A 5 years old from the 80s might. A nowadays 5 years old wouldn't. Clicking is not hard, the game requires no thought AT ALL. With the facebook/Iphone/Tweeter generation, you really have to think they're pretty stupid if they're not able to figure "hey, I have to click stuff to get the plot forward".
As for interactive movie, it's pretty insulting to the genre. Interacting movies LETS you interact. This "game" doesn't. It's just "click" and see stuff in the order it was meant to, you have no control over anything, no freedom AT ALL. Blade Runner the game, Heavy Rain, L.A. Noire, those could be considered "interactive movies" and they offer so much more than BTTF, in any level.
So, "interactive movie", it's more like an actual movie, where there are some pauses... There are minor exceptions in the game, but it's "too little too late".
No.
No you're wrong. See that's how wonderful it is, it's not an opinion here. In the game, everything relies on "happy coincidences". It takes ALL THE CREDIBILITY AWAY. It's not subtle AT ALL. Also, there are way too many convenient "coincidences" and worst, completely out of spirit stuff, like Einstein GPS tracking through time, the few item puzzles we had, the overall feeling of the game and cut scenes contradicting themselves (like Hill valley absolutely deserted in the game while it seemed alive in cutscenes).
There's always "random" things that show up for absolutely no reason just when it needs to, to get the plot forward.
That's sloppy writing. It can be done in a funny or smart way, it was the case in the MOVIES, but in this game it's just horrible to believe anything.
I mean, I'm still trying to get over the "oh yeah BTw I invented a Marty tracker on the time machine so it would pop up randomly where you would be to help me in time, cauz you know, my family that is more used to time travel couldn't do it by themselves, I had to risk EVERYTHING by doing that, ignoring the fact that anybody could have found the car and that you're probably not the right person for the job since you have no idea of the context I'm in".
That was just the first one, then we got another thirty stuffs like that.
So I'm sorry, you can say you like it, you can say you feel it's like the movies, but in NO WAY, is it possible to see that as a part 4.
Or your expectations were so low you're actually insulting the franchise. (Cauz Insulting the adventure and interactive movies genre wasn't enough obviously)
Well I just enjoyed the game for what it was. Yes it was easy but I played it for the story. I see it as a Back to the Future 4, because lets face it, we are never going to see another movie. What you said about the cutscreens contradicting the gameplay, I didn't realise that until you mentioned it. I can overlook the minor things.
The linearity happens in every Telltale title. You click stuff to see the rest of the story.
I agree that the Back to the Future puzzles are much easier and fewer, but well lets face it, this game isn't about the puzzles.
The linearity happens in every Telltale title. You click stuff to see the rest of the story.
But those games actually required THOUGHT. You had to think, to TRY things. It's linear in the story telling, not in the game design.
Also, there were A LOT of stuff you could do / see / talk to that weren't necessary to get the plot forward. In BTTF, that's close to NONE. And where there is, it's mostly just a little thing, not enough.
The worlds depicted in Telltale games always felt somewhat limited and "budget restricted". BUT at least, they had a real identity.
I see it as a Back to the Future 4, because lets face it, we are never going to see another movie.
Well, you don't know that. We're doing amazing progress in 3D, we can now animate faces in a perfect way, with incredible textures and all.
A MJ FOX is totally possible in 10 years, for instance. But let's say we won't ever get a sequel...
Well I feel your pain. I was so excited when Telltale announced the game !
And honesly, I don't mind "easy" games. It's just that, even though I had no expectation of a free roaming game, I was still hoping to EXPLORE the city a little bit. To see it change through time. I actually wanted a game like Shadow of Memories... (Though telltale never gave the choice to change the story in their games but hey, could have been a start ! And even if they didn't, there'd still be the exploration)
I mean, who never dreamed of meeting the same characters at different time periods ? To see what went wrong or great for them, see how history repeats itself and all...
Going to the bar, asking for a pepsi ...
I don't know, we got nothing we could have hoped for.
The story, while having an interesting concept, is completely convoluted, based on too many sloppy writing that asks too much of our indulgence and credulity to be believable...
Also, it's clearly not adapted to a GAME story. It lacks way too much "punch" and content. I absolutely don't feel nearly as satisfied with those episodes (story wise) that I am while watching the movies. And yet, there are hours of """gameplay""", that tells something is definitely wrong about it. The pace is so unnatural, I understand some fans can enjoy it, but as I am working (not in a professional way, at least not yet ) on movies, video games, and graphics, there just are too much things I can't accept.
For me, it fails as a game, it fails as being what we could expect out of a BTTF game, and I just don't understand how it went so wrong.
I love those movies, they're (among so many I admit) my childhood, I want the best for them.
That is clearly, not the best.
Its not too easy. But its not a challenge. The only challenging puzzle for me was the building the rocketcar puzzle. I failed like 3 times.
So in 80% of the game, you've only encountered one puzzle that you consider even remotely challenging, and it took you 4 tries to finish it, and that isn't too easy? How could it have been any easier?
