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Post by Crooked Christa on May 30, 2014 4:23:11 GMT
EDIT: Note that you can pick TWO options on the poll.
I've been reflecting on Telltale's new direction as a fan of both their old and new direction. I like Telltale's new direction with story oriented "TV style" games in concept, but I think their execution of it could use some work.
In particular, I find their new direction from Season 1 as a lite point and click adventure with choices to Wolf/Season 2's "interactive stories" to be a little concerning. I think that Telltale has misinterpreted the success of Walking Dead: Season 1 to have only been a result of the choice system that was diluted by "puzzles and hubs," whereas most players such as myself think that it was the unison of choices amongst the gameplay elements that allowed players to immerse themselves in the narrative. Likewise, it seems that Telltale wants arbitrarily "bite sized" 90 minute episodes with breakneck pacing and tremendously streamlined gameplay.
As I said earlier, it's great that Telltale has formed their own identity and I can't wait to see how they innovate with choice making and "TV style" gaming. However, I am strongly concerned with their increasingly streamlined episodes that put the spotlight solely on choice making, as opposed to having choices act as the backbone of Telltale's newer titles.
Without resorting to typical "gaming elements," how do you all think that Telltale could create games that are great in both story telling and interactivity beyond choices through player dialogue and deliberately casual/light-weight quick time events?
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Post by Bioshock Infinite WD on May 30, 2014 4:24:25 GMT
Not sure, but I have noticed a drop in interactivity, I mean I still call it a video game, its not Heavy Rain, and thank god for that, but your right, the drop is concerning.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2014 4:25:25 GMT
Honestly if I had to choose ONE and ONE only...I'd have to choose Longer Episodes. I need to sit down and relax for 2.5 hours, not worrying about when the episode will end because of it's length.
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Post by Crooked Christa on May 30, 2014 4:29:17 GMT
Honestly if I had to choose ONE and ONE only...I'd have to choose Longer Episodes. I need to sit down and relax for 2.5 hours, not worrying about when the episode will end because of it's length. The poll says you can pick two. For me, I'd choose more interactivity and longer episodes. I'm fine with choices changing smaller portions of the story as long as there is other content to interact with.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2014 4:34:12 GMT
Honestly if I had to choose ONE and ONE only...I'd have to choose Longer Episodes. I need to sit down and relax for 2.5 hours, not worrying about when the episode will end because of it's length. The poll says you can pick two. For me, I'd choose more interactivity and longer episodes. I'm fine with choices changing smaller portions of the story as long as there is other content to interact with. Well, in that case. I'd like larger impact in choices. I wish Carley would survive to Episode 5 depending on your choices.
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Post by Rock114 on May 30, 2014 4:34:16 GMT
I chose the longer episodes and choices with larger impact.
-Longer Episodes because that would give the player more time to mess around with the characters and get to know them like we had in Season 1, as well as more general content in the Episode as a whole. -Choices with more impact because, while I'm fine with the choices not affecting much in the long run, I would really love to see choices that bring us to new locations or introduce new characters even if the branching paths have to come back together in the end. It'd be hell to work out on their end which is why I'm fine with choices as they are, but the payoff would be great if they could manage to do it.
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Post by Crooked Christa on May 30, 2014 4:47:10 GMT
What additions would you guys like to see to the interactive portions of the game to help immerse you in the story?
Beyond hub areas and light puzzles, what do you think are new gameplay elements that Telltale could explore?
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Post by DomeWing333 on May 30, 2014 5:55:29 GMT
It's hard for me to just say "I want X gameplay in the game" because it's not just what interactions are there, it's how they're worked into the narrative. The point of having interaction in a story-based, character-driven game is to get a player to feel what the characters are feeling. The best interactions are those designed to get the player's perception to simulate what their avatar in that world is doing and thinking.
One of my absolute favorite choices in a Telltale game so far was the scene where Clem is just waking up to the cabin group arguing over her presence and what to do with her. Here she is, a scared, hurt little girl, waking up to bunch of strangers arguing over her fate. Are they going to take her in, put her out of her misery, leave her, or chop off her arm? Who's on her side? Who's against her? Who can be persuaded? Who's the leader? It was stressful, disorienting, and overwhelming.
The interaction sequence that follows simulated all of these feelings spectacularly. Clem looks around and all of a sudden, you're thrust into a gameplay sequence where you have to quickly choose one of seven figures to appeal to and decide how you would appeal to them. The camera is positioned so that everyone looks is towering over you and there's barely enough time to orient yourself and assess the situation before you have to act. It was a very simple gameplay sequence but one that perfectly captured the feeling of the situation. I want more stuff like that.
