Well the games not suppose to be hard i think it fine that way it is. The House scene is easy because if you play it the first time you don't notice the cant fail maybe after a few playthroughs but not the first. Lastly Omid had to die. I know you can't understand becuz of ur pea sized brain but your not Lee anymore.. Your not the leader of the group where you can make important decisions. Your Clementine which means you have to follow what other people say like when Lee told her to stay behind when they went looking for a boat in S1. Clem isn't going to be just an allout badass where she carries a gun and doesn't hesitate to use it in most situations and tells people to fuck off. so yeah Clem has to be on her own so we don't get told what to do 24/7
I'm usually one to voice my disagreement with most people's complaints about the game, but in this case, I actually agree with a lot of what y… moreou said. The puzzles were too simplified and the fact that failing a bunch of the button prompts didn't result in anything was disappointing.
I'm also not a fan of the "you can select the choice, sure, but don't expect us to go through with it" thing that they've been implementing. [Give Hat], [Burn Photo], [...] when telling Luke about Lee. Sure, you can select all of these, but then the game doesn't follow through with it. If it's not an action that the character would follow through on, it shouldn't be an option in the game!
To end on a positive note, though, my favorite gameplay moment so far was the "Who will you appeal to?" sequence. I thought the execution here was ingenious because there were "good" and "bad" outcomes (Pete and Alvin will change their mind to offer stronger support for you, Ni… [view original content]
But come on... not being able to fail an important whole sequence with a well made atmosphere that makes you act carefully just kind of sucks... Of course you dont realize that when you play it the first time.
I thought the episode went along great. No complaints with the story line at all. Although I certainly understand where you are coming from I … moredo dis-agree with some.
* You say "its too easy" but I strongly think its very difficult if near impossible to make a "point-and-click" game difficult. The more difficult it becomes the more frustrating it is. . . not necessarily challenging. For example I remember in Episode 3 last year when you were finding out who stole the supplies, I didn't know you could leave the camp to go look in the sewer/wall for a long time which left me just walking around. Wasn't that fun and I know others can relate.
* I think it was necessary to kill of Omid and ditch Christa because you are starting a whole new season with a whole new storyline. I don't think keeping them around would have benefitted the storyline. And i love the way they killed Omid, even though he was my favorite character, it just jumped right back into the tragedy after the time off.
Well the games not suppose to be hard i think it fine that way it is. The House scene is easy because if you play it the first time you don't … morenotice the cant fail maybe after a few playthroughs but not the first. Lastly Omid had to die. I know you can't understand becuz of ur pea sized brain but your not Lee anymore.. Your not the leader of the group where you can make important decisions. Your Clementine which means you have to follow what other people say like when Lee told her to stay behind when they went looking for a boat in S1. Clem isn't going to be just an allout badass where she carries a gun and doesn't hesitate to use it in most situations and tells people to fuck off. so yeah Clem has to be on her own so we don't get told what to do 24/7
But how can the choice of not hiding change the future, if Clementine didn't even interact with Rebecca or Sarah. If you don't hide, it's like Sarah thinking: "I got a feeling that I should tell Rebecca about there being towels in the kitchen, because I feel like something bad will happen if she goes into the bathroom.". It just didn't make sense.
They really aren't puzzles so much as "walk around and click the interactable objects until you can progress." Making the process less annoying is fine.
Distracting walkers in ep1, distracting andy ep2, swing in ep2, the chalk trail ep3, train in ep3. I know those were not that hard, but they are more than "find fuel to add to the fire" finds log 2feet nexto the fire
But how can the choice of not hiding change the future, if Clementine didn't even interact with Rebecca or Sarah. If you don't hide, it's like… more Sarah thinking: "I got a feeling that I should tell Rebecca about there being towels in the kitchen, because I feel like something bad will happen if she goes into the bathroom.". It just didn't make sense.
Technically, using the log there might actually be considered "failing" since it doesn't really get the fire going. It only shows the fire gro… morewing if you burn the drawing of Kenny's family. But it still doesn't make much sense as a puzzle since any sane person would go "well, I'll try the log first and if that doesn't work, I'll use the drawing (and if that doesn't work, I guess I'm not eating tonight because I'm sure as fuck not burning that photo of Lee)"
One last thing that can improve is the stats for choices. The choices in S2 E1 were hard, but a different kind of hard. The answer for most of the choices were obvious, but they were hard to go through with IE Same the Dog. The choice made you feel like crap afterword, but I didn't find myself regretting the choice I made. I don't mind these kinds of choices, but they need to balance it out with choices like these --> Now the Nick/Pete choice? I regret the choice that I make one way or another, and it makes me question myself whether or not I made the right choice. THAT is what stats should be made for, and they should focus a bit more of those kinds of choices in the next episode.
