[samd1988]

Hi, I was curious what peoples thoughts were on Telltale games?

Being the only gaming company to make sequels of classic Lucasarts games such as Sam and Max and Monkey Island, they seem to be a important part the Point and click years around 2006-2010.

However, do you like or dislike their games? Or maybe you like their games but don't like where they are headed (BTTF and Jurassic Park.)

Personally, I love Telltale games for their Sam and max games and Monkey Island sequels but after that I don't really have much interest in any of their other games unless they decide to make some original IP.

So Telltale games... Yay or Nay?

[zane]

iv played 3 of their series: the sam and max games, which i adored (more than the original really). The strongbad game, which i thought was a really good strongbad game, though not so much a great adventure game. And i felt the same way about back to the future, it was a really good BttF game, but sorely lacking in puzzles, and it wasnt the best adventure experience. This is pretty much what theyv always been, and im okay with it. As long as they keep making games with strong overall quality that are properly measured to fit the source material, i'll keep playing.
EDIT: Oh i should also note, i dont like the principle of episodic games. When i play a game i want to focus on it near exclusively until iv finished it in about a month. So i was definitely slow to the telltale party because i wasnt interested in buying small pieces of a game. But i more recently have been buying whole seasons and one season feels like a satisfying game.

[Venkman]

I say I don't like them, yet something intrigues me enough about their games that I've played most of them and always keep an eye on what they're up to.

Unlike many adventure gamers, I like some of their recent output better than the older. Sam & Max S1-2 are not very good IMO, but I actually enjoyed S3 on the PS3 quite a bit. That game did some new things with the adventure genre and I loved the Twilight Zone presentation of it.

Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies, but I had mixed emotions about Telltale's announcement that they were making the game. On the one hand I was finally getting a modern game of BTTF, but on the other hand BTTF needs to be in an open world with the ability to actually drive the DeLorean and ride hoverboards. I wound up mostly enjoying the games because they did a pretty decent job with the license.

I do like the idea of episodic games in general.

[Harald B]

I've been a big fan since the Sam & Max series, but I've been less than thrilled with BTTF and skipped JP. I fear mass-audience licenses bring out the worst in them (see also their underwhelming CSI games) and hope they'll do some more Sam & Max again.

[MoonBird]

I don't like Telltale at all. Graphical style doesn't appeal to me (characters seem like waxdolls, eugh..) and majority of the games are direct controlled, which is an immediate turn off to me. Their 3D engine is heavy and not that smooth. Interface solutions are painful. Also the episodic structure is one thing to complain.

Few times tried to play some Telltale games, but not anymore. This studio can be without me.

[lewuz]

I've only played Sam & Max Season 1-3 and Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures. I liked them all but I have to admit they are somewhat forgetable. I seem to recall only few sequences.

Still, I plan to get my hands on their other games as well.

[Schneckchen ^.^]

Yeah I agree with the waxdoll graphics. They're alright but 2D hand drawn would be so much more appealing.

I also would prefer full games instead of the episodic stuff. It wasn't that bad with Monkey Island because they didn't recycle the environments as much, but in Sam and Max I found it so annoying to go back to the same screens every single episode and talk to the same characters every time with slight variations. It made it seem like you were constantly stuck in the same place instead of having one big adventure like in Hit the Road (or any other normal adventure game.)

Telltale games used to be insta buy for me but right now they have way too many projects going on and I think the quality of their releases is suffering for that. However they also usually have a good sense of humor so if the game seems interesting, I'll still buy it just for that.

[LegendLongy]

I've played all the CSI games they've released on Xbox and enjoyed them, but it helps when you're a big fan of the show too. They were an easy 1000g which made them more appealing to me because I'm a bit of an Achievement Hunter ha ha!

I have played Hector and ToMI on my iPhone and loved them both. They're the best purchases I've made from the app store and that's including GTA 3! ToMI was fantastic in my opinion and some of the new characters left an imprint on me. If Lucas do make another MI, I hope they include Morgan LeFlay because her and Guybrush had good chemistry to the point you thought "F*ck Elaine!". Hector was Sraandlooper's baby so they deserve the credit for it's awsomeness but TellTale were smart for funding and publishing them.

I haven't had the chance to play Sam and Max because I'm waiting for all the episodes to come out on the app store before I buy them. I REFUSE to pay 1600 ms points on XBLA. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the price! If the episodes are as short as people say they are then TellTale need to get a grip charging that much when they're ÂŁ2.99 on the app store. Either release it on hard disc or be fair you greedy buggers.

Their other games interest me too but I'll only give them money from what they release on hard disc for Xbox or the app store because then I don't feel violated when I do so.

[Adventurere No.1]

Originally Posted by Schneckchen ^.^

However they also usually have a good sense of humor so if the game seems interesting, I'll still buy it just for that.

