It was an alright episode when you compare it to the likes of the other episodes of TWAU or Season 2 of TWD...it just doesn't stack up anywhere close to the masterpiece that TWD Season 1 was.
You would think that after making over 25 million dollars on TWD Season 1 that Telltale would've turned around and used at least some of that money on making their games better. Unfortunately, by pretty much all accounts, Telltale's new games feel like they are regressing in quality.
I see many people didn't like it, and while it was VERY short, I liked it, they could've done WAY better but I still enjoyed it.
The only reason the games' quality and length go down is the fact that Telltale keeps acquiring licenses and keep working on more and more games at once, they have a very tight schedule and therefor all episodes of all games come out rushed and unpolished, that's my take on the matter.
I just came to the forums to see what others were saying about the episode. I played at around 3:00 yesterday afternoon. It has now been almost 12 hours since I finished the game, so I've given it time to sink in without being too critical of it right after finishing it. However, out of all of the TWAU episodes, this one was, by far, the weakest. I was thrilled to find out that it was coming out so soon after the last TWD episode, but that excitement has turned into a bit of disappointment. I didn't hate the episode or anything, but it just seemed like more filler than anything else. This episode didn't keep me excited the whole way through, and there wasn't really anything memorable that happened in this episode, in my opinion. Sure, there was a fight sequence, we got to catch up with some characters we hadn't seen in a bit, and we got to meet some new characters, but...I dunno...this episode just wasn't very memorable or exciting. Episode 3 was awesome, and I'm sure episode 5 will provide a great finale, but it seems like episode 4 was just...as I said...a lot of filler in between a great episode and the finale. Anyway! I'm looking forward to the next episode.
I don't know but this felt like best episode for me so far. It actually felt longer for me than other ones (probably because I waited with answer to dialogues until very end).
The lack of excitement and the feeling that it's a filler is because of the poor story-telling. No rising action, no climax, so no emotional payoff. The episode ends with players like us feeling unsatisfied.
I'm thinking Telltale assigned their best writers to the new projects and the inexperienced ones were given TWAU. The difference in quality of writing between S1 TWD and this series is stark.
I just came to the forums to see what others were saying about the episode. I played at around 3:00 yesterday afternoon. It has now been alm… moreost 12 hours since I finished the game, so I've given it time to sink in without being too critical of it right after finishing it. However, out of all of the TWAU episodes, this one was, by far, the weakest. I was thrilled to find out that it was coming out so soon after the last TWD episode, but that excitement has turned into a bit of disappointment. I didn't hate the episode or anything, but it just seemed like more filler than anything else. This episode didn't keep me excited the whole way through, and there wasn't really anything memorable that happened in this episode, in my opinion. Sure, there was a fight sequence, we got to catch up with some characters we hadn't seen in a bit, and we got to meet some new characters, but...I dunno...this episode just wasn't very memorable or exciting. Episode 3… [view original content]
I wouldn't call this episode complete trash, but certainly a huge step down from S1 TWD. Or maybe the success of that game was just a fluke after all, and that TWAU-level quality is what we should reasonably expect from Telltalegames now.
No rising action, no climax, so no emotional payoff. The episode ends with players like us feeling unsatisfied. Are you serious?
Climax- When Bigby goes to the Butcher shop and finds out what Crookman does to Fables. The action started to get tense here
Rising action- The action begins when Bigby encounters Jersey and Woody.
Emotion- You feel bad for everything that happened to Narrissa and her friends. You feel bad for finding out Tiny Tim works for Crookman, and getting himself in trouble. You feel bad for Beauty, Beast, and Butcher, and all the Fables who were hurt. When you have to decide to take Toad and Colin to the farm is also emotion.
Falling action- When you fix the magic mirror and find out where Crane and Mary are. When you meet the Crookman for the first time
So how can you say none of these were in here? It did not have horrible writing either, but I respect your opinion...
The lack of excitement and the feeling that it's a filler is because of the poor story-telling. No rising action, no climax, so no emotional… more payoff. The episode ends with players like us feeling unsatisfied.
I'm thinking Telltale assigned their best writers to the new projects and the inexperienced ones were given TWAU. The difference in quality of writing between S1 TWD and this series is stark.
I certainly don't think it was trash. I also think it is interesting that every single negative thread seems to be centered around length and litle else (I'm aware that there are exceptions to this though). Length doesn't equal quality, you know.
