Would you give up having as many choices in order to get a more naturally flowing narrative

sony12

In the first season having as many character choices as we did seemed really cool. We could tailor the story how we wanted it to go to some extent. For the first game that was a real plus. However once they decided to make multiple more games in the series the knocks against having so many character choices starting becoming evident. It was very hard to carry many characters over from one game to the other because those characters would act differently towards the playable character based on the choices the player made. So as a result instead of having a 'group' of characters that we could grow with over time they had to mainly just focus on one particular character to transfer over to various sequels. And it ended up becoming a situation where that playable character would meet new people until they all died off and the playable character would move on to the next group until they all died off or left the game....so on and so forth.

So looking back on it would you of liked to give up some of the choice options you had in order to have a more natural progression of the story. Perhaps instead have more choices when it came to gameplay options and weaponry instead of how the characters interacted with each other. And if they do indeed plan on starting over with an entirely brand new set of characters unrelated to any we have seen so far would you like to have less say in the story so they can bring more characters over from one game to the next?

DabigRG

This is something I've been thinking about a lot with the last three installments in mind. I'd like to make the argument that while "your choices matter" is indeed the bigger issue when looking at it broadly, I think the bigger issue is more around the fact that those games in particular suffered from increasingly shorter runtimes, inconsistent directions between episodes, and a tendency to prioritize a certain clique of characters over the majority.

• In Season 2, the Cabin Group(mainly Luke, Rebecca, Carlos, and Sarah) were established and set up as being primary characters with their own relationship/dynamic with Clementine and/or a particular place in the plot; this changed by In Harm's Way, where almost all of the development and focus shifted from the main myth arc with them and Carver to instead constantly highlighting Kenny, his rivalry with Luke(which created this oxymoronic effect), and soon Jane aborting what little remnant was left.
• In the Michonne DLC, the focus was solidly on Michonne crossing into a feud between the Fairbanks Family(or rather, the older kids) and the denizens of the Monroe settlement. While this included some improvements over Season 2 and in hindsight ANF, the shorter running time and the fact that this was a miniseries starring a main character from the source material meant the plot didn't really get much room to breathe, which meant the conflict escalated & terminated at a rapid rate and about a portion of the minimalist cast has some of the least characterization. (Of course, this is coming from someone who hasn't played it, so I imagine someone who has could go into more accurate detail.)
• In A New Frontier, the plot was far more streamlined to emphasize the conflict amongst the Garcia Familia and The New Frontier while also allowing Clementine's story to continue in a similarly simplified form and a few minor subplots involving Conrad and Paul that develop alongside the story's progression. Unfortunately, the even shorter running time, another significant shift in direction & writing priorities after Above the Law(one episode longer than in Season 2), and a collective habit of cutting corners and even nearly completed and/or easily integrate-able content meant this ended up arguably being the weakest installment of the series.

So I think the more specific solution would be to go back to Season 1's framing device of giving us a character with a set past and motivations, and goal(s) for the future, but letting the player choose how they react to and express certain things as the plot develops, as well as having most of the other (hopefully necessary and/or somewhat worthwhile) characters both get an adequate amount of screentime and development while also having that be a priority over having a select few plot important characters get so.
But, yes, I wouldn't mind limiting overly distinct options in favor of a much more cohesive experience overall if that is what it takes. With some asterisks on the fringe, of course.

Poogers555

I mean Id rather not have to give up more choices. The reason Season 1 was able to give so many options was because they actually had a plan throughout the season, while now Telltale just has the most basic of outlines which just get rewritten. Telltale shouldnt remove more elements for the player but just actually write a full script and figure out how all the choices they make will change the game over time. Now every Telltale game is just, "big choice at the end" that either changes that episode's ending or the next episode's beginning. So now it feels like every choice that is big is just at the end of the game, and just changes a single scene, being that episodes ending, or the next episodes beginning., instead of any choices feeling like they have real impacts and consequences because you already know every choice will be resolved as soon as possible.

JCWithTheRojoT

No. Simply put, I believe that giving up the choice based narrative gameplay would make the series lose its charm. It's really part of what made these games so special and also, if I may add, it's nice to play out different moral scenarios in a fictional game to help us better understand the consequences of possible real life scenarios.

Wiso2kinfinity

If they take their time and decide what's the story is going to be all the season everything would become 60% better but if different set of writers take on each episode of the season and every episode the focus shifts or the story changes it'll be a failed experience to begin with just like uncle anf.All they have to do is decide between the time-lapse of ep 1 and 2 of the fourth season to how the story plays out and stick to it no matter the criticisms,believe me trying to shift the story to everyones taste is a bad idea so they just have to be passionate about it.....

patrickrc95

It depends on what types of choices you're looking at. As far as the Major Non-Determinant choices we see at the end? Yea. That's fine. As far as every single choice in general? No.