So in 80% of the game, you've only encountered one puzzle that you consider even remotely challenging, and it took you 4 tries to finish it, and that isn't too easy? How could it have been any easier?
First time I took about 8~15 times to get it right. Then the next playthrough, I got the rocket fuel correct the 3rd time. Third playthrough, got it right on the first try.
You'll have problems if you are unlucky enough. Emmett's father does confuse you a few times during the rocket fuel making by speaking up and saying something Emmet would say to help you.
I think it's just right. I prefer stories over puzzles.
It's not a movie it's supposed to be a GAME.
You expect to play something, to enjoy its mechanics. Not just watch random videos while having no control whatsoever on what's happening.
Also, every game usually gives BOTH the story and the gameplay. Sure people prefer the story over it, but that doesn't mean the other part has to be butchered like that. The overall balance is broken.
I will say this...I would have liked a way to fail. Like...for example, when trying to get Einstein away from Marty to keep his other self from seeing him, you have a certain amount of time before the other Marty comes around and sees the first Marty, the game says something like "Congratulations on destroying the universe. Try again?"
I will say this...I would have liked a way to fail. Like...for example, when trying to get Einstein away from Marty to keep his other self from seeing him, you have a certain amount of time before the other Marty comes around and sees the first Marty, the game says something like "Congratulations on destroying the universe. Try again?"
Well I prefer stories over puzzles too. I'm just happy to be playing a "Back to the Future" game, meeting characters from the movies and hearing Christopher Lloyd voice Doc again is always a joy.
IMO it has the spirit of the movies and gives you nostalgia.
Could they have done things differently? Certainly. I'm just enjoying the game for what it is and considering the price they were charging for it, I thought it was worth every penny.
Making a game for people who don't play games sounds like an inherently flawed proposal somehow.
Not if you're trying to entice and ease a generation of bttf loving non-gamers into the idea of playing adventure-styled games. It's a way to expand their gaming audience while alienating as few as possible of their gaming fanbase by relying on the love and charm of the story and characters.
Tricky balance.
I can't help but wonder how much of the difficulty curve was a stipulation of the license agreement, or if it really was just marketing tactics. Have TTG said anything about it specifically?
Not if you're trying to entice and ease a generation of bttf loving non-gamers into the idea of playing adventure-styled games. It's a way to expand their gaming audience while alienating as few as possible of their gaming fanbase by relying on the love and charm of the story and characters.
Tricky balance.
I can't help but wonder how much of the difficulty curve was a stipulation of the license agreement, or if it really was just marketing tactics. Have TTG said anything about it specifically?
So you're saying they're foremost targeting BTTF fans including those who never play games at the risk of alienating old-school adventure gamers, instead of foremost targeting gamers including those who love BTTF at the risk of alienating those BTTF fans who never play games?
So you're saying they're foremost targeting BTTF fans including those who never play games at the risk of alienating old-school adventure gamers, instead of foremost targeting gamers including those who love BTTF at the risk of alienating those BTTF fans who never play games?
Sounds foolish if you ask me.
Nah, solid tactics. I think they're relying on the good-will they've built up with other franchises. I don't think they expect to lose many gamers as a result of this. Let's face it, if you're a Sam and Max fan who loves BTTF and was disappointed with the BTTF season, you're not likely to boycott S&M Season 4, should it get made. ( Here's hoping )
Not if you're trying to entice and ease a generation of bttf loving non-gamers into the idea of playing adventure-styled games. It's a way to expand their gaming audience while alienating as few as possible of their gaming fanbase by relying on the love and charm of the story and characters.
Tricky balance.
But the thing is that non-gamers don't play games. Hence the title: Non Gamers. Making games for people who don't play games doesn't make any sense. It's like making music for tone deaf people.
Expanding an audience is all well and good, but expanding into a realm of people who aren't interested in the first place just seems strange to me.
It's like if they announced an official BttF novel, but decided they wanted to make it appeal to people who don't normally read, so they just replaced all of the words with pictures. It's dumbing it down to the point where I have to ask "Why the hell was it made as a game in the first place?".
But the thing is that non-gamers don't play games. Hence the title: Non Gamers. Making games for people who don't play games doesn't make any sense. It's like making music for tone deaf people.
Expanding an audience is all well and good, but expanding into a realm of people who aren't interested in the first place just seems strange to me.
Nintendo did it with the Wii, very successfully. Granted, many people left it in the corner gathering dust after trying it, but many more continued to play games afterwards.
Nintendo did it with the Wii, very successfully. Granted, many people left it in the corner gathering dust after trying it, but many more continued to play games afterwards.
Nintendo's sales have been tanking, pretty damn hard, which leads me to believe that the only people still somewhat interested in the Wii are people who bought it to play games, rather than the soccer moms who thought Wii Sports or Wii Fit looked neat.
