Decline The Walking Dead (SPOILERS)

[aris]

Well, it does feature a cast of colorful and outspoken characters to be sure. But that is also the strength. The fact that you find characters obnoxious and annoying, is proof that the game really engaged you, which in most cases is good (with Deekin in NWN, it's not). A common fallacy is that a character has to be likeable to be well written, that is absolutely not the truth. I got really angry with Kenny some times, a guy willing to step over corpses to ensure the safety of himself and his family, but at the same time has sympathy for others and is an idealist; wanting to save others if they can, even if you don't have the resources for it readily at hand. Larry is a guy with a lot of painful emotional baggage, and shields himself by being, well... a prick. Lilly will do what is best for the group, and like kenny, and for his family which is her dad. Unlike Kenny however, she is a realist, and don't want to reach out to others in need when they don't have the resources necessary at hand.

I feel that pretty much all of the characters in the story were strongly written, and that I could relate to all of them in some way even if I didn't agree, the only weak points being Ben and the parkour girl which I feel could have had more work, though the latters was really only a minor character.

 

[Cool name]

@ gaudaost:

I did not mean to say they were badly written. All the contrary: They were believable characters, and I did got emotionally involved with the cast in several different ways. Their motivations were clear, their outbursts were understandable from their point of view, etc. They were a far cry from plain and boring characters you do not give a shit whether they do live or die. It is just that the entire cast was a liability, which in itself does mean I was quite involved with Lee and Clem's safety and well being. I did spend most of the game trying to get them all to kill each other and stop endangering my favorites with their constant idiocy, and the fact that I was happy when they actually got themselves horribly murdered is a testament to the fact they were actually good, if terribly obnoxious, characters. To let Ben die in that tower did fill me with the purest joy.

I am sorry for the misunderstanding. I should have explained myself better.

 

[aris]

@ gaudaost:

I did not mean to say they were badly written. All the contrary: They were believable characters, and I did got emotionally involved with the cast in several different ways. Their motivations were clear, their outbursts were understandable from their point of view, etc. They were a far cry from plain and boring characters you do not give a shit whether they do live or die. It is just that the entire cast was a liability, which in itself does mean I was quite involved with Lee and Clem's safety and well being. I did spend most of the game trying to get them all to kill each other and stop endangering my favorites with their constant idiocy, and the fact that I was happy when they actually got themselves horribly murdered is a testament to the fact they were actually good, if terribly obnoxious, characters. To let Ben die in that tower did fill me with the purest joy.

I am sorry for the misunderstanding. I should have explained myself better.

 

[Toffeli]

So, gameplay for a game that is QTE-infested shit, is there really a saving grace for this? It's being heralded as one of the greatest games of the last few years. Are we all wrong?

 

[Surf Solar]

To me it's the same as with Dear Esther, not really a game but a neat experience anyway.

 

[EG]

So, gameplay for a game that is QTE-infested shit, is there really a saving grace for this? It's being heralded as one of the greatest games of the last few years. Are we all wrong?

Can be fun to watch? Actually has cinematography (lol)? Doesn't depend in any way on character ability?

 

[Metro]

So, gameplay for a game that is QTE-infested shit, is there really a saving grace for this? It's being heralded as one of the greatest games of the last few years. Are we all wrong?

It's being heralded as a great game by mainstream gamers who prefer their games to be movies. As a semi-interactive graphic novel it's fine.

 

[aris]

So, gameplay for a game that is QTE-infested shit, is there really a saving grace for this? It's being heralded as one of the greatest games of the last few years. Are we all wrong?

Top notch story telling and some of the best characters written in the history of computer gaming? What's the saving grace for PS:T again, considering that it's a cinematic jrpg-spell-casting-animation-infsteded shit and a semi-interactive book?

 

[Azrael the cat]

Well I'm really enjoying it. I tried watching the TV series but gave up after the second episode (incredibly dull, start ripped off from Day of the Triffids/28 Days Later, everyone seemed to be more worried about their relationships than the zombie apocalypse going on around them), although I will give it another go. But this game is based on the comics. At first I thought the graphics were awful, then I realised they are stylised, and they actually look pretty good. I love the main character and the storyline he's got going on with that kid. Only thing I would say is, they need to get rid of the timed conversations. Imagine if in Fallout or Planescape Torment there was a little shrinking bar, it would have completely spoiled the choices in that game. Well, it is spoiling this.

They had the right idea in including a 'say nothing' option (i.e. just don't select anything within the time limit), but it would have worked better by including it as another dialogue option - maybe with the exception of keeping the time-bar solely for the situations where shit is hitting the fan and different people are yelling at you to do different things. In particular, I liked it how MOST of the time saying nothing will weird people out and be a poor option to take (in terms of building alliances), but if selected on sensible occasions it can also be the best option for freaking out an attacker or getting a group member who isn't part of the intra-group alliance that you've built to shut the hell up.