I agree on the length (and adding a "hub" or two would have fixed a lot of the problem) but I disagree that it would have improved the game to keep Omid and Christa in the picture. So much of the drama in this episode, and probably in the upcoming episodes, stems from Clem having to deal with a group where she's not sure who she can trust and where most of them trust don't trust her either. That wouldn't have nearly the same impact if there was someone around she knew she could rely on.
I just got done playing ep 1 of season 1 again and it just makes me realize how empty ep 1 of season 2 really was
EP 1 of S2 was way too short. In fact just about every TTG game since the end of TWD S1 has been short. 400 days and TWAU were both mini episodes almost.
Not enough open freedom on the episode levels. The game is way to one dimensional. In ep 1 of s1 you had Hershel's farm, the drug store, and the motor lodge. Each level in the episode was like a open world you could do things in any order that pleased you.
Not enough interaction with the other characters.
I also think the time jump was very poorly implemented.
Agreed with the difficulty. That's pretty disappointing. The thing with Omid dying is understandable, as it's clear they're trying to make Clementine into a cold, depressed shell with the only purpose being "survive."
I think I would've sooner had Episode One focus more on Clementine with Omid and Christa and then toward the end have Omid's death and the time skip. I just think they got rid of Omid and Christa way too much and the past decisions from Season One didn't even have to pop up much anymore.
Oh man i like hard choices. Lily/Kenny choice was one of the best moments in the whole TWD game. And watching your friends or some guys on youtube struggling to choose. How this game can bring you to think about the things you did and sometimes regretting them is just awesome. I want that to keep on.
One last thing that can improve is the stats for choices. The choices in S2 E1 were hard, but a different kind of hard. The answer for most … moreof the choices were obvious, but they were hard to go through with IE Same the Dog. The choice made you feel like crap afterword, but I didn't find myself regretting the choice I made. I don't mind these kinds of choices, but they need to balance it out with choices like these --> Now the Nick/Pete choice? I regret the choice that I make one way or another, and it makes me question myself whether or not I made the right choice. THAT is what stats should be made for, and they should focus a bit more of those kinds of choices in the next episode.
Yeah but think about it. Clementine has been with lee for about 4 months. Then she was with Omid and Christa for about... 8 months maybe ? They just ended this strong relation between them in the first scene within 10 minutes without bringing it up again, because then comes the next time jump. 16 months. So clementine has been pretty much a year with christa now. Technically her bond with her should be at least as strong as her bond with lee. But do you recognize the strong relationship that should have been evolved over the past year ? I didnt feel like they were close to one another. Which is kind of unrealistic when you look at the fact that they have survived for so long now. I imagined omids and christas role in ep1 as a fahter/mother kind of realationship to clementine. At least in the first episode. The first episode could even have been those 8 months after savannah with a cool different plot. We don't even know how she made it out of there and met Omid and Christa in the field.
I agree on the length (and adding a "hub" or two would have fixed a lot of the problem) but I disagree that it would have improved the game to… more keep Omid and Christa in the picture. So much of the drama in this episode, and probably in the upcoming episodes, stems from Clem having to deal with a group where she's not sure who she can trust and where most of them trust don't trust her either. That wouldn't have nearly the same impact if there was someone around she knew she could rely on.
Wow did they really say they wanted to make that out of clementine ? This little girl that went with us though the whole game, always full of hope and sympathy for others...
Agreed with the difficulty. That's pretty disappointing. The thing with Omid dying is understandable, as it's clear they're trying to make Clementine into a cold, depressed shell with the only purpose being "survive."
I think I would've sooner had Episode One focus more on Clementine with Omid and Christa and then toward the end have Omid's death and the tim… moree skip. I just think they got rid of Omid and Christa way too much and the past decisions from Season One didn't even have to pop up much anymore.
But the future having changed over a choice which had no impact over the environment or a character doesn't make sense. At least, if you don't hide, get Rebecca enter the bathroom, a Game Over screen pops up nd you get to restart. I would prefer this choice instead of the alternative.
