alternate endings/choose your own adventure
This is a guess somewhat of a new concept with non-sports video games; one where there's more than one path through the game and you have choices as far as which path you take which does effect how the game progresses. And specifically these choices lead to alternate endings.
Telltale does allow for choices of different dialogues but up to this point, the game has been sequential (understandable since it's episodic).
But is there any chance episode 5 could allow for multiple paths to be taken; ie. an option for which time periods to go to (ie. do you chase after the villain wherever he/she is now or go back before she/he arrives)? Has telltale ever done something like this before? I'm talking about games live heavy rain, marvel ultimate alliance 2, spider-man web of shadows etc. And thus have multiple endings? These games do have high replay values for this reason.
Telltale does allow for choices of different dialogues but up to this point, the game has been sequential (understandable since it's episodic).
But is there any chance episode 5 could allow for multiple paths to be taken; ie. an option for which time periods to go to (ie. do you chase after the villain wherever he/she is now or go back before she/he arrives)? Has telltale ever done something like this before? I'm talking about games live heavy rain, marvel ultimate alliance 2, spider-man web of shadows etc. And thus have multiple endings? These games do have high replay values for this reason.
Sign in to comment in this discussion.
Comments
From what I've seen, Telltale has only done multiple endings for one game. In the last episode of Sam & Max The Devil's Playhouse, the final scene between the main characters would change depending on the choice of dialogue made earlier by the player near the beginning of the episode. That's the only example I could come up with.
Anyway back to BTTF. I think this would be a great idea. Maybe they could have it so that the different endings end up taking you to different time zones, depending on what you say to FCB for example. They could even have an ending where Marty loses and he gets stuck in 1931 or he doesnt manage to change the future back to his time line. That would be interesting.
That would be awesome but given the fact that the continuity between episodes already has goofs with marty's fake name (corleone/callahan/crocket), it's too much to ask at this point. Plus we kind of all need to be at basically the same point entering the last episode. But in the last episode they could have alternate endings?
And yes I know it's not a new thing with text adventures but video games it is. From a playstation perspective, they only started doing it with playstation 2 games and regularily with ps3
Alternate endings is a great idea, but I think the chances are slim given that it's not typically Telltale's style with their other games and that the episodes feel rushed to meet the deadlines that TT promises, no real time for shine and polish.
The trailer shows Gerry Harding getting DESTROYED by a Triceratops and a Trex.
Kotor has many, Mass Effect too, any RPG actually does.
Even Heavy Rain does ... That's the only thing interesting about interactive movies : being able to change the story depending on your choice... If you have NO interactivity, then it's just a bad experience...
But if you want to talk about "an adventure game based off a movie", then Blade Runner the game completely rapes back to the future like there's no damn tomorrow.
I love alternate endings, but only if they're done right. The two endings in the last S&M season depended on a single, essentially arbitrary choice in the middle of the episode: Nice idea, but it doesn't really make for a great difference.
What you're hinting at there is not necessarily different endings, but different paths through the game as well. This will not happen. Telltale have always adhered to a very strict solution path through their games with few, if any, deviations. In fact, being able to chose Marty's alias in 1931 - just a shred of interactivity - was probably a big surprise for long-time Telltalers.
Chances are, even in Jurassic Park, supposedly "inspired by Heavy Rain", individual decisions and consequences might not be a part of the "gaming experience". In terms of interactivity/ multiple solutions, the ship has really really sailed for BTTF, about halfway around the world in fact. But who knows? It might arrive again somewhen next year, in a different game.
---
And after this short intermission, and while we're off-topic anyway, a few words about Mass Effect 2. I am in fact in my third run through the game, so you somehow have to consider me a fan. Although the interactive story is a huge plus, I always wonder if the concept is such a great one. You either strive to be "the ultimate badass", which determines your every decision, or "the ultimate hero", which also determines your every decision. It's fine that the good/bad distinction of previous Bioware games is past, but their alternative is not much better. The decisions are sometimes so greatly and carefully balanced in this game that "doing good" is indeed just a matter of perspective (and I love that!), but the Paragon/Renegade scale ruins it all, because you are of course trying to bring one scale to its extreme. Conceptual problem, really. The other problem are the "multiple endings": You either do it right and people survive, or you act wrong and they die. If you're doing it wrong, you will want to play it again. If you don't, ME3 will be a seriously cut experience for you if you load your old game. That's supposed to be the interactive part? WTF?
Telltale probably doesn't have the staff to create a game with as many choices as the Mass Effect games. Look at the third game that is coming out in the series and how it will have taken them over a year to make it and it will have over 100 hours of gameplay. Even more if you have the first two games to make new choices with.
Actually, in terms of choices and endings, KOTOR is far better.
For those who have played telltale games before, is the final episode of games usually any longer than the first 4?
Or is the June release likely the fact that they have needed more than 30 days for each previous episode thus making a may release impossible?
That's a neg. There have been final episodes that have felt significantly shorter, like the last episode of S&M season 3; final episodes which were glorious, but not longer than previous episodes (S&M season 2 had the perfect ending episode, but episode 4 felt equally long and great). Also, there was a season which ended with an adequately long episode, but skipped the resolution of crucial story arcs at its ending (ToMI).
Long-time TTG fans do not know or predict what to expect from a "final episode". TTG likes to plan a great finale, but is sometimes unable to deliver due to time constraints.
As you can see from their announcement in the very first trailer, this is not exactly unexpected. They did the same thing with Sam & Max season 3: They weren't giving the final month. In Sam & Max, that loophole wasn't needed and they released the month following episode 4.
They're fast, give them that - but they have a lot more on their hands now than a year ago.
Well they are created by Bioware so it is no surprise that both games have superior choices and endings to any other.
I meant better than Mass Effect.
Also, The Witcher 2 is pretty epic too.
If only they'd gotten A.J. to be Marty.