Adventure Gamers - Forums

Intense Degree - 28 February 2024 03:13 AM

Veovis - 25 February 2024 04:00 AM

I enjoyed the game, but did not love it. The QTE based gameplay wasn’t very well executed imo. I missed proper feedback when I did something right or wrong. Sometimes it didn’t seem to really matter whether or not I pushed the correct button. The choice based gameplay didn’t do that much for me, but maybe I’ll change my mind if I play the game a second time (or use the time shifting thing).

I know you’re talking about the QTE’s here, but that slightly sums up how I felt about the choice element of the game after the first time I played through. So regularly in each episode you get the “x will remember that” or similar message which leads you to believe that something momentous, or at least notable, has just occurred because of your actions. However, too often it is something inconsequential. There is one point I think where you get the message for a character who is shortly about to die. Sure, they remembered that thing to the end of their days but it had no effect on anything.

I’m not trying to slate the whole of the choice thing in this game, there are some choices which seem to me to count for something, either because there is a change to the game because of them, or because they allowed me to express something about how I felt in a situation in some way, which somehow feels equally valid.

It slightly feels to me like this was a much bigger thing when the game was released (and TWD etc.) ‘Non-Linear’ was a popular term and there were some who were genuinely really excited about the possibilities of choice affecting games. Others seemed disillusioned or let down by the fact that these choices didn’t change the game so radically that it was essentially a completely different game.

I think the dust has settled now, mostly anyway. Personally, I feel like there is enough meaningful choice (as I would define it) for the choice not to be a total illusion, but I also think that the game presents the choices as more important than they actually are (“Intense Degree will remember that” ). Years on from the first release of these games, maybe it’s easier to set our expectations of what a ‘choice’ game is, or should be. Did Life is Strange do it better? Definitely I would say, but I’m certainly not going to try and throw TWAU under the bus.

Trust me I don’t want to reopen that can of worms either but I really like your post so I figured I would respond. All I can say is Telltale Games “choices” are like watching a magician perform a trick and you are going that was kind of cool, but then watching the magician perform the same exact trick five more times in a row. you figured out how the trick works, so it has very diminishing returns. That’s how I feel about Telltale, they never innovated on the gameplay trick, they just regurgitated it over and over again for the most part.

Jdawg445 - 28 February 2024 07:03 AM

Trust me I don’t want to reopen that can of worms either but I really like your post so I figured I would respond. All I can say is Telltale Games “choices” are like watching a magician perform a trick and you are going that was kind of cool, but then watching the magician perform the same exact trick five more times in a row. you figured out how the trick works, so it has very diminishing returns. That’s how I feel about Telltale, they never innovated on the gameplay trick, they just regurgitated it over and over again for the most part.

Yes, your view has come across loud and clear. Can’t really say I absolutely disagree with you though. The choice-based gameplay in TWAU felt a bit “forced” to me. The constant “he/she will remeber that” messages to me expressed that the developers themselves didn’t really think there is much substance in many of the choices. I would have preferred to at least be able to turn off that communication from the game . Better to let the player notice/not notice consequences of made choices instead of writing things on the players’ noses. And more often than not characters didn’t really seem to act like they remembered anything special in relation to the outcome of a previous dialog.

Having said that there are clearly different paths through the story based on made choices and I kind of liked that aspect. But to me it would have been better if the developers had toned down the choice aspect of the gameplay. It was a few years since I played it, but I thought TWD season one was better in this regard.

Veovis - 29 February 2024 04:46 AM

Jdawg445 - 28 February 2024 07:03 AM

Trust me I don’t want to reopen that can of worms either but I really like your post so I figured I would respond. All I can say is Telltale Games “choices” are like watching a magician perform a trick and you are going that was kind of cool, but then watching the magician perform the same exact trick five more times in a row. you figured out how the trick works, so it has very diminishing returns. That’s how I feel about Telltale, they never innovated on the gameplay trick, they just regurgitated it over and over again for the most part.

Yes, your view has come across loud and clear. Can’t really say I absolutely disagree with you though. The choice-based gameplay in TWAU felt a bit “forced” to me. The constant “he/she will remeber that” messages to me expressed that the developers themselves didn’t really think there is much substance in many of the choices. I would have preferred to at least be able to turn off that communication from the game . Better to let the player notice/not notice consequences of made choices instead of writing things on the players’ noses. And more often than not characters didn’t really seem to act like they remembered anything special in relation to the outcome of a previous dialog.

Having said that there are clearly different paths through the story based on made choices and I kind of liked that aspect. But to me it would have been better if the developers had toned down the choice aspect of the gameplay. It was a few years since I played it, but I thought TWD season one was better in this regard.

I don’t think so, maybe a replay of The Walking Dead is needed for me. But I remember when it came out I played through the game and absolutely loved the story and then I went back and started making different choices and realized I got funneled down the same basic path no matter what i chose. if a character was meant to die he was going to die regardless of choice. For the record I hate fake choice in every game. It is one of the reasons I think Mass Effect is overrated. Mass effect one had this big world and great lore built in with awesome choices, but by the time you got to two and especially three you realized it didnt matter much, basically boiled down to stats on a sheet, for the final battle. The reason I go so much harder on Telltale though is because at least mass effect had other gameplay Loops that were substantial. The whole premise of modern telltale is built around your choice matters, with very little other gameplay involved. no puzzles, platforming etc… your two gameplay Loops are very boring qtes which most people hate and what I would consider fake choices that don’t amount to much. And like I said the first time you see the trick, your like that was kind of cool but then when you play their next couple of games and realize it’s the same trick repeated you’re like ok im cool.

The first season of tales from the Borderland I think was a very well executed story, with great characters and dialogue but as a game it was the same old same. If they would have somehow innovated on the trick and pushed it Forward I would be way less harsh. But I’m glad some people on this playthrough see the whole, “this character will remember this” BS above your head is nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

My choices for the last chapter:

I killed Georgie. No reason to let him suffer if he is gonna die.
I brought the Crooked Man back alive. I was curious to see what he has to say. Surprisingly he defended himself pretty well
I chose to imprison him. I m not fan of death penalties and also i was curious to see in what way he would be punished.
I accepted T.J’ s gift for Snow. Me and 98.5% of players. Why not?
My last words to Nerissa were I hope i’ ve done some good here.

For me this game was ok. It was nice not having to deal with puzzles for a change. The story was interesting and made me wanna see how it ends. Graphics, music and atmosphere were great also.

Didn’t like that much the QTE. They weren’t hard for me. I think i failed only once for the whole game. They just felt like a filler, they were there just to break the monotony of making choices and add some gameplay.

I’m not sure how i’m feeling about the choices aspect. They were fine i guess. It’s just most of them were black or white. Kill him or spare him type and few were neutral. But they didn’t feel like i m making a significant choice. Also some of them gave you a choice where to go first and splitting the content so you need to replay the game to see the other part. My real problem was that i had played Baldurs Gate 3 before that where you make countless choices through the game that alter many aspects of the story. In that game every time i had to make a choice i really had to think about it because i knew it mattered. In TWAU i didn’t really care.

I ‘ll give it a 3 out of 5 score because the story kept me interested and i wasn’t bored. But to be honest i don’t think this format with gameplay that you make choices is that fun to play. I wouldn’t like to play a second telltale game in a row because they aren’t challenging.

Just wanted to call in to thank Intense Degree for leading the playthrough & also to say how much I enjoyed reading all the comments/theories from other participants.