What does A New Frontier do right?
Since we're all in a storm over the poor writing and whether or not Gabe is the worst human being since Adolf Hitler, I thought it'd be nice to discuss everything that A New Frontier has done well so far.
(Please don't spam Conrad.)
Edit: If you think A New Frontier has nothing good about it and you would rather viciously tear the season apart, why not try this thread instead?
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Comments
Conrad
Improving Kenny's and Jane's models for Episode 4's flashbacks. They looked horrible in Episode 1.
Mariana- She was a pretty likable character. Telltale seems to have a knack for writing believable child characters.
Improved TT engine- For the most part, ANF runs a lot better than previous games. Plus the new graphics are fairly welcome (S2 ending flashbacks not withstanding)
The love triangle between Javi, Kate and David- This one might be debatable. Personally, I think the reveal of David as the leader of Richmond made the romance pretty interesting.
When you're about to say Conrad but the op says no Conard.
The Garcia flashbacks!
ANF brought us the ultimate proof that Jane is a selfish bitch and Kenny is actually Jesus.
Kenny had to die for Clementine's sins.
Now all we need is for Kenny to descend from the heavens riding a boat in episode 5 and go on to beat the shit out of the New Frontier.
A family dynamic between brothers. The relationship between David and Javier is spectacular. They're very engaging when they share screen time together whether in flashbacks or the general narrative. They play off one another to generate one of the most realistic relationships Telltale has portrayed in their writing history.
Praise the Lord.
The Judgment Day is coming. Avenge the death of his believers he will and punish the sinners. Redeem us from the wicked ones and take us on your Heavenly Boat.
After watching a video containing the full dialogues between Gabe and Clementine, Ship it or not, I can clearly see that those conversations are really well done. Considering that they are mostly off-screen/inaudible that's pretty ridiculous.
Ya why cant I say Conrad dammit!?
Pretty much all its done "good" is make me dislike Telltale a bit more.
The voice actor's for ANF are all phenomenal
Making Gabe a hateable character.
When the choices DO matter, they matter a fuck ton.
Everything's pretty average though. Characters are bland and flat, development questionable (Conrads is an exception), scenario clishe, plot unrealistic and music reusable.
Nothings really stands out. The only enjoyable aspect for me is Clementine.
I am excited when she comes on screen and terrified when off screen. Terrified because she might be in a dangerous situation when we see her next time.
And the lack of illusional control over her terrifies me even more because it's out of my hands whether she dies or not.
Not that we had much control in S1 and S2 either, but at least you had the feeling you could shield her.
I love Clementines face, wow, that sounds weird, I think they have done a great job modelling her face, especially when she smiles.
Clementines character is also a very natural evolution of how I played her in season 2, so I am happy with that, although I know not everyone is.
Javier and David has some nice brotherly moments, but other than that he is kind of a dick
Thats about it for me, the only character they really made me care about besides AJ was Ava
Piss fans off.
Making me want to watch it instead of "playing" it.
Yeah, at least let us know that she's fine, we deserve it, we've been taking care of her since she gave Lee that hammer to bash Sandras head open.
Years of development would go to shit if TT decided to get rid of Clementine. She's the one to lure the players back to the franchise.
I personally think that this season they have done a very good job with the determinant characters.and different endings of episodes. Feel like the choices do matter more than in the previous 2 seasons
I love Richmond & Prescott. I feel like any place where there's actual human beings together trying to do human things is pretty great.
Like the fact that they have a fucking arcade in a fucking bar in Prescott!! and that Richmond has its like own hippie vegetable growing patch, man.
I also adore grown-up Clem being all badass and shit. The contrast between her and Mariana was crazy. Also: so many likable characters? I love Tripp, Eleanor, and especially Ava so much. They're all just so badass and I wish they didn't all have to fucking die ):
Last point; everything is so human? The relationship between Clem and AJ, Tripp having awkward feelings for Eleanor, fights between brothers, I just feel like it's very well-written and relatable, which is crazy in a zombie apocalypse!
ALSO HORSES
Some of the character models look nice.
David not being the big bad evil dictator.
Absolutely nothing.
-David and Kate relationships
Depending how you play, you and David can be in a tough spot or be best bros. When I watched someone play, David hated Javi by the end of ep 4. When I played, David ended up giving me a hug. I really liked that. As for Kate, yes she will hit on you no matter what and people will assume the worst, but you can reject her. And she will get the message. Of course how this all turns out to be depends on how episode 5 ends but as of right now I feel really in control of my relationships with those two. (Heck, I can even be a jerk to Gabe if I want. which I did)
-Depending on how episode 5 goes, your choices might actually matter the most out of all the seasons so far. As in multiple people living who would've otherwise died. So far we only have Conrad. But who knows. We'll see.
Edit: I stand by my second point, but David's character went to trash
If we're talking about general, broad quality factors like good character development, the story being original or not, the plot being engaging/believable, etc... Well, not much is good, unfortunately. I can say one thing, choice handling has improved, but it is unfortunately pretty much meaningless when the choices are so weak and lacking some... meaning. And that's the thing, some things just don't work when other core things are missing. How are these choices supposed to be hard and impactful when I can't bring myself to form any sort of bond with the characters due to the lack of development? How am I supposed to feel passionate to come to these forums and defend my choices when the plot doesn't manage to bring anything new to the table, therefore making me completely uninterested? So yeah, a better (still far from perfect) handling of choices, which unfortunately amounts to very little due to the game lacking in other crucial aspects that are needed to give the choices merit in the first place.
If we are talking about specifics, like story moments and characters, I have a few things I do find positive:
And that's it, there aren't that many good things about this season, unfortunately.
(I tried to keep this as positive as possible).
This has honestly been the highlight of the game from Javi's perspective and one of the best things the game has going for it. Just from the first flashback, you can see the complexity of this relationship. It has resentment, but also love, jealousy, but also care, both have their fair share of fuck ups, but would try and do anything for their family. From the first episode, I have enjoyed this dynamic, hopefully Telltale doesn't screw it up in the final episode. Honestly, if Telltale were to get rid of Clem entirely, I wouldn't mind having a game focus entirely on Javi and David after the events of ANF.
Slight Graphics Enhancement
Conrad.
Heres some things episode 5 did well.
IT'S LORD KENNY THE SAVIOR OF BOATS! SAVE US MASTER!
Javus
The camera zooms/shakes looks fucking stupid they are trying WAY to hard to overdramatize these scenes like it's a fucking TV show. Which it pretty much is at this point