I liked the episode for various reasons, but here's one of the major ones: This was probably the first episode that had a lot of minor changes depending on your choices in previous episodes. Beauty and Beast for example: If you told Beast about Beauty's whereabouts in EP1, he'll be friendly towards you, while Beauty will be distrustful. Other way around, if you didn't tell Beast in EP1. Other example: If you went to the Tweedles first in EP3, then chose to go to Crane's appartement, you'll find that Bluebeard burnt a lot of things. In this episode, you'll get to accuse him of destroying evidence (or mistreating Flycatcher, if you went to him after you went to the appartement.) The dialogue with Jack at the Lucky Pawn also changes whether or not you caught him stealing from Crane's in EP3. There are more examples, but this just goes to show that Telltale put a lot of attention to detail in this episode.
It's funny how people who rushed to get the episodes finished always find things to complain about lol. If people would take the time and think their decisions through then maybe they will have more fun. I was using a stopwatch and my playthrough was 1hr and 29 minutes. This was a great episode.
When episode 204 TWD comes out people gonna be complaining Kenny's blind eye wasn't cool enough, or that he deserved an eye patch and a pirate. Then they gonna complain that the new skills Clem learns is disappointing lol.
I certainly don't think it was trash. I also think it is interesting that every single negative thread seems to be centered around length and litle else (I'm aware that there are exceptions to this though). Length doesn't equal quality, you know.
If, as you say, the climax is at where Bigby finds out about the Butcher Shop, then the problem is even worse. The climax would be too early, leaving the rest of the episode as one long denouement. So, you really aren't defending the writing at all.
You can't just point randomly at story elements and name them "this is rising action" and "this is climax". Such dramatic elements in the story have to arrive at the correct time and place. The climax is the point where the dramatic tension is being confronted and resolved. In this case, finding the Crooked Man. So the correct moment for the climax, to make the story compelling, should be when Bigby finally meets the Crooked Man. But the way it is being handled in the episode makes it very unsatisfying. Very little build-up to the climatic moment. Missed opportunity.
No rising action, no climax, so no emotional payoff. The episode ends with players like us feeling unsatisfied. Are you serious?
Climax- … moreWhen Bigby goes to the Butcher shop and finds out what Crookman does to Fables. The action started to get tense here
Rising action- The action begins when Bigby encounters Jersey and Woody.
Emotion- You feel bad for everything that happened to Narrissa and her friends. You feel bad for finding out Tiny Tim works for Crookman, and getting himself in trouble. You feel bad for Beauty, Beast, and Butcher, and all the Fables who were hurt. When you have to decide to take Toad and Colin to the farm is also emotion.
Falling action- When you fix the magic mirror and find out where Crane and Mary are. When you meet the Crookman for the first time
So how can you say none of these were in here? It did not have horrible writing either, but I respect your opinion...
I thought the episode will suck reading some people comment here but it turn out to be not bad. I mean the fight with the devil was cool and his design was epic. The rest of the choice make sense and the ending can be epic and badass if you smoked . You can't expect a like this to be action 24/7. However I do agree upon the length of the episode tho, it was indeed really short.
If, as you say, the climax is at where Bigby finds out about the Butcher Shop, then the problem is even worse. The climax would be too early… more, leaving the rest of the episode as one long denouement. So, you really aren't defending the writing at all.
You can't just point randomly at story elements and name them "this is rising action" and "this is climax". Such dramatic elements in the story have to arrive at the correct time and place. The climax is the point where the dramatic tension is being confronted and resolved. In this case, finding the Crooked Man. So the correct moment for the climax, to make the story compelling, should be when Bigby finally meets the Crooked Man. But the way it is being handled in the episode makes it very unsatisfying. Very little build-up to the climatic moment. Missed opportunity.
I've seen a great deal of hate towards EP4 in these forums. I personally can't understand it, for I enjoyed the episode as always and have various reasons for that, which I'll list in another thread. However, I noticed that almost all of the hate towards this episode is due to its length. People have called it "poor" and "dissapointing", but other than the length, most of them failed to deliver a real explanation as to why they hated it.
So I ask you who dislike this episode to give me some actual, valid criticism about the episode's content, not the length (I'll be happy to counter your arguments).