I thought the same thing. Whenever we met a character in Season 1, we would get to talk to that person and learn about their backgrounds. Hubs are definetely necessary. A hub after Clem had eaten, in which you could explore the cabin and talk to the other characters would be perfect. I don't even know Luke's/Pete's/Nick's/Alvin's/Rebecca's job before the apocalypse, yet we got to learn almost everyone's jobs in Episode 1 Season 1.
One thing that may improve the game's length is more "hubs". In The Walking Dead Season 1, the drug store was considered a hub. I would have… more liked to see the house becoming a hub area right after Clementine was done eating, so she can explore a bit and discover things before moving on to the river scene rather than just going straight to it. That would add fifteen maybe twenty minutes to the clock, maybe more.
Yeah it really annoys me when Pete could have just said 'My gun is jammed!'. Literally one sentence difference and the scenes logic doesn't vanish in a puff of implausibility. That or they could have offhandedly referenced their ammo situation being that terrible before that scene. What bothers me more is that none of them take any melee weapons when they don't have enough ammunition to fill their rifles. Not even a staff or club or walking stick they could have made in their stay at the cabin, or one of the many objects they would have picked up on the way there. Also Telltale forgot to re-use Lee's bolting animation on Nicks bolt action rifle so apparently Nicks's superpower is self chambering rounds. (Well that, and friendly fire). But yeah. TL:DR, Pete Only has two bullets left: Doesn't take a backup weapon. Sense made=0. I mean it's not like having a melee weapon makes you immune to walkers so it's not like the scene would have played out any differently to the way Telltale wanted, it would have just made more sense and gave Pete's death or injury more substance and shock value, seeing as he was prepared and experienced and he stillgot bit.
The one complaint I have with this episode is the ending which is why I think many people are unhappy with it.
For one it ends really abrup… moretly out of no where with no real conclusion, but also that entie scene the logic seems to vanish. Pete who preachs gun safety only has two bullets and despite him being the one to say watch out for the dead, he gets bit. Pete then just stands there despite being on the wrong side of the river and out of ammo instead of hopping back to clem and Nick.
The rest of the episode I felt was really good, for one I felt they fixed the problem in season 1 where it felt weird to be the bad guy, here clem can choose to be nastyish and it dosnt feel out of place.
I don't even understand why people think criticism makes them against the developers. It helps them! They need our help to criticize the bad parts of their games, as well as praising the good parts, so they can improve and do better next time. Telltale missed many chances of using their masterfully crafted illusion of choice: if Clementine grabs the gun in the bathroom scene at the beginning she could just slip over or accidentally kick it away. If she fed Sam in the dog bowl or shooed Sam away, Sam could have gone after her food later anyway and attacked her, or stalker her if she initially tried to put distance between her and the dog. The part that bothers me is that they still do it well later anyway, with the 'Appeal to a member of the group' scene, the Alvin window scene, and the Sarah scene where you can be (kind of fake) friendly or shut her down, and either way she gives you the stuff, but for very different reasons (one to be nice, and the other so that she doesn't get in trouble).
I can't stand apologists, they are the reason why games turn to shit! They're blind fans that'll buy and praise the game even if it where a pi… morele of soggy dog shit. We need to stay on the devs, make sure they don't sacrifice quality.
I'm glad that someone is more critical. I want this game to be great, but the first episode was a bit of a disappointment. There really should be more threads like this.
Some of us don't want to see the protagonist die over and over again. Wish there were some difficulty settings for the QTE's though. Such as:
Cinematic: Time slows to a stop when you need to make a QTE: No risk of failure, keeps the player engaged.
Regular: same as the usual, 3-10 seconds per QTE with 'backup QTE's' if you fail one so that you only really fail if you screw up pretty bad.
Engaging: doesn't decrease the time frame for QTE's, and you still have backup QTE's, but does double the number of them, thereby incresing the engagement factor for players who want more challenge but are good enough so they don't die too often. So where dodging Winston took on button press to (visually) dodge him twice, it would take two.
Or they just make it like the Wolf among us, where the QTE's are pretty difficult, but you could fail many, many scenes without dying, and the character just looks more injured by the end of the scene/it shows him succeeding but only barely, and it alters some dialogue in later scenes. EG Episode 1 where Carley would save Clementine at certain points if you failed. Though I guess that is more or less the effect of the Cinematic difficulty I suggested.
