I am huge fun of Telltale games but...
Everything you give us is a pure gold
Interesting, inteligent and above all inovative !! You blust the game-world with your ingenious work !!!
Thank you for your existence
but...
I tried six times - from every perspective -for Ethan NOT to be killed - but alas - he always was !!!
That show me one sad thing !!!
No matter how much I love you guys - you just do not have story that differ enough !!!
Our choises have SOME effects - but are that effects BIG enough to really change the path of the story ???!!!
Be honest guys - if we play 3 or 5 times will we get at least TWO completely different stories ???!!!
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If there was an ending where Ethan lived, everyone would take it.
I was hoping, however, they might make it interesting.
An ending where if Ethan doesn't die, his little brother or sister does.
That'd be an interesting twist.
Agreed ! That's exatly my point
If Ethan lived, it would likely lead to two quite different stories, so it was necessary for the story they want to tell. Imagine the workload for Telltale, who only have 4 - 8 weeks to make an episode (an estimate), if each episode were to have diverging plots (not just minor details changing). And this is only the 1st episode of 6.
That said, yes, the broad story arc will likely remain the same, but minor things can change. Like, Malcolm may or may not be in Essos. Who have you got as the sentinel? Did you ask for Tyrion's help/get on his good side? If I'm correct, all of that can change the 'next episode' preview. So, it shows our choices are having minor effects. And honestly, I was quite pleased with the amount of callbacks to previous actions/dialog choices in the 1st episode alone. (Then, not shown in the next episode preview, that bit about Gared's mission might crop up again too, depending on who you told.) So, those are changes going forward for at least episode 2
It seems to be more reactive than Telltale's other games so far. I mean, whether you ask Margaery for help is referenced, what the Queen thought, your promise as Ethan to his sister regarding whether you'll change or not, and you get to see what happened to Margaery if you asked her for help. What you chose to do with the thief. Yes, it's all minor dialog changes and such, but it still counts.
It might not be entire scene changes like in Wolf (where you choose to go and in what order), but honestly, I was quite disappointed that previous actions weren't referenced much in that game. Didn't make much difference. Maybe another playthrough is called for though. It's possible I'm remembering wrong, but it certainly didn't seem like dialog changed as much as it did in GoT.
It's to represent the brutality of the GoT world. which they pulled off perfectly. Plus you're telling me you didn't see that coming? at all? it was an amazing cliffhanger. I don't know what Wolf Among Us Has to do with this.
Honestly, I'm okay with Ethan always dying, I would have just made the flaying scene foreshadow it a little.
He's going to cripple the house or something.
I think that was the point, anyway, to show Ramsay was not an individual who cared.
It doesn't bother me at all ! Of course I expected deads of loved ones - that's brutality of GoT
And Rob_K was right it would be TOO MUCH of work to differ with EVERY BIG choise ! But all I was saying is - make AT LEAST 2 or 3 MORE NEW TWIST in story with 2 or 3 most important decisions that we chose !!!
This is only episode 1, we shall see as the series goes on, maybe people will start to have different endings. Who knows?
I just wish Telltale would start doing "non canon" endings for series' they're making canon to. Like I'd like a non-canon ending of a forrester killing Ramsay for example.
That might come later. But don't expect quite big story changes. Just minor changes. If we do get more though, then that's obviously great.
Above, I was speaking as a writer and someone who's dabbled in game-making with RPG Maker and interactive fiction (you know of 'Choice of Games' or 'Inklewriter'?) There's a reason even text-based interactive fiction keep the broad story arc the same. It's simply too much work and you may never finish, plus story cohesiveness might suffer as well. Not to mention the extra work you put in can go unnoticed by people. So, the minor details are often what change. Like relationships, character appearances, or just a chapter's path before returning back to the main story thread.
That said, The Witcher 2 and Alpha Protocol are great examples of games with choices mattering. On the text-based interactive fiction front, look up 'Tin Star', on IoS, Google Play or the Choice of Games website. It's a western, with around 1.5 millions words and only about 80,000 seen per playthrough. It's unfeasible though to expect Telltale to deliver more than they have, partly due to their release schedule and partly due to them being a smaller studio, but also because they're not just working with words and planning a story. They also have to record dialog/sounds/music, design environments and character animations. Plus program. It's really something that can't be done in 4 - 8 weeks.
Edit: Actually, pop onto the Choice of Games website and check out 'Choice of the Dragon' or some of the other free games there. Dragon doesn't take long to go through, it's text based, and the story arc remains the same.
@Rob_K - I can see you are smart one - so I can't help but nod to your words
Bottom line is - if I do something VERY stupid - I wannt to be punished ! If I do something VERY smart I wanna feeled rewarded !
That's the whole point of this kind of games (your decisions matters !!!)
If we got ONLY ONE main story (whatever we do) the whole point of Telltale Philosofy - is doubdfull !!!!
P.S. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy TTG very much . But everythig just GOT to EVoLVE !!
That's my point though. In regard to GoT, it really feels like they're delivering what they said they would. You are affecting the minor parts of the story, but not the major parts. I've explained why it's not feasible.
Sure, you might not get a game-over because of bad choices (which is possibly what you're hinting at?), but you hopefully get to see if you made the right choices or not, because the idea is that you can get through their games regardless of choices made. It's more of a . . . ethical quandary, when it comes to choices, or they're there to allow you to roleplay. It's not really a case of winning or losing. I remember someone saying that the choices you make color your perceptions of characters too. So, make a different dialog choice and your perception can change, uncovering more facets of the characters.
To be honest, I'd recommend checking this link out on interactive fiction, as I reckon they do a better job than me at explaining why certain choices are made (like choices not altering stories too much):
https://www.choiceofgames.com/2011/07/by-the-numbers-how-to-write-a-long-interactive-novel-that-doesnt-suck/