Good to see other people who loved it. I mean, this episode had great conversations, great character-build-up (Woody and the Wolf teaming up, whoo!), the fight scene with J.D. was kick-ass, some of the choices from previous episodes actually mattered in this one (Beauty and Beast choice from EP1, for example) and a suspenseful, badass cliff-hanger (totally lit that cigarette).
To me, this episode felt as those episodes from TV shows we call "fillers". Nothing particullary interesting happens, you don't get any game-changing information, there're no choices to struggle with, and we're not given too much of a reason to care either. It serves one purpose, to get Bigby to face The Crooked Man. That goal it accomplishes, but it isn't enough. When you're writing a TV show, you can get away with it. You have like 15 episodes, week after week, and you can spend a couple of those with nothing remarkable taking place.
But here we have 5 episodes, with a couple months of wait between them. It doesn't matter if the filler is good or bad, it shouldn't be here. You can't waste an episode to create build up for the next one when people are paying for an episodic interactive experience where "things happen". If you ask me what happened in this episode I can only tell you "The mirror was fixed and Bigby found the Crooked Man". And there isn't much more to tell. Sure, we find out The Crooked Man was using the butchery as a glamour factory, but we already knew he was behind it. The "how" just doesn't bring anything new to the table.
Do we really need to know about Beauty and Beast struggle to keep a vanity lifestyle? Do we need to be reminded that Toad and Colin don't want to go to the farm, or that Nerissa's leeps are sealed? Is it necessary to keep hearing about how dangerousThe Crooked Man is, despite having spent 3 episodes cleaning up his murders? Snow keeps claiming "this is war", like it's supposed to get us pumped for a real fallout, just to ask 5 seconds later to bring The Crooked Man alive so he can have a fair trial. Because, you know, running a criminal empire with slavery, forced prostituion and the ocassional beheading isn't reason enough for Bigby to get violent.
Just bring the most powerful villain who has his hands in about everything to face a trial, and luckily be locked away. It's not like he might have a plan in case he got discovered or several murderous thugs willing to put it in motion. I'm sure everyhing will turn out just fine.
I quite liked this episode. It was short, but had great story stuff and a good amount of gameplay. I'm more worried about the latest TWD, which barely had any interaction at all. TWAU is doing better at that.
Exactly. Plus, this episode actually included some choices made in previous episodes: Beauty and Beast for example, depending on whether or not you told Beast the truth in EP1, either him or Beauty will be pissed at you, while the other one will be friendly and trusting.
I quite liked this episode. It was short, but had great story stuff and a good amount of gameplay. I'm more worried about the latest TWD, which barely had any interaction at all. TWAU is doing better at that.
Ya, I think TWAU nailed the relationship part of the game better then TWD. Even if you're a complete dick to a character in TWD they never act any different.
Exactly. Plus, this episode actually included some choices made in previous episodes: Beauty and Beast for example, depending on whether or … morenot you told Beast the truth in EP1, either him or Beauty will be pissed at you, while the other one will be friendly and trusting.
What many point to as being too short is, I believe, really another way of saying that the episode misses some of the crucial story-telling elements that make a story compelling, exciting and enjoyable. As I have pointed out in other threads, the fundamental elements of a good story - dramatic tension, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution are poorly executed here. The dramatic tension of the episode is chasing after the Crooked Man and bringing him to justice, and the climax should be when Bigby finally finds him and apprehends him, with a proper build-up to that moment.
However, the meeting between Bigby and the Crooked Man turns out to be anti-climatic, with little interaction between the two. No face-off. Just an over-used and cliched cliffhanger. The build-up to the meeting between protagonist and antagonist is also lacking. Oh the mirror is fixed; goes to the location; steps through the door; exposition by the cripple. That's not rising action. In fact, that exposition by the cripple actually drags down what should be a step up of emotions as Bigby finally meets the man he's been looking for.
So when the credits roll, the general feeling of those who find this episode lacking is, I believe, a sense of incompleteness and a lack of emotional payoff. With no rising tension, there is no climax, and therefore no payoff.
Preach it! I personally liked this episode, it's probably close to being my 2nd favorite. Yeah, I agree the episode could have been a little longer, but other than that I had no problems with it. Really liked the dialogue, the story progressed very well, no scene felt out of place. The fight with the Jersey Devil is the best one so far, also add to that Jack taking off right before it starts and the short moment Bigby and Woody share outside.