400 Days wasn't ever advertised as being like S1 at all. I agree S2 eps should be longer though. Not necessarily plotwise but padding like you say talking to characters, more exploring at our own pace
I just got done playing ep 1 of season 1 again and it just makes me realize how empty ep 1 of season 2 really was
* EP 1 of S2 was way to… moreo short. In fact just about every TTG game since the end of TWD S1 has been short. 400 days and TWAU were both mini episodes almost.
* Not enough open freedom on the episode levels. The game is way to one dimensional. In ep 1 of s1 you had Hershel's farm, the drug store, and the motor lodge. Each level in the episode was like a open world you could do things in any order that pleased you.
* Not enough interaction with the other characters.
* I also think the time jump was very poorly implemented.
Wow did they really say they wanted to make that out of clementine ? This little girl that went with us though the whole game, always full of hope and sympathy for others...
This. What could've been good is something like the prologue being Omid, Christa and Clementine in their camp making a fire, laughing, joking, we're allowed to talk to them both personally inbetween major scenes also. Then they go to bed and walk to the gas station the next day or just after chatting, THEN it plays out like the ep. Then after the time skip, camp scene again like it is in the ep. Like a full comparison: Happy laughter camp scene, gas station, depressive camp scene to show just how different things are now
I think I would've sooner had Episode One focus more on Clementine with Omid and Christa and then toward the end have Omid's death and the tim… moree skip. I just think they got rid of Omid and Christa way too much and the past decisions from Season One didn't even have to pop up much anymore.
Christa emotionally closes off after Omid dies, hence why they barely talk in the opening sequence. spending 16 months with a bitter, silent Christa, while having tons of guilt and grief to deal with herself with no-one to talk to about it is the reason Clementine turns into what she is in season 2. The fact that Clem and Christa barely talk and haven't developed the guardian-child bond after 16 months! is an extremely important message that shouldn't be overlooked as a writing error. It's not unrealistic at all considering Christa was already a pretty cold/hard/tough person with the funny, optimistic, friendly Omid influencing her as her foil. Take that away well, you get season 2's cold and bitter Christa. It would be hard to lose someone like Omid, you have to admit. The fact that he was killed by Clem's gun means that Christa could possibly subconsciously or consciously blame Clementine for their mistake in 'having fun' in the rest stop bathroom.
Yeah but think about it. Clementine has been with lee for about 4 months. Then she was with Omid and Christa for about... 8 months maybe ? The… morey just ended this strong relation between them in the first scene within 10 minutes without bringing it up again, because then comes the next time jump. 16 months. So clementine has been pretty much a year with christa now. Technically her bond with her should be at least as strong as her bond with lee. But do you recognize the strong relationship that should have been evolved over the past year ? I didnt feel like they were close to one another. Which is kind of unrealistic when you look at the fact that they have survived for so long now. I imagined omids and christas role in ep1 as a fahter/mother kind of realationship to clementine. At least in the first episode. The first episode could even have been those 8 months after savannah with a cool different plot. We don't even know how she made it out of there and met Omid and Christa in the field.
I agree with most of your points. Though the time jump made sense to me. Christa doesn't trust groups, and was emotionally closed off after Omid dies, so they basically spent 16 months alone and silent in the woods eating wildlife and avoiding bandits and other groups. They imply pretty well that Christa internally blames Clem and herself for Omid's death, and the baby's (who might have made it if Omid was there). Basically two years of silently eating forest critters and one horrific consequence of a baby which they pretty clearly showed what happened to it by its mere absence, as well as the massive downer Clementine and Christa are in. How would they for you implement the time jump correctly? Because 16 months seems like a pretty reasonable time that Christa could have kept her and Clem away from bandits before they were eventually found (hence the reason the time jump stops there).
I just got done playing ep 1 of season 1 again and it just makes me realize how empty ep 1 of season 2 really was
* EP 1 of S2 was way to… moreo short. In fact just about every TTG game since the end of TWD S1 has been short. 400 days and TWAU were both mini episodes almost.
* Not enough open freedom on the episode levels. The game is way to one dimensional. In ep 1 of s1 you had Hershel's farm, the drug store, and the motor lodge. Each level in the episode was like a open world you could do things in any order that pleased you.
* Not enough interaction with the other characters.
* I also think the time jump was very poorly implemented.
Pardon me, one thing I did think they could have done better on: they should have kept Omid and Christa alive for 10 minutes before killing Omid and dropping the title card. Just 10 minutes to appreciate the characters and think everything will be okay. THEN BAM! Right in the feels!
