes in a row without talking with characters like Khan and Virgil. Not a fan how Maya is the only character who has anything going on outside 1 scene to explore her character more and even then she is far from complex. They want to go into episode 5 with this "how will I save my crew" but it lacks on "why I want to save my crew" because I don't know them that well still and now the game is over. And I think I mentioned it before but this game does not do a good job at all welcoming someone who is unfamiliar with the universe. Every other Telltale game I played where I wasn't very aware of the ip before hand got me interested to know more and got me invested into the larger ip. No hating on the books or show, but this game has not made me at all interested in Expanse and I feel it does a bad job getting someone like me to remotely understand the bigger picture of this world and even though they claim it doesn't, I feel like your enjoyment varies a lot based on your familiarity.
Maybe this is too harsh but I don't know. All the episodes are way too short and this episode really did not even try to give choice at all. I imagine once this is over I will quite literally never think of this game again.
"Remember what you did Camilla. What happened that day!"
Me: Bro what are you even talking about? Who even are you????
Camilla: NO!!!! STOP!! LEAVE ME ALONE AAAAA 30+ mins of this
I have never felt so alienated from a game by not knowing the events of the show/books. If they wanted someone to care they would transition to a proper flashback to the events rather than slowly walk around a room as the same stock scream sfx are heard over and over, but that was probably over budget. You did mention you liked the last 20 mins? Cause yeah that was legit pretty investing. Sure its not hard after how awful a slog the rest of the episode was but they know how to write an enticing story with characters. They just have no idea how to make it work within an episodic series I guess! Cause yeah it keeps happening, Just as its getting good...the episode is already over.
How way too many writers think people will react to "prequel where main character everyone knows is fucking alive finds themselves on the br… moreink of death that takes up the bulk of the story and they talk to a character in their head that has nothing to do with the actual plot"
Has to be the absolute worst trope there is. This is what I meant earlier with hoping it wouldn't do a lis true colors episode 5. Just wander around the cave as you "die" and see some CraAaAazy stuff!
(Spoiler)
Cox accepting his award for the now most useless determent character in a Telltale game award after now going the longest of any other determent character to do absolute nothing since their death
Even if they did a proper flashback it still suffers from being irrelevant. Drummer has a bad past and that's all we really need to know. Her past has practically nothing to do with this story, so who cares. Its not like in Wolf we need a flashback of Bigby dealing with his regrets of eating people or whatever. Bigby has a bad past. We know he did bad things. The story its self has little to do with needing to explore it in that much detail. Not that they shouldnt ever have any kind of flashback at all even if it isnt that important to the plot, but dedicating this much time to something that simply does not matter in the grand scheme is just poor.
The pirate stuff got the ball rolling again but yeah. Then it ends. Not to mention the only 2 choice stuff really sucks. Like just sucks. "Did you love Maya?" Yes or Fuck You. It is just dumb. Being silent or saying no would be present if it was 4 choices. Not that many people would probably say no, but the point is that if you give the player the choice to actually just say no it gives your own playthroughs a unique spin. If you romanced Maya but then say you didn't love her, what does that say about your Drummer? This applies to the whole game but I am bringing it up here because it is once again an instance where it only gives you 2 choices but the outcome is yes or "Don't say yes, but yeah its yes."
"Remember what you did Camilla. What happened that day!"
Me: Bro what are you even talking about? Who even are you????
Camilla: NO!!!! STOP!! LEAVE ME ALONE AAAAA
30+ mins of this
(Spoiler)
Yeah the two choices when asked that was very strange. I'm assuming its less extreme if you didn't sleep with her, but either way I was caught a little off guard lol.
Not to rain on your parade, but technically speaking, I think that honor still goes to Prince Lawrence from Wolf: if kept alive, he disappears for the entirety of episodes 2 and 4, gets a single cameo appearance where you talk to him in episode 3, and then gets like two lines of dialogue in episode 5. Since Cox actually appears in ep 2, he has Lawrence beat in terms of appearances per episode, ep 5 notwithstanding.
Looks like episode 5 will be a fight for the championship
(And I did mean more about determinant relevance of the character. Lawrence doesn't do much but his role doesn't really call for needing to show up often. (Nick is also an obvious go to and I would say Nick easily worse than Lawrence because like Cox he is actively with us but he is not utilized at all) Meanwhile Cox sits in the brig and you'll get a line of dialogue per episode as no one ever bothers to really get more information out of him. So maybe this should be Cox vs Nick.
