The Expanse: A Telltale Series - Full Season Discussion Thread

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  • Must... resist urge... to replay episode just for that.

    captainivy1 posted: »

    (Spoiler)

  • edited July 2023

    Alright that was a pretty good first episode. Seems like it's gonna be a smaller scope than the TV-show, focusing in on Camina and her crew, rather than the political landscape at large in the solar system, at least until the bonus episode that features maybe the best character in the show, Chrisjen Avasarala. As long as they don't go too big like in the TV-show, with wormholes and what not. The strength of The Expanse is in how "grounded" it is, with no faster than light travel etc. Also, Camina was a little flirty with Maya so I wonder if we'll get to see a relationship between them.

    Definitely enjoyed the exploration of the ship we scavenged. The scenery when going outside and looking down on the planet with all the debris in the foreground was great. As long as the camera isn't too close to anyone's face the game looks good overall. Would absolutely have wanted a longer episode like the rest of you have said, hope the rest are a little longer, and that they can keep to the release schedule.

  • It's so nice to be having hype for the next episode feelings again. Loved episode 1. <3

  • I haven't played the episode yet, so I don't know how many secrets are there to discover, but I think it'd be cool to have another one of those "Details that you missed" threads. For old times' sake. :)

  • dojo32161dojo32161 Moderator

    Sure, I'll do that.

    Pipas posted: »

    I haven't played the episode yet, so I don't know how many secrets are there to discover, but I think it'd be cool to have another one of those "Details that you missed" threads. For old times' sake.

  • So what happens if

    you save the vault instead of saving Rayen's leg and launch Cox out the airlock?

  • dojo32161dojo32161 Moderator
    edited July 2023

    Rayen has a prosthetic leg at the end of the episode and Cox is sent to the brig (after a punch from Camina), any further ramifications from those choices will be seen later. I will note that when Camina tried to appeal to the crew at the end Arlen says she treats the crew roughly, though says Belters stick together, not sure if that's only due to punching him in the nose or if it's a combo with slicing his brother's leg off.

    lupinb0y posted: »

    So what happens if (Spoiler)

  • edited July 2023

    Alright, so, that premiere. It was surprisingly short like others have said. Just kinda... ends right as the heat starts building up. But I guess it's a good "chapter end" given where the next episode will start for Drummer and the crew.

    I'm a big Expanse newbie so some of the lore and vocab went right over my head, but it's interesting and I like the isolated story of the crew and staying alive while barely scraping by. That's a good hook for me.

    The art style is a cool very stylised "realism". Characters look generally good and the environments are very industrial-ish for the ship. The large open area out in space was very cool to see, haven't seen an environment like that in a TTG game before.
    I will say, it could just be a little bug, but sometimes when there were close-ups on certain textures, they looked very low quality and blurry. Hopefully they just... didn't render in fast enough, but I'm on a PS5 and that thing is known for being speedy!
    I'm... unfortunately not a fan of Khan the pilot's voice. :( The actress is Lilli Hokama, I've looked her up and she is not an old lady. So, unfortunately it does sound like (to me) a case of a forced, pretend elderly voice. I can't hear it as a genuine one.

    The exploration was nicely open-ended. Kind of a bit overwhelming when doing the spacewalk, as it wasn't totally clear where specific entry points were and whether every path either led to a dead end or an alternate entrance.
    (Also I completely stumbled upon the laser crystal. Was drawn to the big red light at the top of the ship, would never have expected it to be a room, and did not expect that's where it would be... Was there a clue I missed getting there?)

    The dialogue choices are very minor. It's interesting that most of them are being counted as official choices in the final tally of the episode, but I guess it's an easy way to keep track of the ones that change scenes/events vs the ones that don't on future playthroughs.

    A little sad that we won't be seeing the effect of the major choices here until the next episode or longer. But I'm hopeful it's some decently different stuff. I cut off Rayen's leg... But did the Vault even get saved? He's still living which is great, but I feel like we forgot to pick up that stash of materials... I also put Cox in the Brig. I'm sure I'll have a use for him later (and wanna see if I'll have to save him from death later too...)
    Also If you check the achievements menu, there are achievements for every member of the crew surviving until the end of the game, so that's cool. (Also some out-of-context spoilery stuff that I'm interested how they'll come to pass...) But having the whole series finished and prepared before release is a great thing that makes me hopeful for good inter-connectivity and pre-planning.

    The original idea MUST have been for it all to release at once, or facilitate a binge-play of multiple episodes. The EP ends with a pop-up "The next episode is not installed, Go to the Store?" but... I can't, I have to wait...

    It's definitely a Deck Nine game, even proven by the credits themselves.
    Telltale/LCG are mostly credited with Executive roles, DeckNine has a full card saying "written and designed by"...