I agree with most of your points. Though the time jump made sense to me. Christa doesn't trust groups, and was emotionally closed off after Om… moreid dies, so they basically spent 16 months alone and silent in the woods eating wildlife and avoiding bandits and other groups. They imply pretty well that Christa internally blames Clem and herself for Omid's death, and the baby's (who might have made it if Omid was there). Basically two years of silently eating forest critters and one horrific consequence of a baby which they pretty clearly showed what happened to it by its mere absence, as well as the massive downer Clementine and Christa are in. How would they for you implement the time jump correctly? Because 16 months seems like a pretty reasonable time that Christa could have kept her and Clem away from bandits before they were eventually found (hence the reason the time jump stops there).
I think my biggest disappointment in s2 ep1 would be the bathroom scene at the very start. It felt too short. after putting lee down in s1 and the whole "they always come back... unless you destroy the head" thing, it felt like a missed opportunity not to actually have the option to push for "ending" omid and the scavenger girl. Bein blamed for omid's death is one thing, but after being the one to say "we need to shoot him in the head", that would really make for some bad blood. Killing the 2 or not would have made for better choices than some of the other things i saw... hope it picks up and the choices are a bit more interesting than the moral leading and horribly set-up situations that survivors of around 2 years should know better than to do. I mean, damn... doug was more reliable with a laser pen than nick is with that rifle. I dont see these people living too long if left to their own devices.
Can't disagree about the ammunition point but I thought Pete stayed where he was because he knew he was bitten & therefore couldn't come back to the group. There was a great moment where you see the bite then Pete & Clem's eyes meet. They both know he's bitten & you can see the understanding. That was my read on it anyway & what prompted me to leave Pete & go with Nick.
The one complaint I have with this episode is the ending which is why I think many people are unhappy with it.
For one it ends really abrup… moretly out of no where with no real conclusion, but also that entie scene the logic seems to vanish. Pete who preachs gun safety only has two bullets and despite him being the one to say watch out for the dead, he gets bit. Pete then just stands there despite being on the wrong side of the river and out of ammo instead of hopping back to clem and Nick.
The rest of the episode I felt was really good, for one I felt they fixed the problem in season 1 where it felt weird to be the bad guy, here clem can choose to be nastyish and it dosnt feel out of place.
Comments
Well the games not suppose to be hard i think it fine that way it is. The House scene is easy because if you play it the first time you don't notice the cant fail maybe after a few playthroughs but not the first. Lastly Omid had to die. I know you can't understand becuz of ur pea sized brain but your not Lee anymore.. Your not the leader of the group where you can make important decisions. Your Clementine which means you have to follow what other people say like when Lee told her to stay behind when they went looking for a boat in S1. Clem isn't going to be just an allout badass where she carries a gun and doesn't hesitate to use it in most situations and tells people to fuck off. so yeah Clem has to be on her own so we don't get told what to do 24/7
Yeah that scene was pretty cool
But come on... not being able to fail an important whole sequence with a well made atmosphere that makes you act carefully just kind of sucks... Of course you dont realize that when you play it the first time.
You say that clem can't make important decisions. So what was that about the last decision in the episode ? Nick or Pete ? Did you forget that ?
But how can the choice of not hiding change the future, if Clementine didn't even interact with Rebecca or Sarah. If you don't hide, it's like Sarah thinking: "I got a feeling that I should tell Rebecca about there being towels in the kitchen, because I feel like something bad will happen if she goes into the bathroom.". It just didn't make sense.
They really aren't puzzles so much as "walk around and click the interactable objects until you can progress." Making the process less annoying is fine.
We don't know if Sarah was thinking that, she could have just informed Rebecca just because, but a coincidence either way.
Well, Clementine heard the voices in the woods almost as soon as she put the wood in the fire.
One last thing that can improve is the stats for choices. The choices in S2 E1 were hard, but a different kind of hard. The answer for most of the choices were obvious, but they were hard to go through with IE Same the Dog. The choice made you feel like crap afterword, but I didn't find myself regretting the choice I made. I don't mind these kinds of choices, but they need to balance it out with choices like these --> Now the Nick/Pete choice? I regret the choice that I make one way or another, and it makes me question myself whether or not I made the right choice. THAT is what stats should be made for, and they should focus a bit more of those kinds of choices in the next episode.
