All done, Telltale.
So, first and foremost, I'm not making this topic to whine or complain. By the way, minor spoilers. Truth is, I don't play many games anymore anyway. Telltale was one of the last few developers that made games I thoroughly enjoy. The writing was phenomenal, the graphics were good for their time and very unique, though, slightly glitch prone early on(I'll address this later). Seriously, these games brought me nostalgia like never before. I've played and enjoyed everything they've put out, except their newest game, GOG, which I haven't played.
So what's the point of writing this? Criticism. Honest criticism, from someone who's no longer a fan.
So obviously the most recent Telltale Game I've played is this season of TWD. And overall? It was decent. Pretty good, even. Not mindblowingly good, but I was somewhat satisfied. That said, even though I'll admit satisfaction, I was also massively disappointed. Just like I was with Batman. Just like I was with TWD S2. You get the idea. Many of you who have been playing their games since the beginning probably know where I'm going with this, too. I've decided against buying Guardians of the Galaxy, or any other TTG's in the future.
Telltale, I've been told that you are a smaller company, that you're in the process of expansion, etc. Yet each of us know that you guys are not some indie company. You guys make millions. But it's been becoming increeeaasingly hard for you to spend the amount of money it would cost to simply polish your games, hey? Sounds easier said than done, I guess but- Let's just be honest. I know games cost a lot of money, I know you're expanding. I know you're making multiple episodic games at once. Is that an excuse for releasing games that glitch every five minutes? Is that an excuse for characters seeming to have "black face" due to poor lighting or shadow quality? No, I'm not talking about the glitch that occurs with certain GPU's. Yep, talking about lighting/shadow glitches. Is that an excuse for lazy writing that hardly even seems to have been proofread? Is that an excuse for game altering glitches that don't get patched for months after a games release, if at all?
I'm not sure if the problem is with the employees, the lack of employees, the lack of funding or lack of compensation, I have no idea. I just know that it's a problem. When I play a game like Batman, for instance, I can get over the cosmetic glitches. Cool, no big deal. We've had them since The Walking Dead S1, before that even. I mostly overlooked the fact that they got two to three times worse with each new game released. What I cannot deal with, however, is glitches that literally break the game. When Batman has the option to beat the sh** out of a criminal, and you instead decide to pick him up, dust him off, and play a wholesome game of Spades, I don't expect him to be screamed at and reprimanded for being a violent, sack of sh** sociopath who "literally almost just killed someone" in the very next scene, or constantly face the consequences that come with actually being a violent sociopath for the rest of the game. Is the budget too tight to at least fix these things? It's hard out here for a multi-millionaire running a franchise. Can't take THAT paycut.
Let's talk about the lazy writing. Adults encouraging children to jump from a building to an emergency staircase attached to another building, because everyone happens to be experts in parkour. Not like falling would mean death, or anything. "It's an easy jump." The line: "That's over by the motor pool at the water tower. We could use the highway overpass to get to the water tower." I shouldn't have to explain what's wrong with that line. Maybe this is a nitpick, but trust me.. if I felt it necessary to go back through the season, I could find far worse. Many examples. What gives? Why the lazy writing? You guys make enough to pay someone to proofread right? Someone that works for the company is responsible for finding problems, however minor, that need to be rectified right? Continuity problems? Nope. Guess there's just no problem with being able to easily shoot off a moving targets leg with three bullets, like Rambo on amphetamines.
Anyway, I could go on, and on, and on. Not my intention at all. My intention is also not to offend, argue with those who will defend this or dispute what I've said. Nor to complain. I simply wanted to let Telltale staff know why I'm no longer interested, while being as genuinely honest as possible. If I had to summarize the central point of my criticism, I'd say that Telltale wouldn't be where it is today without it's fans. Especially those who are loyal. I'm sure there are plenty of people who've been loyal since the beginning who don't really have a problem with the things I've mentioned. At least, not enough of a problem. Yet, even they deserve good games. Not perfect- they don't have to be perfect. Polished would be a start, however. I think it's safe to say that the millions in revenue and the amount of support from fans this company has received is enough to earn them at least that.
Does the person responsible for distributing funds care to ensure the games that are released in a functioning state that their fans deserve, or is that not the issue?
Fact is, I'll never know the answer personally. I just thought these things might be worth raising before I depart. Anyway, thanks for the many years of awesome gaming experiences and nostalgia. No hard feelings or spite, these games just aren't for me anymore for the aforementioned reasons. Have a good one, guys.
Comments
One thing I wanted to add to this that I feel I failed to portray in my summary:
The reason I'm done playing TTG's is not, by any means, that I'm annoyed at the company. It's simply that the stability, continuity, and lack of polish have made their games.. just not very good anymore. Even though there were some slight errors, TWD S1 was polished. TWAU was polished. TTG's are meant to make you feel "immersed" in the story. Their latest games don't capture that, because glitches and story flaws make you lose that feeling of immersion. They're, quite simply, just not great games anymore- which is sad considering these are things that could have easily been avoided simply by putting in the appropriate amount of care & effort.
Gotta love that disheartening feeling you get when you make it all the way to Episode 4 Chapter 4 in your "zero deaths!" playthrough only to get eaten by a teleporting zombie.