Season 1 vs Season 2
Now that season 2 is well and truly over, I've been wanting to ask you guys what you think your favourite season is?
Personally, I like season 1 a lot better. The storyline was better and it had a lot more depth to it. And I also preferred the characters. Season 2 was more full of action and surprises. But it lacked a little compared to season 1. Character development lacked.
An example of this is Sarita. For a character that featured in 3 episodes of the series, we barely knew anything about her. We just knew that her family didn't celebrate Christmas and there were like two other facts that I can't seem to remember. But we barely knew anything about her. Most of the time we got to talk to her, it wasn't about HER, it was always on the topic of Kenny, Kenny, Kenny. It was a disappointment.
In season 1 if you saved either Carley or Doug, you learn a lot more about them in that 1 episode compared to what we learnt about Sarita in 3 episodes.
The deaths and decisions even lacked in season 2. Nick's death was awful and the choice whether to save Sarah or not was useless, because she dies anyway later in the episode. At least have her live till another episode.
So which one is your favourite season?
Comments
I preferred Season 1 as well. The characters were much better developed.
In Seasons 1s first episode, whoever dies out of Carley or Doug actually were better developed in one episode than most of the characters in season 2.
I liked Season 2 more.
I enjoyed season 2 better because, Clementine, the characters were way more interesting than in season 1 IMO, and I found the story more interesting than in season 1.
You're about to open a whole can of worms with this, just saying. But in my opinion: Season 1: 9.5/10 and Season 2: 9/10. I loved both games, but the relationship between Lee and Clem was such an important part of Season 1, the characters were better developed, and choices had more of an impact. Season 2 had great characters as well (Carver is one of my favorites), but I feel that it tried too hard to make itself be like Season 1, despite the fact that the main guy left and someone else took over. Also, I can't help but feel that there was an original story line that was scrapped and re-written in Season 2, but I love the fact that they gave you multiple endings, all of which reflect who your Clementine has become.
Without doubt season 1. You connect more with Season 1 then Season 2. The episodes were more well done, the relationships between characters was better done, the setting of the game was better. Sarita seems to only be there to cause Kenny more diaster so he can go "cookou" and then make it harder for people to trust him. They should've developed her a lot more, like Ben in season 1.he started as a kid who got saved and then he expanded to being one of the most important characters in the game and had big impacts on certain characters and the game itself. Nick was another character who you could learn more into his backstory and really had a good one given his mum got bit and Pete always gave him a hard time, then he has almost nothing to do for the rest of the game and they just give him a cheap death, that was the lowest point in the season for me. If this was season 1, then they would've had the choice where either Luke or Sarah dies and you have to choose one or Jane or Sarah. Remember in Season 1 where you had to choose between 2 people? and One would die or you would ruin the friendship? That's what made the game so good.
Oh come on, remember the Christa and Omid choice at the end of Long Road Ahead. You save one, but the other lives no matter what and the one you saved gets pissed off at you for not saving the other. Not every choice between two people in Season 1 had someone die and the other live, only the Carley and Doug choice.
I totally agree. The choices did have more of a major impact and that's what we needed. And season 2 did try too hard to be like season 1, particularly Amid The Ruins tried too hard to be Around Every Corner. There's parts of it that are too similar with the season 1 ep and they just failed with it.
Let's be honest. Everybody knows the answer Season One.
Season One had brilliant atmosphere, memorable characters, difficult decisions and one of the best endings to ever grace the videogame genre.
But at the same time Season Two was also great. It still had a very great atmosphere, especially the final three episodes, making us feel scared, powerless and ultimately either proud and happy or disheartened and disappointed.
The characters weren't as developed, but still great and memorable. Decisions were difficult and both the action and art-style was great, as well as the incorporation of new quick-time events.
Season 4 is where its at
I made a thread about a couple weeks back where I explained why Telltale needs to separate itself from Seasons 1 and 2 because of the fact that the Season 2 writers tried too hard to write it like Season 1, if you're interested. http://www.telltalegames.com/community/discussion/86241/why-season-3-needs-to-separate-itself-from-1-and-2
Season 2 choices were definitely difficult because a lot of them determined your Clem's morality, which is what I think the writers were gearing towards for this season, but they just had very little impact. Like the choice to steal from Arvo, it was one of the hardest choices for me in Season 2, but it doesn't matter in the end because he says you stole no matter what.
If Season 2 had more of the 400 Days characters in episode 3 onwards instead of just a few lines of dialogue, it would be MUCH better than season 1 possibly.
