*spoliers* My Thoughts on Episode IV *spoliers*
I am just going to start at the beginning of the episode, and work through my 'canon' play-through. This will be a commentary, wherein I just discuss some of the things I liked and disliked about this particular episode.
To begin with, I found the start of the episode to be somewhat ridiculous. I am not sure if the writers have lost the scope of Bigby's character, but they have seemingly been sacrificing bits and pieces of lore to 'unhinge their Mary' and make TWAU Bigby fit their story. I feel that the start of episode IV is a good example of this ‘lore sacrifice’. It is weird seeing Bigby having 'bad dreams' about a character who really has not earned that spot in the Big Bad Wolf's conscious. Bigby fought the horrors of the Empire, you know those horrifying monsters that raped and killed Flycatcher's family? Bigs had run-ins with silver before and after the incident in question. Goldilocks in the comics shot Bigby. Not to mention that Bigby was the runt of his litter, meaning he walked the border between life and death many times before. Yet none of that seemed to haunt his dreams as much as this emo-feminine version of Gargamel has... To put it bluntly, Mary’s role seems very contrived.
The opening scene makes one wonder if Bigby really is a play on, 'Big Bad Wolf'. Mary being the subject of Bigby's 'bad dream' seemed (in my opinion) not to fit with the character of the Big Bad Wolf established in the comics. A brief flash of Snow being hurt, or what have you, I think would have made more sense. Furthermore, Bigby is the Big Bad Wolf, should that not make us think ‘what are his nightmares made of?’ Not, ‘oh the Big Bad wolf’s nightmares involve a woman who seems like she would be better off chasing smurfs.’
The sequence with the broken arm was disgusting, but neat at the same time. I have never seen anything like that in a video game before. Some of the dialogue during and after said 'field surgery', was quite good. Colin’s dialogue was well written, and it was nice to see some foreshadowing for Bigby and Snow's later relationship. The conversation that spans from the consequence of “if you killed Dum or not” was surprisingly weak. I think Bigby could have made a better case for himself, taking into account all of the trouble that the Tweedles had been causing.
Nerissa’s dialogue had nothing note worthy, it was not bad, it just seemed like filler. The Beauty and the Beast conversation was far too asinine for my liking. However, asinine fatuity (a term coined by C.S. Lewis) fits Beauty and Beast’s characters quite well.
I went to see the butcher first. Of course, she was not there. Then video game Bigby and I had a rather boring and pitiful time with ‘a’ Butcher. The reveal of the slavery did not shock me, however it did cause my blood to boil (I will admit that I took it out on Jersey later…)
The Lucky Pawn bit was great. Being able to take down the Jersey Devil with Woody’s help was momentous and, in my opinion, was a neat (though foreseen) route to take Bigby and the Woodsman’s relationship. On the fight scene itself: I wish that there was a few more interactions with the environment, other than that, the fight scene was well done.
The conversation with Woody after the fight seemed to create some more respect between Bigby and Woody. However, the Woodsman’s part in the conversation was suspicious. If you ask Woody “what will you do now,” he will say, “We all have our role to play” A line that sounded like a bit of a catchphrase, when the Crooked Man said it.
Bringing the shard back to Snow had me hoping for a Roman like triumphal march, especially after the battle with Jersey, and bouts of tedium Bigby had to go through a la Butcher, Beauty and Beast. Instead of Bigby having rose petals thrown about his stride, a conversation with Toad ensued, one that of course involved glamours. In previous iterations of the Fables series, Bigby, due to his sly nature was able to out-think Snow. This meant Bigby could help some Fables who otherwise would have felt the sting of Snow’s bureaucracy. I, more so hoping to help Toad Jr, had Bigby agree to help Toad get some glamours.
The mirror being fixed resulted in some more humorous dialogue; Bigby is apparently not a poet. Seeing the cartoonish Mary in the mirror made me wonder if she is supposed to be what Joffrey was for “A Game of Thrones”. Her demeanor is very over the top, she is very conceited, and her dialogue is reminiscent of a cartoon villain, rather than a literary type of psychopath. Bloody Marry is no Hannibal Lector. I suppose that Mary will be the final boss, as it would be strange to throw a new character into episode V, and we have already fought the Jersey Devil.
I’m not sure what to say about the ending, I think the episode itself was a low point in the series. This does not mean that this episode was not enjoyable; I have said it before I will say it again: "I am very happy that Telltale is making these games!" I hope that Telltale will be able to end the series on a high note. In addition, I hope we get a season II for TWAU. The Wolf Among Us is a pleasure to play, and I dare say that it deserves some game of the year nods.
Comments
EXCELLENT review! Gamer magazine quality.
I loved the beginning, because it showed Snow's caring emotions again.. but greater, towards bigby like in episode 1 in the taxi ^_^
Very nice critique! I haven't read the Fables comics but I really want to after playing this game. I don't really know what Bigby's like in the comics, but it seems like his persona there versus the game is clashing a little from what you explained of him having the Bloody Mary nightmare. I do agree that Bigby could've said something a little more convincing as to why he killed Dum (I didn't kill him but seeing how he answered Snow's questions of why killing Dum was necessary was weak).
I didn't realize Woody saying 'We all have our role to play', was the same phrase that the Crooked Man said too until you mentioned it. I'm now suspicious that maybe the Woodsman is maybe involved with CM somehow. Maybe. Someone on another thread mentioned that Mary said "See ya around" like Faith did in the beginning. Characters repeating the same lingo just raises a flag. Then again, it might not mean anything.
But I love this series too, even if this episode wasn't my favorite. it was still fun to play, like you said.
Doesn't the game happen 20 years before the events in the comics?
Yes, but Bigby had his personality and strength for more than 20 years. He's obviously weaker in the game but that's because Bigby from the comics would have solved the murders faster and easier.
By the way, good review. I doubt Woody is involved with The Crooked Man, maybe their opinions about "roles to play" are not that different.
Thanks!
Yes, but Bigby is the Big Bad Wolf. He lived in the Homelands long before the Video Game time-frame. I won't go into any more comic spoilers unless you would like me to.
I agree, I don't think that Woody is involved either I just found that bit of dialogue suspect.
That was a very good and interesting read.
This notion of Bigby being able to solve the murders faster is an odd one. It is situational; evidence, the murders and the murderer must all have correlation and also causation (the murderer caused so and so's death etc). Bigby might be able to sense evidence really well, but he still has to connect evidence A to a proper suspect; suspect B (or whomever). The other problem is lazy writing, the writers can't for some reason take the established lore and fit it properly into their story, therefore they sacrifice bits of Bigby's abilities. This unfortunately creates contradictions with the established literature, when really the writers could have simply written that the spells involved were powerful enough to trick Bigby (such spells have done so before in the comics). Also I should add, that Bigby's abilities and his state of mind (he is the Big Bad Wolf) are separate issues.
I liked that aspect as well
. I just think that the Bloody Mary bit at the start was misplaced. Like I said, Bigby having a worrisome dream about Snow, probably would have made more sense than having a nightmare about Mary.