The worst game I've played by Telltale
First of all, I want to mention that I love Telltale Games. They're one of my favorite developers. I think The Walking Dead: Season One, The Wolf Among Us, and Tales from the Borderlands are among the best games in history. So I'm not one of those "Yeah, this studio is getting popular so I better bash them to get some hipster points!" people. Just felt like you ought to know that, because I've seen a lot of those guys (about every praised developer) and they're really annoying me.
There are several things I really enjoy about this game, the dialogues and overall unforgiving Game of Thrones feel being two of them. The voice acting being another.
It is, however, the worst thing I've played by Telltale so far (haven't even bothered with Minecraft: Story Mode, because really... what IS that?), and I'll tell you why.
My main complaint is about the illusions of choice, which have been more prominent here than in any other game they've made, as far as I know. I could give you a gigantic list of examples, but to save us all some time I'll narrow it down to these three:
Bring the Glenmore soldiers to Highpoint or let them stay. - Either way, Ramsay shows up and screws you.
Do as Cotter says and stay hidden when they encounter the Wildlings, or run up to save him. - Either way, Cotter gets screwed.
Follow Crofts orders to the letter and don't kill the slave master, or let Beskha have her revenge. - Either way, Dany screws you.
You see a pattern here? I mean sure, unforgiving and cruel Westeros and all that, but isn't this taking it a bit too far?
The entire season has been like this. Even the really big decisions (choice of Sentinel or sacrificing certain characters) basically leaves you with the same result regardless. The biggest "consequence" is having a different character alive - doing the same things.
Why even give us choices if the end result ends up being the same? I realize not every dialogue option should split the universe in two, but this is just lazy.
The story and the characters have been disappointing overall. I often felt like it's trying to BE the show, rather than genuinely wanting to tell a story set in the world of the show/books.
The lack of creativity and originality with - above all - the Forresters have been very surprising to me, considering it's Telltale we're talking about. I'm sure others have already mentioned this, but the Forrester family is basically the Starks. Examples of this:
Lord Gregor Forrester, the kind and just lord = Lord Stark.
Rodrik, the serious older son of the kind and just lord = Robb Stark
Lady Forrester, the strong and wise mother willing to do anything for her family = Lady Stark
Ethan, the young boy forced to be lord way too early = Bran Stark
Mira, the young woman being dragged into the dangerous politics of King's Landing = Sansa Stark
Gared, the young man who wasn't really a part of the family, who gets sent to the Wall (and gets friendly with Wildlings) = Jon Snow
Ryon, the slightly moody younger son who is in the end sent away with a protector = Rickon Stark (even the name rings a bell here)
This may not seem like a huge issue (and Talia and Asher being slightly more original weighs it up a little bit) but this is a theme throughout the entire game.
If you consider the almost comical Forrester/Stark similarities, and then add the fact that the game doesn't really explore anything new in the Song of Ice and Fire world (but rather follow in the shows footsteps almost entirely), it all starts to feel more and more like fan fiction. Many of the events of the game might as well have been deleted scenes from the show, which really doesn't do anything for me.
I've been wondering if this is due to the size of the license (Game of Thrones being so immensely popular). In, let's say, The Walking Dead or The Wolf Among Us, it always felt like Telltale really had a tale to tell; that it was told for a reason. Here, it feels like it's more like "Oh look, Game of Thrones! I'm the sword in the darkness, winter is coming, Valar Morghulis, omg so kewl!"
'Fan fiction' is what my mind keeps going back to, and that is the feeling I've been left with now that I've played the final episode of the season. And that has never been the case before.
A friend of mine felt like playing this, and asked me if he should. In the past he's asked me about the other Telltale Games as well, and I have always recommended them in a heartbeat. This time however, I immediately asked him if he's seen the show or read the books. He said that he hadn't, but that he planned to. I said "Watch the show first, otherwise you won't understand anything."
This is yet another problem. The game relies SO heavily on the plot of the show (you know that's the case if you can't even tell someone how the game starts without giving away an enormous spoiler from the TV series) that it's basically inaccessible to newcomers. I know it's easy to assume that everyone who hasn't been living in a cave has seen the show, but that's not actually the case.