That said, let us hope Cox does something in episode 5 and becomes dethroned.
The first time I saw that dude I just thought "Man that's a sick looking suit". He's gonna drop in the first 5 mins of episode 5 At least give Camilla that fit...
Finished playing episode 4. Shortest episode (50 minutes for me) so far but overall I enjoyed it but it's probably the episode I have the most issues with. Voice acting's great (big ups to Drummer and Toussaint's VA's), really like Tor and Toussaint, I thought the atmosphere and level design was exceptional with the winding tunnels and hallucinations. However, while it has its moments, it's probably the weakest episode in terms of writing and major choices, of which there were none which is odd. Definitely relies too much on players knowing who Drummer is especially with the voice of Dawes. Also very weird that we've gone two episodes without Khan, Virgil, and Cox. Also kind of embarrassed that the puzzle took me so long to figure out lol. I didn't realise the electrical boxes were positioned in a grid for a good while and just kept floating around the room looking for a shape.
I also think this episode was half bad and half good. The problem is we didn't get enough time to spend with any characters, Maya, etc for this episodes payoff to really hit. The pirates coming in is actually the most interesting thing that's happened in the series so far.
I really LOVE Telltale games and it hurts to say this but this game is probably Telltale's worst game since Jurassic Park.
Episode 4 requires prior knowledge of the series, determinant characters like Cox getting the same treatment as Nick from TWD S2, other crew characters disappearing for 2-3 episodes, gameplay sessions are the most boring...
I hope The Wolf 2 is VERY different from this because apparently this is a Deck Nine game and Telltale is just the publisher, I played Life is Strange 3 and it was one of the worst choice games I've ever played in my life, guess what was the another worst choice game I've ever played? Life is Strange Before the Storm, another Deck Nine game.
Comments
I have no idea then. I think they may expand on that more later or maybe there was something you could find that explained it more? Also you're right I thought we also stumbled upon it. Guess space is a tiny place.
If I'm piecing it all together correctly, the person that originally stole the MK core was a doctor who was working on whatever the MK project was. She was convinced of its benefits, but her superiors were more interested in weaponizing it. After she caught wind of what her superiors were planning to do, she stole a sample of it and attempted to smuggle it out of the lab. She recruited a security guard to help her escape and stash it in the mausoleum, but the guard was secretly contacted by those same superiors (or a third party claiming to represent them), and given a deal; to 'take care' of the doctor, reclaim the sample and give it back to them. The doctor was supposed to board the Urshanabi with it, but Toussaint's pirates intercepted, hijacked and destroyed the ship before this could happen. The guard held up his end of the deal by killing the doctor, but the people he was meant to trade it back to never showed up, leaving him stranded in the mausoleum. By the time we finally show up, he's nearly out of oxygen, and attacks us in a paranoid delusional state thinking we were sent to kill him.
Yep yep
Wow thanks Deltino! That's a really good rundown of all the info, now I understand it!
So I got around to seeing the other ending where you fight to see what happens myself and honestly I was really disappointed. Ends up being one of the worst kinds of Telltale choice where the course correction is laughable.
From what I read here I assumed fighting meant you threw the brothers into the brig. I did not realize that instead Arlen somehow overpowers Maya (with both his shoulders shot) and forces you into the airlock? Honestly felt incredibly dumb. Drummer also leaves from our ship and goes all the way back to the station instead of trying to get back inside. Really didn't like that and I think I would have to put it pretty high up on the worst way a choice was handled in a Telltale game. The fact is is just so immediate makes it comical. Not the worst ever because it does leads to Maya's fate changing but execution was really sloppy. (Also hoping Maya doesn't end up like Cox)
I swear I remember another Telltale episode, either ANF or Minecraft, that was shorter at like 50 minutes or something.
So I thought it was Minecraft episode 2 which I for some reason remember being like 30 minutes long, but going back it looks like it was probably a bit shorter than this episode, so closer to like 50 minutes to an hour?
Yeah i mentioned it in my post but Arlen somehow getting the upper hand and the strength to overpower Drummer with both shoulders shot is pretty dumb lmao
I think the worst part is that Maya breaks free for just enough time to give you a helmet and i was just wondering why didnt she just beat his ass in that moment instead the only threat hes got over them both is the gun but whatever
Hey look on the bright side my dude Cox had a 10 second cameo in this episode lets gooo lmao they really gave him the Nick treatment here's hoping he doesnt get killed offscreen next episode or something.
