I like ANF as a game, not as a continuation.
So here's my two cents,
I liked ANF. I like Javier. I like David. I obviously love Clem. I liked the variety in the endings. I liked the fact that you develop certain experiences with the main characters. I LOVED the "I love you." scene with David. I think the story is good. It focuses on characters and family and I can appreciate that.
Buuuuuuuuut.....
I think the game is crap as a continuation of TWD franchise. I can't and won't forgive Telltale for what they did to Kenny. Jane too, for that matter. I didn't like Jane at all, but no fan of hers deserves to experience what happened to her. Same with Kenny. Kenny is like family to me. I know this has all been said 1,000 times, but his death was cheap and had no point but to tie up loose ends from Season 2. (At least that's what I believe the writers' opinions were.) I would have vastly preferred to have the Episode 4 flashbacks in Episode 1, then have Clem find Kenny/Jane in the epilog, then bam, Season 4 tailors to what you picked in Season 2. They take all the time they need and make three in-depth paths for the story. Kenny, Jane, and alone. Blame the death flashbacks as nightmares and KEEP THEM ALIVE. That would make me so incredibly happy.
Anyways, that's my thoughts on the game. I like it as a game, but not as a continuation of the series, because it was pretty pointless considering the franchise is based around Clementine. I think Episode 5 was a good finale, but the worst of the three seasons, IMO. It was a fitting end to the Garcia's journey. Now, let's move on to Season 4 and get our girl back as the playable character, and keep her alive in honor of Lee, Kenny, Luke, Javi, and all the others we have come to love along with her!
Comments
Sometimes I wonder if ANF should've just been a spinoff or something - keeping Clem out of the plot and turning this into a shortened side story that would eventually tie back into the main plot with Clem and whoever you chose to go with at the end of season two (or if you're alone). While there definitely were parts of this season that I enjoyed, I don't think it really was fulfilling enough to justify being a continuation, like you mentioned.
I dunno. In all fairness to the voice actors, I think they mostly did a great job, but with the possible exception of Ava and David, none of them were really able to haul me in this time around. I'm starting to sound like a broken record with this, but I really don't know how else to stress it. Without hubs and some actual downtime to get to know people, I honestly can't relate or give a crap about the people we're stuck with. You know it's a problem when quite possibly the most powerful scenes in this entire game - the ones that left you heartbroken, that is - were mostly the flashback sequences with Clem. Hell, I hated Jane and Kenny's initial flashbacks, but at least it left me sitting at my desk with my head in my hands. They literally crushed me for a solid week or so.
I know we should be happy about seemingly going back to Clem next season or if they're gonna do a DLC thing, but honestly, I kind of feel deflated. Maybe cheated might be a good word for it, too, since it kind of feels like we got an experience this year that very few people asked for. That's not to say that I completely hated ANF, because it wouldn't be right to completely discount it as simply a waste of time. They wanted to introduce Richmond and tell a new story that would impact Clem while also keeping new players in the loop somewhat with Javi, and to that extent they did. But the fact that the character development, world-building and storytelling is such a step down from previous seasons is just real disappointing.
Hopefully they can learn from this somewhat. Having more of an action-based focus is alright as long as you have the foundation with your characters to back it up.