The game seriously needs a comeback of hub areas. [Gameplay time comparison]
Clem_is_awesome
Banned
I got the idea of making this thread after my old thread
http://www.telltalegames.com/community/discussion/61618
and after reading this one
http://www.telltalegames.com/community/discussion/61900/gripes-with-season-2
So I'll be comparing how much cutscene time and how much gameplay time there is in the entire episode 2.
I replayed the episode 2 while recording the entire thing. From the moment that i clicked start episode to the moment that it cuts to black at the end it took me 1 hour 30 minutes and 20 seconds.
No sprinting, clicked all objects in all scenes, even the ones that had "Look" first and then "Use". Took 2 seconds to choose every dialogue choice.
Here are the times.
"Previously on the walking dead"
-2 minutes 22 seconds.
Pete scene.
-Total 8 minutes 20 seconds
-Cutscenes 7 minutes 10 seconds
-Gameplay 1 minute 10 seconds.
Cabin Scene
-Total 13 minutes 12 seconds
-Cutscenes 12 minutes 48 seconds
-Gameplay 24 seconds
Looking out for Pete scene
-Total 4 minutes 8 seconds
-Cutscenes 3 minutes 58 seconds
-Gameplay 10 seconds of holding down W
Before the bridge Scene
-Total 5 minutes 4 seconds
-Cutscenes 4 minutes 26 seconds
-Gameplay 38 seconds including looking through binoculars and killing the walkers
Bridge Scene
-Total 5 minutes 34 seconds
-Cutscenes 4 minutes 29 seconds
-Gameplay 1 minute 5 seconds
Station Scene
-Total 6 minutes 57 seconds
-Cutscenes 2 minutes 19 seconds
-Gameplay 3 minutes 46 seconds
Meeting Kenny Scene
-Total 4 minutes 11 seconds
-Cutscenes 3 minutes 17 seconds
-Gameplay 54 seconds of going up and down the ladder and using binoculars
Ski Lodge Scene until Clem finds the knife is gone.
-Total 24 minutes 1 second
-Cutscene 18 minutes 34 seconds
-Gameplay 5 minutes 27 seconds
Walter confrontation until ending.
-Total 16 minutes 31 seconds
-Cutscenes 15 minutes 13 seconds
-Gameplay 1 minute 18 seconds including turning off the turbine, shooting walkers and walking outside to find kenny
Total Cutscene time 1 hour 12 minutes and 14 seconds 79.9%
Total Gameplay time 18 minutes and 6 seconds 20.1%
You could compare this to any episode of season 1 and you'll see we're able to control Lee for way over 20% of each episode. Even S2E1 lets us control Clementine a lot more.
A House Divided is still a 9.5/10 in my book but Telltale Games is taking their "Tell Tale" way too literally now. The game needs more hubs or areas where we control Clem for longer times and where we can talk to characters and ask them several questions before continuing the story.
Comments
By Kenny's holy Beardstache, that took me a long time to type up.
Agreed, season 2 feels different; I thought it was the pacing, but you summed it up. Still a great game nonetheless.
I hope the Community next episode is just 1 big Hub where in your spare time that your not working your working on your big escape, Gaining friends, Finding weapons, freeing prisoners, helping to fight off the herd incoming, etc.
Hey Clem how you doing buddy
This is what most likely be the case. Clem is confined to the base and has to work with what she has, unlike being constantly on the move in the first 2 episodes.
Give this man a medal.
Agreed 100 %
Wow. Thank you so much for taking the time in investigating and typing this out! Literally the only issue I have with the new episodes is the lack of game play and length, and this basically proves how little we actually have now. The developers seriously need to either add in more hubs relevant to the story, or include longer ones at least.
Other than this, Season Two has been spectacular. "A House Divided" has been considered Telltale's best so far.
I challenge you to actually test this theory. Go replay season 1 and do all of the gameplay segments as fast as possible (ie: with full prior knowledge of what to do and where to go.)
I'd be surprised if dialogue wasn't still 70% or more of the game.
episode 1 takes hour and a half ,
Exactly what I was thinking.
I don't see why this is such a big deal. During episode 2, you get to speak with every group member at least once, aside from Luke and Carlos. The problem is that there wasn't really an opportunity to talk about much of their past. We talked to Alvin, but we still don't know that much about him. He probably doesn't want to talk about it anyway, seeing as he apparently had to kill a friend of his named George.
