It’s been around 4 years since Telltale’s Walking Dead episodic adventure was released. I have a lot of great memories with this game, and it is still one of the first games that engrossed me in an interactive-story experience.
I remember being fully immersed within 10 minutes of the game. I was presented with choices from the get-go which affected the world and how others perceived me. This was and still is one of the best and most lovingly-designed experiences Telltale has given us.
And no, this is not nostalgia speaking. I’ve recently gone back and replayed the game, I still feel bad for choosing to save Duck over Shawn. These moral quandaries stick with you and that is part of what makes this game so good.
The other reason I love this game is because of its gameplay. No, the gameplay isn’t amazing but it helped made this game feel like a GAME as well as an interactive story. The various puzzles and linear exploration sections of the game break up the story. These sections aided the story. It made you feel like you were actually in the show exploring and interacting with areas like Hershel’s farm.
Now here’s my biggest problem with their newer games like their Game of Thrones and Minecraft series. WHERE THE HELL IS THE GAME.
These games still retain the great writing of the Walking Dead and Back to the Future (which nobody seems to have played), and they all mimic the writing and feel of the content its based off perfectly.
But I can’t help but feel that Telltale has shifted the direction of their games to appeal to a much younger audience, or maybe to appeal to their mobile audience. The “games” do not feel like games at all, but rather a 3-hour long cutscene with a quick time event every now and then.
There is no doubt that gameplay has been watered down in the years following the Walking Dead. They have completely branched from their point-and-click roots and simplified their games to the point where there is no game. There is nothing to break up the story apart from those pesky QTE’s.
There were only very few times in Game of Thrones where I got a chance to explore an area, even then, they are restricted to tiny, unimaginative courtyards. They even somehow managed to make exploration of Castle Black boring and restrictive. There were only about 3-4 things I could actually interact with in the courtyard at the wall, this was a huge missed opportunity.
As I stated earlier, I loved the mix between gameplay and story because I felt like I was exploring landmarks of the show. However, I didn’t feel the weight of exploring Castle Black. I didn’t feel anything because Telltale didn’t do anything to make you feel like you were in part of this world.
It is no secret that Telltale is attempting to move away from the PC and onto our phones. Telltale makes no effort in making their games a great PC experience. They have made no attempt to update the quality of the games textures, it has exactly the same graphical quality of a 4 year game. The texture quality is barely noticeable on the phone, but on a 16-inch screen, you can really see the lack of detail. This is only one of many flaws on the PC version of the game. Another which is immediately noticeable is the QTE’s. They are very clearly made for the smartphone first and the PC second. It just feels to me like they are neglecting the audience that made them who they were, they dropped what originally made them great in favour of gameplay more accessible to mobile users.
Telltale games have gone from amazing and revolutionary gaming experiences down to fun stories. Well anyway, that’s my two cents. And that is the reason why I will no longer be playing anymore Telltale games.
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