Ultimate Videogame Topic 3: The Next Generation

[xRECKONERx]

Holy shit "I like this more than TWD" good.

It's the same basic format, I guess, with the quick response conversation choices and the point-and-click style of exploration/investigation, but there's a few key differences:

- The setting is great. The neo-noir style really works with Telltale's art style, and I found myself just gaping at the beauty of the backdrops in some scenes. I don't feel like I ever really did this with the Walking Dead because it's set in the "real" current world, so staring at forests and houses just wasn't very great. From the moment the game started, I felt like 1980's New York was a disgusting place.

- The gameplay has been streamlined. This is a much leaner beast than TWD... there are no awkward pseudo-puzzles to worry about navigating with the clunky controls (IE the "dislodge the train car" bit from TWD). Instead, we get seamless transition between basic storytelling and mini-"investigations". They kinda reminded me of LA Noire's style of investigations, only less meaty. You examine stuff in the room, which allows you to open up conversation options later that can catch someone in a lie. The difference between "You're hiding something!" and "But you said __________..." can mean solving the crime or not.

- Having no experience with the source material or anything, I was floored by how much I love the "fairy tale characters in modern times" angle. I remember hate-watching Once Upon A Time because it was cool to be introduced to a character and try to figure out which storybook character they were. It's the same idea here, but the gritty realism really makes it, strangely, feel believable. I never thought it'd work, but it very much so does.

- Following Bigby Wolf is a lot different than following Lee Everett from TWD. Everything you did as Lee was totally influenced by another character (Clem), but in this game, Bigby is only driven by what you, the player, decide drives him. I found myself staring at the first set of conversation options and really wondering what kind of guy he was. Gradually, my responses became easier and by the end of episode one, I had developed Bigby as the character I wanted him to be, and the game reacted beautifully to it. He's a blank slate, unlike Lee, which allows for some rewarding character development that is almost solely driven by the player.

That being said, I'm reading conflicting reports on whether to read the source material first or play the game. The game is set twenty years before the comics, supposedly, and I saw people lamenting the fact that they looked up more info on the source material and were immediately spoiled as a result. I've also seen people who love the source material saying they loved the first episode, but consensus seems to be lacking. Looks like a Game of Thrones situation -- will you enjoy the show more if you read the books first, or will it dilute the experience?

[Sudo_Nym]

Well, I've been greatly enjoying the source material, but I haven't played the game. I'm almost certain to, with this recommendation, though. The problem I'm forseeing is that episode 1, even if it's set 20 years previously, is going to be trying to set up the setting for people who haven't read the comics, which may be less impressive or effective for somebody who's already familiar. Plus, what if the voices are all wrong from my personal characterization.

ITT sudo is needless neurotic about the accuracy of his head-canon voices.

[xRECKONERx]

I trust the hell out of Telltale Games when it comes to source material.

(Also, holy shit, they're working on a Game of Thrones game next.)

[bv310]

I trust the hell out of Telltale Games when it comes to source material.

(Also, holy shit, they're working on a Game of Thrones game next.)

Wait, seriously? That's fucking awesome! Fingers crossed for Robert's Rebellion.

[tanstalas]

Just finished The Wolf Among Us, Episode 1.

Holy shit.

I got so excited because the game had a 5760x1080 resolution option.

Yeah, it's just the game on my middle monitor with left and right blacked out

Trolled by TT

[xRECKONERx]

I trust the hell out of Telltale Games when it comes to source material.

(Also, holy shit, they're working on a Game of Thrones game next.)

Wait, seriously? That's fucking awesome! Fingers crossed for Robert's Rebellion.

Yeah. I'm pretty excited about it. I assumed it would be right after Robert's Rebellion, but then again, Telltale likes to do original stories within established worlds, so it might be something completely different or a time period we know very little about.

[bv310]

Also, I bought and then played all of Episode 1 of The Wolf Among Us. So fucking good.

[ChannelDelibird]

Also, I bought and then played all of Episode 1 of The Wolf Among Us. So fucking good.

This. Wasn't sure if I'd be able to get into the fairytale theme but had no trouble at all. Fantastic.

[Who]

Spoiler: From the POV of someone who liked the story

Haytham is against freedom, and wants the Templars to have complete control over the colonies/the world under a fake government headed by the man, Lee, who personally led the attack on Conner's village (and is an all around asshole). Conner tries to kill Lee, but gets attacked by Haytham. Haytham fights to the death with Conner in order to defend his conviction, same with Conner. Conner didn't want to kill his father, but he knew he had to in order to protect his people, and later, to protect the colonies. If Haytham only gave in, gave up his convictions, he would have been spared.

Which is why I liked his death speech, "Don't think I have any intention of caressing your cheek and saying I was wrong. I will not weep and wonder what might have been. I'm sure you understand. Still, I'm proud of you in a way. You have shown great conviction. Strength. Courage. All noble qualities... I should have killed you long ago."