 

[Berekän]

So, gameplay for a game that is QTE-infested shit, is there really a saving grace for this? It's being heralded as one of the greatest games of the last few years. Are we all wrong?

Yes, we are wrong. It has good characters and a decent story, I enjoyed it but calling it a great game is an aberration.

 

[TheCatsofSanktPetersburg]

On the bright (the only bright side), the game has managed to make me appreciate american folk. Something I'd never thought I would say.

And I really wish Ben would do something right only once. Fucking incompetent prick.

It's very easy and tempting to put him down like that, but the thing is that if a real zombie apocalypse came about, I'd be a lot like him. A lot of people don't like to see themselves as the losers in a story, they like to identify with somebody stoic and loving like Lee or independent like Molly or clever like Carly or Chuck or anybody. Anybody but the loser.

But when you come down to it, that's how most of us would be in that situation. We'd be a Ben. I'd be a Ben.

To his defense, he has a strong conscience. He can't live with a lie, even if it means his death and he genuinely wants to help people, which is something I can't say about many people I know.

 

[toro]

But when you come down to it, that's how most of us would be in that situation. We'd be a Ben. I'd be a Ben.

Perhaps Ben's lunch.

 

[ManjuShri]

How you guys finding the 400 Days DLC? Pretty fun.

 

[Tommy Wiseau]

The DLC wasn't anything special. Not a surprise since I didn't expect a remarkably solid story in return for playing five entirely different characters during the course of roughly one hour. Game* was great** though.

*Since when did 'video game' became an honorary title?

**If I liked it, it means I want every game to be just like it. Totally.

 

[aris]

I agree, the DLC was pretty meh. But that's what you get when you try to squeeze 5 stories into one hour.

 

[Metro]

I agree, the DLC was pretty meh. But that's what you get when you try to squeeze $5 out of deluded fans.

 

[Tommy Wiseau]

 

[Metro]

So $5 for half a dozen 15 minutes vignettes? Yeah what a bargain. Never mind the fact this barely qualifies as a 'game.' At this point I'm convinced gaudaost is a troll because it's too much of a coincidence that he likes every shit game out there from D3 to Walking Derp. As for you, no idea. Brain damage, maybe.

 

[aris]

I'm not poor enough to care about 5$, you win some you lose some. If this is indeed a prologue to the second season, which seems interesting indeed if they have built a large settlement, then it might be better than the sum of your parts, and I might like it better in hindsight than I like it now. We'll see how it plays out.

 

[Tommy Wiseau]

Never mind the fact this barely qualifies as a 'game.'

No one cares.

At this point I'm convinced gaudaost is a troll because it's too much of a coincidence that he likes every shit game out there from D3 to Walking Derp.

Most people who played it liked it (Season 1). I didn't buy D3.

As for you, no idea. Brain damage, maybe.

Heh. I think you need to remind us all that this isn't really a game again.

 

[tuluse]

Got around to playing this. Just finished episode 1. So far I have a mixed reaction. The "gameplay" elements are terrible, to the point where the experience would be better with fewer of them. They have some setups for great adventure game puzzling solving, without breaking the precious immersion, and every single one is just "have you found the items yet?". Not a single actual puzzle to think about.

Clementine is the worst kind of emotional manipulation.

The forced decision at the end was also heavy handed. Oh look the only two people who have been useful in the entire episode are in trouble, and one of them is the hot girl.

Whoever wrote Glen for the game is not good at writing.

I also don't like how the game prevents you from not being a retard. Why can I just come clean about my past and shove it up the old guy's ass? Why couldn't I carry the cane around *after* the main character points out it's a good weapon?

All that said, I was pretty emotionally engaged for most of the time. I'll see how it goes.

 

[Ranselknulf]

I watched the TV show up to the second season.. I know.. i have an unnatural tolerance for shit.. Even then I was coerced into watching the season finale for season 3 because Andrea gets pwnt by zombies(fuck that bitch).. and the story doesn't seem to have moved along at all even after skipping all of the season three episodes.

Either way, I can't see how a game can be anywhere near decent if it's based off the same story line. There is no way in hell I'm going to purchase the comics if it's anything like the show. I get the impression that the guy who created TWD is just spinning his wheel and making circular plot lines (in both comics and TV) until people wise up and stop tossing wads of cash at him.. either way I can respect a well executed scam story and look forward to the series coming to an end.. (that is if the creator has even imagined the broad outlines of an ending to begin with)

 

[tuluse]

The game is an original story, it doesn't use the story line from the comic or the show. The comic is much better than the show (I've read through Vol 4, and watched the entire show until this point).

 

[Jarpie]

I read about 50-60 issues of the comic book and it's pretty fucking shit. It's basicly ridiculously melodramatic soap opera with zombies, haven't watched tv-show but can't imagine it being any better.

 

[Name]

It's the whole ponit of Walking Dead franchise, revolutionize the Zombie gerne with melodramatic soap opera instead of action and horror.