Thoughts on Telltale Games (no spoilers, please)

Don't be going posting spoilers. I mean, you can, but spoiler it, bud.

They've been really getting it on, haven't they? Anything that isn't nailed down, they'll sign. Yeah, sure, bring us your work, we'll start the game off by saying on how choices matter, the rest is stiff animations and being able to choose "..." from the choice tree. Yeah, having a bit of a go here.

Still, they got pretty big with the Walking Dead, and ever since, they've been doing all kinds of stuff. So, my question is, do you dig their stuff? I really liked the first season of The Walking Dead. An absolute joy to play. And I'm also a fan of the second season. I will be there for the third season, because might as well, right? Didn't stop there. What else we got? I was able to get the whole season of Games of Thrones for free, played the first episode, that was alright. I need my buddy to start talking about GoT again, that will motivate me to get back to this and finish it.

Now, the last one I jumped into, is Tales of the Borderlands. I don't like Borderlands that much. You know, the 3 games they put out. But this.. this is good, fellas. It's entertaining, funny, and intriguing. It's weird how they made something as random as Borderlands work in a Telltale-like design. Got the season pass. It was on sale on PSN, so yeah, that's good. Looking forward to playing more of that, because it's cool.

But enough of my ramblings, what about you? Like them, think they're overdoing it? Anything? I know Foxbatalpha is quite enjoying the Minecraft thing they've got going, and I will get to that at some point, because I love Minecraft.

And no, I'm not getting paid to make this thread.

I enjoy playing them. I don't think I'd like any of their games if I weren't already a fan of the subject matter, though.

Very much enjoyed the first season of The Walking Dead. Had good pacing, and it felt like it got better each episode. It basically sets up Clementine in the second season with one of the better backstories any character has had, too.

I loved The Wolf Among Us. Really great stuff. Unfortunately, that's more of the characters being great more than the story. Only Episode 1 there was good, and the last one in that series sucked a fat one.

But yeah, I like Telltale Games' games a lot. Their engine sucks and gets way too big of a pass though.

@Blabadon: Fully agree on the engine. Change it up. And Wolf Among Us, yeah, the first episode sets the mood so well, yet I hear such mixed reactions from other folk, regarding upcoming episodes.

Why would you go and say a thing like that? Now I'm suspicious.

I only played the first season of The Walking Dead. I enjoyed it a lot, but haven't been wanting to pay for any of the others at the moment. I did get The Wolf Among Us on a sale or something, just haven't played through it. That might actually be a nice game to play through here since I've been playing a lot of open-world, 50-hour crap games at the moment.

@Zassimick: Just saying lol. Okay, got a fiver out of making this thread. Sshhh

Yeah, right? If you're bored with a certain genre, and you haven't been playing much story driven stuff like Telltale's work, get on that. Good excuse.

Telltale "games" bore me to tears. I've tried to get into several of their offerings over the years and it always puts me sleep.

I'm just not into video game narratives in general, and that's about all these Telltale games have going for them. When im in the mood for a story id rather watch a good movie or read a good book.

There were numerous rewrites and all, I'm sure. The second episode took almost half a year to come out.

@Blabadon: My one issue with episodic content. I mean, I don't think it was right for RE: Revelations 2. Let's not pretend they wanted to make it look like a movie, because the first one did it, without making you have to wait a week, and so did Alan Wake, which was brilliant, but I'm not gonna go on about that.

But the waiting, yup, I remember at some point, DONTNOD(Life is Strange/Remember Me) were uncertain if they were gonna be able to put out episode 2 of Life is Strange. Not always brilliant.

Loved The Walking Dead season 1, then it got old pretty quick. The Wolf Among Us felt boring. Same goes for Season 2 of TWD. I think that's because I played all episode at once instead of playing them one by one like TWD Season 1.

But it also revealed a harsh truth. Which is, that their games have no actual puzzles or gameplay so they get boring pretty quick, so it's better idea to release them in parts/episodes to keep people distracted for 1.5 hours.

