Hey writers/readers!
I realized a few of you like Game of Thrones, or perhaps that genre. I was wondering if you’d tried out Telltale’s new Game of Thrones game? It hit stores last week, everything from android to iPhone to PS4, Xbox, and PC. I got it for PS4 personally, because it was the same price as it would have been on my phone, and I wanted to appreciate the (Telltale signature crappy) graphics on the big screen. You may recall their Walking Dead, Wolf Among Us, or Back to the Future games.
I won’t spoil the game, but I’ve heard complaints about the lack of control, or, “the illusion of choice.” The story goes to the same place, and you can control what you say, but essentially it boils down to making the right/wrong impression on a certain person, the result of which will be seen at a later date (more episode releases.) Sometimes it does feel like I’m choosing to what degree I fail/succeed.
You actually play as five character’s I’m told, three of which are available in the first episode. You are all affiliated with the same minor House (a new one, not in the books) and have to deal with war and the brutality of the major houses.
Pros: The wold is well established, several references to the show, and the characters could easily be integrated as “canon” without affecting the current story. You can imagine some of the characters from King’s Landing interacting with minor nobles with their own troubles, such as your characters. The voice acting is great, and the characters from the TV show are very well done. The game took about 2-3 hours to complete, the first time. It might go faster on subsequent playthroughs, not looking at random things.
Cons: All of the characters so far are young adults. Don’t get me wrong, that’s fine, but putting on the lens of the innocent kind of takes away a lot of fun options, and makes what is happening to them even more terrifying. To me, the main character’s voices are too soft/high, and I haven’t really found one I relate to besides the first one. As a result, the scenes play out like the episodes in the TV series that focus on the younger characters: guided, carefully told, and crafted for political correctness. I doubt we’ll see much romance or any sex in this game, though the game is clearly rated M for mature and has plenty of violence. Why not both? Finally, there’s no “skip” option in dialogue, so a second play through might be rewarding in changing outcomes of events, it will still take the same amount of time and you’ll have to watch the dialogue again.
I’ll still buy the games; at 5 dollars an episode, I can afford it over the length of the release. (I still buy CoGs; just bought Psy High! Still waiting for a peaceful day to play through it though.) At the end, you’ll be paying $30 for about 10 hours or maybe twice that if you play it a few times, of gameplay. That’s pretty good, considering some $60 games only give you 10 hours until story completion. But for length of entertainment, I’d say you can’t beat CoG for the value!
Do you think the shallowness of the choices is made up for by the fact that it is a visual, interactive game, with a decent story and an established franchise?
They’re obviously completely different but I’m glad I’ve found both. Did anyone here play episode 2?