Season 2: Genius Writing or Cheap Shock Value?

24

Comments

  • I'm the kind of guy who has a discussion and gives rebuttals as arguments are presented. If any of that seems abnormal to you, seek help.

    You're the kind of guy who doesn't like being wrong, aren't you?

  • I should probably agree with this. Telltale writes better material than season 2, which I liked but don't think it was their best. Maybe if they shake up the formula, they can discover something richer in the premise than what we've seen already from the comic repeated endlessly.

    J-Master posted: »

    Well, I guess Telltale should stop considering Kirk man's style and go back to what they did in S1, considering that many people don't seem

  • The Character Writing/Development in this Season was quite bad...

    But, the writing in terms of 'Themes' in the Season was very clever.

  • edited October 2014

    well it is definitely not genius writing but it also all isn't cheap shock factor i would say it is someone in-between

  • I'm still thinking about Nick and Sarah...

    CrazyGeorge posted: »

    people weren't thinking about the finale, they were thinking about Nick/Sarah deaths.

  • people weren't thinking about the finale, they were thinking about Nick/Sarah deaths.

    Hazzer posted: »

    Why the fuck did no one post this on the forums then? Load of bullshit, that. People seem to love bashing the everliving hell out of Telltale when they have absolutely no creative writing qualifications and know nothing about what makes a story good.

  • Season 2 was genius writing. Season 1 was bad.

    Alt text

    Season 2 was genius writing. Season 1 was bad. Btw, people don't get their story arc ended before they die. A character in a story ge

  • And that's just my opinion.

    Season 2 was genius writing. Season 1 was bad.

  • edited October 2014

    And that's my opinion on your opinion. :S

    And that's just my opinion.

  • edited October 2014

    Season 2 on it's own may make it seem like the devs didn't have a whole lot of experience with good writing, but compare it to Season 1 and it's dreadful. Sarah dies a pointless death just so there's less dead weight for the group to drag, then the writers add it again with AJ. Make up your minds! Do you want it too be hard or not? And nobody except Jane and Clementine even acknowledge her death. The others act like she never existed! And what about Alvin? So the baby that we might never see again never get's to meet his parents? And Nick, nothing changed in either scenario. It had no value and the group had shrugged it off completely. And what about Walter and Matthew? A gay couple could have a been a refresher from the others who are either straight or apparently asexual. But they had no purpose to die other than for the writers to have less characters to develop.

    Sorry about the rant, but it had to be said.

  • Right.

    Everything we say is an opinion.

    And that's my opinion on your opinion. :S

  • I never cry for anything, But i cried when Clem left Lee dying, and I cried when Kenny left Clem at Wellington, moving on alone, i was loyal to Kenny in Season 1, and despite all ods, i was Loyal to Kenny in season 2. And The only way to make it to Wellington and be saved from the horrors of the world, is by sticking with Kenny to the End. Only 16% of everyone who completed season 2, came to Wellington. Im not Saying that Kenny was right to kill Jane. But Jane was no better herself. And my loyality to Kenny is unquestionable. And in the End it pays of. Clem is Saved.

    CrazyGeorge posted: »

    They should stop killing everybody off, or just kill Clementine off; because her Main Protagonist immortality is starting to get predictable.

  • Why is everyone so obsessed with, who dies, and who survives? Thats not what the story is about, at all! Its about Clems life in a Cold merciless world. And i Hope we follow Clem as a teenager in season 3.

    I don't think Season Two's writing was terrible, but not on the level of the first game. But all the deaths were predictable. I didn't know

  • Master of Aeons, you seem to know what the Walking Dead is about, In the Walking dead, everything that is good dies, thats just how it is. And is something good happens, its just to push you further into the dirt next time something evil happens. The walking dead is probably one of the Most evil Universes, i ever encountered. And i like it ;) U all remember how Rick's boy had to kill his own mother in the TV series? Pretty evil. Thats just how all Walking dead scripts are written, Its not Telltales Fault. Its just how this Universe is. Brutal And relentless. If you should complain about the Writing in general, you should tell ike to Kirkman, he is the guy with the last saying in all of this. Keep up the Great Stories Kirkman and Telltale :) You made on eof the Best games and i have ever played. Only good for one or two playthroughs though. Since after that, you know to well what happens. I i had to say something bad about the game, i would say: "This game is tailored after how you play" Is a load of bullshit. Its always the same story, and nothing really changes in the end. Maybe in season 2. but nothing much really.

    Jeez, how many of these threads complaining about characters dying are there? I've been with Telltale since their second game. And I watched

  • I think Carleys death was pointless. Or atlest give me the option to kill Lilly right after. i hate Lilly, she is such a cunt. Her father was worse, but atlest i splatter his head.

    dojo32161 posted: »

    Then Telltale did a horrible job in replicating his style in season 1, the cast didn't feel disposable, they all held some significance, the

  • Agreed with Bokor. It may have been convenient at the time to randomly switch the Luke and Kenny power struggle with Jane and Kenny because it shocks viewers because no one expects it, but when you look at the Season as a whole, it really messes up everything consistency wise. I blame the dudes who wrote Ep. 3 and 4. Nick Breckon who wrote Ep. 1 and 2 had some really nice things going and when he wrote Ep. 5, all his threads were gone because the Cabin Group were all dead in pointless manners, leaving him no choice but to create something completely different.