I am also not a fan of their engine. Those loading screens get annoying sometimes. I haven't touched Game of Thrones and Borderlands. Have no interest to do so for now. I'll pick up Season 3 of TWD just to see how it ends.

Other than that, I'm having way more fun with point and click adventures from Daedalic Entertainment and looking forward to Silence: The Whispered World 2. But if you only look at storytelling then I think Telltale is great in that department (some of the best TBH). They just need to add actual puzzles in their games. Jusssssst a little bit, even if they aren't challenging but still...

This is how i feel, i tried out first episodes for The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us, but im not into this style, they have cool story telling, but i just didnt get into it and never cared to play the others. Im just not into games like them much.

I think all the stuff they make is great.

However, let's not kid ourselves, they can be doing so much better. Instead of improving upon The Walking Dead, they've simply taken that game and made it a template for all of their releases. It's not a bad template, but it's starting to get old. It especially sticks out now with games like Life is Stange, a game that definitely tries to be unique and different, even between each episode.

@JangoWuzHere: I fully agree, and you know that.

I very much enjoyed TWD seasons 1 and 2, I'm also a big fan of the AMC show. I play different kind of games depending on my mood, sometimes, after a long workday I get home and the energy levels are low, so I need something more "passive" with a nice cold beer, and usually a Telltale game fits the bill nicely in that scenario.

I also like the easy achievements lol.

FYI episode 1 of the GOT is apparently free on consoles now.

I remember one game doing episodic content a while back ago. It was SIN: Episodes.

You can take that "Episodes" bit pretty lightly. As there was only one Episode. That was in 2006 on the source engine.

Then Valve wanted to do it... Making long lasting SP content that isn't just padding seems to take a longer time than expected. So it's not always right for every game.

But a lot has changed over the years (the way content is delivered too). And some devs pull it off.

It's pretty great when done right. But it definitely doesn't fit every game/genre. Like why RE ? lol

@R4gn4r0k: Did they manage to finish that game?

The Wolf Among Us is one of the best games I've played in recent years. It's very rare for me to get so hooked on a game these days, I'm pretty jaded.

The first season of TWD was also great. The second one was ok, but not as memorable.

Valve ? No

Oh you mean: SIN. No, I don't think they ever did.
If anyone knows of any earlier examples of episodic content, I'd be interested to know :D

Anyway, I think Phoenix Wright and Ghost Trick are some great examples of episodic gaming. It's on phones. But they just split full games in parts :p

And then there is QB of course !!!! Interested to find out how that works ^^

@R4gn4r0k: That's a shame. But yeah, wonder how Remedy will do QB. Honestly, I'd be happy if they just did it without the game. They did the comic thing with Max Payne, tv show with Alan Wake, and they wanted to it with this... Don't know how that will go.

I enjoy them, but as someone that has a long history with playing Adventure games, I get pretty underwhelmed with what's not there. Not in terms of puzzles or anything (it's either easy when they attempt one or unnecessary), but expository stuff which only TWAU and S&MS3: TDPH did well.

The last Telltale Series I played (walking Dead Season 2) was just outright predictable. I knew what the outcome of the choices will be that will lead to the same outcome. The pacing feels formulaic, where I just knew when action would show up, robbing the game of tension. Then there's the QTEs, it will go like this: Hit an indicator on screen, respond to the left or right direction on the next QTE, hit an indicator again. Then start spamming the A button till the circle/bar fills up and then hit Y once it's full. Every time.

Still looking to play GoT and Tales of The Borderlands.

Completely overrated.

Life is Strange kicks the shit out of anything TellTale has made.

I'm kinda glad you say that, due to my love for LiS.

I've only played The Wolf Among Us so far, but I thought it was quite good. I just don't know how people can stand waiting for each episode. I'd rather wait and play it all at once

@lostrib: Thats how i am with my TV shows also. I like to try and watch a whole season as quickly as possible. Im not sure about the future of episodic games will be, guess it depends on how people buy them this gen.