Again, this wouldn't have been a major issue if the game at least went on some new paths for the fans, opened new areas and actually gave us something MORE. But, like I mentioned above, it doesn't. It follows the tracks left by the TV show like a bloodhound, making everything feel all-too familiar, predictable, and... well... fan fictionish.
In the end, what you're left with, is a game that newcomers won't understand, and that old-time fans won't have a real reason to care about.
I will still buy the second season, but I sincerely hope it's better than this one. I am, however, not very hopeful. And if Telltale would come out tomorrow and say "You know what? Screw GoT, we'll just give you a second season of Tales from the Borderlands or The Wolf Among us instead!", I would've rejoiced.
Any chance that's actually a possibility?
Comments
Choice mattered more in this game than any of the others
How so?
Firstly, The Forresters and Starks have completely different personalitys, the comparisons people make between them are so forced.
Then there's the illusion of choice argument, this frustrates me more than normal because the choices in this game matter 10x more than any other Telltale game (though for most fans that's probably not saying much)
I love this game so much, it's easily my favourite Telltale series so far.
SERIOUSLY. How so? Other than the determinant brothers, none of them mattered, it would result in the same dialouge and same tiny bit role for determinent characters.
The "Forresters are just Stark Clones!" argument is really stupid for several reasons:
The player decides which kind of personality the playable character has, that is the whole point of... everything! You can choose as YOU would choose and that is something that makes each character grow onto each player uniquely. Everyone has diffrent characters, that's the reason why you can't get the same experience just by watching a playthrough.
The similarities between the Starks and Forresters are intentional which makes sense, considering that Forresters are heavy Stark loyalists, Telltale's CEO Kevin Bruner explains this in the S2 article: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-telltale-season-2-842311
Play some of the older titles, I think you'll change your mind about the worst game thing. It's just false and ignorant.
GOT is never the worst and it never will be. The Poker Night series was.
He said it was the worst game by Telltale he played, not that it's the worst game out of all Telltale games.
Yeah, gonna have to disagree there
I'm still going to say that Tales has done the best job with the tailored narrative concept so far
GoT isn't that bad either, mainly in the even numbered episodes (2, 4, 6)
I have very little knowledge of the GOT universe going into the game and have enjoyed it. Honestly not my best TT experience, but I don't regret playing it. You have your reasons for not liking the game and that's fine.
How come no one ever complains about the bugs and glitches that plague these games? Man that's what really ruins it for me. If we had as many people complain about that, I'd be a happy man. In ep. 6 I had the credits that flash on screen during Mira's truth/lie scene just stay there frozen on screen. These things just destroy immersion. Oh well.
Fine which other game did better choice wise, also I'm not saying game of thrones is good choice wise. All telltale games are very limited
Then I suppose it's meant to be a compliment, and that TellTale is proving very proficient in their work.
That's actually a pretty good point. I think the main reason why no one complains about bugs is that TellTale releases everything episodically, which gives them little time to make sure everything works perfectly before release. If all the bugs could be fixed, however, it would like you said help with the immersion and pull players further into the story. Hmm...
I'm still amazed most people consider it the worst Telltale Game... I think it's by far there best, and this is coming from someone whose been following Telltale for years and years now.
Decisions matter more than they did in Walking Dead, Wolf Among Us & Borderlands, despite what so many of you say. Tell me a choice in any of those games as big as the Asher / Rodrik choice, the Duncan / Royland choice, you can't.
But even choices aside, I find House Forrester's story to be far more compelling and engrossing than Bigby's journey in the Wolf Among Us, Clem and Lee's in the Walking Dead, even Rhys and Fiona's in Borderlands ever were. (I know, fuck me, right?)
Telltale's Game of Thrones is so unfairly underrated and underappreciated on here it makes me sad. Especially since I firmly believe it to be their best game, their best story... and the one where decisions actually have the biggest impact, too.
IronFromIce
Am I the only who thinks that the choices in both TFTBL and GoT have the same and most consequences?
Well, not the only one, I'm sure :P
But I disagree. I can't say I left Borderlands in too high regard, after playing it with a Rhys who was 100% pro-Jack. He trusted him in Episode 2, allied with him in Episode 3, and then ruled Hyperion in Episode 4. And then, in the blink of an eye, they turned huge enemies for no logical reason other than plot. I don't recall Game of Thrones ever being that restrictive.