I read it and I agree with a lot of the points you made. The point where you said that no unknown characters should be brought again is valid, but I just think the ONLY character that should be brought back is Christa, because she is still connected to Clementine somehow and Clem still mentions her by the end of season 2, even though she's been missing since All That Remains. Having Christa back will shed some light on what happened to her baby and what happened to her and Clem during the 16 months after Omid's death. And I also feel like too many season 1 characters are gone, I find it unsettling. She's probably dead, but we don't know. I just hope she's not.
I think even Tell-Tale Games knew that season one was better and that they did not have to work as hard as they did on season 2 as with 1. Because they'd just bank off the great success of Season 1 so they knew Season 2 would rake in the money regardless of story quality and severely shortened episodes. I believe they knew firsthand that they would not be winning any game of the year awards with season 2 yet they still needed to make it of acceptable quality to be able to keep their players reeled in to want to try out a season 3. I always knew even before season 2 was released that it would not top season 1 for me at least.
Season 1 was overall stronger in emotion, plot, and even humor than season 2 (though S2 wasn't bad at all, just weaker than S1). Also the masterminds behind the first masterpiece were not working on the sequel and I'm sure that had something to do with the quality, in addition to them working on two games simultaneously Wolf Among Us and Walking Dead 2 respectively. While Season 1 was solo developed if I'm not mistaken and if I am I'd be open to correction.
Woah, that's kind of a big statement. I'm pretty sure they worked harder, since they were working on four projects all together at the same time.
Come on, the episodes were cut by 30 minutes at least, severely shortened would be an hour long episode. Plus they clearly did at least try to make a good story.
I don't understand this. What about them, would make you think they did not have a chance of getting game of the year awards? Also since when has that been Telltales main aim?
Correct but the mastermind (Sean Vanaman) did help in creating the basic outline/plot for Season Two before he left to create Campo Santo. He left Nick Breckon in charge, and also directors such as the director for 'Starved For Help' and most of the staff from the original helped.
They were working on four games. Walking Dead: Season Two, The Wolf Among Us, Tales From The Borderlands (With Gearbox Software) and Game of Thrones.
I hope so too, but I think it's safe to say she's dead. And I watched in an IGN interview where both Dennis Lenart and Sean Ainsworth said they like having Christa's status as unknown because, sometimes, you don't always meet back up with the people you care about. And if they were to introduce her, let it be at the end of the season so she doesn't take the spotlight away from other characters. And a simple DLC could answer the questions about what happened in the 16 months, no need to waste time during the actual season.
Tbh, this is one of those questions that goes either way. There's a divided opinion about this. Those who liked Season 2 enjoyed the novelty of playing as Clementine and found it more interesting to play as the beloved girl. Those who liked Season 1 liked it more for a number of reasons like because of the Lee/Clementine dynamic/hubs/choices/overall atmosphere. I'm of the second opinion. I enjoyed Season 1 more. It felt more like an experience where I could change and influence things.
Sean Vanaman was involved with the story line of Season 2 before he left and oversaw the development of the first episode and had an additional writing credit. After that, he trusted it with Nick Breckon. And yes, most of the staff did help in Season 2, but they just didn't write. Like Mark Darin was a designer for both seasons, but didn't write an episode in S2 like he did in S1. Many of the directors, cinematic artists, designers, and others did stay on however, like Lenart, Eric Parsons, Sean Ainsworth, Pierre Shorette (he had a couple of additional writing credits in S1 and wrote two episodes in S2), and others.
And it was only two, The wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead. They didn't start developing and planning GOT and TFTBL until, most likely, TWAU and TWD were almost done. So Telltale only had two projects going on at the same time, not 4.
Ultimately the Judgement in quality of season's 1 and 2 boils down to personal opinion. There are individuals out there that do believe the second season was superior and they have a right to think that. But I was stating my opinions why I felt season 2 had less of an impact than season 1.
They might have worked hard on 4 games at the same time, but that only makes them more stressed (possibly) if the staff numbers isn't there to keep up with the workload of 4 games versus just 1 game. It also might make each game a tad more sloppy than if they had just worked on 1 at a time but they might accomplish more profit in a shorter time which from a business perspective would be the most attractive option. Only bigger companies like maybe Rockstar games, Activision or EA games might be able to pull off a bunch of games at one time. But Tell-Tale is a much smaller company and they might be biting off more than they can chew. hence with all the delays between each episode and sometimes there still problems after very long delays, like the quality of Wolf Among Us episode 2. That episode had a whopping 4 month delay and even still it had glitches some players reported and the plot was generally admirable but not overwhelmingly impressive. I'm confident each game they make would be significantly greater in quality if they focused most of their attention and resources on one game at a time.