I played The Walking Dead season one and two, The Wolf Among Us, Tales of the Borderland and Game of Thrones and I've pretty much loved them all. TWD season 1 is my favorite and hard to beat, its ending feels like one of the saddest video gaming moments.

I can say if it wasn't for the fact I like borderlands not sure I would have tried Tales from the Borderlands. These games are really dependent on how much you like the story they present IMO.

The different between a Telltale game and say MGS4 is that they have about the same amount of gameplay, the Telltale stores are better and not so boring and make me want to kill myself, and they're a fraction of the price; winner, Telltale games.

I had played the first Walking Dead on Xbox 360 and liked it, shame that technically it struggles with such simple visuals but hey they're still fun. Even the Xbox One games weren't without a few hiccups either. Anyhow, before I got my Xbox One watch PewDiePies playthrough of the 2nd series of Walking Dead and had a lot of fun watching it, still got it once I got an Xbox One (thankfully forgot some of it), still fun to play. Only thing I don't like is the wait. Like Wolf Among Us too. Got those three series for $12.50 each when they were on sale.

I have Game of Thrones and Tales From The Borderlands, I was waiting for each to finish before starting. The Borderlands one just concluded so maybe play when done with Life Is Strange. I got Game of Thrones for $5 thanks to a mistake in the listing on the Xbox One digital store, and once done with the Borderlands game I'll play that since the last episode releases next on the 17th.

The way I see it, they're a mix between an old school point and click adventure and a choose your own adventure, but with less puzzles and less consequence for your actions. I like the drama in Walking Dead, there's never an easy choice and it works to promote the story and atmosphere.

Want to like them but don't. I liked the 1st episode of The Walking Dead (new and cleverly done) and The Wolf Among Us (the world it played in). Tried Borderlands but it didn't grab me and made me think about Telltale games as a whole because some stuff was bugging me for a while then.

Totally personal but I think this is what bugs me:

I don't like the quality of the voice acting in many of the scenes, and the exaggerated facial expressions and slower animation. Something about the emphasis on their expressions makes it feel unnatural, the whole presentation seems oddly paced, actively turning me off.
Some of the decisions were too blunt and break immersion. Would you like to let that character die who gets locked in this animation or this other character die who is now getting locked in this other situation for you? The less predictable decisions were better... at times... but then some of them felt super random. Or very interesting decisions were never used again. The quality of decision making seemed all over the place. In terms of decisions (and this is the core value of these games for me so I want to elaborate a little) I find The Witcher series more satisfying. Not perfect, but their decisions tend to feel more 'fair'. When it f's you over there tends to be a reason for it, a message behind it, a hint that could have helped you, or it's at least interesting. Very few decisions in The Witcher games are completely random, and if they are they still tend to be intense. The powerless feeling you get because you..just..don't..know is used purposefully, not as a standard or by accident.
I had a problem with my save in The Walking Dead and couldn't get my episode 1 save to continue in episode 2. Replaying 1 kinda killed it for me.
I don't like seeing a prompt confirming when my decisions affect things though I totally understand why you would. (You couldn't turn that off in all of them.)

I spent quite a bit of money on the Telltale series because several times I thought I was going to sit down and really have a go at them and I never did.

I enjoy them in the same way I enjoy watching TV. They are typically well priced, well paced and well written.

I'm not a fan of their 'episodic' style but whatver I just wait till all the episodes are out before diving in.

I just got Borderlands since it finished, i'll probably start it tonight. I'll get GoT when the last episode drops. Then instead of watching an hour of TV before going to bed, i'll play half an episode of one of those.

I look forward to trying life is Strange as well.

My thoughts are that they should gimme The Wolf Among Us season 2 already.

I like playing their games, because I enjoyed point and click adventure games on PC

Pretty average at best. Quantic Dream does it much better. Suppose it's an okay alternative for those that don't have access to QD's fantastic work.

I like their games but I really wish they would move on to original IPs already. I'm super bored with the "random story in established universe that has choices but they can't amount to anything or it breaks canon." They need to branch out so they can do more and do better with their titles.

