The safest bet for Skybound if they want make more games, is a sequel with AJ.
A timeskip with either a teenaged or adult AJ is the perfect sequel if Skybound wanted to continue making similar games.
Have him wear Clementine's hat, in a setting that's far far removed from TFS but still faintly affected by it, but in a plot that's entirely centered on a new beginning, a new age, and I think you have a golden chance.
Clem's status is ambiguous and left interpreted by the player, making her physical existence irrelevant to the game.
That way we've actually moved on from her story, not just from a player perspective but from a greater perspective as well. AJ's moved on for the most part. The game has to be entirely new in it's narrative, and completely removing Clem from the picture is the only way.
Listen, no one's gonna be invested in a TWD game fully without Clementine. ANF proves brand new characters with no established history will never bee successful to fans. All this other stuff with the 400 days characters or Christa returning are nonsense. They died with TFS. The past can no longer linger on.
But continuing a game with Clementine in even a secondary role is just as stupid. It means her story is not technically over, especially if we're given some control of it. And this can easily create a course for rehashed fanservice and cheap pulpy schlock.
But this is why AJ is perfect. AJ is established, more importantly --his establishment is connected to Clementine.
Clem will always live on through him, her presence forever with AJ wherever he goes, no matter if her physical relevance is removed from the story. He is the future. A time skip deep into 11 years or more is so far ahead in time it'd be completely new grounds and wouldn't have any resemblance to the series we know now.
AJ is also well-liked and well received by the fans, with people who didn't care about him prior to TFS, to fully coming around to him by EP4. He's an endearing, complicated child central to the theme of TFS. A misunderstood prodigy who is earnest at his core. People understand his character. People have learned to appreciate him.
This is why S2 worked and why TT got away 3 more seasons of TWD. Clem was established in S1.
AJ is now in the exact same position of Clem.
Face it, recreating S1 is impossible. That was lightning in a bottle and it will never occur again. The safest most strategic thing you could do is build off what's atleast been established in a genuine way. And continuing with AJ would be the only path, imo.
Tell me a teenaged AJ with Clem's hat is not marketing genius.
Comments
He wanted to die with her when she was bitten, he's attached to her like a glue how would we get a game with AJ without clem? Only way is making a situation where they get separated for years and AJ is on his own.
Have to admit, while I have enjoyed some of the elements that AJ has brought, the character never really grabbed me. And in the final season, I find it’s a bit of a battle to try to make him a decent kid, understandable given the world he grew up in but I don’t know if I’d want more of him.
Replaying season 1 yet again is hitting me with one core realisation: pretty much no matter what way you play Lee, he’s a good guy. You don’t hugely get a choice on that. And Clem is adorable because she is innocent. Other characters split players in ways these characters didn’t back then and I would put it down to mostly that. AJ on the other hand, is a broken kid.
good guy?
I played my Lee as a scumbag with no real concern for anyone but himself. His care for an 8 year old girl was his way of passively seeking salvation and is the only thing that stops him from being a straight up sociopathic protagonist.
Hence your username. xo
You just repeated what I said. Timeskip.
In all honesty, you weren’t exactly very happy with not being able to see AJ get Clementine out of the barn and back to the school, not to mention your dissatisfaction with the ranch flashback, I don’t think you’re opinion will be any different when it comes to years worth of events and what caused them.
I shall only accept a continuation of the seasons if it's quality.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Okay but that sounds like your head canon rather than the depicted events of the game. Which is fine, I guess but I’m three eps down into a replay right now and the ability to play Lee as and kind of bad guy is severely limited.
Bruner versus Quality. Hmm... interesting. ?
Making anymore games based on Telltale characters is suicide. Only reason anyone even gives a shit about the game is Clem. No one is gonna want the AJ follow up. Even if they for some reason made another Clem game, it would need to be drastically different to sell at all.
Hell no!!! What the fuck is there to add anymore? AJ is not a fan-favorite, the biggest reason people played Telltale's Walking Dead franchise is because of Clementine. Without her, the new games would be ABSOLUTELY nothing. How about you let both Clem and AJ end with a happy ending? AJ was never a character until The Final Season and that game couldn't even manage to make AJ just as relatable as Clementine in Season 1.
The moment they made Clementine AJ’s guardian in Season Two was the downfall of narrative. It is basically a rehash of Lee’s purpose.