Im not sure i actually have it but i'll take you for your word i could actually play the second episode earlier but not this one and had to wait like i had the standard edition and download it from the PS store it was pretty annoying
Maybe its a regional thing or whatever like the game is not allowing me to get the deluxe edition cause i bought the US version or something wouldn't be the first time
But hey if everyone got fucked over equally then that's lovely,i just really hope i can play the Archangel Bonus episode that i bought for thats one of the only reasons i bought Deluxe and not just Standard.
I loved the pat on the back he gave me when i gave his brother medicine in this episode too and then he betrayed me anyway
Arlen really trying to win the contest of who's the ultimate snake between Bonnie and him.
If it's any consolation, the achievements confirm that all the crew members can indeed survive to the end, just as they said was possible in one of the interview video things. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not they'll do something interesting with them ala Conrad in ANF, or if we'll indeed get the Nick treatment. Gonna try to stay optimistic about that for these last two eps.
I remember reading that and I thought what you were saying would lead to still being airlocked out the station and are separated from Maya. Not that you win the fight and he is passed out and we drag him back onto our ship where he wakes up and somehow is fine and strong enough to overpower Maya lmao. Was watching the scene and was like "Oh this is a pretty cool different outcome" just to have that shattered.
I'm guessing Cox will either stay worthless or they will give him one more scene where he may die. Maybe something along the lines of he dies to redeem himself or something. Not the biggest fan of how Cox is determinate and now he might as well be dead. Bro is competing with Nick for most important determinant character award. Virgil and Khan not existing in episode 3 was also pretty lame considering after episode 2 I was looking forward to spending more time with them. I am also getting a suspicion episode 4 will probably have very little supporting cast because we are abandoned. So I hope episode 5 brings Cox back in a meaningfully way and if Maya is alive she doesn't just sit in a corner.
Now that you and Poogs mention it, there have been a few other shorter episodes, True, but Telltale are usually good at nailing a 90-minute (or slightly shorter) average.
Pretty sure it was ANF episode 3 that was the shortest? I know that one was like extremely linear, with no hub areas.
Minecraft, I think I remember episode 2 being short, but it had great replay value with two completely different first halves.
Episode 3 was 85+ mins at least! huh? Ties that bind part 2 was the shortest episode of the season. That was like 60-65 mins.
You could easily speedrun michonne episode 3 if you ignored all the optional conversations I guess.
But, I think minecraft EP2 actually takes the cake.
If you want me to be cheeky I would say law and order. Those episodes are 30+ mins a piece if not shorter
This new expanse ep was definitely shorter than MCSM ep2 if we're talking speedrunning. You can do the expanse ep in 35 minutes easy, maybe even under 30 if youre real quick. MCSM I recall being more at a 45-50 min range, but its been a long time.
Yeah that is a good point. I keep forgetting that while Minecraft ep 2 is short, you can't rush through it like Expanse where you can just hold forward to reach the end points. Not that you'd really play like that but could drastically take off time.
God this just makes me curious to try a speedrun.
So, finally got around to playing The Expanse and... it was fine I suppose. Certainly not the bombastic return of Telltale that some of us were expecting, because, as others have pointed out, this feels more like a Decknine game.
Another nitpick, but the "romance" dialogue was a bit too cringey for me. But hey, Maya died for me, so no more of that at least lol.
Still, I did enjoy my time with it. My expectations weren't that big to begin with, so... We'll see if they incorporate major choices better in the last two episodes.
I'm all for choices and consenquences, but this one is a bit weird, because this should have been more about his relationship with Maya than with Drummer. Like he'll let Maya get spaced because he doesn't like Drummer enough?
Since no one posted it yet, Telltale released a new episode of Behind the Belt (with a teaser for the next episode at the end).
~~So much for midnight release! I guess I'll hope its playable when I get off work tomorrow. Woo...~~
Nevermind its downloading. lol
Spoke too soon. The game keeps crashing early into the episode. Oh my gawd
So, That was an episode! After 2 crashes I finally got past the tunnel puzzle! To then be bombarded by some of this worst info dumping monologuing I have heard in a while. The conversation with Dawes was long and boring. I felt no impact cause I have very little idea who this person is outside of the data logs, and it had no semblance to the plot. Drummer may be a tight lipped person who doesn't like to talk about her feelings so I get being under distressed might awaken things, but the execution just wasn't it. After 30 mins I was getting ready to call this episode trash but then thank god the space pirates came! Actual proper conversation with an interesting antagonist. She may be a psycho pirate but her morals aren't entirely off. The episode was actually going somewhere finally, but once again with this series just as it was starting to get interesting! The episode ends...MAN. Not even a good MAN just a "this should have NOT been an episodic series!" M a n. I would forgive this episode more if I was able to play the next episode rn but no! I'm blue balls once again by the story going somewhere!