Thanks samd1988 for this thread (required)
and about what Schneckchen mentioned i guess this is exactly their hot spot.
so when it comes to that King Quest episodes ,which they have been talking about for a long while, with nothing so far revealed but a couple 2 artwork pictures (i had seen) i would say it with all respect to Telltale and their efforts ,please renounce that Kings Quest Project!.(imo)

King Quest and The family of Sir Graham are a very delicate subject, a subject that i guess R.Williams only knows it all!, so if telltale would have/going to do it; it 1st it should not hold those kind of humor featured in S&M, MI, W&G .( i will put JP and BTTF aside for sure)

i dont know about there plans but either if they all planning to make it with humor or will they avoid that, i say please dont, there are other Games from Sierra Like Space Quest and LSL to be tangled with, which hold a huge possible amount of humor that Telltale was always good at.

[DustyShinigami]

I like them, BUT...!

I like Sam & Max - S1, 2, 3 and Tales of Monkey Island, but so far they're the only games from Telltale that I genuinely like. The studio, the designers, developers, writers etc. all have great potential and they've certainly come a long way since they started. They seem to excel the most with their comedic games. But I agree with others that they're doing more harm than good if they keep juggling different projects around, especially when those projects are licenses to movie franchises.

Back to the Future I found to be mediocre, despite loving the movies, and I soon lost interest. I don't like that they're making their games more casual! I like the first Jurassic Park movie, but because the game has received mixed reception - due to the gameplay and all the QTE - I'm not particularly interested in it. I'm slightly curious about The Walking Dead, but I'm not jumping up and down with excitement. Again, I'll wait for the reviews to come in.

I just hope in the future their games start to pick up again.

[louiedog]

I tried playing Bone when it was released, but my PC didn't like it. A few years later played Sam & Max Season 1, some of Season 2, Tales of MI, BttF, Wallace & Gromit, and Jurassic Park. I've also played both Puzzle Agents and Hector, but those aren't really Telltale games.

They've all been solid games, but missing any sort of magic that makes me think they'll be considered classics in 10 years. The formula has felt like it's been starting to wane and I was grateful to see them trying a new direction with Jurassic Park, even if it wasn't a complete success. I'll continue to play their games and I'm always interested in seeing what they do next.

[KFMN]

I've played a little Sam & Max S1, hated it, then gave them a second chance with their Monkey Island game, hated it even more. Haven't checked out any of their other stuff since and I doubt I ever will. I hate their graphical style and their gameplay is clunky and usually quite dull.

[Andromus]

I'm not a huge fan of the episodic model, but nevertheless Telltale's games were steadily getting more polished over time, and were still enjoyable even with their limits. But then Back to the Future came along, which was a huge step backwards in terms of quality of gameplay. And Jurassic Park was even worse. If the current trend holds, I have little confidence in the future of the company and even less interest in their upcoming games.

[TerminusEst]

I think that Telltale is one of the best things to happen to adventure games in some time - not necessarily because of the quality of their games but because they demonstrated that it is once again possible to be a successful developer while doing just AGs. I might even go so far as to say that Double Fine Adventure and Project Fedora owe their conception/revival at least partly to Telltale's success.

The episodic model has its drawbacks - the first two S&M seasons were too repetitive but the third one and the ToMI episodes were just fantastic! Taken as a whole, they are IMHO some of the best adventure games ever. Seriously! I just started BTTF (had to watch the movies first) and so far, so good. I have little interest in the Jurassic Park and Wallace&Gromit franchises so I don't think I will be picking those up anytime soon. Can't wait to see what they will make with King's Quest!

[maladroid]

Judging from the games/episodes I've played so far, I must say I kind of like the company but I do not expect great things from them, especially with their current trend.

Played Sam and Max S1 and half of S2 which were fine with some great moments here and there. TOMI was OK as an adventure game but, for me, a complete disaster as a Monkey Island installment (had pretty much the same feelings as for EFMI). The tone, characters and humour were all wrong, not surprising since it had the same guys as EFMI behind it ("Lair of The Leviathan" was the only episode I found genuinely funny and it was done by someone else).

Wallace and Gromit were good enough, not great, but I find they did a good job conveying the original's spirit and motifs in the story, characters and puzzles. Then, first episode of Back to The Future was quite underwhelming so I never followed up on that nor do I intend to.

I plan on someday finishing the S&M trilogy (already bought them on sale) but Telltale seem to have been on the decline, from a creativity point of view, and I am not so interested in their recent/upcoming output. It's also quite curious that they haven't produced a single piece of original IP yet and their licenced catalogue just seems to be moving from lesser known IPs to widely popular ones.

[crabapple]

Originally Posted by lewuz

I've only played Sam & Max Season 1-3 and Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures. I liked them all but I have to admit they are somewhat forgetable. I seem to recall only few sequences.

