Thoughts & Reviews on the Devil's Playhouse (spoiler, tl;dr)
I'll jump straight ahead and say YES, this was my favorite Telltale Season so far, not if The Devil's Playhouse has become one of my favorite games of all time. There are so many details to speak of, so many plot twists that boggles my mind even if I were to utter them and most important; so many people that goes "meh", I felt like I needed to sum my thoughts SOMEWHERE.
Let's start from somewhere and talk about graphics and visuals first. First of all, in the first day we got the trailer, what attracted me was of course, the new cinematic look Telltale went for. It worked for ToMI, well, I'll jump in and say that it worked especially well for Sam and Max. That style was being experimented on during ToMI, there were some quirks. Maybe it's because no matter ToMI has a great atmosphere, it's kind of trapped in its own pirate-y atmosphere and can't get it out pretty much. Sam and Max is much more free when it comes to atmosphere, so not only the episodes shocked us greatly when a change of environment happens, they also figured out how to make us enjoy EVERY scenery. And some might think those changes don't happen that dramatically, compared to Season 2; since in that game the plot was really loose and places we go varied a lot. I have my words on that and I'm saving them for later. As for graphics quality, well, we know that it's better than first two seasons alright, but it's a PSN game after all and Telltale Games aren't known for making games with beautifully rendered models. Well, actually, this game was beautiful. Visuals were also outstanding. Only the low polygon count and the cartoony style seems to be what's throwing off some people. I say I don't care them. At all. They're missing such a gem, I started not to consider them as gamers. In the end, details aren't only making a piece "art", timing is also a big element. And that so-called low polygon count or repetitive textures were buried under the greatly timed, greatly drawn and greatly animated components of the scenery, and in the end, it creates the appeal. Compared to previous seasons it's just so easy to say that this season is a masterpiece, thought carefully and executed well. Although some people hated it, they even didn't bother theirselves and added a film grain JUST TO give some extra appeal on the crispy side. It's good to know that some developers go with knowing what they like and what they want to make, unlikely to some other developers that have became fanbase SLAVES going only with fan feedback and hd graphics or other bullcrap. It's not art, it's making money.
Now that I threw off the bag by talking about such a generally-shared-by-all-episodes issue like graphics, now I can talk about the episodes individually.
Because there is now no throwaway gags back from Season 1 and 2, unlike how Telltale Games handled the entire Season 2, they went with creating ALL of the material for their new season in one go, rather than borrowing elements from previous episodes (although some are apparent, mainly as cameos). Season 3, or The Devil's Playhouse, was like a fresh breathe of air. And we were forced to have a deep breathe of a gorilla in the very first cinematic of the first episode, The Penal Zone.
As the fate of every season starter, I think Penal Zone was the weakest episode. Well, the reason why other season starter episodes weren't so highly acclaimed was purely because of their plots. TDP changed this very issue. Although it also shares the fate, the plot of the first episode actually being the least important issue regarding everything that has been going on, but Penal Zone also started as a thrilling story. Even so much that, I couldn't believe at that time THAT story can actually evolve into something MASSIVE. I mean, for comparison, look at Season 2 Episode 1. Your enemy is an unlikable glob of creature sporting many eyes and yells "blargh". Now back to Penal Zone. Your enemy is an impenetratable space gorilla, not to mention the GENERAL of a space fleet. Beginning was so strong, made me expect more. I was able to feel that this is no snack game like the previous seasons. What Penal Zone suffered from is, well, marketing. Let me explain. It's pretty obvious that with the inclusion of consoles PS3 AND Apple iPad, Telltale Games tried to introduce the good ol' adventure genre (that sports a very cinematic look) to a new audience. The audience has to like it, too. Not only atmosphere and visuals and voice acting is enough to gain some hearts, in the end you're making a game and your game needs playability. So they had to go with pretty easy puzzles in the first episode. Not much psychic toys or inventory items to fiddle around, Future Vision giving off more than enough hints, just some clicks and lean back, watch the cinematics. First episode was mostly that.
It doesn't mean the episode is BAD, just the weakest imho. To give the episode the credit it deserves, it brought some really great new scenery and characters. Skun'ka-pe is a great character, a true villain I WANTED to see for the entire 2 seasons. As I stated before, Skunkape can easily outmatch any of those previous villains. This is mostly because of the new "stuff" that this season has brought to us. In Season 1, story wasn't that full of hype so all the villains were underperforming and weak, but at least they had distinct characteristics. And Season 2 villains, because of the tone of the season, was composed of entirely by the mockings of urban legends, myths and beliefs; save for the Soda Poppers. The entire season was a mockery, and the big revelation of the main villains was a last minute write-in (which was also parodied by theirselves where they released a video in which the entire season's main villain was revealed to be Homestar Runner, depicting that you could just make any character sit on that throne and let an evil laugh out). But Skunkape, he's just pure EVIL, and it's so apparent they didn't want us to figure it out by ourselves, they just gave the information of his villanious deeds in the first cinematic and then kept other characters skeptical about it. I can't say much for this episode. It was a subtle start, it had a nice city theme, showing us more of Sam&Max's neighborhood during daytime, with music reminscent of old street themes and some space-y themes for Skunkape. Oh, and, new Stinky's Diner theme. Awesooooooooome!