It's like if they announced an official BttF novel, but decided they wanted to make it appeal to people who don't normally read, so they just replaced all of the words with pictures. It's dumbing it down to the point where I have to ask "Why the hell was it made as a game in the first place?".
Bit of a long bow there - most humans are capable of gaming and don't, not necessarily because they don't want to but because they haven't before or haven't seen anything that would make them want to. People who don't read usually don't by choice or becaase they can't - and I can't imagine them picking up a BTTF-4 book, whereas a/v media is more enticing.
As for calling it a game...it's a fine line, I admit. But it's probably easier to get the go-ahead on a game instead of an animation or new movie, as well as cheaper by far.
Nintendo's sales have been tanking, pretty damn hard, which leads me to believe that the only people still somewhat interested in the Wii are people who bought it to play games, rather than the soccer moms who thought Wii Sports or Wii Fit looked neat.
Maybe, but it WAS 4.5 years ago, and it was successful. And the software support has been pretty atrocious lately - also I wouldn't be surprised if many new-found gaming fans moved on to more "hardcore" experiences. And the 3DS didn't revolutionise gaming the way the touch double screen did on the original DS or the Wii controls. So yes, Ninty have let it slide a bit and have a lot to prove at E3 this year, but they still proved their point.
also I wouldn't be surprised if many new-found gaming fans moved on to more "hardcore" experiences.
I would be. The console was marketed to people who are so incompetent that they are terrified by the concept of pressing a button to make something happen on screen, and can't associate anything happening on screen with any action that doesn't directly mirror it. These are not the kind of people who can handle "hardcore" games. No one is going to jump from Farmville to Civ.
I would be. The console was marketed to people who are so incompetent that they are terrified by the concept of pressing a button to make something happen on screen, and can't associate anything happening on screen with any action that doesn't directly mirror it. These are not the kind of people who can handle "hardcore" games. No one is going to jump from Farmville to Civ.
I still think they were successful though. They shifted a lot of consoles, and made money on each compared to the other big two, who took losses on the console to force their way into the market and made money on the games and accessories instead.
Don't even get me STARTED on Zynga games.
Let's face it, if you're a Sam and Max fan who loves BTTF and was disappointed with the BTTF season, you're not likely to boycott S&M Season 4, should it get made.
I can personally disagree first-hand on that point. I started buying TTG's games when ToMI was being developed, and I was so excited about Telltale's games that I was up for buying almost any game they made. Granted, their games did have bugs and glitches here and there, but I was willing to let it slide for the sake of supporting Telltale's effort to renew the status of the adventure gaming genre to what it once was. As of now, I have ToMI, S&M 1,2,3, W&G, Puzzle Agent, Poker Night, SBCG4AP and BTTF ep. 1.
Two things have hit me hard in the realm of buying TTG stuff. First, I pre-ordered the ToMI Deluxe Edition set and after an exceptionally long time of waiting, the extra merch included was a joke if not a slap in the face. Then BTTF was released and is quite literally so easy a three-headed monkey could play it, among the other sloppy problems it has.
Now, I will not buy a TTG game nor merch until someone else can tell me first-hand that it's good. I won't take the company's word for it anymore and that's saying something about their loss of reputation for making good games and other merchandise. My expectations at this point are such that I may even wait for King's Quest to be released before actually deciding whether or not to buy it, and I'm a HUGE KQ fan.
I'm in the exact same situation, except that I also bought Bone, episodes 2-5 of BttF and Telltale Texas Hold 'EM. The latter just to support Telltale, as I didn't think I'd like it before I bought, and was proven right after I played it. Good dialogue alone isn't enough to keep my interest, and so I've abandoned BttF completely as well. The W&G joke of a Collectors DVD, Tales merchandise, Telltale staff belittling forum members and now BttF has made me lose faith in Telltale Games completely. I'm not buying anything else from them until old timers on these forums say it's worth it.
I'm in the same boat, gonna be waiting on Jurassic Park, Kings Quest, Walking Dead, etc. reviews before I purchase now. Specifically reviews that don't sound like "I love it because it's Jurassic Park!!!" like we got with BTTF.
My overall gaming excitement level received a pretty big one-two punch these last few months with BTTF and Dragon Age 2 both disappointing the crap out of me.
Nah, solid tactics. I think they're relying on the good-will they've built up with other franchises. I don't think they expect to lose many gamers as a result of this. Let's face it, if you're a Sam and Max fan who loves BTTF and was disappointed with the BTTF season, you're not likely to boycott S&M Season 4, should it get made. ( Here's hoping )
Telltale has gone from being my favorite video game company to one that I believe is actually harmful to the genre in a matter of less than a year. A Walking Dead game by Telltale would, at one point, be something I'd pick up excitedly. Hell, ANYTHING by Telltale, something like CSI excluded, would be an instant buy for me due to the name recognition alone. Now, the name recognition brings to mind something I should actually avoid. Back to the Future: The Game is entirely unforgivable in my eyes.