I agree on the length (and adding a "hub" or two would have fixed a lot of the problem) but I disagree that it would have improved the game to keep Omid and Christa in the picture. So much of the drama in this episode, and probably in the upcoming episodes, stems from Clem having to deal with a group where she's not sure who she can trust and where most of them trust don't trust her either. That wouldn't have nearly the same impact if there was someone around she knew she could rely on.
I just got done playing ep 1 of season 1 again and it just makes me realize how empty ep 1 of season 2 really was
Agreed with the difficulty. That's pretty disappointing. The thing with Omid dying is understandable, as it's clear they're trying to make Clementine into a cold, depressed shell with the only purpose being "survive."
I think I would've sooner had Episode One focus more on Clementine with Omid and Christa and then toward the end have Omid's death and the time skip. I just think they got rid of Omid and Christa way too much and the past decisions from Season One didn't even have to pop up much anymore.
Oh man i like hard choices. Lily/Kenny choice was one of the best moments in the whole TWD game. And watching your friends or some guys on youtube struggling to choose. How this game can bring you to think about the things you did and sometimes regretting them is just awesome. I want that to keep on.
Yeah but think about it. Clementine has been with lee for about 4 months. Then she was with Omid and Christa for about... 8 months maybe ? They just ended this strong relation between them in the first scene within 10 minutes without bringing it up again, because then comes the next time jump. 16 months. So clementine has been pretty much a year with christa now. Technically her bond with her should be at least as strong as her bond with lee. But do you recognize the strong relationship that should have been evolved over the past year ? I didnt feel like they were close to one another. Which is kind of unrealistic when you look at the fact that they have survived for so long now. I imagined omids and christas role in ep1 as a fahter/mother kind of realationship to clementine. At least in the first episode. The first episode could even have been those 8 months after savannah with a cool different plot. We don't even know how she made it out of there and met Omid and Christa in the field.
Wow did they really say they wanted to make that out of clementine ? This little girl that went with us though the whole game, always full of hope and sympathy for others...
Yeah I would have prefered that
But the future having changed over a choice which had no impact over the environment or a character doesn't make sense. At least, if you don't hide, get Rebecca enter the bathroom, a Game Over screen pops up nd you get to restart. I would prefer this choice instead of the alternative.
I thought the same thing. Whenever we met a character in Season 1, we would get to talk to that person and learn about their backgrounds. Hubs are definetely necessary. A hub after Clem had eaten, in which you could explore the cabin and talk to the other characters would be perfect. I don't even know Luke's/Pete's/Nick's/Alvin's/Rebecca's job before the apocalypse, yet we got to learn almost everyone's jobs in Episode 1 Season 1.
Yeah it really annoys me when Pete could have just said 'My gun is jammed!'. Literally one sentence difference and the scenes logic doesn't vanish in a puff of implausibility. That or they could have offhandedly referenced their ammo situation being that terrible before that scene. What bothers me more is that none of them take any melee weapons when they don't have enough ammunition to fill their rifles. Not even a staff or club or walking stick they could have made in their stay at the cabin, or one of the many objects they would have picked up on the way there. Also Telltale forgot to re-use Lee's bolting animation on Nicks bolt action rifle so apparently Nicks's superpower is self chambering rounds. (Well that, and friendly fire). But yeah. TL:DR, Pete Only has two bullets left: Doesn't take a backup weapon. Sense made=0. I mean it's not like having a melee weapon makes you immune to walkers so it's not like the scene would have played out any differently to the way Telltale wanted, it would have just made more sense and gave Pete's death or injury more substance and shock value, seeing as he was prepared and experienced and he stillgot bit.
Just don't kill anyone else within the first 5 minutes of the game , Other than that another Telltale success
I don't even understand why people think criticism makes them against the developers. It helps them! They need our help to criticize the bad parts of their games, as well as praising the good parts, so they can improve and do better next time. Telltale missed many chances of using their masterfully crafted illusion of choice: if Clementine grabs the gun in the bathroom scene at the beginning she could just slip over or accidentally kick it away. If she fed Sam in the dog bowl or shooed Sam away, Sam could have gone after her food later anyway and attacked her, or stalker her if she initially tried to put distance between her and the dog. The part that bothers me is that they still do it well later anyway, with the 'Appeal to a member of the group' scene, the Alvin window scene, and the Sarah scene where you can be (kind of fake) friendly or shut her down, and either way she gives you the stuff, but for very different reasons (one to be nice, and the other so that she doesn't get in trouble).