Plus, as I said in my original post, I'm struggling to think of any Borderlands decision that had even half the impact the Asher / Rodrik choice did in GoT, or the Duncan / Royland choice, or the Marry Morgryn or not choice and so forth. The only big (seemingly impactful) decision in Borderlands, whether to rule Hyperion or not, gets retconned five minutes into Episode 5 anyway, so...
Yeah, Borderlands is still great, don't get me wrong and I really like(d) it. But objectively speaking, I find it hard to understand how people come to the conclusion decisions matter more in it than Game of Thrones...
The Starks and Forresters are not identical besides being an honorable Northern House. You people try way too hard to find similarities between them.
I think we should't judge the games based on the weight of the choices,but on his plot and the feel(by feel i dont mean just sadness) that the whole story give us.
GoT had his moment (most of it whit asher xD) but just like LiS didnt managed to get me hooked,dunno really why but i found them kinda "boring".
But hey this is just my opinion ^^
Sry for my english :=S
I thought the game was pretty good, but I think for a lot of people, they are willing to overlook the fact that choices don't alter the story on a large scale for modern Telltale titles if the game focuses more on choices regarding your interpersonal relationships with other characters. Game of Thrones focused mostly on the choices that presume to alter the story, which might be why some people wanted more, whereas Walking Dead/Wolf/etc also present you with choices that allow you to flesh out your relationships with other characters on an interpersonal level.
I don't understand why people are getting so upset over the fact that "choices don't matter". Literally every other Telltale game is the same, so what do you expect. Even with choices not mattering, I still really enjoyed GoT (which is my favourite game that Telltales made thus far).
Mostly, I think people point towards Borderlands handling the choice aspect well because of the extra scenes/scene differences. Like part of episode 3 could be different from the beginning onwards (don't know how much, only played it once). I know it's possible to miss a scene or two in episode 2 as well.
Not saying I agree with the thought process, or that GoT didn't have those things (it did, especially with regard to episode 6), but just explaining it. Or well, giving my thoughts as to why people say that.
Generally, making an overall judgement about something based on one element, rather than the cohesive whole, is not a good idea.
So, agreed! It's best to think about how it made you feel, rather than focusing on the choice aspect.
pipas im 99% sure those are the same things
Why? I doubt he played every single one.
OH you meant every game HE played
I thought you said the same thing twice nvm
As I said in my post above, I think that this game put way more emphasis on choices that presume to alter the story than other titles like Dead/Wolf/etc did as opposed to having choices that alter your relationships with other characters or otherwise customize your story in smaller ways (like Borderlands). I still liked the game and thought it was great, but I can see why others would expect choices to alter the story on a larger scale if those kinds of choices were what Telltale focused most heavily on for this title.
The only thing that made me take a bit hit on this series was the whole traitor thing. It should have been a lot more and the fact that it wasn't made everything else seem "bleh"
I have to say though that episode five did get me excited to see what happens in season two. I really like how if you choose either asher or rodrick they go about different strategies initially. The ending sequence was well done but at the same time showing two cut scenes at the end kinda made it a little drawn out.
Never the less I can honestly say I enjoyed the series overall. The sad part is that season two determines if season one was either good or truly bad. They set themselves up for failure or a big win....
I feel sad whenever I see people posting these kind of threads. It is getting kinda redundant and people keep criticizing. Of course, you have every right to do so, I am not saying that you are cruel and terrible for doing so.
For me, in a Telltale Game, it has never been about how my choices changes the story. It has always been how I am using my choices to tell the story I want. Let's say in episode 1, why did I made Ethan cut the fingers of the thief? Because I want the story to be about Ethan shredding his innocence and inner child within him in order to become the lord that his house needs. In episode 2, I made Rodrik return Talia's hug. Why did I do it? Because I want to establish that Rodrik isn't just serious like he was talked about in episode 1. I want him also to be kind to his family and because he also missed Talia. In episode 4, why did I made Asher stop Beskha from killing her former master? Because I want to show that Asher has mature and because he is putting his family's interest before his own.
The choices doesn't change the story, but it is changing you want the story to be told. I always play it with this mindset and I find myself enjoying the game immensely because of it.