Also about the game of the year statement. I would think that SHOULD be the goal of each of their games. Why not strive for ultimate success? I would think they'd want to aim for game of the year every-time, or for at least more than just one game on their roster. . Wouldn't nationally professional sport teams want the championship every year if they could? Wouldn't YOU want a trophy for your hard efforts or some recognition?.. I would.... I just felt they went into season 2 knowing full well that the second season would be financially successful without the same level of effort as the first season, not stating this as fact just speculation and theory. So like many other successful blockbuster franchises with sequels, there is a reasonable chance that the quality might begin to dip slightly or greatly even.. Yet it might still make a good financial profit because of the name it carries and box office success of the original, The Jurassic Park film franchise is one decent example. Especially if you have different writers and directors working on the project than the first classic.
Also a lot could happen in 30 minutes of dialogue and playtime if utilized the right way. TTG took longer to release Season 2 episodes than Season 1 episodes yet Season 2 episodes had to be cut shorter than Season 1 still.... even with delays? That make any sense? If this was because they were working on more than one game at once, then I revert to my earlier theory that it would be more expedient-quality wise not-financially wise, if they only worked on one game at a time.
So in conclusion I'll say this Season 2 episodes while still incredible, amazing and more than worth the $30 bucks in total.. felt a tad more rushed and emptier than season 1 episodes. Characters had a lot more to say and you felt a stronger bond with them in season 1. The protagonist of season 1 had more input than protagonist of season 2. Season 2 it seems that there simply isn't as much of a connection with the non player characters. I felt nothing for most of any of them except for maybe Luke and Sarah not counting Kenny as he was developed a lot already throughout season 1 so his personality is familiar already, then they killed off all of the Cabin group members in one season and most of everyone else in Season 2 if they are not already considered M.I.A. So any feelings you felt for the Cabin members are short lived. Most of the characters full potential was not explored and fleshed out like with Season 1 characters, making season 2 characters feel more like a waste of pixel space. At least Omid, Christa, and Clem made it to season 2. Who's to make it to season 3 besides Clem? If the plot will include Clem that is...
I think a DLC will be a really good idea.
I don't have a favorite. I see them both as flawed, but still I also love both games.
not really tho...
i prefer season 1, well season 2 could've been written better... not some fan service/fandoms and some sh*t
In your opinion.
so there are 2 reasons for me why season 1 was better:
The Lee/Clementine thing was awesome, and the characters were very well developed
In season 1, you had more of a say, and really, it's easier to hate a jerk 37-year-old man, than a jerk cute 11-year-old little girl
The Omid, Christa choice is pretty stupid yes but it's not the stupidity of some season 2 choices, What was the point saving Sarah, if she was going to get killed in the same episode?
And i never said that every choice resulted in a character dying and one surviving. I was pointing out examples. If you didn't help save Larry, Lily would hate you, yet in Season 2, if you decide to help Sarah and Not Jane, Jane doesn't care if you didnt help her
I liked Season 1 mostly because of it had more player agency. Places like the pharmacy, the farm and the motel are all very memorable and nostalgic locations because there the player was offered direct control move and look around, talk to others, go at their own pace, etc; those places feel "lived in". Season 2 didn't really have that, it was more on-rails and directed, and subsequently not as memorable.
one of the biggest problems in season 2 is the less developed characters. I think it's cause of the shorter eps that we got less time to actualy feel the characters and understand them
also season 2 lacked the 'main plot' that was in season 1 (taking care of a little girl) it was about survival, therefor, most of us felt less connected to the plot
BUT STILL NO DOUBT SEASON 2 AND 1 WERE BOTH GREAT
For me it has to be Season 1. I felt that the storytelling was tighter, more fluid and cohesive. Don't get me wrong now I loved season 2, its just that it negative aspect were a little on the heavy side. Less branching of story, less character building, too much character building (Kenny) ect.
P.S I still love Kenny, but COME ON MAN other characters need room for development to. : /
Season 1 is so much better! The only redeeming quality of Season 2 was the relationship between Clem & Kenny... and my username
I enjoyed Season 1 more because I preferred the setting, the father daughter relationship between Lee and Clem, and the story was just overall better if you ask me.
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Gotta go with season 2...I loved how Clem developed and showed her becoming stronger, but still keeping her compassion and humanity. Though, the only endings I liked were the ones with Kenny. All the others seemed blandly written. Also, I loved seeing Clementine and Kenny's relationship grow throughout the season. I found it really well done.
Pro's of Season 1
Cons of Season 1