Regarding the ending, I kind of expected something like that to happen. I most definitely didn't think we would fight all of them right there and then, no. I picked the threat option,though. When Bigby steps forward with a smirk on his face saying"This is going to be fun" was definitely worth it.
Anyway, this episode for me served as a great build-up for what it should be an epic finale!
Really liked this episode, honestly. I felt like I did a "perfect" playthrough on the first try, because I never found myself in the position I sometimes do of not really finding a good dialogue choice for what's in my head to say or do. And I was never surprised by what came out of Bigby's mouth, so I really felt that I was able to take the scenes where I wanted them to go, and that was nice.
The only thing I would have changed was to maybe have included a bit more of the sort of detective work that requires you to look around the environment for clues. But as to storytelling, I thought this episode was very strong.
As to length, I don't get the complaints either. Raptr clocked me in at about two hours, and I just played it straight through for the most part. I have no idea how you would finish in an hour.
I don't know what people are complaining about when it comes to the length, I'm pretty sure I clocked in almost two hours, certainly longer than the two previous episodes took me. It didn't feel like filler either, several dangling, minor plot threads were either neatly resolved or tied together to give us a broader perspective of where we stand with the Fabletown community as a whole, something I missed until now, and that'll make it much easier by giving us an actual basis when we start making decisions in the finale.
The pacing wasn't as dramatic as usual, that's true, and while it made the episode feel a little less like an artsy, immaculately constructed movie experience, it also felt more realistic. There are points in every good thriller where the detective chases down minor leads, does a little grunt work and meets supporting characters of various importance a second or third time in new contexts, solidifying and broadening impressions and relationships between them to give the audience a better idea about the story's landscape and how it all works above, underneath and around the big mystery itself, so that they can understand what it means and how to feel about it when curtains are finally lifted for that as well. And while I don't much appreciate that element being mostly excluded from previous episodes and then dumped all at once into this one, it needed doing, and it wasn't executed horribly.
All in all, the episode wasn't as exhilarating and satisfying as the others have been. It was plenty interesting and informative, though, and it sets us neatly up for the finale. Moreover, I feel prepared for the finale, and have a good idea about my Bigby's priorities and boundaries when it comes to making the tough choices in the next episode, which is something I certainly didn't expect going by the previous ones.
There were also a few tiny plot points that feed directly into the comics, presumably to give fans of both a greater sense of continuity, which I really appreciate. I can see why if some of those moments seem a little awkward or weirdly emphasized for people who have only played the game, though.
My single biggest complaint is that everyone keeps making such a big deal out of Bloody Mary, whom I simply can't take seriously as a threat and antagonist. She's not that interesting or intimidating, can we please stop talking about her as if she's some sort of equal nemesis for Bigby? The idea is insulting.
I posted in the spoiler-free thread, and I wanted to comfortably reiterate my points in here. I went to an event last night so I played to what I thought was a good stopping point/halfway point of the episode... which is where he encounters the crooked man. So I get up earlier than I usually do to give enough breathing room to finish the episode, and within 5 minutes I have to make one decision and it's over. What the actual hell, that actually felt like just an hour. Didn't take me any more than around 65 minutes to complete, and I thought I was taking my time. Absolutely nothing happened in this episode. You can argue it sets up the story, but the entire episode for me was a realization and validation for the characters that "the crooked man is behind all this. omg why didn't we know!!!1!!"
I'm incredibly apprehensive about the rest of the season and the rest of sesaon 2 for TWD. Telltale has been consistent with their... less-contained releases this year (less contained meaning little character development, no hubs, and almost no gameplay at all), making this episode the one bump in the road that felt like the car drove off a cliff. I agree with the IGN review 100%, and I really hope Telltale looks at the review critically and understand that the games have been going down in quality and quantity heavily.
I posted in the spoiler-free thread, and I wanted to comfortably reiterate my points in here. I went to an event last night so I played to w… morehat I thought was a good stopping point/halfway point of the episode... which is where he encounters the crooked man. So I get up earlier than I usually do to give enough breathing room to finish the episode, and within 5 minutes I have to make one decision and it's over. What the actual hell, that actually felt like just an hour. Didn't take me any more than around 65 minutes to complete, and I thought I was taking my time. Absolutely nothing happened in this episode. You can argue it sets up the story, but the entire episode for me was a realization and validation for the characters that "the crooked man is behind all this. omg why didn't we know!!!1!!"
