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Elman
Oct 26, 2009

Hakkesshu posted:

I disagree in this case. I thought the show characters were exceedingly well handled. They took a small role, but a very crucial one that made them important to the game characters and the plot without making the episode feel like a companion piece. The focus is not on them, but they are at the center of the turmoil in the realm, so it makes sense they're agents in whatever is going on with house Forrester. And I personally think it's a pretty interesting dynamic to go in knowing more about what's going on than the the game cast does.

The only one I'm maybe a bit iffy on is Ramsay, since they're setting him up as an antagonist, but it's clear you'll never be able to retaliate. It's really just a foil for having to deal with the rival lord, though, so I'd be very surprised if he's going to pop up again.

I mean ultimately it is probably a marketing move, but they handled it about as well as anyone could have, I think, aside from them looking really weird. The Cersei scene was probably my favourite in the whole episode.

I definitely would have preferred a prequel. I haven't finished the episode yet cause it feels dull, I just can't bring myself to care about the Forresters since they seem like a carbon copy of the Starks except they can't even have a story impact.

I'm sure they'll have their own story, but it'd really do it a lot of good to stop trying to relate them to the show and just let them be their own characters.

Elman fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Dec 3, 2014

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Gaz-L
Jan 28, 2009
I'm pretty surprised at how negative people are at the appearance of the major characters. I feel exactly the opposite, the whole thing would feel very cheap and knock-off-ish if you never see ANYONE that matters. Like a comic book where the company lost the rights to a character so they have to obliquely reference them and never have them show up, even if it would make sense. If you have a character at court in King's Landing, it's going to feel fake if they never EVER see Varys or Littlefinger or Tyrion or Bron or Loras or Cersei or Jamie... (point being there's a LOT of named characters, the chances of someone involved in politics, even in a small way, never meeting one is absurd).

I do agree that they pushed a bit hard with Natalie Dormer's likeness and had her come out like a Disney princess, as opposed to the other only slightly caricatured actors.

I also tried to have characters act without my foreknowledge, Gared running obviously makes sense because the weapons plus 'The Rains of Castamere' are pretty obvious. But Mira might be wary of Tyrion, but he's being his usual charming, kind and scheming self, so using that connection is an obvious choice, unless she knows what happens at Joffrey's wedding. And the coalboy worries me. Sure, he could be working for Varys, and probably is one of his little birds, but it's King's Landing. Everyone has spies everywhere. I half expect him to work for Cersei herself.

Shard
Jul 30, 2005

I beat it last night, loved the ending. I also like playing multiple characters and actually trying to act different for each one. If I get to play Asher, oh man he's going to be such a murdering psycho if given the option.

Also I really dig the art style in this one. I knew they said they were going for an oil painting effect, but I had no idea the backgrounds would look like they did. It was different and interesting. Good on Telltale for not making every game they make look the same.

BlueBayou
Jan 16, 2008
Before she mends must sicken worse
Does it make a difference if you hide or run when you encounter ramsay in the woods?

Shard
Jul 30, 2005

When in doubt, assume that choices in Telltale games don't change actual outcomes, but rather change the context of a character. Like certain things will always happen, but you can change the reason they happened or the situation surrounding the event.

snodig
Oct 5, 2014
This is my first telltale game and I just realized I've made a huge mistake by setting myself up to wait 5ish months to finish this.

Are the other telltale games just as good? I might have to check out the walking dead one now, even though I'm not the biggest fan of the tv-series past season one.

freebooter
Jul 7, 2009

Walking Dead is amazing and you should play it. I'm not a big fan of the TV series either, but the video game is one of the best pieces of interactive fiction ever made. A lot of cranky people didn't like the second season, but acclaim for the first is universal.

Now, as for this one - 23 quid (or $30 USD or whatever) is for a season pass, right? Not a single two-hour episode?

Bass Bottles
Jan 14, 2006

BOSS BATTLES DID NOTHING WRONG
I really loved this game, but I have to wonder why it needed to be 3D. The painted backgrounds looked really nice, but sort of clashed with the CG character models. The animation was also really awkward at times, especially the facial expressions. And Margery looked like the villain from Zoolander with a skin rash.