Same here. I don't know why the old LucasArts games were so memorable, but the Telltale games don't seem to have the same quality. I also don't like the episodic format (with cliffhangers) and agree with others that Jurassic Park was a huge letdown.

[Jaesun]

Personally I like TellTale, as I have enjoyed the entire Sam and Max series (all of them). There is some fun and just hilarious stuff. They have tried to introduce some new ideas in the genre and they work and sometime they dont. I also bought the Back To The Future series, and it was.. OK.

Ultimately TellTale is stuck with the horrible Publisher/Marketing Department process to make games, and it is they who dictate what type of game they can make (Make it Mass Accessible and ACTION! Kids love action! That's what sells! Don't make it too hard! People don't like that! That won't sell!).

If they actually did an original IP and used Kickstarter to do what they would love to do...... I'd more than likely back such a project. That way they are free from the horrible demands a Publisher and it's Marketing Department demand of them on a game. I think they could come up with something quite unique and enjoyable (and back to some classic point and click).

[Datadog]

I do like Telltale Games on the whole. I have several of their game cases sitting right over my head, from S&M Season 1 to Jurassic Park. As I really enjoy their stories, it's easier for me to overlook all the game-play issues that are driving everyone else crazy. For shorter adventure games, I AM having a lot of fun with them, especially since I don't have time for longer games anymore *shakes fist at the 36 hours spent playing ME3*. If I want a good 3-hour game, I can always rely on a Telltale adventure. Or Portal.

I understand their reasoning behind doing licensed episodic games and it is a good business strategy given the market and competition. The episodic format has opened up a lot more possibilities story-wise than most full-length games have captured in entire series. It's nice to see characters taken on the kind of development arcs you only ever get out of television shows these days.

Presently, I only have BTTF and JP to go off of. I think it's premature to retro-actively change my opinion of the company just because these aren't their traditional types of game, and just because I haven't tried "Hector" or "Puzzle Agent" yet. Funny how every time TT releases an original title, almost nobody plays it... and then we complain about them not releasing original titles.

So Telltale? Yay. Small episodes like "Abe Lincoln Must Die", "Strongbadia the Free", "Rise of the Pirate God", and "The Tomb of Sammun-Mak" are among some of the greatest adventure game experiences I've ever had. Games are expensive business, so if they need to sell a few QTE-games just to get more of their traditional adventures off the ground, so be it.

For an animator, QTE-games are good bread and butter anyway. *fires off another resume their direction*

[tsampikos]

Telltale has taken the wrong turn lately with games like Jurassic Park and possibly the walking dead (according to the videos that have been published lately), which cleary are NOT adventure games.

[samd1988]

Originally Posted by Datadog

I do like Telltale Games on the whole. I have several of their game cases sitting right over my head, from S&M Season 1 to Jurassic Park. As I really enjoy their stories, it's easier for me to overlook all the game-play issues that are driving everyone else crazy. For shorter adventure games, I AM having a lot of fun with them, especially since I don't have time for longer games anymore *shakes fist at the 36 hours spent playing ME3*. If I want a good 3-hour game, I can always rely on a Telltale adventure. Or Portal.

I understand their reasoning behind doing licensed episodic games and it is a good business strategy given the market and competition. The episodic format has opened up a lot more possibilities story-wise than most full-length games have captured in entire series. It's nice to see characters taken on the kind of development arcs you only ever get out of television shows these days.

Presently, I only have BTTF and JP to go off of. I think it's premature to retro-actively change my opinion of the company just because these aren't their traditional types of game, and just because I haven't tried "Hector" or "Puzzle Agent" yet. Funny how every time TT releases an original title, almost nobody plays it... and then we complain about them not releasing original titles.

So Telltale? Yay. Small episodes like "Abe Lincoln Must Die", "Strongbadia the Free", "Rise of the Pirate God", and "The Tomb of Sammun-Mak" are among some of the greatest adventure game experiences I've ever had. Games are expensive business, so if they need to sell a few QTE-games just to get more of their traditional adventures off the ground, so be it.

For an animator, QTE-games are good bread and butter anyway. *fires off another resume their direction*

To be fair I didn't get Puzzle Agent because it looked liked a licensed IP based off the work of one of their webcomic artists, also it wasn't even a point and click game from the looks of it (puzzle game like professor layton) and the main reason I would not have checked it out was because I was hoping for original IP that was A)humour based Adventure B)worked on by some of their better writers and developers like Chuck Jordan and Dave Grossman, they seem rather wasted talent at the moment. Also Hector wasn't made by Telltale games, just published by them.

I might check out Puzzle Agent though, I've just been more looking for more humour based games like their Sam and Max and Monkey Island games, as I feel that is where they shine their talents.