How Telltale handles Episode 2 will say a lot about how well they understand GoT
In general, in Telltale games to date, you get better results from being nicer. That just doesn't cut it for GoT.
Heroism and virtue are not necessarily rewarded, villainy and ruthlessness are not necessarily punished. I think virtually everyone who follows the series has grasped that by now. Rather more important is that the opposite is just as true. Some good people have died for being too noble for their own good in this series, Ned Stark being their standard bearer, but it should also be noted that some really awful people have died precisely because they pissed off the wrong people and ostracized the wrong allies.
Stupid good behavior, like that of Ned Stark, is punished with failure and death. Stupid evil behavior, like that of Joffrey, is punished with failure and death. In each case, the emphasis isn't on the morality, but the stupidity of what they did. The people who thrive are the people like Littlefinger and Varys, who are neither cruel to a fault nor honorable to a fault, but simply determine wisest choice and take it.
What I hope for, and expect, is that Episode 2 won't reward being kind, nor will it reward being a dick. It will reward being smart, whatever that means in a given situation.
Comments
I agree. Not just this, but there's so much in the Game of Thrones universe that works well with Telltale's type of games so I hope they take great advantage with that in the future episodes.
Like killing off all the major, important characters over the course of the series.
That will also be a test of how well Telltale grasps GoT. Any idiot writer can kill off his/her characters at random for shock effect. The important thing isn't to kill them, but to get people emotionally invested in them and to make their death the logical outcome of their story arc up until then. The deaths of Ned Stark and Robb Stark didn't come right out of the blue; they were the foreseeable outcome of the poor choices they had made.
You... I like you
I agree.
Welcome to the Forums.
I agree wholeheartedly. I was just thinking along these lines, regarding the 'pickable' items in the game. Espescially those in Margary's chambers.
In adventure games like these, we are conditioned to pick up Everything, cuz hey, we'll probably need it later. And if we don't grab it now we might regret it later. But, i think with GOT', that intuition may be used against us.
Not taking anything could be just as stupid. Everything you say and do is a risk in this universe, and that's how it's supposed to feel.
What's smart to one person is stupid to another so I guess they'll have a variety of choices to be rewarded or punished. I think the first episode showed the understand the universe pretty well.
Interesting thing about choosing those items is that if you do not ask for Margaery's help, the option to pick those items up are not available. It seems like the seal and the key are linked to choosing to help your family. It makes me wonder what the key is for or what item might be derived from using that key in future episodes.
In this case, it's more like what is smart in one series is stupid in another, and SoIaF is pretty damned cynical. In a world written by...say, Tolkien, Aragorn returning to reclaim his throne and marry the one true love of his life fits with the spirit of the writing. In Westeros, most likely he would be declared an impostor and executed on arrival by nobles who felt they had something to lose by upsetting the status quo, or maybe he would be completely unsuitable to hold the throne despite his claim to it, or maybe choosing to marry the love of his life rather than the daughter of an important political ally would ostracize friends and spark an enormous civil war that ends with the death of his entire family.
As such, I'm expecting that a choice like...say, granting clemency to a self-confessed thief won't be rewarded. Pardon one crime and you encourage the commission of many. Either sending him to the wall or hacking off his fingers might end up being the 'smarter' choice, but if I know Westeros, people who pardoned him in the hopes it would show the common folk how noble their lord is will find that a whole bunch of Forrester men have indeed followed his lead and deserted to save their own skins.
Ahhh...but Ethan was also nick-named "The Wise", if you did everything that was wise at the time....that didn't help him much did it?
Sometimes people die in a tough situation, no matter how smart/brave/bold/wise/cruel/kind or just plain heroic/villainous they are. It's the lucky ones who truly are the winners in the "Game of Thrones".
I mean I can't see too many characters like Little finger or Varys living much longer then their "Master plans" if they fail. Their strength comes from being under the radar, their weakness is being exposed like their "end game" plans force them to be.
oh boy you should play TWD Season 2
So you're basically saying that unlucky people die in Game of Thrones? Ethan Forrester died because he had the great misfortune of meeting Ramsay Snow then.
Everyone in the game of thrones universe is unlucky just to be living there lol
I would pick another example since the one who made that choice with the thief is not around to face the consequences.
My thoughts exactly, GOT isnt if your evil your better off its if your smarter your better off
Nick and Sarah are the only real examples you have. The rest were fine.
coughLukecough.
Luke's death had a purpose though, it showed how weak the group actually was and how it quickly fell apart after he died. Luke was the glue that held everyone together, he was the one who could balance out Kenny's sort of aggressive tendencies, without him, we see how quickly the group crumbled.
I thought we were talking about shock factor lol.
You can say how well they understand the GoT by that conversation with Cercei. She doesn't like being flattered and she doesn't like when you give straight answers. Smart ones will leave her pleased, however.
I am sure, Telltale will deliver. They always do.
His death had a shock factor, but it wasn't for shock factor.
Didn't she say something like"you're too smart for your own good?" Nothing really pleases Cercei.
Well Cersei doesn't give you any approval at that moment but later Margy tells you that Cersei was pleased or that she wasn't pleased based on what you said.
I completely agree. Just a feeling i got, based on the fact that you only have the opportunity to steal these things if you put Margary at risk by asking her to speak to Joffrey on your behalf.
His family may still suffer the consequences of looking weak, though.
I've played it. Possibly the defining problem of that season is precisely that it made this mistake. You can't just introduce random cannon fodder characters and kill them off and expect an emotional reaction.
I'd add Carlos to that list as well. They tried to make another shocking death like Carley's, but it fell flat, because we barely even knew or cared about Carlos in comparison
I'd excuse Carlos' death if they used it to develop Sarah the next episode, but nope
So... Bunch of Howes' guards shooting aimlessly into a herd of walkers while the group was walking through them. Someone getting shot was perfectly logical. Carlos just drew the short straw.
I thought episode 2 was handled pretty well, though the asher stuff was the weakest (they did the bare minimum with him). Gareds was again okay though both felt like intros.
Mira and Rodrik beat everyone else and were much more involved