And there comes one of my personal favorites, The Tomb of Sammun-Mak. Normally, 2nd episodes are tend to be sucky simply because, plotwise, it shares the same elements with the previous episode, meaning it doesn't surprise us much as the first time, and keeping most things in suspense with explaining nothing much. It also generally contains a pretty lame villain (like Myra Stump, ocean chimps and a deceased goldfish, or an unimportant pirate captain). They didn't go for that in THIS season. Yes, they still didn't explain much of the issue but instead, they gave off fanservice, giving information about some other characters we like, instead of hinting out only minor/major plotlines, with giving us pretty much filling-up characters. Sameth and Maximus, they were great. It was nice to see more of Jurgen, a.k.a "Mr. Noone-truly-knows-me". I didn't like him very much in Season 2 as he was only a parody of pop culture. Now he has a fully grown story, while still being evil; so it was a good treatment for the character. Baby Amelia Earhart was, well, annoying, but it's one of the two ideas why she was even added to the roster. 1, being annoying and 2, being one of the only two females in the episode so that we can use Sexo Rejexo Hex on her. Seriously, only her and Nefertiti were the female ones (if you don't count Cow Max, but let's not even think about that). Oh and, Nefertiti and her family also worth some laughs. The episode has a distinct style, doubles the "watching a film" effect as Sam and Max are enjoying theirselves a movie for the entire episode. Music is arranged mostly for the old timey U.S-of-A feeling, some Egyptian-ey bits for the tomb raiding action, and the exceptional final boss theme; villanious and downright demonic. Oh, and, well, Papierwaite is a great character. His revelation of being pretty evil was predictable, but it's a delight to see (and better; HEAR OF) both of his good and evil personalities. Only that his throat-talk was a bit off, but was never used for entire season anyway, and plotwise his misfortune of clashing Sameth and Maximus is implemented pretty well for the later episodes.
They Stole Max's Brain was bashed by a lot of people. I do understand why, as the episode changes themes instantly, but just because it doesn't satisfy what you've expected for the whole time doesn't mean what you get is BAD. Yes, half of the episode has a Noir theme and the other half has an imaginary Egypt theme. And I actually don't like the Noir part that much. Sure it was funny and interesting to see Sam driven by RAEG, but the levels we encounter during that part are just, plain, limited. Interrogation sequences are kept short so that it won't bore us, okay. But in museum, well I didn't get much fun. We only have 4 rooms and only one of them is large enough to explore. Egypt segment of museum is just used to pick up Sammun-Mak's brain, Papierwaite's office is just too small and there is not many stuff to click on, and we can't even walk on museum's roof because we control Max there. The good part was seeing the collaborate work of the 2 villains, although I can't figure out how they... figured out to make use of Max's brain in such a convoluted way RIGHT AFTER THE SECOND they decided to unite their powers. As for the Egypt theme, I actually liked it. It was actually pretty Egypt-y unlike the Egypt theme seen in Episode 2 because that one was rather passive, only 3 mole people guarding stuff and some hyerogliphs thrown around here and there; while Sammun-Mak was able to bring all what he remembers from his time. Brainwashed worshippers, arena fighters, pyramids; it was pure EGYPT and I loved it. But it also had new technology that child Pharoah actually pretty digs, which kind of brings his downfall, is also a good detail. How I felt like is that, rest of the season takes place at night. The Noir part also took place at night, unlike the majority of first two episodes, and they might wanted to make the other half of this episode pretty shiny because they wanted to have a 50/50 daytime/nighttime ratio. Anyway, we were finally introduced a 1-on-1 fight between Skun'ka-pe and Sam where Sam brutally defeats Skunkape and leaves him mentally scarred, to a degree even I wanted to stop Sam's suffering and punch that dirty ape once myself. Sammun-Mak was also a good villain and had his own morals, although criticized a little for being too annoying. That fits his character pretty well, I say, even to a point adding such a characterization is necessary in my opinion. He met his destiny early, which made him get used to his new "divine" image easier, so that he got really spoiled in an instant. Even after defeated, he never whines like a kid, instead keeps being arrogant and that's a GOOD kind of annoyance. Although his final battle was pretty easy, it was creative. Oh, and, for the Hubert Q. Tourist character, it was a good favor for the beloved Majus to be able to leave such signatures in a game he started as a fan of; and his character has his good moments. Sal is another character introduced in this episode. He's just a simple guy driven by other people's goals, so there is no point of talking about him. He's just likable. As for the tunes heard in this one, Noir themes go either pretty slow jazz or downright quiet, where Egypt themes are either a mixture of street and egypt themes, or sounds totally royal, fitting the characteristic of Sammun-Mak. It doesn't have the best music, but all for the atmosphere. One last thing about this episode is that not being able to see Max as himself but as his brain for the entire episode is, well, a bit harsh. What's harsher is that it's not the only episode we can't see Max as how he normally is.
Insanity truly began in Beyond the Alley of the Dolls. All of a sudden we were introduced some really nifty secret passages, cloning labs, big twists, a beautifully modeled Statue of Liberty, and of course the unexplainable Sam clones rampaging the city. The episode was just FULL of weird and spooky clone invasions and technology so beyond us we can just fill our pants. In a sense, this episode reminded me greatly of how Telltale wanted a Sam and Max series so new and breathtaking. I mean, I'm bringing this over and over, but it's not the Sam and Max helps Santa or defeats a hipster vampire. Those felt like they were dealing with other people's issues. No, Devil's Playhouse is THEIR story, they're technically not dealing with a case that someone has given, and in every episode they, their feelings and their whole environment suddenly change. They get psychic powers, they know of their grandparents and realize that they have to finish their unfinished business, Max gets his brain removed, suddenly Sam meets a full invasion of his OWN image, and... yeah, the fifth episode I'll talk about later on. Anyway, this episode generally has a science horror-esque theme and tunes generally mirror it. It lacks the kick in it, but again, all for the atmosphere. Except for the main villain's own theme, well, music wasn't so top-notch, it was rather dull, or maybe toned down. We get some character development for Momma Bosco -as she gets a new body- and get a word from Bosco in a letter form, but that's already enough. Puzzles made sense and we were finally playing the game with both Sam and Max without much restrictions (except for the inability of walking around streets because of many clones of Sams) after the first episode of the entire season. This episode has SO many twists. The revelation of Papierwaite's anti-heroism was a good twist as it again shows how much Telltale cares for their characters with not keeping them uninteresting and instead keep adding new stuff over and over. Norrington is also a great character, much more so than expected. Girl Stinky finally admits she has a goal and she has to kill her grandpa. And the most devastating turn of events, a psychic toy actually being sentient, having his own gift, and orchestrating the events to summon an elder god for his own simple, demonic goal. Charlie Ho-Tep was some scary stuff, yo. He was ALWAYS staring at us for so many time, just waiting for the Toybox to be filled by some other people . It does beg the question why Yog-Soggoth never planned something to prevent Charlie from doing stuff, as he IS the one CREATED all those toys. Either that is a plothole, or he never suspected a toy to have such plans, even if sentient. His plan was extreme, but villanious, and his theme was REALLY spooky, it didn't feel like I was playing through the same ol' Sam and Max. This episode is also known for its brief cameo of Bluster Blaster, and giving importance to Sam's character a bit more by making him also an important character -as opposed to the ongoing MAX HAS ALL THE POWERS theme of the season-; important enough to be cloned in mass amounts to do one's bidding.