    Bokor posted: »

    I don't think it's good writing for the conflicts of previous episodes to be discarded in favor of new ones. For example: Episode 1 hi

  • Although Season 1 had the best writing, season 2 had a better gameplay. both games 9/10 stars.

    I should probably agree with this. Telltale writes better material than season 2, which I liked but don't think it was their best. Maybe if

  • I agree. Season 1's deaths were great in changing characters and affecting the story nicely. Season 2 was a mess of inconsistencies and misery.

    longlivelee posted: »

    i felt a lot of deaths were there to make s2 look good s1's deaths seemed more realistic and not forced

  • edited October 2014

    U dont get it. Luke was too good to live. Thats just how it is the THe walking dead. All that is good, dies. Just like Christa, Omid and Lee. All good people. All dead.

    dojo32161 posted: »

    It's worse knowing his death at that lake was a rewrite and Jane was slotted in to take his place instead of drowning in the lake instead.

  • I think it was SO awesome to see Kenny again in season 2, It made me SO happy. And Clem :) Lee. Kenny And Clem are the Only characters i care about, and i care about them alot!

    HugoCorv posted: »

    I underwent surgery, just so I could give you 4 thumbs up I think TellTale should have fewer characters, but keep them around longer. Ki

  • I personally think Carley's death showed how instability and paranoia had led Lilly to the brink of insanity. Not to mention Kenny smashing Larry's head, there was also a traitor in the midst and she hardly had any support in anything she elected to do. Carley was kind of stupid in provoking Lilly like that when she even knows that Lilly is unstable. Carley calling Lilly a bitch was dumb.

    SaveClem posted: »

    I think Carleys death was pointless. Or atlest give me the option to kill Lilly right after. i hate Lilly, she is such a cunt. Her father was worse, but atlest i splatter his head.

  • I love how in the Corner it says. She/he will remeber that. Then 5 seconds later they die. Hilarious!

  • Yes, but the thing about Season 1 is that even though everything plain sucked, there was still hope. Hope in the form of a little girl who we had to protect. As long as that little girl was alive, there was still hope for Lee Everett. Season 1 really showed me personally that it is possible in the Zombie Apocalypse to kill off characters and make me care for them. The characters in Season 1 were very well developed and each death felt like a punch to the gut and advanced the storyline while influencing others. Season 2 in my opinion was a very large step back in terms of quality and it felt very lazily though out especially after Kenny came back. Yes Season 1 set the bar really high, but that doesn't mean that you don't try to develop characters and don't try to do what made you great in the first place. Telltale missed a golden opportunity in elevating the zombie genre into something that mattered more than "Clementine goes somewhere, then everyone dies"

    SaveClem posted: »

    Master of Aeons, you seem to know what the Walking Dead is about, In the Walking dead, everything that is good dies, thats just how it is. A

  • That's because Season 2 is all about Kenny.

    BenUseful posted: »

    Some times I forget there was even a cabin group with how forgettable they were. They were practically meaningless and did nearly nothing. They could have done so much more for the plot than Jane vs Kenny which sucked.

  • Just lazily written.

    That's because Season 2 is all about Kenny.

  • Agreed. Telltale missed a golden opportunity in changing the zombie genre. They could have given Clementine some modicum of hope with at least one of the Cabin Group surivving, but nope! It's the zombie apocalypse so everyone has to die except Clementine!

    Kennythegod posted: »

    At this point, good and unpredictable writing by Telltale would be to keep people alive instead of killing them. Or just give replacement ch

  • It's pretty true.

    SaveClem posted: »

    Master of Aeons, you seem to know what the Walking Dead is about, In the Walking dead, everything that is good dies, thats just how it is. A

  • Luke's death stands out to me as being the most honest of the group. Everyone wants to save him and they give you like twenty ways to react. You can fight really hard to save him and it will never matter. That's exactly how this world "works". All you can do is watch as everything inevitably falls apart and try and tell yourself "I won't let anyone get that close to me anymore. I've learned my lesson."

    SaveClem posted: »

    U dont get it. Luke was too good to live. Thats just how it is the THe walking dead. All that is good, dies. Just like Christa, Omid and Lee. All good people. All dead.

  • Well I dunno.Sarah was obviously there to die because autistic people won't survive less than 2 years in a ZA according to telltales episode 4 writers.sarita and nick were just...there...and hell,we didn't get much character development from clementine this season, and she was the main character!

  • Sarah was there to see if people were cold enough to really abandon a helpless child in favor of doing the "smart" thing. And the fucked up thing is not only did some people make that choice, some were eager and giddy to do so.

    The Walking Dead is supposed to make you feel bad about turning into a monster, not be a power trip for assholes.