They made a....I don't even know how to describe it, a software product that you couldn't pay me to finish. How is not particularly wanting to buy from them anymore an "overreaction"?
Because that was just one series, one which that we knew ahead of time would be easier than the norm for the company. If out of 7 seasons of games there is only one that you don't like then that is still a hell of a good record for any company.
This discussion really doesn't need the flambé part.
TTG has created BTTF obviously catering for a wider target audience and has severely underestimated that it would be that much of a different target audience as well. So, yes, it is natural for a lot of long-term Telltalites to feel somehow cheated.
We can not be sure of much at the moment, but I think some positive as well as negative things are to be expected. I'll try to state these as objective as possible. It's hard.
this is a learning experience for TTG as well (as has been stated). The treatment of following franchises will undoubtedly not be exactly "the same".
Still, "BTTF the game" was and is a massive success. We must assume that its basic concept will at least not be "forgotten" for following franchises.
Many adventure gamers will undoubtedly have issues with Jurassic Park, but we can not know how present these issues will be.
Different franchises mean different target groups. TTG can not really plan to release King's Quest episodes with BTTF's marginal gameplay.
It's a little pretentious, but at the time, I expect the more popular franchises (movie/TV) to receive episodes with less gameplay. But I can't really judge from one franchise.
I'm sorry, but you guys really should try out other "easy games".
NONE of them is as insulting as BTTF. Because when it's that easy, they at least GIVE YOU THE CHOICE on what to do. Lack of challenge doesn't mean it's "lame" by all means, no, sure it can be "too easy", that doesn't mean the whole game is broken and can't be enjoyable, like L.A. Noire and Heavy Rain, for instance. Or even Prince of Persia, you virtually can not die. Does it make it bad ? Well no, it's a good game, just a little short, and too easy. But the controls feel nice, it's beautiful etc... You can enjoy playing it, even if you think it's too easy.
BTTF is not interactive in anyway, you can't do anything.
Given the fact that it was done by fans (at TTG), and not random korean guys trying to follow the movies coming out, how in the world can BTTF be looked at a satisfying thing ?
The story ? The concept is nice, but too stretched out for a 5 part game, in the end the pacing is horrendous, and gets old too fast.
The overall writing ? That's just a joke. They use the "happy coincidence" trick almost EVERY TIME. That's just unbearable. That's lazy writing.
It relies way too much on the fans' indulgence. Yeah having Marty saying a few nice lines, and having Chris as Doc feels cool. Is this enough ? Couldn't we expect more from a game company that says is a) a fan of the adventure genre b) a fan of the movies ? As I said they're not random koreans that have no idea what the hell BTTF is.
Actually, there's nothing I could think that could be worst, if done by fans. Seriously ? What could be worst ?
The graphics ? It's already not in the top 50 of the recent games.
The story ? Seriously, I'm not gonna say it's "super super bad" or anything, but do you really think there couldn't be better with the base material ? They're pro writers, they had Bob Gale (which probably made them do that, they used his "concept" as a whole story for 5 parts... which is terrible), what they did is definitely the least you could expect. A smart way to continue their adventures ? "Oh Marty I'm randomly stuck in the past, my time traveling Delorean will track you through time wherever you are, then you can come to save me. Cauz you know, since you won't have any idea what I was up to, you surely won't screw anything in the past. Asking my family which knows much more about the time travel wasn't a possibility, of course. Oh and the Deloeran just got duplicated in the future, that's why there still is one." Oh ok then. I don't think any fan could actually come up with anything less believable.
The interaction ? Well we're nowhere near Chrono trigger nor Shadow of Memories, are we ? It's close to NONE. No interaction on the way you solve puzzles, no interaction over the story, and worst, sometimes no interaction on the order you "click on stuff" u_u ...
The gameplay ? ... There's absolutely no gameplay. The interface is horrible, Marty's walk cycle is so bad you can't believe it, and yet his run cycle is even worst. The camera angles makes it impossible to play smoothly with a pad, and the mouse control is just even more painful. Great job ! As for the puzzles solving, and getting the plot forward, it's "click that". Incredible.
The characters ? They just feel blank, they don't have much to say or repeat themselves way too fast. Just because they have a funny line once in a while doesn't make it "ok" in my opinion. You can't really know more about them, you can't really get things out of them ... You're forced to follow exactly what they want you to do.
The exploration ? Invisible walls, same areas over and over...
Can you honestly say they brought life to Hill Valley ? For a 2011 game ? Really ? Do you feel like in the movies when you suddenly can't cross this little path on the square ? Don't you think "exploring hill valley" would be more fun than that ? And that you could actually enter a few places instead of having Marty read the headlines all the time ?
The music ? Clearly, the composer that proved himself good enough already is not the problem, but by trying to be "too close" to the original, it just feels boring and repetitive. Worst, TTG re-use them way too much. In the end it's just "meh".
So really, what could be worst, given all they had ?