And the tie-in episode that I just played and LOVED, my second favorite, The City that Dares Not Sleep. It's the other episode where Max is dramatically changed, in such an amount the episode is rather Max-less, unusual for any Sam and Max game, but it's already this season's motto, to be totally unusual. It's up to Sam, Papierwaite, Yog-Soggoth and now-pregnant Sybil to return Max to normal, if it's doable in the given time or else acting President Superball isn't afraid to blow stuff up. Oh and, there were "spores" of Max flying around, making people sleep to boost Demon Max's psychic powers with imagination and all, but I suspect it's been done just to be able to hear more of our beloved Max. They didn't serve much purpose, really, other than giving his voice actor a job. I thought they would use some leftover toys of power to aid Sam and the team, but they WERE actually quite villainous, and now the Toybox is destroyed with nearly all of the toys inside it, there is not much point of going with the season's psychic power theme now, and it's understandable. Sam spends a little time outside just to be ingested by Max, and then nearly the entire game is played inside Demon Max, who strangely has pretty decorative organ structure because of imaginationpowersyaddayadda WELL it's cool and actually pretty creative. Because of this, tunes have an unusual rearrangement and they're rather funky, especially inside Max, fitting the rooms we have been in. Outside Max, of course, the good old mayhem music kicking in, and sounding very cool! As the finale of the season, we see many cameos of this season's AND previous season's characters such as Abe Lincoln as his concrete body seems to be restored, Jurgen, Satan aaand... pretty much that, I guess. It is a pretty satisfying episode, ending not only Sam and Max's story but others' stories as well, such as Girl Stinky, plotting so much against Grandpa Stinky, dying along Skunkape; Sal dying in order to save the city after breaking up with Girl Stinky, Flint Paper, The Narrator, Sybil... Basically everyone gets their fair share of character development-treatment. It was seen by many people from the VERY start of the season that Narrator would come in as a character, the main villain, even (thanks to Telltale for turning us such paranoid zombies, we're kind of able to see plot twists from months ago now), but it was also unusual to see that there is actually no villain for the finale whatsoever! Sure, Narrator, revealed to be Max's superego, tried to blow him up after he was finally able to gain a bit of control, but all he wanted to see was some good will sealed in that psychopathic bunny. And he made his decision pretty easily by comparison, sealing him inside the bunny and... Eugh, you know what? I'm just retelling the story for the whole time. MY POINT IS, this episode was actually quite deep, showing the creativity of their creators. Sure it's a comedy saga, but this episode had more than comedy in itself. Especially Max's death had some emotion. Heck, even SUPERBALL cried and ran away like a sissy. In the end... Well, it's too generic, but no matter how we try to unleash our inner psycho, we're humans and sometimes, in a pretty ironic way, a cartoony fiction about a dog and a rabbit can come and remind it to you. Yes, it can teach you even better than Eisop's tales, maybe.
This is Telltale's best creation to date, it's hard to top, and it'll live on for a long time. I'm happy I've been following this flow for years now. I wasn't disappointed.
Oh, and, feel free to write your own long/short articles to share here. Main reason I wrote it off here is simply because I don't own a blog, and I would like you read others' opinions. Sure, you can skip my LONGASS writing up here but there is a reason I put this disclaimer at the veeeery bottom, you know 8)
Let's start from somewhere and talk about graphics and visuals first. First of all, in the first day we got the trailer, what attracted me was of course, the new cinematic look Telltale went for. It worked for ToMI, well, I'll jump in and say that it worked especially well for Sam and Max. That style was being experimented on during ToMI, there were some quirks. Maybe it's because no matter ToMI has a great atmosphere, it's kind of trapped in its own pirate-y atmosphere and can't get it out pretty much. Sam and Max is much more free when it comes to atmosphere, so not only the episodes shocked us greatly when a change of environment happens, they also figured out how to make us enjoy EVERY scenery. And some might think those changes don't happen that dramatically, compared to Season 2; since in that game the plot was really loose and places we go varied a lot. I have my words on that and I'm saving them for later. As for graphics quality, well, we know that it's better than first two seasons alright, but it's a PSN game after all and Telltale Games aren't known for making games with beautifully rendered models. Well, actually, this game was beautiful. Visuals were also outstanding. Only the low polygon count and the cartoony style seems to be what's throwing off some people. I say I don't care them. At all. They're missing such a gem, I started not to consider them as gamers. In the end, details aren't only making a piece "art", timing is also a big element. And that so-called low polygon count or repetitive textures were buried under the greatly timed, greatly drawn and greatly animated components of the scenery, and in the end, it creates the appeal. Compared to previous seasons it's just so easy to say that this season is a masterpiece, thought carefully and executed well. Although some people hated it, they even didn't bother theirselves and added a film grain JUST TO give some extra appeal on the crispy side. It's good to know that some developers go with knowing what they like and what they want to make, unlikely to some other developers that have became fanbase SLAVES going only with fan feedback and hd graphics or other bullcrap. It's not art, it's making money.
Now that I threw off the bag by talking about such a generally-shared-by-all-episodes issue like graphics, now I can talk about the episodes individually.
Because there is now no throwaway gags back from Season 1 and 2, unlike how Telltale Games handled the entire Season 2, they went with creating ALL of the material for their new season in one go, rather than borrowing elements from previous episodes (although some are apparent, mainly as cameos). Season 3, or The Devil's Playhouse, was like a fresh breathe of air. And we were forced to have a deep breathe of a gorilla in the very first cinematic of the first episode, The Penal Zone.
