Blog: Does Walking Dead really tailor itself to your actions?

[Irishmile]

Thats the thing about these sorts of things... most of the arguments are valid... those AAA titles DID have the things you mention... but it also didnt have the episodic release.. we spent ALOT of time thinking about these characters.. growing attached..

Game of the Year is just a snapshot of what the gamers liked at that moment.. and for whatever reason/reasons they liked Walking Dead.. doesnt mean it was better or worse than those other games.. it just means that for personal or notso personal reasons the gamers felt a connection with the game and wanted to see it win awards.

I would be saying the same thing if any of the other games had won... you really can not point to one thing and say... "AHAAA! THIS is the reason it won"

Its like "best Picture" in movies.. there have been a TON of movies that have won and I went "huh... well I didnt dig it" But its like they say Beauty is in the eye of the beholder..

Just because I do not get it.. doesnt mean its not worthwhile to everyone else.

[Cyreen]

Originally Posted by FAVREFAN

Also, your definition of a troll is slightly skewed.

On the contrary, you could have posted your opinion on any number of gaming forums, including some that would no doubt have supported your opinion. Instead you choose to post on the forum for the winning game in an effort to be inflammatory, therefore... troll.

[Gman5852]

*Checks title*
Well so far this is true.

Originally Posted by FAVREFAN

A point and click comic book novel won a Game Award.

"Book Novel"?
EDIT:Just going to say real fast I do agree with this point. This game was more of a movie that paused and went "what do you think about this scenario" more than anything.

The saving grace of the game was it's impeccable storyline,

Well that's good considering it is a story based game.

I can bitch and moan about how bad the graphics are, but that speaks for itself.

No, you might want to, you are the first person I've ever seen complain about the graphics, so it clearly doesn't speak for it self.

*complaint about choices #40,000,000

Not even going to argue this, it's done to death.

Red Dead Redemption, GTA 4, Skyrim, Bioshock, Oblivion. Is TWD really on par with these games? Really? Really. SMH

No. TWD isn't being compared to those. Besides, people voted for this game. It won because more people liked this game than the others, nothing more. The VGAs are not a "which game is better" reward, it's a "which game had more people that actually care enough to vote for" award.

[Irishmile]

I liked TWD and I was happy to see it win... but the OP is right... the VGA was really hard to take serious... It would be nice if they treated the games and winners with a little more respect.. but whatever.

[TheRickGrimes]

Originally Posted by Irishmile

I liked TWD and I was happy to see it win... but the OP is right... the VGA was really hard to take serious... It would be nice if they treated the games and winners with a little more respect.. but whatever.

^This.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by Gman5852

Well if people actually knew what "tailor made" meant, they wouldn't be complaining.

Tailor made does NOT mean changing things wildly, never did, never will. If you have a shirt tailor-made for you, it means the sleeves are shorter or longer to match you. It doesn't have a 3rd sleeve for you. Same for this game, it's tailor-made for you, characters will think differently about you based on your actions, it WON'T change the story for you.

How hard is it for people to figure this out?

Oh god, stop with the shirt analogy already. Its a terrible analogy. A 3rd sleeve?

Giving this game GOTY is nothing short of comical and it killed what little credibility the VGA's had to begin with. Thankfully, most of the other sites that vote on GOTY will not select this game. Was it a good game, yes. Was it a GOTY game? Not even remotely close. The only reason this game won is because anything to do with the Walking Dead is SUPER popular right now. Then again, any award that leaves the voting up to the general public is...well, its doomed from the get go. If they did the same thing for the Oscars we would have movies like Transformers winning Best Picture. There is a very good reason the general public is excluded from voting on the VAST majority of awards.

[CarScar]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

Oh god, stop with the shirt analogy already. Its a terrible analogy. A 3rd sleeve?

Giving this game GOTY is nothing short of comical and it killed what little credibility the VGA's had to begin with. Thankfully, most of the other sites that vote on GOTY will not select this game. Was it a good game, yes. Was it a GOTY game? Not even remotely close. The only reason this game won is because anything to do with the Walking Dead is SUPER popular right now. Then again, any award that leaves the voting up to the general public is...well, its doomed from the get go. If they did the same thing for the Oscars we would have movies like Transformers winning Best Picture. There is a very good reason the general public is excluded from voting on the VAST majority of awards.

And what did you want to win? Assassin's Creed, lmao? I'm a little confused as to why people think it shouldn't win GOTY. I've never played a game that I've been more emotionally invested and interested in and it's by far the best game I've ever played. I'm not even being biased here, I've played every other game that was elected for GOTY (except Dishonored). Yeah sure, it's more like a "book" or a "movie" but still at the end of the day it's still a game, a game I like considerably more then any other game that I've played and if that isn't a good enough reason for me to vote for GOTY then I have no idea what could be.

Yeah The Walking Dead franchise is super popular right now, but it still beat Assassin's Creed, something I thought wouldn't be possible considering how revered that game series is.

[plaqueconspiracy]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

Oh god, stop with the shirt analogy already. Its a terrible analogy. A 3rd sleeve?