If "they needed more time" then why didn't they take it ? Obviously they should have realized something was completely wrong in the process. They delayed Jurassic Park to polish it, couldn't they do the same ? Though at this point, it's the game design that is completely flawed, but hey, at least they could have made it better and bug free.
BTTF is not just an insult to adventure games (Monkey island, Dott etc..) it's also an insult to easy interactive games (Blade Runner, L.A. Noire, Shadow of Memories etc...).
So yeah, unlike Star Wars, Dragon Ball, etc..., there aren't tons of BTTF games, so I guess it's harder to "not be a fanboy" with this game.
But though, just "getting a little more of something I like" is just not enough when I knew there were able to do MUCH more.
Their games have been getting progressively easier and easier, and Jurassic Park actually looks like it will be LESS difficult than BttF, since it uses the same "keep clicking stuff until other stuff happens" gameplay but this time you can't even walk around.
Also, it's all but guaranteed that the game was primarily delayed because of the Xbox 360 deal, and that very little polish will actually be done.
We aren't mad because of one bad game, as I said their games have been getting easier and easier, JP is looking to be their worst yet, and they are beginning to have a history of lying, misleading, and practically outright screwing their fans over.
They've released an episode of 2 different game series that they have no intention of continuing on iPad (TDP and W&G). They announced and then apparently canceled the WiiWare version of Puzzle Agent without mentioning it to anyone, hoping people would just forget about it, I guess. They announced a Mac port of Wallace and Gromit and Sam and Max Season 1 ages ago, but apparently decided that no one would care about those. The Wallace and Gromit DVD was an absolute joke, no features to speak of, and online activation = why even bother ordering the disc other than to have something to sit on the shelf? The retail disc is almost better, in that it is DRM-free, but it comes bundled with a bug requiring you to delete certain files that it installs or the game is broken. The downloadable version of the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island featuring Earl Boen's performance was announced forever ago, and they seemingly have brushed that under the rug and forgotten about it at this point. The PC owners of The Devil's Playhouse don't get the Nutrispecs, not even on the DVD. Now we get two completely inexcusably simple games, one of which gets delayed at Microsoft's whim, followed by a blatant lie that the delay is to "improve" the game. It's cool that they refunded customers and gave them a coupon for a free game, but it's not enough to make up for their continual lying/misleading and their complete and total disregard for the fans that put them in the position they're in.
I used to buy everything they made, CSI included, for as many platforms as I could. For example, I own Sam and Max Season 1 for PC on their site, the retail edition, the XBLA port, and the Wii port. The only games of theirs I don't own are the newest CSI (only because I couldn't find anywhere to buy a retail copy of it for some reason) and Jurassic Park. I used to pre-order anything they ever announced, regardless of if I was interested in the license or not. At this point, I'm not buying a single game they release until they decide that they want to develop adventure games for their fans again. I don't give a crap if they want to include an easy mode so that morons can play their games, I just don't want to be lumped into the same game as one designed for incompetent fools to be able to complete, because that isn't enjoyable in the slightest.
No.
And I really do not feel like going into details, as these are very obvious.
Oh, cool story. My post has loads of details, and proof of their continuing ability to ignore their customers and make decisions based on their bottom line rather than doing right by their customers, and your reply is simply "No."
I like how the people who don't like the game are posting long posts to justify their dislike whereas I feel I don't need to justify how I feel about a game. Not to your extents anyway.
No.
And I really do not feel like going into details, as these are very obvious.
He might be a little harsh, though some parts are true.
They are misleading, and they are not considering many of their fans (cancelled parts, various delays etc...) .
They might not be "dishonest" per say, but obviously are disrespectful in a way.
And then you get the obvious marketing advertisement that is completely lying about what the games actually are ;o .
I didn't like Sam and Max season 3, but it wasn't for the same reasons.
But with ALL the games they announced, I just don't see how good those can get. If everything is as bad (or worst if what he said is true about JP) as BTTF, then I'm done with Telltale.
I like how the people who don't like the game are posting long posts to justify their dislike whereas I feel I don't need to justify how I feel about a game. Not to your extents anyway.
Well, we're pointing out what we feel is wrong so maybe it could be fixed in the future.
That's our, total right, and requires no judgement from you.
Oh, and their marketing team also blatantly lied about the number of puzzles included in Puzzle Agent 1. They clearly said "over 50" in the marketing campaign, when the real number was something like 37.
Comments
Well I just enjoyed the game for what it was. Yes it was easy but I played it for the story. I see it as a Back to the Future 4, because lets face it, we are never going to see another movie. What you said about the cutscreens contradicting the gameplay, I didn't realise that until you mentioned it. I can overlook the minor things.
The linearity happens in every Telltale title. You click stuff to see the rest of the story.
I agree that the Back to the Future puzzles are much easier and fewer, but well lets face it, this game isn't about the puzzles.
But those games actually required THOUGHT. You had to think, to TRY things. It's linear in the story telling, not in the game design.