I'm incredibly apprehensive about the rest of the season and the rest of sesaon 2 for TWD. Telltale has been consistent with their... less-contained… [view original content]
Im going to use my stopwatch when I play too so I can really see what the big deal is. Im not a fast tracker though. I usually take my time with each episode.
It's funny how people who rushed to get the episodes finished always find things to complain about lol. If people would take the time and th… moreink their decisions through then maybe they will have more fun. I was using a stopwatch and my playthrough was 1hr and 29 minutes. This was a great episode.
When episode 204 TWD comes out people gonna be complaining Kenny's blind eye wasn't cool enough, or that he deserved an eye patch and a pirate. Then they gonna complain that the new skills Clem learns is disappointing lol.
Does anyone else feel like people are putting Season 1 of TWD on a huge pedastal? Dont get me wrong, I loved it but it seems like people are always comparing everything else negatively to this "masterpiece".
It was an alright episode when you compare it to the likes of the other episodes of TWAU or Season 2 of TWD...it just doesn't stack up anywh… moreere close to the masterpiece that TWD Season 1 was.
You would think that after making over 25 million dollars on TWD Season 1 that Telltale would've turned around and used at least some of that money on making their games better. Unfortunately, by pretty much all accounts, Telltale's new games feel like they are regressing in quality.
To be honest with you, I don't know. But I'll also say this -- I don't even know how that episode could take you two hours unless you pause to cook and eat dinner, and I don't feel alone in this runtime issue at all, with what appears to be others clocking in around the same (and same goes for the IGN reviewer who described the episode as an hour long.
To be honest with you, I don't know. But I'll also say this -- I don't even know how that episode could take you two hours unless you pause … moreto cook and eat dinner, and I don't feel alone in this runtime issue at all, with what appears to be others clocking in around the same (and same goes for the IGN reviewer who described the episode as an hour long.
Comments
It was an alright episode when you compare it to the likes of the other episodes of TWAU or Season 2 of TWD...it just doesn't stack up anywhere close to the masterpiece that TWD Season 1 was.
You would think that after making over 25 million dollars on TWD Season 1 that Telltale would've turned around and used at least some of that money on making their games better. Unfortunately, by pretty much all accounts, Telltale's new games feel like they are regressing in quality.
I agree
I see many people didn't like it, and while it was VERY short, I liked it, they could've done WAY better but I still enjoyed it.
The only reason the games' quality and length go down is the fact that Telltale keeps acquiring licenses and keep working on more and more games at once, they have a very tight schedule and therefor all episodes of all games come out rushed and unpolished, that's my take on the matter.
I just came to the forums to see what others were saying about the episode. I played at around 3:00 yesterday afternoon. It has now been almost 12 hours since I finished the game, so I've given it time to sink in without being too critical of it right after finishing it. However, out of all of the TWAU episodes, this one was, by far, the weakest. I was thrilled to find out that it was coming out so soon after the last TWD episode, but that excitement has turned into a bit of disappointment. I didn't hate the episode or anything, but it just seemed like more filler than anything else. This episode didn't keep me excited the whole way through, and there wasn't really anything memorable that happened in this episode, in my opinion. Sure, there was a fight sequence, we got to catch up with some characters we hadn't seen in a bit, and we got to meet some new characters, but...I dunno...this episode just wasn't very memorable or exciting. Episode 3 was awesome, and I'm sure episode 5 will provide a great finale, but it seems like episode 4 was just...as I said...a lot of filler in between a great episode and the finale. Anyway! I'm looking forward to the next episode.
I don't know but this felt like best episode for me so far. It actually felt longer for me than other ones (probably because I waited with answer to dialogues until very end).
Episode 4 was good, so what you talking about Willis? This episode was to give you a chance to meet Crooked Man's other goons before the finale.
The lack of excitement and the feeling that it's a filler is because of the poor story-telling. No rising action, no climax, so no emotional payoff. The episode ends with players like us feeling unsatisfied.
I'm thinking Telltale assigned their best writers to the new projects and the inexperienced ones were given TWAU. The difference in quality of writing between S1 TWD and this series is stark.
I wouldn't call this episode complete trash, but certainly a huge step down from S1 TWD. Or maybe the success of that game was just a fluke after all, and that TWAU-level quality is what we should reasonably expect from Telltalegames now.