Giving this game GOTY is nothing short of comical and it killed what little credibility the VGA's had to begin with. Thankfully, most of the other sites that vote on GOTY will not select this game. Was it a good game, yes. Was it a GOTY game? Not even remotely close. The only reason this game won is because anything to do with the Walking Dead is SUPER popular right now. Then again, any award that leaves the voting up to the general public is...well, its doomed from the get go. If they did the same thing for the Oscars we would have movies like Transformers winning Best Picture. There is a very good reason the general public is excluded from voting on the VAST majority of awards.

Why isn't it a GOTY game?

[Juanique99]

I just wanted to answer the thread's title question:

Does Walking Dead really tailor itself to your actions?
It surely felt like it, and that's all I care.

[notoriousmercy]

If you play through the game once, you don't even realise this.

You can take some points off of replay value for that. I also expected a different game if I made opposite choices. But you can't deny how epic this game was on your first playthrough. And I think that's the most important.

Anyway, it's a point Telltale can maybe do something with in the future.

[sid6581]

Originally Posted by notoriousmercy

If you play through the game once, you don't even realise this.

Yes, if you never rewind, never replay, you do. But just trying to save Carley or Kenny once and you see the puppet master at work, not really allowing you to steer from the given path.

But in the end, yes, it was a great experience and it deserves GOTY for exploring new ways of adult story-telling, something games really miss. But I'd really hope TTG have a higher budget for season 2 and allow the story line to branch of a lot more. For now they already achieved something few games can: People really debate a game, not just best character build or favorite level, about moral dilemmas, choices and opinions.

Oh - and bring back Molly in season 2! And please - fix your savegames system, this is really a mess and it's sad that you don't even care about all the gamers who lost their game progress due to your lousy programming. Sorry, had to be said.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by CarScar

And what did you want to win? Assassin's Creed, lmao? I'm a little confused as to why people think it shouldn't win GOTY. I've never played a game that I've been more emotionally invested and interested in and it's by far the best game I've ever played. I'm not even being biased here, I've played every other game that was elected for GOTY (except Dishonored). Yeah sure, it's more like a "book" or a "movie" but still at the end of the day it's still a game, a game I like considerably more then any other game that I've played and if that isn't a good enough reason for me to vote for GOTY then I have no idea what could be.

Yeah The Walking Dead franchise is super popular right now, but it still beat Assassin's Creed, something I thought wouldn't be possible considering how revered that game series is.

Please show me where I said anything about Assassins Creed, let alone that it should win game of the year. Oh, that's right you cant because I never said anything about Assassins Creed. I couldn't say anything about Assassins Creed even if I wanted to because I haven't played it and I have no desire too. The fact that you would assume to know what games someone plays, let alone what game they think should win GotY, based solely on a single post which states a particular game should not win game of the year....well, that is arrogance at a level that is rarely seen, even on internet forums and I have no desire to debate anything with such a person. Well just agree to disagree.

[plaqueconspiracy]

It does tailor the story. It doesn't change it and put the story in a whole different direction and storypath, but it does tailor it. Giving the Clementine the red hoodie or letting her be without it... It's tailoring.

[DrDeepthroat]

Yeah, it kills replayability a bit when people die no matter what you do. I think Molly is the only one who's fate changes based on your actions.

[watertommyz]

Originally Posted by JByrne

I don't know. I feel that thematically, ending the game without any kind of extensive epilogue is probably appropriate.

One of the big themes of the game is about parenthood. Most parent know, or at least hope that their children will outlive them. What happens once their gone is out of their hands. All you can do is prepare them, give them the emotional tools they need to carry on.

That's why the after-credits scene is so note perfect. How it ends on such a huge question-mark. You don't know for certain if the figures are Christa and Omid, friendly or unfriendly, or even for sure if their not walkers (they're probably not, but that's still a 'probably'). For you, Clementine's whole future ends on a question-mark.

All you can hope for is that you did the best you could.

I agree with pretty much all of this. Here's something I posted elsewhere on the Internet: "I've wanted more stories to not worry about offending its audience, or afraid of being realistic (in tone and themes) and especially in the horror genre, and well...The Walking Dead video game delivers that experience, with situations and events that I've always assumed would have happened in something like Resident Evil or other more fantastical horror games. The ending isn't pretty, and treats me intellectually by having it be a satisfying ending in that its resolution has everything to do with its themes and allusions, survival and horror but by not being a happy ending, and there are no cop-outs, and it is brutal.

I haven't experienced an ending as thought-provoking since reading Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, which was the story that lead me to look at stories in structure and more narratively rather than just looking for something "cool" or some form of false accomplishment. Every decision you make doesn't come to be about simply surviving, but a reflection of people and how they would treat one another in this terrible situation, and as one final part of your experience, you are confronted with your decisions and are forced to reflect and wonder about them, and then you see your results in the one last hope you have left, and even then it uncertain and ambiguous on purpose to really sell the point of you having to interpret the meaning of the ending, and feel the weight of your actions.

Well, those are my ramblings for tonight. I probably put way more thought into this than I should have, but this game defiantly had more care put into it than normal so it deserves it. This game has gotten me even more excited for The Last of Us, which if it follows up on its promises, looks to be a true experience in and of itself."

It's not about changing the ending. It was always about shaping this little girl's personality. Yeah your choices don't prevent the entire cast from meeting their fate, but it does alter how those people are treated while they are alive and how you perceive the story. It becomes not about a goal of achieving a good or bad outcome...it is about reflecting on those choices you've made.

The Journey is the Destination.