If they animated it in Flash, sort of Archer-style with lots of motion tweening, they could create some pretty slick visuals without the uncanny valley-ness. It would also probably be much quicker and cheaper to produce. The "sign up for a Telltale account" page has a really nice drawing of Daenerys and it made me wish the entire game looked like that instead.

Elman
Oct 26, 2009

snodig posted:

Are the other telltale games just as good? I might have to check out the walking dead one now, even though I'm not the biggest fan of the tv-series past season one.

Definitely play it, it's way better than the tv show.

snodig
Oct 5, 2014

freebooter posted:

Walking Dead is amazing and you should play it. I'm not a big fan of the TV series either, but the video game is one of the best pieces of interactive fiction ever made. A lot of cranky people didn't like the second season, but acclaim for the first is universal.

Now, as for this one - 23 quid (or $30 USD or whatever) is for a season pass, right? Not a single two-hour episode?

I think the season pass is for all six episodes and you save 5 bucks on it compared to buying each episode individually.

And alright, guess I have to check the walking dead one now. At least I can play that from start to finish!

SatansBestBuddy
Sep 26, 2010

by FactsAreUseless

snodig posted:

This is my first telltale game and I just realized I've made a huge mistake by setting myself up to wait 5ish months to finish this.

Are the other telltale games just as good? I might have to check out the walking dead one now, even though I'm not the biggest fan of the tv-series past season one.

Walking Dead is pretty much their best one, the quality can vary quite a bit beyond that. Like, the Sam and Max seasons are all pretty good, but nobody in their right mind would defend Jurassic Park. Walking Dead also notes a divide in the style of games they make, before that it was mostly adventure games but now they're closer to really well produced VN's.

Gaz-L
Jan 28, 2009

SatansBestBuddy posted:

Walking Dead is pretty much their best one, the quality can vary quite a bit beyond that. Like, the Sam and Max seasons are all pretty good, but nobody in their right mind would defend Jurassic Park. Walking Dead also notes a divide in the style of games they make, before that it was mostly adventure games but now they're closer to really well produced VN's.

The closest I'd come to defending JP is that it's pretty clearly a precursor to their current output. Like it's a HUGE shift between BTTF and TWD S1, but not so huge if you realise JP was in between. The focus on quick-time style action scenes and dialogue over puzzles is pretty much the Telltale house style now.

Medium Cool
Dec 27, 2006

Yr sister is a beauty when she's naked
Grimey Drawer
I never played Jurassic Park, what's so bad about it? Is it just really poorly written? I really enjoyed Game of Thrones aside from some very minor graphical annoyances, which will hopefully be ironed out in future episodes.

Accordion Man
Nov 7, 2012


Buglord
Walking Dead Season 1 is fantastic and is one of the best games of all time. Season 2 and Wolf Among Us are big steps down in comparison due to weaker writing and really watered down gameplay and player input but they are still good games worth playing.

Yeah, I'd also recommend Sam and Max if you want some comedy. The first season is by the far weakest but its still solid enough, Season 2 is when they start hitting their stride, and then Devil's Playhouse is just as good if not better than Hit the Road.

The Back to the Future game also got the spirit of the series down pat and is good too.

Accordion Man fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Dec 3, 2014

bobjr
Oct 16, 2012

Roose is loose.
🐓🐓🐓✊🪧

Medium Cool posted:

I never played Jurassic Park, what's so bad about it? Is it just really poorly written? I really enjoyed Game of Thrones aside from some very minor graphical annoyances, which will hopefully be ironed out in future episodes.

I think it was mainly because while they talked about how you can change outcomes the only thing you really can change happens in the very last moments of the final episode. That and a really annoying puzzle(at least for me).

BOAT SHOWBOAT
Oct 11, 2007

who do you carry the torch for, my young man?

Hakkesshu posted:

It looks like they tried to capture Cersei's constant scowl but I thought her mouth just made her look like a weird muppet. Much like the rest of the animation, it looks really good when it's not moving.

