Can we get some good character arcs going again for season 3?
One of the great things that season one executed where season two did not is character arcs. A character arc is an inner journey that transforms the character from beginning to end. Lee, Kenny and Clementine all had great arcs in season one. Lee's arc was redemption, he would spend the rest of his life in jail unhappy and alone but instead he had a short lived life filled with purpose and effecting the lives around him. Kenny's eventually put others needs before himself when he sacrificed himself for either Ben or Christa. And Clementine was catapulted into a life of chaos and catastrophe, forcing her to grow up quick and making her more independent. Season two however, flopped in character arcs. I still liked the game but the character's never really grew, it was just survive this, this and this. I hope season three can deliver on this, because I love character arcs.
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I have to agree. Season 2 was disappointing for me due to how so many characters were merely used to keep the death toll up and running per episode, and how most of them either lacked character or lacked a backstory.
Here's hoping that Season 3 focus more on character development and hold back a bit when it comes to killing characters off for drama.
I hope the episodes can be longer than 60 minutes just by talking to characters and getting to know them, I mean half of each episode of Season 1 was pretty much optional conversations that gave characters some development.
I know TellTale said they are going for more cinematic games but what they need to realize is that TWDG Season one was so good because of the hub areas and talking to the other characters.. Since they have a lot more people working at TellTale now I'm hoping the team that is working on season 3 plus..just because some games they make are cinematic doesn't mean they all have to be.
Yes, i agree as well. It would be nice if this happened.
To be fair, I think some characters got what you could relatively call a character arc, but the problem is most of them died before the arc was fully complete or got anywhere near a conclusive end.
Nick is a good example. All the foundation and stepping stones for a solid arc, but that's practically dropped the second he becomes determinant. It's even more a slap to the face after two episodes where he was quite heavily featured, and was at the center of one of episode 2's largest conflicts.
Rebecca seemed to be going somewhere, but she became expendable pretty much immediately after having the baby.
Luke showed some sign of character growth (or maybe decay is more applicable here, but in a good way) when you start to see him crack and falter in episodes 3 and 4. You see the choice of bottling up emotions and trying to bite off more than he can chew starting to take an effect on him, and you see character faults start to emerge in a character, who up to that point, has done a good job of covering them up. That's brought up to a small extent in episode 5 ("How did we get here?" speech), but he dies before anything more could come of it.
Then you have characters like Carlos, who have pretty much nothing going for them in terms of character. Where is the intrigue in Carlos, or more specifically, the intrigue in his character? He is literally just a doctor that has a daughter who he's sheltered from the outside world. That's about as far as his character goes, and there's not much progression of any sort outside of these basic details that describe who he is at the most fundamental level. The closest thing he has to an 'arc' is him gradually-- albeit reluctantly-- starting to trust Clementine. But even then, he's still somewhat dismissive of her by the end. There's not much of anything substantial here, as much as I hate to say it.
They've all been at least 90 minutes. But I agree, that could easily be bumped up by putting in optional conversations. I'm not sure why they didn't do that in Season 2 that much. It would have scored them a lot of points and wouldn't have been too difficult to program. Like at the cabin in episode 1 after eating dinner or in the Christmas scene in episode 2.
The only optional conversations were in Episode 2 near the small house and in the Cabin, Episode 3 during the night, Episode 4 at the camp(not really and kind of determinant with Sarah) and Episode 5 had a bit at the special scene where everyone is having fun in the snow.
I wish they gave us the chance to speak with each of the Cabin Members about their past and then slowly got to know them better, I also wish Kenny explained what happened to him with Sarita.
Reggie was the most well written Character arc IMO.
I only really related to Sarah I guess since I live with constant anxiety and I lost both my mom and dad at a young age.. and I did relate to Nick in terms of feeling useless.but those characters got little to no attention in game after ep2/3.
Reggie had a very interesting arc
It's too bad that it ended up hitting the ground before it could get anywhere good
I just hope Telltale listens to some of the feedback to Season 2 and makes some nescessary improvements. With all the great stuff that came out of the other Telltale series (TFTB, TWAU, GOT) it kind of makes me sad to see that The Walking Dead still hasn't gotten a worthy sequel (At least in my opínion).
To be fair, Season 2 had some decent arcs set up early on in Nick & Sarah. We see Nick is rather hard on himself and probably depressed. Nearly everyone in the group is worried about him. Sarah wants to learn and better himself shown when Clementine first meets her. Unfortunately, both narratives are lost along the way towards the useless deaths in the end. What they were saying through Nick & Sarah's deaths, is that they aren't good enough to be saved. And that's not a worthwhile arc.
What was so great about Reggies arc? I didn't even notice one.
You get the see the evolution of a man go from being on a roof, to being on the ground
You get to see him go from having a perfectly normal skeleton, to having a very broken one
Oh, it was a joke.
I think they are listening and from the looks of it, they are spending more time on Season 3 than they did with 2. I loved both games so far but yeah i hope in Season 3 i can get as attached to the characters as i did in Season 1. When i finished both games for the first time on Steam i had noticed that i put more amount of hours playing Season 1 than 2. (And i had not gone back to replay anything. Season 2 did feel to move pretty fast)
I'd kill to see those types of bonds where you don't really need to do/say something to someone and they understand, or the types of relationships where they're still kicking and happy. Just because the world went to shit, doesn't mean it took everybody with it.
I would like character arcs where our actions toward a character would determine if they become a determinate character.
I've always wanted to see that too! So far determinant characters have died when we didn't choose to save them. But I'd love to see one moment where what happens is based off of who you've been. Like if a person is contemplating suicide or something, if you've been nice to them they could say something like "At least you'll be here for me" and stay alive, but if you've been cold they could just decide to off themselves. Just an example of course, but I'd still love to see something like it implemented in!
So kind of like whether or not Kenny comes with you based on how you've acted towards him throughout season 1, just on more of a deadly basis?
Yeah. Like what it looked like they were going to do with Sarah when we had that pointless scene of showing her how to use a gun. A choice like. Show her and she defends herself against a walker. Don't and she dies, sort of thing. Also, no more aborted arcs. Sarah's had potential. A dad keeping her sheltered and the daughter being more capable than he realised.
I guess the punchline... fell flat