    So I guess Wolf 2 will be TTG's true test of their own work?
    Unless, we've been looking at this wrong, and NewTTG is actually going to be working as a financier of narrative-adventure games, commissioning other companies to develop them under the Telltale branding/oversight/style...
    Do they still have in-house devs?

    Couple other credits details :P


    Production babies are still a thing! Looks like the CEO had a couple of kids during these long 4 years...


    the And... YOU! also makes a return! Yay! :D

  • edited July 2023

    Oh, ALSO, for the Deluxe owners, the Soundtrack bonus is pretty cool.

    It's an epic, orchestral score that gets the blood pumping. (Though there is one song in there that is distinctly a different genre, I wonder where that might come up...)
    What's weird and cool is that you can turn on Controller Vibration, and the controller vibrates alongside the tunes.
    Considering the PS5's haptics are detailed and expensive, the way it thumps and grinds and builds up along to the beat of the music is pretty neat.

    The app could use some extra work though, such as a full track list to scroll through and a timeline/seek option for songs, rather than just a simple "Play/Pause/Next/Prev."

    And Jared Emerson-Johnson is back!! Woohoo!

  • lol I had the same thought with Khan. Her voice is a bit comedically "cranky/wise old lady" and was a bit hard to take her seriously.

    Wolf 2 seems to be where Telltale's in house people are focused the most. This is a Deck Nine game plain and simple, which does make me wish that they tried to make it a bit more "Telltale-like" doesn't even start with the "Tailored to your experience."

    Also I really hope Wolf 2's menu is as good as Wolf 1's. After Batman the Telltale menus got so boring. Final Season got a bit better but it was missing a lot of the charm from previous Telltale games episode selects. Expanse's menu is incredibly boring so I really hope when we boot up Wolf 2 we are greeted with the Bigby walking in the void again.

    AChicken posted: »

    Alright, so, that premiere. It was surprisingly short like others have said. Just kinda... ends right as the heat starts building up. But I

  • Cox is sent to the brig (after a punch from Camina),

    Wait does Cox not get ejected from the ship no matter what?

    dojo32161 posted: »

    (Spoiler)

  • dojo32161dojo32161 Moderator
    edited July 2023

    Oh sorry, thought you asked if he didn't get launched out the airlock. He just gets launched out the airlock and dies, that's all we know, lmao.

    lupinb0y posted: »

    (Spoiler)

  • Telltale released an accolades trailer, so it seems like things are starting off well so far!

  • Oh lol alright, yeah that makes sense.

    dojo32161 posted: »

    (Spoiler)

  • I can't lie, I'm pretty disappointed. The episode is quite possibly the shortest one Telltale has ever released, I'm totally confused as to why dialogue options have been cut down to 2 instead of 4, some of the gameplay genuinely feels like pointless padding (I am certain no one would have complained if the blowtorch was one click instead of arbitrary movements), and with so little dialogue I feel like every character is basically just "okay" so far.

    From a reviewer who has access to three episodes already, it certainly doesn't look like the length issue is gonna get any better.

    The graphics are cool. The dialogue that IS there was pretty good, and it appears that the 'major' choices might actually be meaningful. The exploration is pretty cool and fun, even if the movement with the boots can be a little clunky.

    Overall, I like the game so far, it just doesn't live up to the hype that built after so long of nothing from new Telltale.

  • I can't lie, I'm pretty disappointed

    Overall, I like the game so far

    Sorry, which one?

    I can't lie, I'm pretty disappointed. The episode is quite possibly the shortest one Telltale has ever released, I'm totally confused as to

  • Theyre the same with context

    AChicken posted: »

    I can't lie, I'm pretty disappointed Overall, I like the game so far Sorry, which one?

  • I don't know anything about the Expanse, so I went in blind. I thought it was pretty good. I like everyone else wish it was longer. If they keep making them 1 hour then they should do more episodes (kind of like a TV series.) Hopefully they'll make the Wolf episodes 2 hours. I'm just glad Telltale is back.

  • i can like a game while still being disappointed it hasn't lived up to my expectations.

    AChicken posted: »

    I can't lie, I'm pretty disappointed Overall, I like the game so far Sorry, which one?

  • Camina Drummer Gaming 🎮

    This is... unexpected promo. Huh.

  • Here's a technical thing I really don't quite like about this game, it doesn't auto-save enough!

    I went through the Leg/Vault choice sequence and quit my game right after leaving that room.

    When I returned, the game dropped me in just before that scene, meaning I had to fly through the hall to get to it, redo my Leg choice (and listen to the agonizingly loud screams again).
    It wasn't until I had manually drifted across to the High Security/Captain's quarters area that it saved once I got the "find the hand" quest.