    Well I dunno.Sarah was obviously there to die because autistic people won't survive less than 2 years in a ZA according to telltales episode

  • I feel that the character death in Season 1 was handled better. Every death didn't felt forced, it was built up to happen. In episode 1, you learn of Larry's heart condition, so it didn't felt forced when he had his heart attack in episode 2. By talking with Katja, you learned she is a mother who deeply loves her son. So it didn't felt forced when she commit suicide. Carley's death didn't felt forced, because she was a person who protect those she cares about and she died because of that. Even Chuck's death didn't felt forced, because he has been separated from the group because he saved Clementine and being alone, hunted by walkers and an unfamiliar city, his death was plausible.

    Most of the Cabin Group doesn't have any build up for their death in Season 2. Their deaths happens quite fast. You can argue that the chaos of the events killed them and there was simply no time to get to know them better. But they still could have handled some character deaths better. Sarita, Nick and Sarah's death was handled quite badly. There wasn't any proper built up for their deaths and their death doesn't have a noticeable impact on the story or the group.

    So...I have to say cheap shock value. :(

    I hope Telltale improves on the next season.

  • I just don't think any death needs to be meaningful at all.. It's a zombie apocalypse and shit will happen to anyone at any time. If every death were written to have meaning or go out in a blaze of glory, then that would make the entire story seem un-realistic.

    Like Christa, we never saw what her fate was.. Many people want to know. Truth is, things will happen that no one can stop or alter and we may never know their fate. Same with Lilly.

    We can all mourn the losses and wonder what happened or blame ourselves for making a choice that may have caused their death or depature and be left wondering what happened but we'll never get that answer or closure. Yeah it may suck, but it's realistic.

    I guess I just take what Telltale has created and play it as it comes and not really disect every senerio into what I think it should have been or what others say they would prefer.

    I can respect anyones opinions even though I really don't agree that it's bad writing. Just because you feel a characters death was bad because you liked the character doesnt make it true.

  • Even the writers of Amid The Ruins took joy in the horrible death of an innocent girl. It's just so sad that people enjoyed her death and how painful it was. It's ironic to, because that's how Clementine was once upon a time and for some reason people wanted Sarah dead just because she was irritating and the writers of Amid The Ruins decided to give her the most awful fate she could have.

    Sarah was there to see if people were cold enough to really abandon a helpless child in favor of doing the "smart" thing. And the fucked up

  • Okay. But consider this. Every Season 1 death did something to the story. No one went out in a "blaze of glory" and each death made sense. And how can a story sound unrealistic when we are talking about zombies, a fictional idea in pop culture? Season 1 did an amazing job tying up loose ends and it felt complete while Season 2 started many ideas and threads between characters but never resolved it.

    While it is a zombie apocalypse based off Robert Kirkman's world where characters come and go between the pages, Telltale did something amazing with Season 1 in creating a world of zombies where the characters truly starred in an ensemble cast and each character felt like a distinct person. Season 2 lost that great consistency and characterization in the middle of the Season that I loved about Telltale's Walking Dead Game and it sunk back from extraordinary to just decent.

    WowMutt posted: »

    I just don't think any death needs to be meaningful at all.. It's a zombie apocalypse and shit will happen to anyone at any time. If every

  • So what, the only people who can die are the ones who have told you "I will die this way and it will be meaningful because I want it"? That's bullshit. Sometimes you have to have someone who no one wants to see gone die for no reason.

    I feel that the character death in Season 1 was handled better. Every death didn't felt forced, it was built up to happen. In episode 1, you

  • I didn't meant it like that and I never said that I everyone should be safe. I agree that people can die for no reasons and not everyone get to die in a heroic way. But shouldn't the characters' death have more impact on the story, the group and on me? I am saying that the deaths in Season 1 was handled well and effected me because I cared about them. Some character deaths in Season 2 effected me such as Luke and Kenny, but don't you agree that Sarita's, Nick's and Sarah's death could have been handled better?

    So what, the only people who can die are the ones who have told you "I will die this way and it will be meaningful because I want it"? That's bullshit. Sometimes you have to have someone who no one wants to see gone die for no reason.

  • Citation needed.

    torkahn808 posted: »

    Even the writers of Amid The Ruins took joy in the horrible death of an innocent girl. It's just so sad that people enjoyed her death and ho

  • Aw, you had me until that question. No, I don't think those deaths could have been better. They're consistent with the universe. Did you know that Kirkman plans out some deaths long in advance to have resolution

    Glenn, Dale, Lori
    and others he just chooses arbitrarily? There is no grand scheme here. If Nick, Sarah and Sarita had got perfectly telegraphed and character appropriate deaths, it wouldn't be The Walking Dead.

    I didn't meant it like that and I never said that I everyone should be safe. I agree that people can die for no reasons and not everyone get

  • I do know that. I respect your opinion regarding how you feel about the Nick's, Sarah's and Sarita's death. It is a shame that we'll never got more time to know them better.

    Aw, you had me until that question. No, I don't think those deaths could have been better. They're consistent with the universe. Did you kno

Sign in to comment in this discussion.