As the fate of every season starter, I think Penal Zone was the weakest episode. Well, the reason why other season starter episodes weren't so highly acclaimed was purely because of their plots. TDP changed this very issue. Although it also shares the fate, the plot of the first episode actually being the least important issue regarding everything that has been going on, but Penal Zone also started as a thrilling story. Even so much that, I couldn't believe at that time THAT story can actually evolve into something MASSIVE. I mean, for comparison, look at Season 2 Episode 1. Your enemy is an unlikable glob of creature sporting many eyes and yells "blargh". Now back to Penal Zone. Your enemy is an impenetratable space gorilla, not to mention the GENERAL of a space fleet. Beginning was so strong, made me expect more. I was able to feel that this is no snack game like the previous seasons. What Penal Zone suffered from is, well, marketing. Let me explain. It's pretty obvious that with the inclusion of consoles PS3 AND Apple iPad, Telltale Games tried to introduce the good ol' adventure genre (that sports a very cinematic look) to a new audience. The audience has to like it, too. Not only atmosphere and visuals and voice acting is enough to gain some hearts, in the end you're making a game and your game needs playability. So they had to go with pretty easy puzzles in the first episode. Not much psychic toys or inventory items to fiddle around, Future Vision giving off more than enough hints, just some clicks and lean back, watch the cinematics. First episode was mostly that.
It doesn't mean the episode is BAD, just the weakest imho. To give the episode the credit it deserves, it brought some really great new scenery and characters. Skun'ka-pe is a great character, a true villain I WANTED to see for the entire 2 seasons. As I stated before, Skunkape can easily outmatch any of those previous villains. This is mostly because of the new "stuff" that this season has brought to us. In Season 1, story wasn't that full of hype so all the villains were underperforming and weak, but at least they had distinct characteristics. And Season 2 villains, because of the tone of the season, was composed of entirely by the mockings of urban legends, myths and beliefs; save for the Soda Poppers. The entire season was a mockery, and the big revelation of the main villains was a last minute write-in (which was also parodied by theirselves where they released a video in which the entire season's main villain was revealed to be Homestar Runner, depicting that you could just make any character sit on that throne and let an evil laugh out). But Skunkape, he's just pure EVIL, and it's so apparent they didn't want us to figure it out by ourselves, they just gave the information of his villanious deeds in the first cinematic and then kept other characters skeptical about it. I can't say much for this episode. It was a subtle start, it had a nice city theme, showing us more of Sam&Max's neighborhood during daytime, with music reminscent of old street themes and some space-y themes for Skunkape. Oh, and, new Stinky's Diner theme. Awesooooooooome!
And there comes one of my personal favorites, The Tomb of Sammun-Mak. Normally, 2nd episodes are tend to be sucky simply because, plotwise, it shares the same elements with the previous episode, meaning it doesn't surprise us much as the first time, and keeping most things in suspense with explaining nothing much. It also generally contains a pretty lame villain (like Myra Stump, ocean chimps and a deceased goldfish, or an unimportant pirate captain). They didn't go for that in THIS season. Yes, they still didn't explain much of the issue but instead, they gave off fanservice, giving information about some other characters we like, instead of hinting out only minor/major plotlines, with giving us pretty much filling-up characters. Sameth and Maximus, they were great. It was nice to see more of Jurgen, a.k.a "Mr. Noone-truly-knows-me". I didn't like him very much in Season 2 as he was only a parody of pop culture. Now he has a fully grown story, while still being evil; so it was a good treatment for the character. Baby Amelia Earhart was, well, annoying, but it's one of the two ideas why she was even added to the roster. 1, being annoying and 2, being one of the only two females in the episode so that we can use Sexo Rejexo Hex on her. Seriously, only her and Nefertiti were the female ones (if you don't count Cow Max, but let's not even think about that). Oh and, Nefertiti and her family also worth some laughs. The episode has a distinct style, doubles the "watching a film" effect as Sam and Max are enjoying theirselves a movie for the entire episode. Music is arranged mostly for the old timey U.S-of-A feeling, some Egyptian-ey bits for the tomb raiding action, and the exceptional final boss theme; villanious and downright demonic. Oh, and, well, Papierwaite is a great character. His revelation of being pretty evil was predictable, but it's a delight to see (and better; HEAR OF) both of his good and evil personalities. Only that his throat-talk was a bit off, but was never used for entire season anyway, and plotwise his misfortune of clashing Sameth and Maximus is implemented pretty well for the later episodes.
They Stole Max's Brain was bashed by a lot of people. I do understand why, as the episode changes themes instantly, but just because it doesn't satisfy what you've expected for the whole time doesn't mean what you get is BAD. Yes, half of the episode has a Noir theme and the other half has an imaginary Egypt theme. And I actually don't like the Noir part that much. Sure it was funny and interesting to see Sam driven by RAEG, but the levels we encounter during that part are just, plain, limited. Interrogation sequences are kept short so that it won't bore us, okay. But in museum, well I didn't get much fun. We only have 4 rooms and only one of them is large enough to explore. Egypt segment of museum is just used to pick up Sammun-Mak's brain, Papierwaite's office is just too small and there is not many stuff to click on, and we can't even walk on museum's roof because we control Max there. The good part was seeing the collaborate work of the 2 villains, although I can't figure out how they... figured out to make use of Max's brain in such a convoluted way RIGHT AFTER THE SECOND they decided to unite their powers. As for the Egypt theme, I actually liked it. It was actually pretty Egypt-y unlike the Egypt theme seen in Episode 2 because that one was rather passive, only 3 mole people guarding stuff and some hyerogliphs thrown around here and there; while Sammun-Mak was able to bring all what he remembers from his time. Brainwashed worshippers, arena fighters, pyramids; it was pure EGYPT and I loved it. But it also had new technology that child Pharoah actually pretty digs, which kind of brings his downfall, is also a good detail. How I felt like is that, rest of the season takes place at night. The Noir part also took place at night, unlike the majority of first two episodes, and they might wanted to make the other half of this episode pretty shiny because they wanted to have a 50/50 daytime/nighttime ratio. Anyway, we were finally introduced a 1-on-1 fight between Skun'ka-pe and Sam where Sam brutally defeats Skunkape and leaves him mentally scarred, to a degree even I wanted to stop Sam's suffering and punch that dirty ape once myself. Sammun-Mak was also a good villain and had his own morals, although criticized a little for being too annoying. That fits his character pretty well, I say, even to a point adding such a characterization is necessary in my opinion. He met his destiny early, which made him get used to his new "divine" image easier, so that he got really spoiled in an instant. Even after defeated, he never whines like a kid, instead keeps being arrogant and that's a GOOD kind of annoyance. Although his final battle was pretty easy, it was creative. Oh, and, for the Hubert Q. Tourist character, it was a good favor for the beloved Majus to be able to leave such signatures in a game he started as a fan of; and his character has his good moments. Sal is another character introduced in this episode. He's just a simple guy driven by other people's goals, so there is no point of talking about him. He's just likable. As for the tunes heard in this one, Noir themes go either pretty slow jazz or downright quiet, where Egypt themes are either a mixture of street and egypt themes, or sounds totally royal, fitting the characteristic of Sammun-Mak. It doesn't have the best music, but all for the atmosphere. One last thing about this episode is that not being able to see Max as himself but as his brain for the entire episode is, well, a bit harsh. What's harsher is that it's not the only episode we can't see Max as how he normally is.