I only enjoyed Sam & Max Seasons 1 and 2.

I only played the first season of the walking dead and enjoyed it, but haven't played any of their other games.

I liked The Wolf Among us, The Walking Dead and Sam and Max...I don't know if it counts, but Tales of Monkey Island was okay too.

It seems like its the same formula...especially looking at their earlier games; borderlands, Game of Thrones, and now the Minecraft thing....

Although I don't feel compelled to pick up their stuffanymore, one thing is for sure: Their games are the kinds of games you play when you need a break from playing games...

Walking Dead Season 1 was awesome, just finished it. I'll play Season 2 someday I'm sure, but I have no urge to now. I wouldn't want to play that kinda of game all the time, would get old

I love The Walking Dead Seasons 1 and 2 a lot, and I bought both seasons twice and beat them twice. Some of my favourite games ever. Season 3 can't get started soon enough. I also love The Wolf Among Us, and I want a season 2. I should check out Tales From The Borderlands too. Yeah, I'm a fan.

Thoughts on spoilers, nothing on Teltale Games please....

They dont make games so much as they make movies that occasionally pause so you have to hit a button prompt.

I've played pretty much every game season they have made, with the exception of the Minecraft one that just came out. I usually pick them up after the seasons are complete and the price is around $5-$10 on sale for the complete season. The only ones I have bought at full price were Borderlands, and GoT. Both of which I have enjoyed so much I didn't even mind paying full price for them. So far I haven't found any of the seasons that I didn't like. So yeah I really enjoy their games, and the stories.

I agree, they are mostly only as good as the subject matter - and if you can get into the characters/ideas.

Didn't really care for Sam and Max. I played Walking Dead Season 1 and 2 and thought it was great. Wolf Among Us was good... but felt like more o the same.

I can't say I look forward to them or anything, and it's obviously VERY formulaic at this point. But they are generally pretty painless and enjoyable to get through the story. I'm sure I will play Walking Dead Season 3 when it hits... might go for Game of Thrones as well... but that's probably about it unless they start moving the needle a bit with the game engine and how all the mechanics work.

I wonder if there was a true good ending out there, I didn't mind the last episode so much but my desire to replay through it was killed after knowing there'd be that end decision that kind of makes any effort to do that not really worth it.

@freedomfreak: The playing it part of their games I don't care for. Anything that resembles an element from another genre such as action or something is dull, janky, doesn't feel satisfying, and all around contrived when it comes up. Simply walking around in these games never feels the way it should, and given that the making choices part of these games is completely meaningless, I am not exactly seeing how even if Telltale could write exceptional plots, how they would making an argument for this medium as a strong story telling medium? Everything they achieve is a product of their game being as less of a game as humanly possible.

Which brings us to how buggy, busted, and ugly their game engine has gotten. I am by no stretch of the imagination a graphics whore, I don't give a flying **** about how most of my games look, all I care about is the overall execution of the game. The one area I take no excuses for, are any failures that have to do with interacting with the game, because you know interactive medium. However I can dig those "ugly" indie games, because they have an actual well playing game to back their shit up, also the fact that those games are made on a shoe string of a budget. Telltale's butt ugly engine has no excuse.

There is barely any gameplay
They make a shit ton of money at this point considering the IPs that got handed to them.

As story tellers. Walking Dead season 1 was good, and I'm not going to act like the final scene between Lee and Clementine wasn't really well executed. But the writing was hit or miss, with a lot of second half of that story having some noteworthy wtf moments. Especially that part with the crazy dude when he's just telling you about all the choices you made, It was so obviously the dev just doing a rewind on shit you already did to be all "LOOK HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME", and it felt contrived and silly when it happened.

Other than that couldn't bring myself to finish A Wolf Among Us or Season 2, with Season 2 being fucking boring.

If I want an Adventure game, I would rather play Deponia, Botanicula, Book of Unwritten Tales, etc. Even as story tellers I think there are other devs that tell better tales. And it goes without saying they aren't exactly winning me over on their gameplay.

They are movies. not games

I like all telltale series