Where Game of Thrones does better than Tales from the Borderlands, in my humble opinion, it is the warmth from family. I feel that there is a lot of heart to the story. I care so much for my family and the house I desperately want to prevent from falling apart. The sense of family is so strong in the game, stronger than TWD Season 2 and stronger than Dragon Age 2 (Where you also have a family). You really know that the Forresters are a family that are trying to survive a situation that is almost impossible to get through. I find this immensely relatable, because I also experienced some bad circumstances forced upon me and my family. But we get through it, together like a family.
So I want to end this post by saying that I love this game a lot. I love playing as Ethan, Rodrik, Asher, Gared, Mira. I love the story despite the dark and grittiness. I definitely hold it as high regard as Tales from the Borderlands.
Which brother survives - you get two different storylines
Which Sentinel - Along the series you get different scenes with Royland or Duncan and you get a different traitor
Kill the traitor or Spare him - Determines who ends up with Rodrik/Asher
Call off the plan - Gets you Gwyn in the end of the series
Asking for Margaery's help - You get an alternate scene (you also can get a key/seal - the seal can be used in episode 2, and both of the objects give you a bit more of Margaery's dialogue in the final episode)
Poison or Ambush Ludd/Follow Gryff or Ludd - Determines Gryff and Ludd's fate
Elaena interactions along the series - You get an alternate scene in episode 5 with Elaena in your bed it also affects imensly how Elaena behaves along the series.
Letting Elaena stay at Ironrath - Determines if Elaena is with the Whitehills (probably being married to Gryff (If he is alive)) or with her cousins at the Riverlands safe and sound.
Telling Sera's secret - Determines if she's to be married or not and also how Sera behaves towards you.
Marry Morgryn - Determines Mira's fate.
Several minor choices along the series - dialogue changes and determines relationships withn the other characters, it also determines how your Forrester's fought.
How so choices don't matter?
Choices in this game seemed to have more of an impact than TWD and TWAU.
Because haters gonna hate.
My biggest issue with this game is the amount of bugs, lagging and overall broken gameplay on the PS3, I haven't played it on the PS4 so I can't say for certain it acts like this on both consoles. In my game, the dialogue is gone during larger moments, so you'll see them talking but the audio is just nowhere, second the QTE lag at certain moments so by the time it loads the failure scene will play without me even having a chance to do the event. If anyone can confirm these issues on the ps4 I think we have a bigger problem than just the lack of diverse choices.
Those Starks parallels are too forced:
Lord Greagor doesn't even has a personality established! He also has tow bastard children kept secret from the world. On the other hand Ned Stark has no bastards (based on R + L = J, that I belive it's true) because he really values honor thigh Gregor doesn't value that much (apparently).
Don't really see any resemblance apart from being the 1st born son. Also Rodrik is a really volatile character - you can make him a rekless person guided by honor and emotion or a cunning person who think before acting.
Lady Forrester is anything but wise - she is reckless and most of the time acts by emotion, she is also a very contradicting character.
Bran storyline is about mysticall stuff beyond The Wall he as Lord for like 5 episodes and gave away Winterfell really quickly (since he was more focusing on the warg stuff). Ethan's storyline was all about rulling House Forrester in which he failed miserably.
Sansa had nothing to do with politics while she was at KL, she was just there suffering and being used by everyone. Mira was trying to play the game she used people to get what she wanted she was fearless and confident unlike Sansa. The only resemblance I can find is the Morgryn part (since he is Ramsey 2.0).
Jon volunteered to go to the Wall (Gared only does that determinantly). Jon's story is about Wildlings - Crows relationship and the White Walker business. Gare dstory is about finding a mystical grove beyond the Wall (which resembles more Bran).
Ryon was an object in war used and seen many times along the series, Rickon is just there...
Sadly, they will
Haters still gonna hate tho....
I'm playing on PS4, and have not experienced any of the glitches that people have talked about. I believe this is a issue on last gen consoles, though i could be wrong.
#IronFromIce
I actually enjoy playing this game.
I feel that Telltale are the best when it comes to choices affecting your relationship with other characters and how that can affect how your play style.
The Telltale games are better on PS4. The technical issues i experienced on PS3 were absent when I played the PS4 versions.
WTF dude?
How could you?