Yes, I was getting major uncanny valley from the show actor's performances in this. In a still image they all look like pretty good captures of the cast but in movement, the subtleties of their show performances just aren't there, and the little details that aren't quite right really stick out.

greatBigJerk
Sep 6, 2010

My final form.

snodig posted:

This is my first telltale game and I just realized I've made a huge mistake by setting myself up to wait 5ish months to finish this.

Are the other telltale games just as good? I might have to check out the walking dead one now, even though I'm not the biggest fan of the tv-series past season one.

Walking Dead is based off of the comics (which are better than the show), and it goes in its own direction after the first episode. The first season is brilliant, the second is okay.

Bass Bottles posted:

I really loved this game, but I have to wonder why it needed to be 3D. The painted backgrounds looked really nice, but sort of clashed with the CG character models. The animation was also really awkward at times, especially the facial expressions. And Margery looked like the villain from Zoolander with a skin rash.

If they animated it in Flash, sort of Archer-style with lots of motion tweening, they could create some pretty slick visuals without the uncanny valley-ness. It would also probably be much quicker and cheaper to produce. The "sign up for a Telltale account" page has a really nice drawing of Daenerys and it made me wish the entire game looked like that instead.
That's basically the Telltale way of doing things, lovely animations and questionable artwork that tells good stories. They probably also got the license based on their work with the engine they've been using all along, they probably weren't allowed to get experimental with Game of Thrones.

Junkfist
Oct 7, 2004

FRIEND?
TWD S1 is good TWD S2 is ok if you don't gently caress up like a horrible idiot and do The Bad Thing.

This thing is fine but it's leaning too heavily on the show.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


I'll be honest, I played Jurassic Park and thought it was fine. The first episode was even pretty good! Nothing I look back on super fondly, but I don't think it's that bad.

RightClickSaveAs
Mar 1, 2001

Tiny animals under glass... Smaller than sand...


My only complaint so far is really my own issue, in that like the TV show, I can't keep track of who the hell anyone is. There are so many names flying around. I could see being really lost if you don't know anything about the TV show, and I'm still having trouble even though I got caught up just a few months ago.

I do love how they're jumping around with different characters, keeping different stories running simultaneously like the TV show does will really help keep it interesting. Also the Telltale style of game design lends itself really well to this kind of story, especially with all the tense negotiation scenes you have to navigate. Granted, knowing what an evil poo poo Ramsay Snow is ahead of time influenced my decision in that particular case a lot, I would have probably tried more diplomacy if I didn't already know it would be pointless.

steakmancer
May 18, 2010

by Lowtax
The artwork in this game owns, sort of wish they would go with normal rear end depth of field to detail the backgrounds instead of them being less drawn out but in normal rendering.

Hopefully they make enough money to hire new animators too smdh

Wafflecopper
Nov 27, 2004

I am a mouth, and I must scream

I don't really see the potential for confusing people who aren't familiar with the source material as a big deal. I mean, with how big the show is, just about anyone who hasn't seen it yet has decided they aren't interested or don't like it, and I don't imagine many of them would be rushing to play the game.

Pththya-lyi
Nov 8, 2009

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2020
The show actors really knocked it out of the park, especially Rheon. I was nervous during the whole conversation with Ramsay, and I whimpered with fear when he asked Talia if she liked hunting. Partly because the show established what hunting with Ramsay Snow is like. :stonk:

Shard
Jul 30, 2005

Is it safe to say that this has been a loving good year for Telltale? They had 3 new IPs come out along with a sequel to one of their other ones. And they have all ranged between alright to excellent for most people. I can't think of many other developers who have released as much in a single year.

BillBear
Mar 13, 2013

Ask me about running my country straight into the ground every time I play EU4 multiplayer.
I would easily say Tell tales has done pretty awesome in the past 2 years, mainly due to moving towards more mature content.

I honestly thought the Walking Dead was going to be loving terrible when I first saw it go up for pre order, boy was I wrong.

BOAT SHOWBOAT
Oct 11, 2007

who do you carry the torch for, my young man?

BillBear posted:

I would easily say Tell tales has done pretty awesome in the past 2 years, mainly due to moving towards more mature content.

I honestly thought the Walking Dead was going to be loving terrible when I first saw it go up for pre order, boy was I wrong.