No rising action, no climax, so no emotional payoff. The episode ends with players like us feeling unsatisfied. Are you serious?
Climax- When Bigby goes to the Butcher shop and finds out what Crookman does to Fables. The action started to get tense here
Rising action- The action begins when Bigby encounters Jersey and Woody.
Emotion- You feel bad for everything that happened to Narrissa and her friends. You feel bad for finding out Tiny Tim works for Crookman, and getting himself in trouble. You feel bad for Beauty, Beast, and Butcher, and all the Fables who were hurt. When you have to decide to take Toad and Colin to the farm is also emotion.
Falling action- When you fix the magic mirror and find out where Crane and Mary are. When you meet the Crookman for the first time
So how can you say none of these were in here? It did not have horrible writing either, but I respect your opinion...
I certainly don't think it was trash. I also think it is interesting that every single negative thread seems to be centered around length and litle else (I'm aware that there are exceptions to this though). Length doesn't equal quality, you know.
I liked the episode for various reasons, but here's one of the major ones: This was probably the first episode that had a lot of minor changes depending on your choices in previous episodes. Beauty and Beast for example: If you told Beast about Beauty's whereabouts in EP1, he'll be friendly towards you, while Beauty will be distrustful. Other way around, if you didn't tell Beast in EP1. Other example: If you went to the Tweedles first in EP3, then chose to go to Crane's appartement, you'll find that Bluebeard burnt a lot of things. In this episode, you'll get to accuse him of destroying evidence (or mistreating Flycatcher, if you went to him after you went to the appartement.) The dialogue with Jack at the Lucky Pawn also changes whether or not you caught him stealing from Crane's in EP3. There are more examples, but this just goes to show that Telltale put a lot of attention to detail in this episode.
It's funny how people who rushed to get the episodes finished always find things to complain about lol. If people would take the time and think their decisions through then maybe they will have more fun. I was using a stopwatch and my playthrough was 1hr and 29 minutes. This was a great episode.
When episode 204 TWD comes out people gonna be complaining Kenny's blind eye wasn't cool enough, or that he deserved an eye patch and a pirate. Then they gonna complain that the new skills Clem learns is disappointing lol.
If, as you say, the climax is at where Bigby finds out about the Butcher Shop, then the problem is even worse. The climax would be too early, leaving the rest of the episode as one long denouement. So, you really aren't defending the writing at all.
You can't just point randomly at story elements and name them "this is rising action" and "this is climax". Such dramatic elements in the story have to arrive at the correct time and place. The climax is the point where the dramatic tension is being confronted and resolved. In this case, finding the Crooked Man. So the correct moment for the climax, to make the story compelling, should be when Bigby finally meets the Crooked Man. But the way it is being handled in the episode makes it very unsatisfying. Very little build-up to the climatic moment. Missed opportunity.
I thought the episode will suck reading some people comment here but it turn out to be not bad. I mean the fight with the devil was cool and his design was epic. The rest of the choice make sense and the ending can be epic and badass if you smoked
. You can't expect a like this to be action 24/7. However I do agree upon the length of the episode tho, it was indeed really short.
Well I'm sorry your $5 Chillings were wasted
. Hopefully season finale is better and epic...
Thread: Episode 4: Real criticism?
I've seen a great deal of hate towards EP4 in these forums. I personally can't understand it, for I enjoyed the episode as always and have various reasons for that, which I'll list in another thread. However, I noticed that almost all of the hate towards this episode is due to its length. People have called it "poor" and "dissapointing", but other than the length, most of them failed to deliver a real explanation as to why they hated it.
So I ask you who dislike this episode to give me some actual, valid criticism about the episode's content, not the length (I'll be happy to counter your arguments).
Good to see other people who loved it. I mean, this episode had great conversations, great character-build-up (Woody and the Wolf teaming up, whoo!), the fight scene with J.D. was kick-ass, some of the choices from previous episodes actually mattered in this one (Beauty and Beast choice from EP1, for example) and a suspenseful, badass cliff-hanger (totally lit that cigarette).
Thread: Episode 4: Worst Telltale episode yet?
To me, this episode felt as those episodes from TV shows we call "fillers". Nothing particullary interesting happens, you don't get any game-changing information, there're no choices to struggle with, and we're not given too much of a reason to care either. It serves one purpose, to get Bigby to face The Crooked Man. That goal it accomplishes, but it isn't enough. When you're writing a TV show, you can get away with it. You have like 15 episodes, week after week, and you can spend a couple of those with nothing remarkable taking place.