Some of us don't want to see the protagonist die over and over again. Wish there were some difficulty settings for the QTE's though. Such as:
Cinematic: Time slows to a stop when you need to make a QTE: No risk of failure, keeps the player engaged.
Regular: same as the usual, 3-10 seconds per QTE with 'backup QTE's' if you fail one so that you only really fail if you screw up pretty bad.
Engaging: doesn't decrease the time frame for QTE's, and you still have backup QTE's, but does double the number of them, thereby incresing the engagement factor for players who want more challenge but are good enough so they don't die too often. So where dodging Winston took on button press to (visually) dodge him twice, it would take two.
Or they just make it like the Wolf among us, where the QTE's are pretty difficult, but you could fail many, many scenes without dying, and the character just looks more injured by the end of the scene/it shows him succeeding but only barely, and it alters some dialogue in later scenes. EG Episode 1 where Carley would save Clementine at certain points if you failed. Though I guess that is more or less the effect of the Cinematic difficulty I suggested.
400 Days wasn't ever advertised as being like S1 at all. I agree S2 eps should be longer though. Not necessarily plotwise but padding like you say talking to characters, more exploring at our own pace
They didn't say it
This. What could've been good is something like the prologue being Omid, Christa and Clementine in their camp making a fire, laughing, joking, we're allowed to talk to them both personally inbetween major scenes also. Then they go to bed and walk to the gas station the next day or just after chatting, THEN it plays out like the ep. Then after the time skip, camp scene again like it is in the ep. Like a full comparison: Happy laughter camp scene, gas station, depressive camp scene to show just how different things are now
Christa emotionally closes off after Omid dies, hence why they barely talk in the opening sequence. spending 16 months with a bitter, silent Christa, while having tons of guilt and grief to deal with herself with no-one to talk to about it is the reason Clementine turns into what she is in season 2. The fact that Clem and Christa barely talk and haven't developed the guardian-child bond after 16 months! is an extremely important message that shouldn't be overlooked as a writing error. It's not unrealistic at all considering Christa was already a pretty cold/hard/tough person with the funny, optimistic, friendly Omid influencing her as her foil. Take that away well, you get season 2's cold and bitter Christa. It would be hard to lose someone like Omid, you have to admit. The fact that he was killed by Clem's gun means that Christa could possibly subconsciously or consciously blame Clementine for their mistake in 'having fun' in the rest stop bathroom.
I agree with most of your points. Though the time jump made sense to me. Christa doesn't trust groups, and was emotionally closed off after Omid dies, so they basically spent 16 months alone and silent in the woods eating wildlife and avoiding bandits and other groups. They imply pretty well that Christa internally blames Clem and herself for Omid's death, and the baby's (who might have made it if Omid was there). Basically two years of silently eating forest critters and one horrific consequence of a baby which they pretty clearly showed what happened to it by its mere absence, as well as the massive downer Clementine and Christa are in. How would they for you implement the time jump correctly? Because 16 months seems like a pretty reasonable time that Christa could have kept her and Clem away from bandits before they were eventually found (hence the reason the time jump stops there).
Pardon me, one thing I did think they could have done better on: they should have kept Omid and Christa alive for 10 minutes before killing Omid and dropping the title card. Just 10 minutes to appreciate the characters and think everything will be okay. THEN BAM! Right in the feels!
I think my biggest disappointment in s2 ep1 would be the bathroom scene at the very start. It felt too short. after putting lee down in s1 and the whole "they always come back... unless you destroy the head" thing, it felt like a missed opportunity not to actually have the option to push for "ending" omid and the scavenger girl. Bein blamed for omid's death is one thing, but after being the one to say "we need to shoot him in the head", that would really make for some bad blood. Killing the 2 or not would have made for better choices than some of the other things i saw... hope it picks up and the choices are a bit more interesting than the moral leading and horribly set-up situations that survivors of around 2 years should know better than to do. I mean, damn... doug was more reliable with a laser pen than nick is with that rifle. I dont see these people living too long if left to their own devices.
Can't disagree about the ammunition point but I thought Pete stayed where he was because he knew he was bitten & therefore couldn't come back to the group. There was a great moment where you see the bite then Pete & Clem's eyes meet. They both know he's bitten & you can see the understanding. That was my read on it anyway & what prompted me to leave Pete & go with Nick.