They are both very similar, both strong, courageous, and have great conviction. The only difference is Haytham believed in order that came from a controlled society over the chaos of freedom, whereas Connor believed that everyone should be free, and that no one should have control over another.

I really like the story. It had a lot of murkiness when it comes to right and wrong, ends justifying the means and what have you. Both sides of the Revolution were wrong to the Native Americans, both sides enslaved and tried to control others. Conner and his tribe also were stuck between preemptive action to defend themselves, but not being able to withstand a counterattack (thus stuck between action and inaction). Connor was betrayed, and misled many times; but he still kept fighting for his cause, because he knew it was right. He knew he had to push forward and protect his people and everyone else who's freedom was at risk.

Spoiler: About Lee

Lee didn't have anything to do with the attack on Connor's village, it was all Washington. No arguments on him being an asshole though.

Spoiler: About Connor

Connor was a naive idealist. Yes, he was like Haytham in that he was strong, courageous, and with conviction, but unlike Haytham he was idealistic and stupid. Freedom is a nice word, but did it really mean anything? Pre-revolution a group of rich white males ruled America, they were elected/appointed by rich white males, and they only cared about rich white males. Post-revolution a group of rich white males ruled America, they were elected/appointed by rich white males, and they only cared about rich white males. But these new rich white males were American. Yay, wasn't that worth everyone who died? In regards to murkiness, I disagree, there was no murkiness. The templars were unquestionably right imo.

[BBmolla]

RE: Wolf Among Us

I loved it, I played the whole episode in one night. Everything was fantastic.

The Walking Dead was hard to follow up, but I think they rocked it.

I'm happy Telltale's games are good because I know some people from the company and I've been in shows with some of the voice actors. It's cool to see people I know in something so great.

[theaceofspades]

i've been playing the stanly parable.......i'm afraid I don't get it.......I don't see what the hype was about

it was a bit funny, but no where near as good as people claimed

[Who]

I actually ended up buying a lot over Black Friday, I just bought MGS legacy collection for 30$, making the grand total 95$. Which means that the entire thing is less than one pre-ordered game and one game which I waited a tiny bit to go down to 40$. And I got 4 games+everything on PS+, if you count the collections as multiple games I got 12 games on discs+everything on PS+ + 4 games downloaded.

[Gammagooey]

bought and beat rogue legacy over the weekend, I think I took a decent amount longer to beat it all than most but except for the first boss I wanted to not use the architect and just port in to the boss room so I went through fresh towers almost all the time unless there were some fairy chests I knew I could get with a different character.
Wound up getting pretty attached to the colorblind lich king who fought through the forest and most of the main area to get extra max hp, beat the second boss, then got glasses from praying to a statue that fixed his vision and I think found the boss entrance to the tower before dying searching around for chicken legs before fighting him and the lesbian ADHD dragon who beat the dungeon boss and the first phase of the final boss on my first attempt before dying to his flying swords that did half her health in damage.

am a little sad that the portrait row of all your past heroes doesn't list out the traits when you go back through them and that new game+ uses the character you won the game with to start the game so you finally get the happy ending for someone and then they get sent back into another castle to die >_>

definitely worth the 5ish dollars it cost on steam sale, still only $7.50 now if anyone else is thinking about picking it up

also this is the best song to listen to in the background while playing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TxjrHPHypA

[Sudo_Nym]

The Wolf Among Us: Just did the whole first part in one sitting, cannot wait for the rest. Snow White's voice sounds wrong to me, but that's my personal hangup, I guess.

i've been playing the stanly parable.......i'm afraid I don't get it.......I don't see what the hype was about

it was a bit funny, but no where near as good as people claimed

The Stanley Parable is supposed to be a huge metacommentery on "sandbox" games- the whole point is that you can theoretically do whatever you want, but you can't, because you can actually only do what it's been decided in advance you can do. Notice that no matter what path you pick, there's always narration- no matter how original you think your thinking is, you can really only do it because the developers decided in advance that you could. Stanley's whole deal before he begins the game is that he "pushes buttons, waits until the computer tells him it's time to push a button again, and then pushes the appropriate button," which is basically what gamers do. In the best ending, he basically gets freedom by persuing a life where he doesn't push buttons and doesn't get swept up in somebody else's story, but that in itself is hypocritically, because the only way to achieve true freedom is to slavishly do what you're told.

YMMV on whether the commentary is accurate or not, but that's the intention.