First mediocre episode for this series. I'm a big telltale guy. I don't feel strong hatred for some of the more less regarded telltale episodes. This episode wasn't bad (...overall) but it wasn't good either. I'm just kind of annoyed how this series has really good writing, but alienates itself with its awful pacing. Feels really bad. I'm looking forward to the last episode but I'm not hopeful the whole episode will be interesting. Maybe the last third will be. Ugh.
Shortest episode by far for me btw. 55 mins.
Watches episode 4 download just to boot up the game and see "open store"
Looks like I've finally joined the episode release failure squad.
I really hope Telltale gets their episode releases on track for Wolf 2. The good thing about Telltale Tool was that each episode basically worked by having something similar to each episode having their own executable. (That isnt the actual correct term for what it was, but basically each episode functioned under its own files. Like I am pretty sure you could like delete all episode files for like episode 3 and everything would work unless you tried episode 3, it would act as if you didnt have a save for episode 3 if you played episode 4) I guess most game engines don't do this which I think is part of their release mess.
Did episode 4 have the least amount of choices so far? Felt like it. Not much gameplay over all really. Don't have much hope on episode 5 being better.
I clapped when Julie Mao showed up. It's cool to see her. This was a pretty good transition episode into the finale, getting a bit onto Drummer's trauma and some closure for Maya (if she died). Feels like the finale will be setup in a way that you try to help your crew as much as you can, and I absolutely believe the Chekov's gun on hearing Khan's past will be coming into play to help get rid of the pirates.
If you're on PS5, if you go to the game and then down to the bottom, it shows the episode downloads for you, just really strange there's a new way to download these episodes every release, lmao.
How way too many writers think people will react to "prequel where main character everyone knows is fucking alive finds themselves on the brink of death that takes up the bulk of the story and they talk to a character in their head that has nothing to do with the actual plot"
Has to be the absolute worst trope there is. This is what I meant earlier with hoping it wouldn't do a lis true colors episode 5. Just wander around the cave as you "die" and see some CraAaAazy stuff!
Honestly probably one of the worst Telltale episodes, if we even call it Telltale. Sure games like ANF have some really bad writing and some terrible choice and consequence integration but I would never say playing the worst of Telltale was ever boring. It had its own "so bad its good charm" to it. This is just putting me to sleep. Luckily once we catch up with the pirates I feel like I woke up as I was actually enjoying this part of the episode a lot but then as expected it ends right away.
General problems. Now 2 episodes in a row without talking with characters like Khan and Virgil. Not a fan how Maya is the only character who has anything going on outside 1 scene to explore her character more and even then she is far from complex. They want to go into episode 5 with this "how will I save my crew" but it lacks on "why I want to save my crew" because I don't know them that well still and now the game is over. And I think I mentioned it before but this game does not do a good job at all welcoming someone who is unfamiliar with the universe. Every other Telltale game I played where I wasn't very aware of the ip before hand got me interested to know more and got me invested into the larger ip. No hating on the books or show, but this game has not made me at all interested in Expanse and I feel it does a bad job getting someone like me to remotely understand the bigger picture of this world and even though they claim it doesn't, I feel like your enjoyment varies a lot based on your familiarity.
Maybe this is too harsh but I don't know. All the episodes are way too short and this episode really did not even try to give choice at all. I imagine once this is over I will quite literally never think of this game again.
"Remember what you did Camilla. What happened that day!"
Me: Bro what are you even talking about? Who even are you????
Camilla: NO!!!! STOP!! LEAVE ME ALONE AAAAA
30+ mins of this
I have never felt so alienated from a game by not knowing the events of the show/books. If they wanted someone to care they would transition to a proper flashback to the events rather than slowly walk around a room as the same stock scream sfx are heard over and over, but that was probably over budget. You did mention you liked the last 20 mins? Cause yeah that was legit pretty investing. Sure its not hard after how awful a slog the rest of the episode was but they know how to write an enticing story with characters. They just have no idea how to make it work within an episodic series I guess! Cause yeah it keeps happening, Just as its getting good...the episode is already over.