But here we have 5 episodes, with a couple months of wait between them. It doesn't matter if the filler is good or bad, it shouldn't be here. You can't waste an episode to create build up for the next one when people are paying for an episodic interactive experience where "things happen". If you ask me what happened in this episode I can only tell you "The mirror was fixed and Bigby found the Crooked Man". And there isn't much more to tell. Sure, we find out The Crooked Man was using the butchery as a glamour factory, but we already knew he was behind it. The "how" just doesn't bring anything new to the table.
Do we really need to know about Beauty and Beast struggle to keep a vanity lifestyle? Do we need to be reminded that Toad and Colin don't want to go to the farm, or that Nerissa's leeps are sealed? Is it necessary to keep hearing about how dangerousThe Crooked Man is, despite having spent 3 episodes cleaning up his murders? Snow keeps claiming "this is war", like it's supposed to get us pumped for a real fallout, just to ask 5 seconds later to bring The Crooked Man alive so he can have a fair trial. Because, you know, running a criminal empire with slavery, forced prostituion and the ocassional beheading isn't reason enough for Bigby to get violent.
Just bring the most powerful villain who has his hands in about everything to face a trial, and luckily be locked away. It's not like he might have a plan in case he got discovered or several murderous thugs willing to put it in motion. I'm sure everyhing will turn out just fine.
...right?
Huff'n Puffs for life!
Wise words, from a wise man
I really don't understand why some people hate it so much, the episode was fucking awesome!
Short, but still awesome!
I liked it. Honestly, people are complaining about the length way too much. You pay around 5 dollars for these, what do you expect.
I quite liked this episode. It was short, but had great story stuff and a good amount of gameplay. I'm more worried about the latest TWD, which barely had any interaction at all. TWAU is doing better at that.
Exactly. Plus, this episode actually included some choices made in previous episodes: Beauty and Beast for example, depending on whether or not you told Beast the truth in EP1, either him or Beauty will be pissed at you, while the other one will be friendly and trusting.
Ya, I think TWAU nailed the relationship part of the game better then TWD. Even if you're a complete dick to a character in TWD they never act any different.
I noticed that too. Epic
What many point to as being too short is, I believe, really another way of saying that the episode misses some of the crucial story-telling elements that make a story compelling, exciting and enjoyable. As I have pointed out in other threads, the fundamental elements of a good story - dramatic tension, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution are poorly executed here. The dramatic tension of the episode is chasing after the Crooked Man and bringing him to justice, and the climax should be when Bigby finally finds him and apprehends him, with a proper build-up to that moment.
However, the meeting between Bigby and the Crooked Man turns out to be anti-climatic, with little interaction between the two. No face-off. Just an over-used and cliched cliffhanger. The build-up to the meeting between protagonist and antagonist is also lacking. Oh the mirror is fixed; goes to the location; steps through the door; exposition by the cripple. That's not rising action. In fact, that exposition by the cripple actually drags down what should be a step up of emotions as Bigby finally meets the man he's been looking for.
So when the credits roll, the general feeling of those who find this episode lacking is, I believe, a sense of incompleteness and a lack of emotional payoff. With no rising tension, there is no climax, and therefore no payoff.
Preach it! I personally liked this episode, it's probably close to being my 2nd favorite. Yeah, I agree the episode could have been a little longer, but other than that I had no problems with it. Really liked the dialogue, the story progressed very well, no scene felt out of place. The fight with the Jersey Devil is the best one so far, also add to that Jack taking off right before it starts and the short moment Bigby and Woody share outside.
Regarding the ending, I kind of expected something like that to happen. I most definitely didn't think we would fight all of them right there and then, no. I picked the threat option,though. When Bigby steps forward with a smirk on his face saying"This is going to be fun" was definitely worth it.
Anyway, this episode for me served as a great build-up for what it should be an epic finale!
I liked this episode,but what I didn't like is that choices were kind of vague.Guess we'll see how these affect the story in ep 5
Yeah I loved this part, hope we'll see more in the last episode
[A comment from another thread,not relevant to this one]
Really liked this episode, honestly. I felt like I did a "perfect" playthrough on the first try, because I never found myself in the position I sometimes do of not really finding a good dialogue choice for what's in my head to say or do. And I was never surprised by what came out of Bigby's mouth, so I really felt that I was able to take the scenes where I wanted them to go, and that was nice.
