A New Frontier: What I Saw (Characters)
Not very many people are happy with the game; they believe it was poorly thought out, poorly written, that TellTale didn't do their best with this game, or that ANF destroyed the Walking Dead game series. Well, here's what I think;
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier is a game that's all about friendship, mercy, compassion, trust, love and family. It's a game that's about trying to stick together, to try and find your inner self, to atone for mistakes made in the past.
Javier made lots of mistakes in the past. He wants to make up for the things he's done, he wants to change (granted, that's a determinant depending on your attitude in the game). He wants to try and make it up to his family for never being there.
Clementine has lost everyone she ever knew and cared for. The last person she has is AJ. When she loses him, she is hellbent on getting him back. She is determined to find him, to save him, to make sure he survives. She hates David for taking him away from her, but after she discovers he's alive, she learns more mercy and compassion (although she's a bit behind on the trust, which I don't blame her for).
Kate is a woman who, in her words, was in a "fucked up marriage". People see her as a slut or a bad character, but I see a woman with courage and the ability to move on. It's been over four years after she though she lost David, there's no harm in wanting to start again. Before the outbreak, she was scared to try and get away from David, to speak out against him. But with Javier, she gains the courage she needs to break away. Sure, she does drugs, but she's not the only one who does (refer to 400 Days: Wyatt's Story).
Gabe is a teenager who misses the times before the outbreak started. He looked up to his father, appreciated who he was, wanted to be just like him. Kate was a person who, in his eyes, held him back, told him what to do, tried to make him into something he didn't want to be. Like any teenager, he didn't appreciate being 'held down' and hated Kate for it. Kate was also his step-mother, so he most likely didn't like her at all to begin with. She wasn't his real mother, so he felt like he didn't need to treat her with as much respect.
David is a man of the military, he served his country and did his family proud. He feels like Javier should have been the same, should have done the family proud, but after one big lulu (fuck-up), he immediately lost faith in Javier. A lot of his anger, his frustrations, ended up being taken out on other people and he hurt those he never meant to hurt in the first place. Eventually he became almost apathetic and in-compassionate and cared more about survival that friendship. His heart became dark and twisted, his emotions ruled over his thoughts and as a result, he became an almost ruthless and careless man.
Everyone has their story, everyone has their reasons for being who they are, and as a result, we have a strong story in A New Frontier. I became attached to each and every one of these characters, even the minor side-characters. I could go on about these different characters that I have come to appreciate, but that would be too long of a post. Anyways, that's just what I saw in the game as well as the characters.
Comments
I'm really glad that you enjoyed.
I personally feel rather dissapointed. I think I'd be more forgiving if this was a standalone story like Michonne, because the things that anger me the most are related to Clementine's potrayal and the treatment of S2 endings. Mine was Wellington so I'm not as angry as most people but I can imagine how furious would I be if I went with Kenny.
I said many times that Clem's story should've endend in S2, because that endings were just a perfect closure and I think that ANF proved my point. I still hope that the Clem DLC will bring some of the S1-S2 magic back (Nick Breckon as lead writer, pleas Telltale!!!) and AJ will finally wear Kenny's hat
No, we have a weak story because preexisting relationships take precedent over the players opinion. This is bad for a role-playing game and sours the experience.
Kate will always view you romantically no matter what.
David will always find out even if you didn't involve yourself with her, he will always fight you.
Gabriel will always threated Conrad, call you a coward for not shooting him or calling you out if you did, he goes with David despite being opposed to him for an entire episode.
Clementine's past doesn't influence her in any meaningful way. Whatever she does to David the events after are always the same, and her actions towards Richmond and Gabe are determined by her season 3 flashback choices rather than any of these "42 personlaities."
Ava and Tripp both always die, Conrad doesn't change anything and Lindgard still tells you where AJ is without taking his deal.
A New Frontier was a jumbled mess, I assume they had good intentions with their characters, but it falls flat when they refuse to let the player actually impact the events in any meaningful way. You can't deny Kate, you can't reason with Gabriel and David, and Clementine will always view Javier as a trustworthy person in the ending.
The problem is the characters were so inconsistent and in several cases poorly written with a good portion of the cast receiving little screen time and development. David simply became Kenny 2.0 in EP5, Clementine suddenly likes David and thinks he's doing what's best, David wants Clementine to stay with him and his family despite stating she's trouble and wanting nothing to do with her, Kate suddenly wanting to help Richmond despite stating Richmond is not our problem, Tripp having zero reaction to Clementine being part of New Frontier and Conrad threatening a kid at gunpoint which was very out of character of Conrad. Had the characters been given more development and screen time with consistent writing this could have been the most unique and diverse cast of the telltale series yet.
I'm a little annoyed that they continued Clementine's story as well, but fans would still complain about it, so it's better to have her there than have pissed off fans.
Yeah, Telltale need to get away from that habit. Both of them.
Agreed. Could've been handled better if they had to do it.
Because she blames herself for worsening it and saw the consequence it wrought.
Which is funny considering one of my issues with him is that overreacts to things just because.
That was kind of the point, but I agree that it should've been handled better.
Sounds like Season 2.
I thought this was an Alternative Character Interpretation type of thread at first. Good on you anyway, though.
Thanks?......
You said you enjoyed and understood all of the characters on some level. That's good if so.