Insanity truly began in Beyond the Alley of the Dolls. All of a sudden we were introduced some really nifty secret passages, cloning labs, big twists, a beautifully modeled Statue of Liberty, and of course the unexplainable Sam clones rampaging the city. The episode was just FULL of weird and spooky clone invasions and technology so beyond us we can just fill our pants. In a sense, this episode reminded me greatly of how Telltale wanted a Sam and Max series so new and breathtaking. I mean, I'm bringing this over and over, but it's not the Sam and Max helps Santa or defeats a hipster vampire. Those felt like they were dealing with other people's issues. No, Devil's Playhouse is THEIR story, they're technically not dealing with a case that someone has given, and in every episode they, their feelings and their whole environment suddenly change. They get psychic powers, they know of their grandparents and realize that they have to finish their unfinished business, Max gets his brain removed, suddenly Sam meets a full invasion of his OWN image, and... yeah, the fifth episode I'll talk about later on. Anyway, this episode generally has a science horror-esque theme and tunes generally mirror it. It lacks the kick in it, but again, all for the atmosphere. Except for the main villain's own theme, well, music wasn't so top-notch, it was rather dull, or maybe toned down. We get some character development for Momma Bosco -as she gets a new body- and get a word from Bosco in a letter form, but that's already enough. Puzzles made sense and we were finally playing the game with both Sam and Max without much restrictions (except for the inability of walking around streets because of many clones of Sams) after the first episode of the entire season. This episode has SO many twists. The revelation of Papierwaite's anti-heroism was a good twist as it again shows how much Telltale cares for their characters with not keeping them uninteresting and instead keep adding new stuff over and over. Norrington is also a great character, much more so than expected. Girl Stinky finally admits she has a goal and she has to kill her grandpa. And the most devastating turn of events, a psychic toy actually being sentient, having his own gift, and orchestrating the events to summon an elder god for his own simple, demonic goal. Charlie Ho-Tep was some scary stuff, yo. He was ALWAYS staring at us for so many time, just waiting for the Toybox to be filled by some other people . It does beg the question why Yog-Soggoth never planned something to prevent Charlie from doing stuff, as he IS the one CREATED all those toys. Either that is a plothole, or he never suspected a toy to have such plans, even if sentient. His plan was extreme, but villanious, and his theme was REALLY spooky, it didn't feel like I was playing through the same ol' Sam and Max. This episode is also known for its brief cameo of Bluster Blaster, and giving importance to Sam's character a bit more by making him also an important character -as opposed to the ongoing MAX HAS ALL THE POWERS theme of the season-; important enough to be cloned in mass amounts to do one's bidding.
And the tie-in episode that I just played and LOVED, my second favorite, The City that Dares Not Sleep. It's the other episode where Max is dramatically changed, in such an amount the episode is rather Max-less, unusual for any Sam and Max game, but it's already this season's motto, to be totally unusual. It's up to Sam, Papierwaite, Yog-Soggoth and now-pregnant Sybil to return Max to normal, if it's doable in the given time or else acting President Superball isn't afraid to blow stuff up. Oh and, there were "spores" of Max flying around, making people sleep to boost Demon Max's psychic powers with imagination and all, but I suspect it's been done just to be able to hear more of our beloved Max. They didn't serve much purpose, really, other than giving his voice actor a job. I thought they would use some leftover toys of power to aid Sam and the team, but they WERE actually quite villainous, and now the Toybox is destroyed with nearly all of the toys inside it, there is not much point of going with the season's psychic power theme now, and it's understandable. Sam spends a little time outside just to be ingested by Max, and then nearly the entire game is played inside Demon Max, who strangely has pretty decorative organ structure because of imaginationpowersyaddayadda WELL it's cool and actually pretty creative. Because of this, tunes have an unusual rearrangement and they're rather funky, especially inside Max, fitting the rooms we have been in. Outside Max, of course, the good old mayhem music kicking in, and sounding very cool! As the finale of the season, we see many cameos of this season's AND previous season's characters such as Abe Lincoln as his concrete body seems to be restored, Jurgen, Satan aaand... pretty much that, I guess. It is a pretty satisfying episode, ending not only Sam and Max's story but others' stories as well, such as Girl Stinky, plotting so much against Grandpa Stinky, dying along Skunkape; Sal dying in order to save the city after breaking up with Girl Stinky, Flint Paper, The Narrator, Sybil... Basically everyone gets their fair share of character development-treatment. It was seen by many people from the VERY start of the season that Narrator would come in as a character, the main villain, even (thanks to Telltale for turning us such paranoid zombies, we're kind of able to see plot twists from months ago now), but it was also unusual to see that there is actually no villain for the finale whatsoever! Sure, Narrator, revealed to be Max's superego, tried to blow him up after he was finally able to gain a bit of control, but all he wanted to see was some good will sealed in that psychopathic bunny. And he made his decision pretty easily by comparison, sealing him inside the bunny and... Eugh, you know what? I'm just retelling the story for the whole time. MY POINT IS, this episode was actually quite deep, showing the creativity of their creators. Sure it's a comedy saga, but this episode had more than comedy in itself. Especially Max's death had some emotion. Heck, even SUPERBALL cried and ran away like a sissy. In the end... Well, it's too generic, but no matter how we try to unleash our inner psycho, we're humans and sometimes, in a pretty ironic way, a cartoony fiction about a dog and a rabbit can come and remind it to you. Yes, it can teach you even better than Eisop's tales, maybe.