The only thing I would have changed was to maybe have included a bit more of the sort of detective work that requires you to look around the environment for clues. But as to storytelling, I thought this episode was very strong.
As to length, I don't get the complaints either. Raptr clocked me in at about two hours, and I just played it straight through for the most part. I have no idea how you would finish in an hour.
I don't know what people are complaining about when it comes to the length, I'm pretty sure I clocked in almost two hours, certainly longer than the two previous episodes took me. It didn't feel like filler either, several dangling, minor plot threads were either neatly resolved or tied together to give us a broader perspective of where we stand with the Fabletown community as a whole, something I missed until now, and that'll make it much easier by giving us an actual basis when we start making decisions in the finale.
The pacing wasn't as dramatic as usual, that's true, and while it made the episode feel a little less like an artsy, immaculately constructed movie experience, it also felt more realistic. There are points in every good thriller where the detective chases down minor leads, does a little grunt work and meets supporting characters of various importance a second or third time in new contexts, solidifying and broadening impressions and relationships between them to give the audience a better idea about the story's landscape and how it all works above, underneath and around the big mystery itself, so that they can understand what it means and how to feel about it when curtains are finally lifted for that as well. And while I don't much appreciate that element being mostly excluded from previous episodes and then dumped all at once into this one, it needed doing, and it wasn't executed horribly.
All in all, the episode wasn't as exhilarating and satisfying as the others have been. It was plenty interesting and informative, though, and it sets us neatly up for the finale. Moreover, I feel prepared for the finale, and have a good idea about my Bigby's priorities and boundaries when it comes to making the tough choices in the next episode, which is something I certainly didn't expect going by the previous ones.
There were also a few tiny plot points that feed directly into the comics, presumably to give fans of both a greater sense of continuity, which I really appreciate. I can see why if some of those moments seem a little awkward or weirdly emphasized for people who have only played the game, though.
My single biggest complaint is that everyone keeps making such a big deal out of Bloody Mary, whom I simply can't take seriously as a threat and antagonist. She's not that interesting or intimidating, can we please stop talking about her as if she's some sort of equal nemesis for Bigby? The idea is insulting.
I posted in the spoiler-free thread, and I wanted to comfortably reiterate my points in here. I went to an event last night so I played to what I thought was a good stopping point/halfway point of the episode... which is where he encounters the crooked man. So I get up earlier than I usually do to give enough breathing room to finish the episode, and within 5 minutes I have to make one decision and it's over. What the actual hell, that actually felt like just an hour. Didn't take me any more than around 65 minutes to complete, and I thought I was taking my time. Absolutely nothing happened in this episode. You can argue it sets up the story, but the entire episode for me was a realization and validation for the characters that "the crooked man is behind all this. omg why didn't we know!!!1!!"
I'm incredibly apprehensive about the rest of the season and the rest of sesaon 2 for TWD. Telltale has been consistent with their... less-contained releases this year (less contained meaning little character development, no hubs, and almost no gameplay at all), making this episode the one bump in the road that felt like the car drove off a cliff. I agree with the IGN review 100%, and I really hope Telltale looks at the review critically and understand that the games have been going down in quality and quantity heavily.
How can you clock in at 65 minutes and the guy above you clock in at 2 hours?
Im going to use my stopwatch when I play too so I can really see what the big deal is. Im not a fast tracker though. I usually take my time with each episode.
Does anyone else feel like people are putting Season 1 of TWD on a huge pedastal? Dont get me wrong, I loved it but it seems like people are always comparing everything else negatively to this "masterpiece".
To be honest with you, I don't know. But I'll also say this -- I don't even know how that episode could take you two hours unless you pause to cook and eat dinner, and I don't feel alone in this runtime issue at all, with what appears to be others clocking in around the same (and same goes for the IGN reviewer who described the episode as an hour long.
because he didn't clock in at 2 hours. I recorded my playthrough and it was 70 minutes (not including the intro or credits).
Well, he says he did. You cant say he's lying. Obviously he's doing something differently.
Hoperfully, I'll get to play today and I'll time myself to see how long it takes me. I tend to take my time with it, so I expect to be over an hour.