[Umbrage]

The Wolf Among Us: Just did the whole first part in one sitting, cannot wait for the rest. Snow White's voice sounds wrong to me, but that's my personal hangup, I guess.

i've been playing the stanly parable.......i'm afraid I don't get it.......I don't see what the hype was about

it was a bit funny, but no where near as good as people claimed

The Stanley Parable is supposed to be a huge metacommentery on "sandbox" games- the whole point is that you can theoretically do whatever you want, but you can't, because you can actually only do what it's been decided in advance you can do. Notice that no matter what path you pick, there's always narration- no matter how original you think your thinking is, you can really only do it because the developers decided in advance that you could. Stanley's whole deal before he begins the game is that he "pushes buttons, waits until the computer tells him it's time to push a button again, and then pushes the appropriate button," which is basically what gamers do. In the best ending, he basically gets freedom by persuing a life where he doesn't push buttons and doesn't get swept up in somebody else's story, but that in itself is hypocritically, because the only way to achieve true freedom is to slavishly do what you're told.

YMMV on whether the commentary is accurate or not, but that's the intention.

I was really interested in getting it at first, then I saw the trailer that talked about how it was his job to push buttons and I instantly guessed what the whole MESSAGE of the game was. Lost all appeal for me after that. I'm sick of games that are OMG SO META. I prefer just straight up weird shit like Braid or The Swapper.

[tanstalas]

i've been playing the stanly parable.......i'm afraid I don't get it.......I don't see what the hype was about

it was a bit funny, but no where near as good as people claimed

I've only been playing it for like 15 minutes, and I find it quite enjoyable.

I laughed at the Minecraft and Portal

"minigames" and I almost felt like sitting there and

saving the baby for 4 hours

. Now, I wonder. Based on what Sudo said, is this a linear thing, and if you had followed his instructions you would have done the same?

I started off not following his instructions, then at the life I jumped off, onto the catwalk...

Anyhow back to the game

[tanstalas]

i've been playing the stanly parable.......i'm afraid I don't get it.......I don't see what the hype was about

it was a bit funny, but no where near as good as people claimed

I've only been playing it for like 15 minutes, and I find it quite enjoyable.

I laughed at the Minecraft and Portal

"minigames" and I almost felt like sitting there and

saving the baby for 4 hours

. Now, I wonder. Based on what Sudo said, is this a linear thing, and if you had followed his instructions you would have done the same?

I started off not following his instructions, then at the life I jumped off, onto the catwalk...

Anyhow back to the game

So, i have gotten to 2 "endings" so far, Im liking this game, it's kind of a like a "Choose your own Adventure" book. I'm just wondering how many different outcomes the game has...

[tanstalas]

Just hit the room where they show you all the "outtakes" and stuff how it looked while "in development" I don't know how you didn't like this game, this game is awesome

[bv310]

Fun fact for people playing The Wolf Among Us, Beauty's voice actor is the same person as Clementine (or the credits have lied to me)

[CooLDoG]

Finally got fallout 3... am blown away.

[Sudo_Nym]

Fun fact for people playing The Wolf Among Us, Beauty's voice actor is the same person as Clementine (or the credits have lied to me)

Beauty's voice actor is Clem, and her husband Beast is voiced by Kenny. And Bigby is voiced by Andy St. John, Ichabod by Chuck, and Snow White by Molly.

[bv310]

See, I saw Beast and Snow, but I didn't see the rest. Too much time since Episode 2.

Also, how awesome is the voice acting on Bigby?

[Xalxe]

How long is the playtime on Wolf Among Us?

[Hiraki]

I hate to de-hype you guys, but I have a pretty good feeling that they're going to finish Season 2 of TWD before Fables.

[theaceofspades]

The Wolf Among Us: Just did the whole first part in one sitting, cannot wait for the rest. Snow White's voice sounds wrong to me, but that's my personal hangup, I guess.

i've been playing the stanly parable.......i'm afraid I don't get it.......I don't see what the hype was about

it was a bit funny, but no where near as good as people claimed

The Stanley Parable is supposed to be a huge metacommentery on "sandbox" games- the whole point is that you can theoretically do whatever you want, but you can't, because you can actually only do what it's been decided in advance you can do. Notice that no matter what path you pick, there's always narration- no matter how original you think your thinking is, you can really only do it because the developers decided in advance that you could. Stanley's whole deal before he begins the game is that he "pushes buttons, waits until the computer tells him it's time to push a button again, and then pushes the appropriate button," which is basically what gamers do. In the best ending, he basically gets freedom by persuing a life where he doesn't push buttons and doesn't get swept up in somebody else's story, but that in itself is hypocritically, because the only way to achieve true freedom is to slavishly do what you're told.

YMMV on whether the commentary is accurate or not, but that's the intention.

See i get the idea. And imo the question of choice the wrong question anyway. Since perception drives the idea of meaning, any choice or non-choice is a choice if the chooser decided it is. Even if objectively it didn't change anything.

I just thought it was rather pretentious and predictable. just a big Developers Think of Everything exercise. Which is how all games should be anyway.

Slightly funny yes. Exciting, groundbreaking, gates-of-knowledge feeling? no.

now kerbal space program. That's a good game about choice. Because who cares about philosophy if i'm blowing crap up?