This is Telltale's best creation to date, it's hard to top, and it'll live on for a long time. I'm happy I've been following this flow for years now. I wasn't disappointed.
Oh, and, feel free to write your own long/short articles to share here. Main reason I wrote it off here is simply because I don't own a blog, and I would like you read others' opinions. Sure, you can skip my LONGASS writing up here but there is a reason I put this disclaimer at the veeeery bottom, you know 8)
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Comments
... What are you talking about?
I never thought I'd be so moved by a video game series, but Sam & Max, in all it's nonsensical glory, has moved me to tears on more than one ocassion during this season. It was a story, a true story, not just cases strung together by reoccuring characters, and that's what really got me. I'm guilty of being a fanfiction writer who takes characters and puts them into a serious full-on story, even if their canon story is silly, such as Sam & Max, so this season just hit everything for me. I loved the psychic abilites, and I'm sad to see them go, but the reason why we can't use them anymore makes a lot of sense and I'm sure I'll find some loophole to keep them around in some fashion in my own personal headcanon.
Characters! Dialogue and interactions was superb, thanks to updated graphics and ~FACIAL EXPRESSIOOONS~! I love it! Not to mention the new characters you've brought in. I think I've made it pretty clear on the forums that Papierwaite is my favorite new character, so you can imagine I was pretty damn happy when he didn't actually die in 302 and made it to 305. Norrington too, of course, the two of them make for a hilarious duo.
I'll write a proper review on my DA journal or something, but my main thoughts basically are: Best. Season. Ever. I'd love to see how you can top this one.
I'll find another thread to post my thoughts though, once I catched up on everyone's posts here (might still take an hour
(PS. There are like 6 or so variations of that chair-scene, not just Strong Bad)
Ok. But you’re saying yourself later in your review that sometimes (and I think that’s quite often) Telltale’s making fan service. And they actually read the forums a lot to know what we think about the plots, the characters and everything. And I think it’s sometimes necessary to give the public what they’d appreciate, or at least, not giving them what they do not want. And it would be not about money but having a nice feedback.
The end itself depends of the two previous seasons to be properly understood!
I hated Skunkape. I thought of him like a dumb, too-evil gorilla. It was almost a big cliché, totally Manichean, like Clayton in Tarzan. Yeah, he totally remembered me Clayton (and it’s quite ironic, by the way.) He is totally the reason I didn’t like that much the 301.
Weak? Hugh Bliss is my favourite villain! He almost blew the entire universe! And I LOVED the fact that those villains had those distinct characteristics. It had its charm!
… No. Oh God, no! Please! Don’t say that! I loved the second season, and the scenario was great. And I truly appreciated the fact that the Soda Poppers were the main villain and that anybody could be the main villain because that’s what I thought the universe of Sam & Max was about. Nonsense. Surprises. Mindfucks. This was just the spirit of Sam & Max for me!
I didn’t understand why you found it subtle (sorry Telltale Team. No offense.)
Oh yeah. I couldn’t agree MORE (yeah I know I said I will comment what I disagreed with. I lied.)
I so agree with that too. Thank you so much for that, Telltale.
That’s weird you find it weird. I mean… they have both great powers and had time to think about how they would proceed!
Yeah, because before, all was perfectly normal.
Amen to that!
Spooky’s the word. I was really afraid. I’m afraid of clowns and talking puppets. But yeah, something changed there.
And WHY? Ok, I know there’s plenty of inexplicable things on the S&M’s Universe, but that just… intrigued me. I know they’re plenty of people asking for answer but I would be sooooo curious about this one.
Yeah, that’s what I was saying in another thread! And SO, I thought that Telltale couldn’t have chose the Narrator as the mastermind and I finally had been surprised.
… I didn’t get caught into this philosophical message, really. Because I thought that the return of past Max showed that they had been no real consequences to Max’s Death. It was just… anecdotic somehow.
EDIT (@Cheri) :
Heeeeeeeeee, they already had facial expressions!!!
Here are my complementary notes. First of all, I hope I wasn’t too mean or something in my commentaries. Sometimes I just sound mean but it’s just that I don’t really know how to express what I meant. Second of all, it could seem, ready my commentaries, that I didn’t like the season. I love the season and I agree with Falanca for the parts of the text I didn’t comment.
I do have something to say about Max. On the first and the second seasons, you could have said he was like a rabbity child. I would have agreed. Yes, Max had a taste for destruction, but I thought he was sometimes really kind (like when he was a fan of Hugh Bliss.) In the third season, Max had become quite “mature”. He really made a selfless act at the end of the 305. That was beautiful. That was great. But the Max who comes out the elevator is awfully disturbing. He actually says with pleasure that he had destroyed the gigantic Sam. Sam & Max aren’t just friends. They’re more. And Max isn’t just a demonic heartless lagomorphs. He’s more. So WHY? That just unnerved me (no offense again Telltale Team.) That deceived me somehow.
Another note. You developed Sam’s psychology on a remarkable way and I thought Sam Jr. was an interesting way to show it. I think it was quite an important character for Sam. Buy how could he possibly leave him on the Max’s Brain and have like… no thoughts or regret about it? (I did save Sam Jr. but it’s possible to leave him and that’s just so weird.) I mean: if you try to put him everywhere, Sam never wants because he cares about him too much. But he’d just leave him on the Max’s Brain? Come on.
Last point: the credit thing was just SO sadistic. I love you guys.
I hope that if someone from the Telltale Team read that, he’d understand that I’m not like hating what they’d done or something. I loved the season much more that any other game. I just ant to be clear about that.
I've cried.
