Success Kills Creativity
400 days = worst episode to date easily
the writing is terrible, the characters aren't nearly as developed because you spend so little time with each of them, they re-use dramatic scenarios from season 1, even more restrictive "gameplay", and the illusion of choice is even more glaring in this one
I warned you all about this with my previous thread. all the popularity, awards and outpouring of love may have gotten to their heads and ruined this franchise. when someone experiences that much mainstream success they tend to get complacent and rest on their laurels. if this episode is any indication of how season 2 will be, I might have to pass
the writing is terrible, the characters aren't nearly as developed because you spend so little time with each of them, they re-use dramatic scenarios from season 1, even more restrictive "gameplay", and the illusion of choice is even more glaring in this one
I warned you all about this with my previous thread. all the popularity, awards and outpouring of love may have gotten to their heads and ruined this franchise. when someone experiences that much mainstream success they tend to get complacent and rest on their laurels. if this episode is any indication of how season 2 will be, I might have to pass
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Comments
I don't care about choices, i never played the game for that.
Success can ruin creativity, but it hasn't happened here. Not every project someone makes will be a success, and it's ludicrous to think otherwise.
Your crazy it was fine. Its because it was meant to look at other peoples lifes in the ZA. In 1-5 it was long story with 2 main. Season 2 will be still good trust me on this.
Even though the ending was a little shaky, Telltale took sort of a risk of "testing" new gameplay mechanics that might play out in future TWD episodes. That's what I really liked about the DLC.
sounds like the 4th option is for you dipshit
Jeez, sounds like someone can't respect an opinion!
...well, I don't think I'd go that far, but I do agree that the short story format prevents the player from becoming immersed in the same way he/she could with Lee. "Illusion of choice" is a very real issue in THE WALKING DEAD, although different fans have different opinions about it.
I prefer to see 400 DAYS as an experiment by Telltale that wasn't entirely successful, but a welcome treat all the same.
I agree it's not the greatest episode in the series - how could it be? In fact, I don't even think it should be considered an "episode". It's a series of shorts. Bonus scenes. Some are more effective than others, but they're all better written and better acted than most of what I've seen in videogames recently.
Personally i would've used 400 days as a chance to test a new formula, you know change some of the game mechanics, maybe the quicktime decisions? i always wanted to have different outcomes in the scenarios depending on how fast/well you clicked everything, it doesn't has to be everytime the "oh you shot every zombie guess what X person still died, or Y still got left behind".
Introducing more puzzles and an fps camera when in shooting zombies scenes would've been nice too.
As a counter lets use - no success means no more Walking Dead.
Personally i thought 400 Days was fine.
Someone mentioned the Heavy Rain DLC. That was a repackaged tech demo for the game. It's not going to be anything like the full game because there is no substance, it just shows off mechanics. What is the DLC of Walking Dead? A trailer. Here you meet five characters, none of whom will be that important to the second season (since they can be there or not depending on your save) and - more importantly - learn of a community.
So there, that's what this boils down to: more of the same, less development and a twelve second hook for season 2. But what hasn't changed? THE WRITING.
I disagree on quite a few points, but I don't think you're completely wrong. Many games and movies get lazy after being huge hits, but it is not an inevitable doom. And I think a lot of your points aren't exactly supportive to your argument.
I don't think the writing was "terrible." The biggest problem was that doing five short stories instead of one long one doesn't give room for emotionally resonant stories like Lee's story was. If anything, the thing that bothered me about the writing was the excess of profanity. Profanity can be used well in writing, but they were just flinging words left and right here. It needed more restraint.
Well DUH the characters aren't as developed. We only got ten to twenty minutes a piece with each of them. If Lee's story started off with only ten minutes, we would have said the same for him.
I wouldn't say they "re-used" dramatic situations. One flaw of the zombie genre is that there isn't A TON of options available for dramatic storytelling. Look back on just about any zombie movie in the last ten years and you can see how most of them follow similar patterns. New stuff can be introduced, but more often than not the stuff that is used are just staples of the genre. Sometimes they are great and sometimes they don't work as well.
I hate the argument about if TWD is a game or not. Look, you play it! You use buttons, a movement stick and the controller. It is a game. Not all games have to have fast and frenetic controls. Sometimes the slower, more methodical type of gameplay is just as compelling if not more so. Yes you do a lot of watching in this game, but it is the same with Metal Gear and those games are great. It is interactive fiction, but that is still by the strictest of definitions a game! And I don't even feel that it is restrictive. It is no less restrictive than any other game with a forward moving story.
Which leads me to the illusion of choice comment. ALL GAMES ARE ILLUSIONS OF CHOICE! If anyone tells you that you will have infinite number of choices in a game, it's a lie. Games are programs and as such they are limited to whatever the developer puts into them. Just because they tell you that your choice matters doesn't mean it will, because most times it will not. Even games like Mass Effect, KOTOR and some of the best multiple choice games of all time are illusions. All the same main story beats will happen regardless of what you choose. GTA and Red Dead equally a lie because they give you lots of options, but there is really only one route to go to actually finish the game. Just running around the sandbox blowing stuff up isn't freedom of choice.
I'm sorry you have convinced yourself success leads to failure, because I don't think that is true at all. It sets up expectations no doubt, but it also gives the room to expand. GTA IV would not been nearly the terrific game it was without the success of the previous games. Mass Effect 2 would not have been such an amazing improvement without the first game's success. There are many games that can attribute the same. So I think you are on your own here.
I honestly thought Episode 2 was the best. Episode 5 was depressing but tense situations hit me harder then depressing ones. It's just the feeling of uneasiness, how everything turns to shit and you have to fight the dairy farmers that you thought would help you, the fact how much the game fucks with you, all the gory choices, it was just such a great episode that truly put me on edge the most.
I didnt think it was excessive at all. It fit the characters. In any case, it was no more than in season 1.
Yeah Season 1 had quite a bit, but I felt it was a bit more spread out and well used. It felt like they crammed it a little too much in this story to the point it lost its effectiveness. Even if it fits the character, there is such a thing as smart profanity usage.
Well, I guess that kind of thing doesnt bother me or Im used to it. I read and hear cursing all the time in the books, tv and movies and video games. I barely even noticed.
Still, it only cost me 400 MSP so I can't complain it was a reasonable price like the rest of the other episodes.
The governor arc is still my favorite moment in the Walking Dead franchise.
I wanted to start off by mentioning something the OP said,this is where the spoiler comes into play,if you haven't played or seen 400 Days to the end do not read on,anyway the OP mentioned illusion of choice again,but our decisions in 400 Days affected the characters lives,they decided whether the characters stayed or left with Tavia,for example,if as Vince you shot Justin's foot off he wouldn't leave with Tavia,but if you shot off Danny's foot then he would.
I think that which characters left and which didn't will affect season 2,I mean the characters that did leave we could find at the community,while the ones that didn't (if any) we would find dead at the camp,possibly.
If you were referring to me then I apologize,unless you mean the first poster,but if it was me then I am sorry I was just ponting out that it was good here.
Oh sorry,but just letting you know I really enjoyed 400 Days,I think it was excellent.
I completely agree,it just got better and better.
Also I don't think it as a quick cash-in (because TTG gave it to me as a free bonus, but even if wasn't free, I would have paid $5 dollars for it and be happy with it.)