The problem isn't the lack of a hub, it is the fact that they are on the run and thus can't really talk all that much. Things could change in episode 3, though.
starved for help took me 1 hour 29 minutes 40 seconds. there you go
You're looking at speedruns.
I watched a bit of the video he posted and there's nothing "speedrun" about it.
I have to agree with your points. A House Divided was my favourite episode so far, but I'd still only give it a 9.5/10. If it had more hub areas, I'd easily give it 10.
Starved for help taking 1 hour 29 minutes is clearly a speedrun. This thread isnt about episode length though.
i think the next episode will have a lot more gameplay, looking around carvers camp, finding escape paths and stuff like that
yeah you are right , i just wanted to test how long it will be if i just rushed through it
Unless all of that looking around and finding escape routes are done with cutscenes and railroad hold down forward button scenes.
Yeah, they're on the run, but as proposed in another thread, there still could've been some downtime to explore the cast. The first day on the road (they've got to camp) or somewhere in-between the time they left the cabin and when they arrive on the bridge. They also had a chance to do a "hub" with the ski-lodge.
Being in a community and all in EP3, I think they'll allow free roaming to some extent there.
Thank you this is quality research but find the findings disturbing in terms of gameplay. Haven't played episode 2 yet not released in europe psn so can't really comment on quality but judging on gameplay from your findings hope this trend doesn't continue think i'm old school gamer i feel more immersed playing through with gameplay like TLOU or S1(loved in TLOU survival was all on your ability with limited resources and was all up to yourself to save ellie through your ability death can come at anytime really have use your head to progress and analyse each challenge epic) but with cutscenes just feel powerless and restricts my play also like bit of challenge just feel badass every now and again like puzzles etc(even small easy ones). Love exploration and looking around interacting with everything instead of camera constantly pushing you one direction to linear. Can i honestly say they improved s1 gameplay no but still enjoying it feels like step down like prequel.
Saying all this i'm massive fan just only voicing an opinion still think brilliant game and definite buy can't wait for vita version
I more like cutscenes and decisions
Did you actually watch the video for even a minute? A "speedrun" in this series is pretty much just "replaying the game with prior knowledge of what to do," and that's exactly what that video is. It's not like there's cheating involved or anything. My replays looked very similar to that.
I suppose the fact that the meat of the s1 episodes is actually quite short doesn't support your assertion.
Thank you for posting this.
I agree. I understand that TWD is an adventure game, and has to remain on rails at times to be coherent, but we're not asking for a sandbox game here. All we want is a bit more freedom. Ironic that the best opportunity for that may be during Clementine's and the group's imprisonment.
Didn't you forget the unskippable credits? They felt like never ending...
Honestly, i liked credits and its songs
The music helps this time around.
When you look at next episode, we'll probably have to sneak in and talk to characters and learn a lot more about our group and Carver's. Next one is gonna be very gameplay-ish.
I'm kind of wondering if these requests are going to come up in a future "Playing Dead" episode with the writers and/or episode director? It would be kind of neat for them to acknowledge what people are saying here.
im at the station now,and fully understand the OP ,its beautiful,it gives the time for the player to breathe,just being normal,no rush to bash zombies brains in,more of this! this is some episode,brilliant! @TellTale
I'm with you. I loved "A House Divided", but I really miss the hub areas too. They are nice for multiple reasons.
1) They're a good place to cool down between action scenes.
2) They allow you to appreciate all the design done on the backgrounds/locations.
3) They allow you time to get to know the other characters, aiding in character development.
4) They extend the time of the episode.
I love that song ("In the Pines"/"Where Did You Sleep Last Night"). Still, when you play multiple times, it's nice to skip the credits sometimes.
No...give this man a cookie!
Das one big ass cookie mayn.
I don't know about consoles, but they are certainly skippable on the PC version. Soon as I finished the episode, it's CTRL ALT Delete out of there lol. As I said on another thread, some people might like depressing songs, I don't.
5) They make your tummy happy.
6) Stop me from bitching.
7) Save lives. (Half-joke, they give you a reason to care about these people beyond the plot)
8) Say that you are incredibly awesome.
Win-win as far as I'm concerned!
Seconded. We've never really been in a community any larger than what we had at the motor inn, so it'd be interesting to be able to look around a bit, catching up with different characters amongst the larger group's daily business.