The jokes were good as always, the humor and wacky environment was there, but the whole thing felt limited and very brief. I clicked on many things and purposefully took my time and still breezed through the game in a couple hours and felt cheapened by the ending. No climatic battle or 'game ending' puzzle? The lumbering around as junior max?
After the ending too, I immediately hopped online to see if I had somehow earned a 'bad ending' instead of a good one, and was disappointed that that was it. I get the joke, but I felt it really cheapened everything, which again, I get it.
I just felt really disappointed because there was so much build-up through the season and I absolutely loved it until I hit this episode which dropped it from love to...lukewarm enjoyment. It's hard to describe. I still love sam and max and would recommend it to anyone and constantly do, but I just didn't get into this episode as much as I really hoped I would.
Well, I know of MANY developers/publishers not even caring much of consumer feedback except for the points given by known sites such as IGN.
Thanks a lot for bearing yourself with this boring piece of text, too! I hope I accomplished my goal of making staff members feel like "wow, I guess I DID make something really great for everyone".
Amen.
There is a difference I have been thinking about. Yes, ironically, I wasn't able to explain it out in my hugeass text, so let me explain here.
There are some publishers, making a game without checking any fan feedback -btw, it applies more to the sequels since if you're making a new franchise you can't find much feedback for your recently unreleased game-, going with their own flow -like how they did in the first game- and making unnecessary differences to the franchise. This applies to John Romero. Mostly that doesn't work, especially if the publishers doesn't have the same "spark" they had during the make of their first game, as creators never has the same vision with fans because they are the ones seeing their creation with EVERY DETAIL whereas fans only appreciate the mixture of details that they're allowed to see.
On the other hand, there are some publishers, knowing that their title ranked up so many fan appreciation they feel like they HAVE to make a sequal. But they have no creative ideas. So what do they do? They just read a lot of fan feedback (even those that oppose each other) and create an abomination just to make most of the fanbase happy, without themselves putting ANY thought on it. That also doesn't work, the game doesn't have much spirit because even the creators doesn't care theirselves with the franchise. This applies to SEGA, Sonic Team with their new episodic series of Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Rubbish.
So what you need is a mixture of fan feedback and your own spark of imagination, blended together. This series accomplished it perfectly by keeping fan ideas at low but seemable and enough, and adding a totally new vision to this fictional universe.
Well if you ask me, the end itself was the self-sacrifice of Max Prime. The end-end was just done not to ruin the franchise. There weren't any other ways of bringing Max back without explaining so many things, you know, since it's the last scene of entire season and you can't just pop out and go explain a BUNCH of things in that atmosphere. So instead they made their explanation be told by our previous intel on the franchise. Yes, it relied on the previous episodes, but it wasn't the purpose. The purpose was just not to leave Sam Max-less for the future of the franchise.
I always saw his obvious cluelessness because of his situation of coming from another planet. It doesn't mean he's dumb, he's actually pretty smart, as he did plan a lot of stuff to conquer the universe and was able to change the future by only ONE action (again, if he didn't check the future vision, the events of the next 4 episodes wouldn't happen) and even the thought of using the artifact to get the upper hand is pretty smart. His Plan A didn't work, he went for Plan B and joined forces with another villain, but after that one failed he was left basically planless, not to mention, he was mentally scarred to come up with a plan. So he had no other way to cling onto others' plans to make profit off of his world trip. He's not dumb, he was a worthy villain if you ask me, a complete trouble for Sam and Max to deal with. His actions were a bit cliché, but cliché for THIS franchise because this franchise is kind of known for its stereotypical mockery villains.
Now, Hugh Bliss is also my favorite villain in the first 2 seasons. He wasn't weak, his plan was wonderful, he was hard to deal with. It's just... his stereotypic fruitcake actions... You know, after playing through Season 3 my vision of him totally changed, I think he was a good villain just because the other villains pretty much sucked.
Sorry, I just don't like Season 2 as a whole, and its climax doesn't help it either. Season wasn't much of a mindfuck if you think of it, they were just going to the places that are mythical or related with beliefs just because those are extreme situations for anyone to go, really. And all of them are in the end changed in order to make so many jokes about them. The only mindfuck was the explanation of the connection between all episodes. And I'm still unsure if it's awesomely nonsense, or just lazily rushed.
Its subtlety is pretty much apparent after playing through all the episodes and playing the first episode again, if you ask me. I can't quite explain it though.
8D!!
No, actually, they didn't have ANY TIME to think about it (unless they both were thinking about how an alliance would work pretty well WHILE fighting each other, which makes no sense) as we're showed that they magically built a machine working on Papierwaite's sorcery in like... nanoseconds. It was like, "let's make an alliance" "sure" and then suddenly a machine! It was even more apparent because after that scene we take control of Max instead of Sam, and see that they actually built a bigass machine right after their talk.
You know, unlike Papierwaite and Skunkape, Abe actually had months to build a new concrete/machine body. And why not, really? It must be pretty boring to stroll around only as a head.
Yeah I remember that 8D
It had consequences since a Max just DIED anyway. The new Max is the anecdotic one if you ask me.
YES I totally forgot mentioning about that, and it actually adds to that "meaning" you said you didn't get pretty much. In the end, even Max has human qualities.
It's an opinion. But an opinion I strongly disagree with.
I posted an image at some point of "the chart," the big butcher paper and post-it note outline of all of Season Two's storyline from pre-production, but I can't find the thread.
Just give the new Max a chance
You are mistaken. The new max is dead.
Aw... I'd really like to see that.
So it's not like they magically constructed it in 5 seconds.
Okay, so, WHY was it there? Was it constructed by Papierwaite and left in an incomplete state so that someone having knowledge of more advanced technology can come and complete it (remember, Skun-ka'pe was using his control panel) in case he'd like to vacuum all the toys of power?
I just... don't know
You know what I mean. Even though I'm a HUGE Sam and Max fan, I just don't understand the whole "time paradox" thing going on in the forums, even with Guru's diagram.
In Season Two, Sam and Max get a time machine, and use it to go back in time to Season One. When there, they meet the Season One versions of themselves, who steal the time machine. Various hijinx ensue, and their paths cross a few more times during that episode, but at the end of the day, Season One Sam And Max go rogue, stealing the time machine and running off for good to save their own skin!
