That was awful to me... It really was
Man, that was a terrible ending to mediocre season for me... A lot of the writing/characters left a whole lot to be desired. I encountered quite a slew of technical errors as well, despite playing on PS4. So let me delve into what made this so disappointing to me. Before that, just another warning I go fully into spoilers here.
The first issue I had had to do with what were supposed to be the tough decisions we made in the previous episode(s). They felt almost irrelevant here. I killed Conrad. I attempted to save Tripp, causing his death in the process. I chose to deny Kate OVER AND OVER again, including the pivotal moment when she straight up asks you. Of course, Telltale writes all of these decisions away in almost ridiculous ways. You meet up with Eleanor and the conversation with her makes no god damn sense. SHE is mad at YOU for killing Conrad and causing the death of Tripp, even though you tried to save Tripp. Ok, I can buy it, for now. Then for some reason the conversation ends with YOU choosing whether or not to forgive HER. The conversation switches from you being on the defensive to being on the offensive in ways that didn't make any damn sense.
And then Ava gets a cheap instant death out of nowhere where no one in-game seems to give a shit for more than a second because, oh yeah, Telltale can't be bothered to do anything with her character. Instead of making something of the decision that resulted in her living, they just write her off almost immediately so they don't have to deal with that branch of the decision-making anymore. Finally, Kate suddenly says that she can't believe she "Loved you" and you get no opportunity to explain it, it just starts a fight with David, which I imagine starts no matter what decisions you made regarding Kate. Literally none of it matters, you are going to fight David anyway.
Now onto the technical problems I experienced. As I stated before, Tripp had died, having been shot through the head. Yet, lo and behold, he's walking across the screen randomly in one of the scenes. And no, he isn't a zombie. No, he isn't a ghost. No, this isn't a flashback. It's just him walking across the screen while I'm having a conversation with Clem for one scene and then never showing up again. More importantly I also had the game crash on me in a pivotal moment, right after the fight with David. Multiple times. ON A PS4! It's not like I'm on a PC, where there are an infinite number of possible combinations of specs to account for. I'm on a PS4. And nothing takes you out of what is supposed to be an intense scene like the game crashing to a blue screen asking if I want to report the error and then dropping me back in the menu, only to have to end up playing that scene again! Twice! Oh, and then near the end, with the horses, they were jumping around the screen. I don't mean that the horses were actually jumping, but popping in and out of existence on different parts of the screen.
Unfortunately, by the end of the game, I just couldn't care about pretty much any character, so their deaths didn't have much impact or effect. I just felt nothing for them, except, of course, for Clem. But that was a holdover from the previous seasons. The only saving grace for me in this episode was the haircut and conversation between Javi and Clem. That was reminiscent of some of the quiet and thoughtful moments between Clem and Lee from season 1.
I know many of you, probably most, disagree with me. I definitely understand not everyone's experience is the same, but unfortunately this was mine, and it wasn't a great one. I felt the need to share it and vent, maybe to provide myself with some catharsis, I don't know. I'm thinking I need a break from Telltale's games for a while...
Comments
Eh was a good ending for me. I liked it sure the other episode's weren't the best but I think the ending sorta sprinkles goodness on this season.
Just something I wanted to add: a major part of the reason things didn't have the impact they used to could also be because I kind of get Telltale's "Formula" by now... I mean if we save a character in one episode, I expect them to either be killed off or play a minor irrelevant role off to the side until they eventually do die or the game ends. Conrad is an example of this. If you don't kill him, it's only for a little while as a bit part until he dies. And the deaths for these minor characters often end up being cheap. I want something like Season 1 where you save Carley, and she feels like a real character with meaningful conversations while she's around. It makes her sudden death at the hands of one of you own feel far more impactful. Make me care about the characters again.