Also, there were A LOT of stuff you could do / see / talk to that weren't necessary to get the plot forward. In BTTF, that's close to NONE. And where there is, it's mostly just a little thing, not enough.
The worlds depicted in Telltale games always felt somewhat limited and "budget restricted". BUT at least, they had a real identity.
Well, you don't know that. We're doing amazing progress in 3D, we can now animate faces in a perfect way, with incredible textures and all.
A MJ FOX is totally possible in 10 years, for instance. But let's say we won't ever get a sequel...
Well I feel your pain. I was so excited when Telltale announced the game !
And honesly, I don't mind "easy" games. It's just that, even though I had no expectation of a free roaming game, I was still hoping to EXPLORE the city a little bit. To see it change through time. I actually wanted a game like Shadow of Memories... (Though telltale never gave the choice to change the story in their games but hey, could have been a start ! And even if they didn't, there'd still be the exploration)
I mean, who never dreamed of meeting the same characters at different time periods ? To see what went wrong or great for them, see how history repeats itself and all...
Going to the bar, asking for a pepsi ...
I don't know, we got nothing we could have hoped for.
The story, while having an interesting concept, is completely convoluted, based on too many sloppy writing that asks too much of our indulgence and credulity to be believable...
Also, it's clearly not adapted to a GAME story. It lacks way too much "punch" and content. I absolutely don't feel nearly as satisfied with those episodes (story wise) that I am while watching the movies. And yet, there are hours of """gameplay""", that tells something is definitely wrong about it. The pace is so unnatural, I understand some fans can enjoy it, but as I am working (not in a professional way, at least not yet
For me, it fails as a game, it fails as being what we could expect out of a BTTF game, and I just don't understand how it went so wrong.
I love those movies, they're (among so many I admit) my childhood, I want the best for them.
That is clearly, not the best.
So in 80% of the game, you've only encountered one puzzle that you consider even remotely challenging, and it took you 4 tries to finish it, and that isn't too easy? How could it have been any easier?
I think it's just right. I prefer stories over puzzles.
First time I took about 8~15 times to get it right. Then the next playthrough, I got the rocket fuel correct the 3rd time. Third playthrough, got it right on the first try.
You'll have problems if you are unlucky enough. Emmett's father does confuse you a few times during the rocket fuel making by speaking up and saying something Emmet would say to help you.
It's not a movie it's supposed to be a GAME.
You expect to play something, to enjoy its mechanics. Not just watch random videos while having no control whatsoever on what's happening.
Also, every game usually gives BOTH the story and the gameplay. Sure people prefer the story over it, but that doesn't mean the other part has to be butchered like that. The overall balance is broken.
That would have been win indeed
IMO it has the spirit of the movies and gives you nostalgia.
Could they have done things differently? Certainly. I'm just enjoying the game for what it is and considering the price they were charging for it, I thought it was worth every penny.
Maybe. It's not aimed at gamers though, certainly not much more than the games that come on Disney DVDs are aimed at gamers.
Making a game for people who don't play games sounds like an inherently flawed proposal somehow.
Not if you're trying to entice and ease a generation of bttf loving non-gamers into the idea of playing adventure-styled games. It's a way to expand their gaming audience while alienating as few as possible of their gaming fanbase by relying on the love and charm of the story and characters.
Tricky balance.
I can't help but wonder how much of the difficulty curve was a stipulation of the license agreement, or if it really was just marketing tactics. Have TTG said anything about it specifically?
So you're saying they're foremost targeting BTTF fans including those who never play games at the risk of alienating old-school adventure gamers, instead of foremost targeting gamers including those who love BTTF at the risk of alienating those BTTF fans who never play games?
Sounds foolish if you ask me.
Nah, solid tactics. I think they're relying on the good-will they've built up with other franchises. I don't think they expect to lose many gamers as a result of this. Let's face it, if you're a Sam and Max fan who loves BTTF and was disappointed with the BTTF season, you're not likely to boycott S&M Season 4, should it get made. ( Here's hoping
But the thing is that non-gamers don't play games. Hence the title: Non Gamers. Making games for people who don't play games doesn't make any sense. It's like making music for tone deaf people.
Expanding an audience is all well and good, but expanding into a realm of people who aren't interested in the first place just seems strange to me.
Nintendo did it with the Wii, very successfully. Granted, many people left it in the corner gathering dust after trying it, but many more continued to play games afterwards.
Nintendo's sales have been tanking, pretty damn hard, which leads me to believe that the only people still somewhat interested in the Wii are people who bought it to play games, rather than the soccer moms who thought Wii Sports or Wii Fit looked neat.
Bit of a long bow there - most humans are capable of gaming and don't, not necessarily because they don't want to but because they haven't before or haven't seen anything that would make them want to. People who don't read usually don't by choice or becaase they can't - and I can't imagine them picking up a BTTF-4 book, whereas a/v media is more enticing.