Get to the Vernon scene.
Guess none of you are able to read. I said IF Skybound were interested in making a sequel, this would be the most logical consideration. Nothing else would work.
You said if they wanted to make more games. If sales of the last seasons weren’t fantastic, personally I’m guessing they’d be far better off starting a new story with a whole new main character. That way, a new audience needs no prior knowledge. AJ comes with baggage.
Tfw ANF is one of your favourite seasons, and one of the biggest narrative forces is Clementine searching for AJ, but you then go on to say that the story telling quality decreased once AJ was born, thus confirming that you thought ANF was weakass.
We know what you’re trying to say. We’re just saying that it’s a shit idea ??
I mean, I wouldn’t exactly call it logical if they were to make a game with a character who wasn’t exactly very popular before the 4th season, especially with the sales for the previous 2 games hurting, even with Clementine, never mind without her.
Beaides, AJ would never leave Clementine’s side, so if he was alone that’s mean that they were separated or they killed her off after ending her story, and that’d just be a big feck u to the fans.
That is one niche of ‘A New Frontier’. Did you forget the Garcías or something?
He is savage for a reason. xo
You know human beings die right? You don't live forever. Clementine is not immortal.
AJ would eventually leave Clem's side the same way Clem left Lee. He'd get over it.
You know who else is a self proclaimed savage?
It all makes sense now.
I cannot stand him.
Nah, I agree with Savage here. In Season 1 at least you can play a true Scumbag Lee, the only real downside is being Clem's protector.
I.. I want an AJ follow-up. But I'm not very convinced that it'll be quality.
They said her story is over for a reason. I’m pretty sure her death would be a pretty major part of her story.
I don’t think anyone can. At least he isn’t as bad as his brother.
They are just as bad as each other, lool.
Her death or disappearance. Her absence doesn't necessarily have to be explained.
But how she escaped the barn needs to be shown and not told?
Different situations. I don't think that how she got out of the barn needs to be explained (aside from maybe the recount that AJ wrote that's on his desk or something), mainly because prior to that there are like 4 plot-holes anyway. As for @SavageClemmy 's idea, it's a cool idea but Clementine's fate/whereabouts does need to be explained to satisfy fans. But of course, everything is determinant on the kind of story that would be told.
I just don't think it would be a wise move for Skybound to try to invest in a franchise that has been on a steady downwards decline in sales and interest over the past 6 years.
It would be a major question that fans would never let go and would become more persistent of as the story progressed.
The safest bet for Skybound is to go completely original. This avoids comparisons, and allows them the freedom to not be leashed by previous fan expectations.
As long as Clementine is alive, people are are always going to think her appearance "needs" to be explained.
That's what happens when you end on an ambiguous cliffhanger and don't kill a character off.
So why did they keep Clementine alive in the supposed finale, then?
You're right they should have just killed Clementine off.
No one's gonna buy it.
Honestly I don't know why since she should be dead, but I assume to save a somewhat positive conclusion to her story.
Not necessarily.
I could have made the same blanket hyperbole regarding the suggested AJ title. He's not as popular as Clementine, and TWD still saw a steady decline in sales.
It is true that the safest bet is to go completely original. Not only from a story perspective, but from a developing perspective. TellTale has been losing money or breaking even for awhile.
The original S1 sold the most copies, had the most awards, and is still looked on favorably years later. If they had time to produce an original story with different gameplay aspects to release near the Walking Dead movie, that would be their safest bet.
Yep, I agree. AJ would pull in a percentage of fans who stuck with the series to the end. As far as I can see, that’s not a lot of people. At the same time, the perception that the series is following on from a large series of games that they haven’t played will be a barrier to new players, especially if they go digging and see that some don’t seem to have all that many good words to say about some of those seasons. If people skipped season 3 and 4, why would they jump into a series about AJ?
So basically: AJ is baggage.
A whole new series drops that baggage entirely. It’s a fresh start. No prior knowledge is needed. Most people who stuck with the series will likely get it anyway and there is a far greater chance that they can hype it up as something new and fresh, dropping not only narrative barriers to entry but also wiping away any other baggage in the process, such as the perception that these games are buggy and so on.
If the games continue in any form at all, an AJ series is not a safe choice. It needs a new start.