It's also the fact that The Walking Dead have set a gameplay template that all of these games have followed (because it works, and its a fun template). That's why it does matter if this game can't be played by people who haven't seen the show, because at this point there is an inbuilt "Telltale audience" who will play anything they make regardlesss of what IP it is.

edit: for some of that audience these games are the only ones they play at all

timp
Sep 19, 2007

Everything is in my control
Lipstick Apathy
Just played through this last night, and I had an everloving blast. My only other Telltale experience was episode 1 of season 1 of TWD, and I thought this was much better from a mechanics standpoint. A little disappointing to learn that my actions don't have as much of an impact as they seem to, but the "illusion" that everyone keeps referencing was so well done that in the moment I was legitimately boggled by how the game, and subsequent chapters, could keep track of all the chaos I was causing.

Graphics got kind of janky at times, and sometimes lines would be completely skipped (I had closed captioning on or else I probably wouldn't even have known this was happening) Uncanny valley was an issue as well but it was easy enough to ignore. Getting the cast of the show to VA far eclipsed any graphical nitpicks I could make.

I also think this was a lot longer than TWD's first episode, or at least it felt like it was. I kept expecting it to be over but it just kept going, much to my delight.

RightClickSaveAs posted:

My only complaint so far is really my own issue, in that like the TV show, I can't keep track of who the hell anyone is. There are so many names flying around. I could see being really lost if you don't know anything about the TV show, and I'm still having trouble even though I got caught up just a few months ago.

I had this problem at first too, and funnily enough the solution was the exact same as the solution to TV character confusion: read the goddamn books Codex entries.

The writers did a fantastic job of putting the player into those tough diplomatic situations you see in the show. I was downright nervous about how I'd handle myself as a boy lord dealing with an old grizzled rival lord, making sure I stood up for myself and my House without starting an unnecessary war, and again as Talia being questioned by the loving Queen of Westeros, trying not to throw my family and/or Margaery under the bus while also not getting my head cut off. I thought I was doing pretty good (even got a compliment from Tyrion!) until both Cersei and Tyrion totally called me out on my non-committal answers. That caused me to unquestionably swear fealty to the crown, which got Margaery pissed at me. drat, politicking in Westeros aint easy! Gives me a new found appreciation for what Littlefinger does.

I couldn't help but laugh when Ethan caught a sword to the neck. After watching so many characters die in the show and the books, how could I not see that coming?

BlueBayou
Jan 16, 2008
Before she mends must sicken worse
well


I was a bit surprised that Gared didn't die. Prologue characters do not have a good track record in the books

Dolash
Oct 23, 2008

aNYWAY,
tHAT'S REALLY ALL THERE IS,
tO REPORT ON THE SUBJECT,
oF ME GETTING HURT,


BlueBayou posted:

well


I was a bit surprised that Gared didn't die. Prologue characters do not have a good track record in the books


That guy's safe as houses. He's the only member of the cast at the Wall. There'll probably be some Jon-esque conflict where he'll be sworn to serve at the wall but have chances to ignore those oaths and help the Forresters instead. Maybe even a chance to desert. But he won't die any time soon, that's for sure.

TL
Jan 16, 2006

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world

Fallen Rib
I really enjoyed the first chapter, but I really don't care for Jon Snow all that much, so I'm hoping his sections at the Wall in the upcoming chapters aren't too lengthy. I really dug the writing, and I actually went back and replayed the last section, which I hadn't done in any other Telltale Games, because I really was hoping I could avoid getting Ethan called. That said, Ramsay is such a fun guy to hate, and Iwan Rheon's VO was great. Too bad the game can't really capture his great facials.

Anyway, as a fan of the show, this was great fun, and a nice little thing to tide me over until season 5 begins.
.

Gaz-L
Jan 28, 2009
I assume Gared's arc will be choosing between supporting Jon's crew in the conflict at the Wall and risking being sent to Craster's and being unable to help Duncan, or staying quiet and sacrificing your own honour. Probably followed by dying during the wildling assault on Castle Black.