    I feel like it should be saving right after every choice scene.

  • I was surprised Arlen was salty I saved his brother's leg lol.

  • Huh, he seemed cool with me. Did you punch him earlier in the episode? Maybe that has an effect on him.

    zeke10 posted: »

    I was surprised Arlen was salty I saved his brother's leg lol.

  • I did lol.

    lupinb0y posted: »

    Huh, he seemed cool with me. Did you punch him earlier in the episode? Maybe that has an effect on him.

  • Ah alright, I didn't so he was fine with me. That's kinda funny that punching him makes him act like that.

    zeke10 posted: »

    I did lol.

  • I guess there's no Episode 2 midnight early access :(

  • Not a ton of time has passed so hopefully it gets fixed soon, but having pre-order bonuses of early access that doesn't work on time is always fun lol

    I guess there's no Episode 2 midnight early access

  • For PS5, it seems they somrhow managed to change the deluxe edition to standard. I checked at midnight, and now, 10 hours later. Still no ep2. I checked more details regarding my game, and what my PS5 says is that I dont even own the deluxe edition anymore. Thats frustrating ! Hopefully it gets fixed soon because this of course isn't acceptable

    I guess there's no Episode 2 midnight early access

  • A fix for PS5 players (maybe even standard edition users): Boot up the game, go back into the normal ps5 menu and choose the "Continue activity" button on the game instead of start. This started episode 2 for me. Thanks to @Owlet in the other thread for letting us know!

  • edited August 2023

    I really liked the second episode! More exploration, a bit more combat, a lot of more dialogue and conversations with the characters, and it clocked in at almost two hours for me. Most of the crew members got a good amount of development aside from the twins, though I'm looking forward to seeing what their deal is. The zero g continues to give me absolutely horrendous nausea to the point I had to take some medication for it. Speaking of medication, I couldn't find any in the game. Where the fuck is it? Am I just blind? I literally found everything else EXCEPT the medication. I scoured as much as I could before I physically could not handle the floating anymore.

    I'm impressed by how much of an effect the salvage you find has on the crew. It really does a great job of making me want to suffer through zero g. Also gotta give big praise to the facial animation. I love the little ticks, like the quiver of a lip, or twitch of an eye. There's even things like the muscles tensing up, and they don't feel super exaggerated or unnatural. Combat's still a little wonky and I wish the QTE's were a bit more intuitive, but everything else continues to be solid.

    Overall a great episode! Looking forward to next weeks!

    Spoilers

    • Wasn't expecting that pirates top half to turn into a fine mist but I'll take it.
    • Pretty cool that the optional salvage you find in the open areas have such a big effect on the characters, like giving a cigar to Khan helps her open up to Drummer about her husband, or the hacking device that allows you to discover Virgil's mysterious past that Cox brought up.
    • Cox telling me to fuck off after I so graciously gave him his scotch is making me rethink my decision to not space out the airlock.
    • Hooh, things got steamy in the cargo hold there. "Either way, someone's getting slammed against the wall." Yowza.
    • Hilarious that the spooky decision music plays when you're deciding whether or not to sleep with Maya.
    • Looks like we're gonna be exploring some sort of asteroid station which sounds pretty cool.
  • If you're looking for the medication, it's close to the Magboots, underneath some nearby debris.

    lupinb0y posted: »

    I really liked the second episode! More exploration, a bit more combat, a lot of more dialogue and conversations with the characters, and it

  • I liked episode 2 but I am a bit disappointed that seemingly the only big choice made was a romance option at the very end. Episode 1 had 2 choices that felt more dramatic with either scarifying a leg or killing Cox. This episode I feel was missing any tough choices. It was nice seeing how the stuff we have collected leads to more dialogue options though and I hope those are rewarded later (like if we spoke with Khan about her husband maybe later down the line we can use the phrase to do a counter attack if we are in the same situation). Also not familiar with Expanse stuff but I did think it was really weird Khan got a new arm over what was a bullet graze? The length was better this time but was still pretty short I finished in about an hour and a half and explored as much as possible. I also feel like this episode didn't push the story forward as it feels like we are in the same spot we were when episode 1 finished. This episode did do a better job at fleshing out the rest of the crew which is good, although Cox has 3 total interactions that are very short so I really hope determinant characters don't get the classic Telltale treatment of basically not existing.

    I feel this sounds a lot more negative than how I actually felt lol but I did like episode 2. There are a few general things though. I hope all episodes aren't just "Start episode, quick talk, explore area, return to ship" because the structure was pretty much the same as episode 1. I am also pretty disappointed it seems they are not doing any episode trailers as well as no starting recap. And I mentioned this before but I really dislike the main menu and the episode select. Completely lifeless.