As for calling it a game...it's a fine line, I admit. But it's probably easier to get the go-ahead on a game instead of an animation or new movie, as well as cheaper by far.
Maybe, but it WAS 4.5 years ago, and it was successful. And the software support has been pretty atrocious lately - also I wouldn't be surprised if many new-found gaming fans moved on to more "hardcore" experiences. And the 3DS didn't revolutionise gaming the way the touch double screen did on the original DS or the Wii controls. So yes, Ninty have let it slide a bit and have a lot to prove at E3 this year, but they still proved their point.
I would be. The console was marketed to people who are so incompetent that they are terrified by the concept of pressing a button to make something happen on screen, and can't associate anything happening on screen with any action that doesn't directly mirror it. These are not the kind of people who can handle "hardcore" games. No one is going to jump from Farmville to Civ.
I still think they were successful though. They shifted a lot of consoles, and made money on each compared to the other big two, who took losses on the console to force their way into the market and made money on the games and accessories instead.
Don't even get me STARTED on Zynga games.
I can personally disagree first-hand on that point. I started buying TTG's games when ToMI was being developed, and I was so excited about Telltale's games that I was up for buying almost any game they made. Granted, their games did have bugs and glitches here and there, but I was willing to let it slide for the sake of supporting Telltale's effort to renew the status of the adventure gaming genre to what it once was. As of now, I have ToMI, S&M 1,2,3, W&G, Puzzle Agent, Poker Night, SBCG4AP and BTTF ep. 1.
Two things have hit me hard in the realm of buying TTG stuff. First, I pre-ordered the ToMI Deluxe Edition set and after an exceptionally long time of waiting, the extra merch included was a joke if not a slap in the face. Then BTTF was released and is quite literally so easy a three-headed monkey could play it, among the other sloppy problems it has.
Now, I will not buy a TTG game nor merch until someone else can tell me first-hand that it's good. I won't take the company's word for it anymore and that's saying something about their loss of reputation for making good games and other merchandise. My expectations at this point are such that I may even wait for King's Quest to be released before actually deciding whether or not to buy it, and I'm a HUGE KQ fan.
My overall gaming excitement level received a pretty big one-two punch these last few months with BTTF and Dragon Age 2 both disappointing the crap out of me.
TTG has created BTTF obviously catering for a wider target audience and has severely underestimated that it would be that much of a different target audience as well. So, yes, it is natural for a lot of long-term Telltalites to feel somehow cheated.
We can not be sure of much at the moment, but I think some positive as well as negative things are to be expected. I'll try to state these as objective as possible. It's hard.
It's a little pretentious, but at the time, I expect the more popular franchises (movie/TV) to receive episodes with less gameplay. But I can't really judge from one franchise.
NONE of them is as insulting as BTTF. Because when it's that easy, they at least GIVE YOU THE CHOICE on what to do. Lack of challenge doesn't mean it's "lame" by all means, no, sure it can be "too easy", that doesn't mean the whole game is broken and can't be enjoyable, like L.A. Noire and Heavy Rain, for instance. Or even Prince of Persia, you virtually can not die. Does it make it bad ? Well no, it's a good game, just a little short, and too easy. But the controls feel nice, it's beautiful etc... You can enjoy playing it, even if you think it's too easy.
BTTF is not interactive in anyway, you can't do anything.
Given the fact that it was done by fans (at TTG), and not random korean guys trying to follow the movies coming out, how in the world can BTTF be looked at a satisfying thing ?
The story ? The concept is nice, but too stretched out for a 5 part game, in the end the pacing is horrendous, and gets old too fast.
The overall writing ? That's just a joke. They use the "happy coincidence" trick almost EVERY TIME. That's just unbearable. That's lazy writing.
It relies way too much on the fans' indulgence. Yeah having Marty saying a few nice lines, and having Chris as Doc feels cool. Is this enough ? Couldn't we expect more from a game company that says is a) a fan of the adventure genre b) a fan of the movies ? As I said they're not random koreans that have no idea what the hell BTTF is.
Actually, there's nothing I could think that could be worst, if done by fans. Seriously ? What could be worst ?
The graphics ? It's already not in the top 50 of the recent games.
The story ? Seriously, I'm not gonna say it's "super super bad" or anything, but do you really think there couldn't be better with the base material ? They're pro writers, they had Bob Gale (which probably made them do that, they used his "concept" as a whole story for 5 parts... which is terrible), what they did is definitely the least you could expect. A smart way to continue their adventures ? "Oh Marty I'm randomly stuck in the past, my time traveling Delorean will track you through time wherever you are, then you can come to save me. Cauz you know, since you won't have any idea what I was up to, you surely won't screw anything in the past. Asking my family which knows much more about the time travel wasn't a possibility, of course. Oh and the Deloeran just got duplicated in the future, that's why there still is one." Oh ok then. I don't think any fan could actually come up with anything less believable.