Dolash
Oct 23, 2008

aNYWAY,
tHAT'S REALLY ALL THERE IS,
tO REPORT ON THE SUBJECT,
oF ME GETTING HURT,


Gaz-L posted:

I assume Gared's arc will be choosing between supporting Jon's crew in the conflict at the Wall and risking being sent to Craster's and being unable to help Duncan, or staying quiet and sacrificing your own honour. Probably followed by dying during the wildling assault on Castle Black.

If they kill him his plot can't wrap back around to having an impact on the Forrester storyline. Mirra in King's Landing and Asher in Essos each have some plot armor in their respective stories, since if they die prematurely the question "why are we following them?" and "how did what they do feed back into the Forrester's situation?" both come up.

Kaidyn
May 22, 2009

What is there left to discover about donuts...?
Playing each character as their own unique person is fun even though I may be indirectly hurting the others and have to remain willfully ignorant of any book spoilers I know.

As Mira I'm trying to remain as loyal as possible to Margaery, not pushing her too hard on the helping my family thing. She tried for me anyway, though Joffrey went all Joffrey and ripped her dress instead of agreeing to help. I feel like from the preview video I'm going to get pigeon holed into helping Varys or something though, which is unfortunate. The Tyrells are my favorite characters in the books, I'm probably one of the only people who was super excited to get to Mira's parts.

Super content with this game as someone that hated TWD2 (currently struggling through the last episode) because the entire supporting case were completely unlikable to me bar one person, but enjoyed all of Telltale's other games. As other people have said, probably slightly more excited for Borderlands just because I know I'll never be able to kill stupid Ramsay the illusion of choice is a better illusion when the game doesn't have certain rules it has to follow.

Pththya-lyi
Nov 8, 2009

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2020

TL posted:

That said, Ramsay is such a fun guy to hate, and Iwan Rheon's VO was great. Too bad the game can't really capture his great facials..

I think the uncanny valley effect actually makes Ramsay more unsettling, not less.

Bass Bottles
Jan 14, 2006

BOSS BATTLES DID NOTHING WRONG

Kaidyn posted:

Playing each character as their own unique person is fun even though I may be indirectly hurting the others and have to remain willfully ignorant of any book spoilers I know.

As Mira I'm trying to remain as loyal as possible to Margaery, not pushing her too hard on the helping my family thing. She tried for me anyway, though Joffrey went all Joffrey and ripped her dress instead of agreeing to help. I feel like from the preview video I'm going to get pigeon holed into helping Varys or something though, which is unfortunate. The Tyrells are my favorite characters in the books, I'm probably one of the only people who was super excited to get to Mira's parts.

Super content with this game as someone that hated TWD2 (currently struggling through the last episode) because the entire supporting case were completely unlikable to me bar one person, but enjoyed all of Telltale's other games. As other people have said, probably slightly more excited for Borderlands just because I know I'll never be able to kill stupid Ramsay the illusion of choice is a better illusion when the game doesn't have certain rules it has to follow.

I think future episodes will build up the Whitehills as bigger villains than Ramsay. He'll probably pop in every once in a while to scare you, but the Whitehills are who you'll be fighting with most of the time so there might be some satisfaction destroying them.

Shard
Jul 30, 2005

Are the Whitehills and Forresters in the books?

boner confessor
Apr 25, 2013

by R. Guyovich

Spikeguy posted:

Are the Whitehills and Forresters in the books?

Forrester is mentioned in one of the later books in passing. Whitehill does not appear in the books. They're basically made up for the game.

Balls to the Mall
Feb 11, 2011

Kinda disappointing for it to be yet another trump av.


:wom:
It was a great piece of interactive fiction, but I wish there was a bit more 'game' to it. Some puzzles would have been nice.

jasoneatspizza
Jul 6, 2010
What I'd like to see is more actual branching paths in these games. I want wildly different experiences depending on your choices.

I do enjoy these games though. I find them relaxing.

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RightClickSaveAs
Mar 1, 2001

Tiny animals under glass... Smaller than sand...


Pina Coladas posted:

It was a great piece of interactive fiction, but I wish there was a bit more 'game' to it. Some puzzles would have been nice.
Yeah, that's the Telltale experience in a nutshell. I love their games, but I'd be even more in love if they'd manage to work in good puzzles on top of that. I don't know why they still go through the charade of having an inventory, it's like they're teasing me at this point :(

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