What happened to those guys, nobody knows. The mix up with the time machine caused a weird paradox, resulting in there being two Sam and Maxes wandering the time stream.
At the end if 305, we reunite the remains of both pairs of Freelance Police, and unify the timestream. Maybe in some other city, or in an Alternate Season Three, where time forked in favor of the rogue Season One Sam and Max and their stolen time machine, they had adventures ten times crazier than those seen in The Devils Playhouse, in which Season One Sam got crazy electromagnetic powers, and Max had to kill him.
For whatever reason (but probably fate or convenience), Season One Max, now partnerless, got in the time machine had went to the exact place and time where our Season Two/Three Sam was sitting, reminiscing about his dead partner. The end!
The time machine was built to travel to anyones birthday. Maybe Season One Max was able to somehow use it to travel to his day of death instead, and found Sam there. I just made that up, but its probably what happened.
Pretty crappy birthday until then
I was a bit confused by the end (didn't feel cheapened as some of the forums had said) but thanks to Jake's post, I remembered the alternate Sam & Max from 204. That makes the ending so very appropriate. If a Season 4 happens, it'll definitely have some interesting points to pick up from. Grandpa Stinky's new body, Sybil's Baby, sure...but how did Bluster Blaster end up in space?!
The "Main character's dead at the end fake-out" trope is certainly a popular one. It's become a Final Fantasy staple since 8 (excluding 11 and possibly 13), which is where I first encountered it and it showed up in TMI. Combined with the eerie psychadaelia of the season, it really took the world into a new direction.
I'd like to stop to address episode 3, though. It's definitely my favorite. I liked the hard-boiled detective opening (and great job, Majus), but I really liked the 2nd half. In fiction, too rarely do we see the Worst Case Scenario. Admittedly, this was only when someone had MOST of the Toys of Power, but we got to see what the stakes were. Same with Episode 5 of TMI (Guybrush dead, LeChuck ruling the Carribean, Elaine his undead bride, etc.). BTTF II did it very well with the alternate 1985. Although I loved LOST (go check out the epilogue if you haven't already), I felt like the stakes were kind of an unknown. The Light goes out everywhere if it goes out on The Island? What does that mean? It was hinted that the world would cease to have ever existed, but everyone spoke in metaphors so much that it was hard to believe, although it is hard to show an Apocalypse and come back from it.
But yeah, all of this outdoing yourself must get pretty tiresome, huh Telltale? Maybe you should take a break, really underwhelm us a couple times, so that it means something when you make your next best game ever.
It's plausible. Max would've just needed to dig through Sam's inventory and press everything against the time machine until something worked.
That's how I learned to build PCs, by the way. Just connect a bunch of parts until I no longer hear "I can't use these things together!" in my head.
I don't have any reason to believe it doesn't.
I don't remember the writer for 305 ever telling me that.
I remember a Telltale guy in another thread saying he found the melodramatic moments funny in how they were overly serious, or something along those lines. I kind of see where he was coming from, but that's just not how I felt. When Noir Sam came around and he was smacking people around and shouting I assume the expected reaction was "Oh man, hahaha, this is ridiculous!"
To me, I just couldn't help but think ".....Am I really supposed to be intimidated by him? This is ridiculous."
The answer to that question most likely being no, I WASN'T supposed to be, but except for some of Sam's monologues not making much sense and Sam breaking character a few times to say sorry, there weren't many genuine jokes during that part to really make me think that.
.....I still liked 303 overall by the way. More than most apparently...
The overuse of gun or Noir parts? Hubert Q. Tourist? Sign Spinner's somewhat stereotypical revelation of having found a girlfriend after leaving Skunkape's side? I mean... Seriously?
Entire sequence was filled with jokes. Sure they were mostly hidden in the options you shouldn't be choosing, but in the end you could still feel Sam & Max. If you don't "get" the joke, look at the atmosphere they achieved to get. If you don't get THAT, the whole noir segment was a spectacular change of one character. It was AT LEAST interesting to watch.
You're totally nitpicking. And you're not even being sincere about it.
The joke is that Sam turned into an over the top noir guy.
Thanks.
Guy's got a point, I actually made a "pffft" sound as Sam trudged down that street, they held out to the last minute to really make you think that Max was gone, credits all flew past and everything, but I doubt anyone seriously thought that Max wasn't gonna come back
I did love the use of the Season 2 time travel majigger though, it was very cheeky and the kind of thing I was looking for
There was loads of stuff I loved though, but it's all at the start of the episode
The intro sequence, complete with big pan of the city and dramatic music. The 70's introduction of our team of gargantua Max explorers, there was a lot of polish and care in those. I liked Satan and Jurgen on the rooftop as well, and listening to Max's Flint Paper audiobook among a lot of other things, but these stick out to me
Just something about the way the whole thing panned out didn't sit right with me
tl;dr loved loads of little touches, fell flat on some of the big sells
If they're not completely serious, they still can be somewhat serious, can't they?
Also, I think that scene in 305 came out quite well. And that's from someone who hated the ending of Tales of Monkey Island episode 4 for bad dramatization.
That's not funny. He wasn't very over the top anyway.
None of those are very funny either. I don't think 'overuse of gun' even counts as a joke at all.
Not for you?
No - and even, for me, "totally serious" and "genuinely serious" aren't the same. I'm not native English, so I may be wrong about the subtleties, but for me, only "totally", "completely" or "utterly" serious is without any humour.
You basically didn't try to threaten Frankie the Rat multiple times. There are such jokes hidden.
I don't also count that as having a sophisticated sense of humor if you don't find those bits funny, fyi. Sam and Max franchise is alive and kicking mainly thanks to its humor and entertainment factor and Telltale has never been put it in disregard. However, it's your loss if you expect an apology or something like that just because they tried to add something more than humor. Even the best comedy series add some stuff to be interesting, artsy, or even just for the sake of doing a different thing. What Telltale has done is just that, and I appreciate. If you can't see those, I'm really sorry, but I just pity.