As for puzzles and more traditional point-and-click elements, I think Telltale shouldn't try to force them in where they don't belong, but they should exploit opportunities to include them whenever they can. Some people might think that some puzzle elements can be frustrating and tedious. Well, there are times when you want players to feel frustration and tedium.
For instance, the shed scene in All That Remains was a tragic waste of a good puzzle. The player character was stuck in a place he or she didn't want to be and there was a vague sense of urgency with Clem's bite. That was the perfect opportunity to have a long, complicated puzzle with intermittent comments by Clem about how bad her bite was getting to get the player more anxious to leave. Instead, they streamlined it to: unfold table, grab hammer, move toolbox, pry hole open, get out.
Doing chores at Carver's camp was another one. You kept hearing how hard the work is there and how they're basically treated as slaves over there, but as players, we never actually have to do a single chore. Make us repeat a QTE over and over again, have us mash until our thumbs are sore, make us attempt a really difficult prompt and have Clem get punished if we fail it. Give us something to help us experience what Clem is experiencing.
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Post by Zeruis on May 30, 2014 13:25:43 GMT
I can handle the lack of 'hub' areas in the recent episodes.
What I would like is choices making a larger impact. It'd be nice to have things you say to different characters influence their mood with you, just like season one. The lack of choices mattering is a big reason why S2 falls short for me.
And a longer episode would be nice. In my opinion, Around Every Corner was a bland episode from a writing standpoint, but the episode length more than made up for it. There are probably a few shortcomings that I would excuse with the recent episodes if they were just longer.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2014 14:42:28 GMT
The poll says you can pick two. For me, I'd choose more interactivity and longer episodes. I'm fine with choices changing smaller portions of the story as long as there is other content to interact with. Well, in that case. I'd like larger impact in choices. I wish Carley would survive to Episode 5 depending on your choices. Hahahahahahahahahahahaha, no.
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Post by Bioshock Infinite WD on May 30, 2014 14:52:47 GMT
Personally I think they picked the best spot for her to die, just saying, not like I wanted that to happen, but I get why.
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Post by sos on May 30, 2014 15:06:19 GMT
Choices with bigger impact. If I blackmail Alvin, I want him to truly REMEMBER THAT. If I'm an asshole to Rebecca, I want her to be an asshole back for longer than a night. If I manipulate Sarah, I want Carlos to not let me within 20 feet of her. If I don't back Nick up after he kills a man in cold blood, I don't want him to be mad for a single second then decide it's a good time to for him to open up and share his life story. If I tell Luke and Pete that I'm by myself, I want Luke to be like "DUDE, WHAT THE FUCK" when I'm reunited with Christa. Everyone loves Clementine so much. I get that she's a kid, but, sorry. I've disliked kids before. And I don't live in a zombie apocalypse where even a little kid can fuck you over royally.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2014 15:17:14 GMT
- Longer Episodes.
This gives them more time to fit everything in. Take episode 3 for example. Howe's felt like a settlement with about 10 guards and 5 civilians. There is almost nothing that suggests it's the 50+ inhabitants that it's intended to be. Also I felt like this episode was going to be gruelling, but having the group break out in two days was borderline taking the piss. If they'd managed to fit in another two short days of us doing chores with Sarita, Rebecca, Carlos and Nick to boost our relationships with them. We could've helped Carlos in the sick bay area and found out what he thought about Sarah. We could've learned a bit more about Rebecca and Carver. There could've been a short segment with Nick that just gets cut if he's dead in your game. Nothing long, just maybe helping him clear the fences of walkers like in Episode 2 of Season 1. I also would've liked an extended escape maybe rejoining the group before they reach the stockroom and having to avoid a couple of walkers who have already gotten in.
- Choices with larger impact.
This goes without saying. Nick had no role in this episode, and I still don't understand why they made him determinant if no one was going to react to his death. If he'd lived we could've had a little scene with him admitting to Sarita (but not Kenny) that he killed Matthew, and she'd be more understanding than Walter or Kenny. Luke would actually care if he was dead. After Kenny is done getting beaten up, maybe we see Luke and Nick brohug in the background. If Nick is dead, maybe Luke asks where he is and goes silent while the others discuss escaping. I also would've liked to see the 400 days characters wandering around in the background during a couple more scenes.
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Post by Bioshock Infinite WD on May 30, 2014 15:24:39 GMT
I have been mostly okay with the choices not doing much, I am okay with it, but wasting Nick like that? Come on, they shouldn't have made it a choice, I don't want to see one of my new favorite characters become fucking T Dog!
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2014 15:27:51 GMT
Choices with more impact and more gameplay because personally i'm fine with the length of the episode but the choices have been fairly small so far and i can't see them doing that much with them and also i would like hub areas and puzzles to return.
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