The interaction ? Well we're nowhere near Chrono trigger nor Shadow of Memories, are we ? It's close to NONE. No interaction on the way you solve puzzles, no interaction over the story, and worst, sometimes no interaction on the order you "click on stuff" u_u ...
The gameplay ? ... There's absolutely no gameplay. The interface is horrible, Marty's walk cycle is so bad you can't believe it, and yet his run cycle is even worst. The camera angles makes it impossible to play smoothly with a pad, and the mouse control is just even more painful. Great job ! As for the puzzles solving, and getting the plot forward, it's "click that". Incredible.
The characters ? They just feel blank, they don't have much to say or repeat themselves way too fast. Just because they have a funny line once in a while doesn't make it "ok" in my opinion. You can't really know more about them, you can't really get things out of them ... You're forced to follow exactly what they want you to do.
The exploration ? Invisible walls, same areas over and over...
Can you honestly say they brought life to Hill Valley ? For a 2011 game ? Really ? Do you feel like in the movies when you suddenly can't cross this little path on the square ? Don't you think "exploring hill valley" would be more fun than that ? And that you could actually enter a few places instead of having Marty read the headlines all the time ?
The music ? Clearly, the composer that proved himself good enough already is not the problem, but by trying to be "too close" to the original, it just feels boring and repetitive. Worst, TTG re-use them way too much. In the end it's just "meh".
So really, what could be worst, given all they had ?
If "they needed more time" then why didn't they take it ? Obviously they should have realized something was completely wrong in the process. They delayed Jurassic Park to polish it, couldn't they do the same ? Though at this point, it's the game design that is completely flawed, but hey, at least they could have made it better and bug free.
BTTF is not just an insult to adventure games (Monkey island, Dott etc..) it's also an insult to easy interactive games (Blade Runner, L.A. Noire, Shadow of Memories etc...).
So yeah, unlike Star Wars, Dragon Ball, etc..., there aren't tons of BTTF games, so I guess it's harder to "not be a fanboy" with this game.
But though, just "getting a little more of something I like" is just not enough when I knew there were able to do MUCH more.
Also, it's all but guaranteed that the game was primarily delayed because of the Xbox 360 deal, and that very little polish will actually be done.
We aren't mad because of one bad game, as I said their games have been getting easier and easier, JP is looking to be their worst yet, and they are beginning to have a history of lying, misleading, and practically outright screwing their fans over.
They've released an episode of 2 different game series that they have no intention of continuing on iPad (TDP and W&G). They announced and then apparently canceled the WiiWare version of Puzzle Agent without mentioning it to anyone, hoping people would just forget about it, I guess. They announced a Mac port of Wallace and Gromit and Sam and Max Season 1 ages ago, but apparently decided that no one would care about those. The Wallace and Gromit DVD was an absolute joke, no features to speak of, and online activation = why even bother ordering the disc other than to have something to sit on the shelf? The retail disc is almost better, in that it is DRM-free, but it comes bundled with a bug requiring you to delete certain files that it installs or the game is broken. The downloadable version of the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island featuring Earl Boen's performance was announced forever ago, and they seemingly have brushed that under the rug and forgotten about it at this point. The PC owners of The Devil's Playhouse don't get the Nutrispecs, not even on the DVD. Now we get two completely inexcusably simple games, one of which gets delayed at Microsoft's whim, followed by a blatant lie that the delay is to "improve" the game. It's cool that they refunded customers and gave them a coupon for a free game, but it's not enough to make up for their continual lying/misleading and their complete and total disregard for the fans that put them in the position they're in.
I used to buy everything they made, CSI included, for as many platforms as I could. For example, I own Sam and Max Season 1 for PC on their site, the retail edition, the XBLA port, and the Wii port. The only games of theirs I don't own are the newest CSI (only because I couldn't find anywhere to buy a retail copy of it for some reason) and Jurassic Park. I used to pre-order anything they ever announced, regardless of if I was interested in the license or not. At this point, I'm not buying a single game they release until they decide that they want to develop adventure games for their fans again. I don't give a crap if they want to include an easy mode so that morons can play their games, I just don't want to be lumped into the same game as one designed for incompetent fools to be able to complete, because that isn't enjoyable in the slightest.
No.
And I really do not feel like going into details, as these are very obvious.
Oh, cool story. My post has loads of details, and proof of their continuing ability to ignore their customers and make decisions based on their bottom line rather than doing right by their customers, and your reply is simply "No."
What a compelling argument.
He might be a little harsh, though some parts are true.
They are misleading, and they are not considering many of their fans (cancelled parts, various delays etc...) .
They might not be "dishonest" per say, but obviously are disrespectful in a way.
And then you get the obvious marketing advertisement that is completely lying about what the games actually are ;o .
I didn't like Sam and Max season 3, but it wasn't for the same reasons.
But with ALL the games they announced, I just don't see how good those can get.
Well, we're pointing out what we feel is wrong so maybe it could be fixed in the future.
That's our, total right, and requires no judgement from you.