  • edited August 2023

    Maybe it's been a busy week for me, but this kinda came out of nowhere!

    I'm surprised it's already out, but that might also be because week 2 went by quick, and I'm not used to NOT waiting 2+ months for another episode drop.

    Also, I feel like maybe there was a missed opportunity for Ep2 promo?
    Most of these past weeks have been focused on Ep1. I'm used to the release-reflect-promo-release pipeline of old TTG episodes...

    (Also ooh, I guess Episodes are a part of the main game updates, not DLC. -Bonus episode might still be tho- but this might mean there's a chance of a complete physical release once it's all out)

  • I think this changed because they must have removed the "pre-order bonus promo" data from the Deluxe.
    Regular version stays the same since you do own the main game, but since Deluxe is a bundle I bet it messed with how it's displayed on the store.

    I've seen this with HITMAN, where I bought the Deluxe bundle at launch, then later on it changed from "Main Game DLC Bundle" to "Free Starter Level + Main Game + DLC" when they did their free demo/promo stuff for it.

    captainivy1 posted: »

    For PS5, it seems they somrhow managed to change the deluxe edition to standard. I checked at midnight, and now, 10 hours later. Still no ep

  • The team not doing any episode trailers or recap in game really just further proves to me that this game was to be released entirely and not made to wait for episodes to come out between a few weeks,i'm part of the people who asked for this back then so i'm not gonna complain though it's nice to have that again even if the game isn't massively popular.

    Poogers555 posted: »

    (Spoiler)

  • Yeah I agree. The game feels like it releases episodically just because it is under the Telltale name but the game itself feels like it was made as if it was expected to release all at once.

    iFoRias posted: »

    The team not doing any episode trailers or recap in game really just further proves to me that this game was to be released entirely and not

  • I liked Ep 2 a lot more than Ep 1 for the most part. It felt like it brought significantly more content to the table and the character moments were much less short-lived. The scrap collection is a cool way to make non-dialogue choices matter while also making exploration feel really rewarding.

    All that said though, the only major choice in the episode being about whether or not you sleep with Maya felt really weird and anti-climactic.

    I definitely agree with the general consensus that this is a Deck Nine game through and through, with the Telltale DNA being mostly a shallow aesthetic. If I had to guess, I'd say the Telltale name is front-and-center solely to generate funding and publicity for Wolf 2. Which, honestly, I'm okay with. It's still a solid Deck Nine game, even if it's not as Telltale as I'd hoped.

  • That was a nice episode, it was cool getting some payoffs to salvage I picked up in both episode 1 and the start of 2, being able to get Virgil's past through the hacking data cube and talking to him afterwards and what to do with the info was nice. Also, seems like the surgery laser crystal helped with Khan's prosthetic surgery according to the choice list, but I'm curious what occurred without it, since everything went right it wasn't even mentioned in my game.

  • I think without it Khan has a bad reaction to the medicine and freaks out after her arm is removed due to improper sedation you can hear Maya trying to calm her down, unless this happens either way.

    dojo32161 posted: »

    (Spoiler)

  • edited August 2023

    It is a bit weird of an existence because I don't think this game will really sell enough or have the eyeballs to really do anything to help Wolf 2. If I had to guess Deck Nine probably got the rights for Expanse and was looking for a publisher, although that is a bit strange as well as I think Deck Nine could probably could have publish by themselves.

    I hope Wolf 2 has more of the Telltale DNA we are looking for. Some things I hope are different than Expanse would be:

    • Episodes having proper pace with full arcs and proper beginning middles and ends.
    • Episode recaps and Episode trailers (Honestly I think a cool thing they could do is not reveal the episode titles until the trailer dropped, but in general I would be super bummed out if Wolf 2 doesn't get individual episode trailers) Also strange Expanse isn't for general marketing reasons.
    • Better main menu and episode select. I know I hark on this a lot, but Wolf had one of the best episode selects and main menus and it really gets your ready for the game. Expanse's is easily the worst with how incredibly bland it is. Heck New Tales has a better main menu and that is saying something.
    • Silence, 4 options, and timed choices.
    • Rewind and save back up (I actually don't know if Expanse has this as the menu is so vague I am afraid to try it because I don't want to delete my save file, but I don't think it has it.)

    I like Expanse enough, but like we keep saying it really doesn't feel like a Telltale game and it is going to be pretty weird if Telltale games from this point out focus on choice making, but with varying designs which I think would make New Telltale lack some identity. As much as Telltale got flack for being similar, but it did give the company a consistent identity lots of others have. So I do think the New Telltale should try to make each game feel like they under the same roof.

    Thirium posted: »

    I liked Ep 2 a lot more than Ep 1 for the most part. It felt like it brought significantly more content to the table and the character momen

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