Cox accepting his award for the now most useless determent character in a Telltale game award after now going the longest of any other determent character to do absolute nothing since their death
"Remember what you did."
My honest reaction:
Even if they did a proper flashback it still suffers from being irrelevant. Drummer has a bad past and that's all we really need to know. Her past has practically nothing to do with this story, so who cares. Its not like in Wolf we need a flashback of Bigby dealing with his regrets of eating people or whatever. Bigby has a bad past. We know he did bad things. The story its self has little to do with needing to explore it in that much detail. Not that they shouldnt ever have any kind of flashback at all even if it isnt that important to the plot, but dedicating this much time to something that simply does not matter in the grand scheme is just poor.
The pirate stuff got the ball rolling again but yeah. Then it ends. Not to mention the only 2 choice stuff really sucks. Like just sucks. "Did you love Maya?" Yes or Fuck You. It is just dumb. Being silent or saying no would be present if it was 4 choices. Not that many people would probably say no, but the point is that if you give the player the choice to actually just say no it gives your own playthroughs a unique spin. If you romanced Maya but then say you didn't love her, what does that say about your Drummer? This applies to the whole game but I am bringing it up here because it is once again an instance where it only gives you 2 choices but the outcome is yes or "Don't say yes, but yeah its yes."
Yeah the two choices when asked that was very strange. I'm assuming its less extreme if you didn't sleep with her, but either way I was caught a little off guard lol.
Not to rain on your parade, but technically speaking, I think that honor still goes to Prince Lawrence from Wolf: if kept alive, he disappears for the entirety of episodes 2 and 4, gets a single cameo appearance where you talk to him in episode 3, and then gets like two lines of dialogue in episode 5. Since Cox actually appears in ep 2, he has Lawrence beat in terms of appearances per episode, ep 5 notwithstanding.
Looks like episode 5 will be a fight for the championship
(And I did mean more about determinant relevance of the character. Lawrence doesn't do much but his role doesn't really call for needing to show up often. (Nick is also an obvious go to and I would say Nick easily worse than Lawrence because like Cox he is actively with us but he is not utilized at all) Meanwhile Cox sits in the brig and you'll get a line of dialogue per episode as no one ever bothers to really get more information out of him. So maybe this should be Cox vs Nick.
That said, let us hope Cox does something in episode 5 and becomes dethroned.
playing episode 5 when we eventually need to kill Tor aka the best character in the game despite having like 3 lines of dialogue
The first time I saw that dude I just thought "Man that's a sick looking suit". He's gonna drop in the first 5 mins of episode 5
At least give Camilla that fit...
Finished playing episode 4. Shortest episode (50 minutes for me) so far but overall I enjoyed it but it's probably the episode I have the most issues with. Voice acting's great (big ups to Drummer and Toussaint's VA's), really like Tor and Toussaint, I thought the atmosphere and level design was exceptional with the winding tunnels and hallucinations. However, while it has its moments, it's probably the weakest episode in terms of writing and major choices, of which there were none which is odd. Definitely relies too much on players knowing who Drummer is especially with the voice of Dawes. Also very weird that we've gone two episodes without Khan, Virgil, and Cox. Also kind of embarrassed that the puzzle took me so long to figure out lol. I didn't realise the electrical boxes were positioned in a grid for a good while and just kept floating around the room looking for a shape.
I also think this episode was half bad and half good. The problem is we didn't get enough time to spend with any characters, Maya, etc for this episodes payoff to really hit. The pirates coming in is actually the most interesting thing that's happened in the series so far.
I really LOVE Telltale games and it hurts to say this but this game is probably Telltale's worst game since Jurassic Park.
Episode 4 requires prior knowledge of the series, determinant characters like Cox getting the same treatment as Nick from TWD S2, other crew characters disappearing for 2-3 episodes, gameplay sessions are the most boring...
I hope The Wolf 2 is VERY different from this because apparently this is a Deck Nine game and Telltale is just the publisher, I played Life is Strange 3 and it was one of the worst choice games I've ever played in my life, guess what was the another worst choice game I've ever played? Life is Strange Before the Storm, another Deck Nine game.
I've been on vacation till now, so I haven't had the chance to play.
But, they didn't change the episode name in-game, did they?
Because it's super weird how their YouTube channel still misnames the episode in the title and thumbnail.
I guess even the New Telltale can't escape accidentally revealing an episode's Beta name...