The Walking Dead

[melmer]

It's never mentioned again so don't worry about it.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Hmph!

I hate it when TT games have moments like that... You're like, "Huh? Was I supposed to get something there?"

Ah, well. Onwards! Enjoying it a lot so far. Episode two had some weird quirks (introducing a whole new character out of the blue -- kind of losing the thread of the previous episode) but it's still very intense and I'm enjoying it.

With a bigger budget, you kind of think they could produce something truly spectacular -- fewer bugs, better direction/writing -- but what I've seen so far is fantastic. Looking forward to watching/playing the rest.

[melmer]

I want a Manny Calavera sprint button so I can bounce around at 100mph

[pabosher]

2 is my least favourite, I think. You've got the best ahead of you, TP!

[melmer]

I'm I right in thinking Sean and jake didn't have much to do with ep 2. I didn't see there names come up in the intro credits. Or am I blind

[pabosher]

Sean was lead (largely sole, I believe) writer on 1, 3 and 5. (Coincidentally, my favourite episodes. 3 > 1 > 5)

[shammack]

Just finished the second episode and I have a question about the video recording... Actually, I just didn't get it all. Sorry if I'm being stupendously stupid, but what was I supposed to infer from it?

As I recall, the video and the episode end on Jolene saying something like "don't you worry, little girl, as long as the bandits keep getting food from that dairy, you'll be safe." I think you're just supposed to hear that and think, "oh shit, the dairy's no longer operational, therefore the bandits are a threat to Clementine." I was a little confused by it the first time I played the episode also; the way it's presented kind of feels like there should be a twist or something that shows the events of the episode in a new light, but then you don't actually get any new information. I think it's just meant to be a cliffhanger to set up the situation with the bandits going into the next episode.

I don't know exactly why or how Jolene got Clem's hat, but I assume it's a result of her having become weirdly fixated on Clem as a sort of surrogate daughter after losing her real daughter to the bandits. I'm not really sure what taking her hat was meant to accomplish, except as a device to introduce that backstory to the player. Maybe Clem just dropped it somewhere and Jolene was holding onto it for her, or maybe it had sentimental value for her and also she was kind of crazy.

(Disclaimer: I didn't work on that episode and wouldn't have been involved in the writing even if I did; this is just my interpretation pulled directly from my ass.)

[ThunderPeel2001]

Yes! That makes a lot of sense! Thanks, shammack.

(Side note: I think it was the farm that took her, no? Jolene knew what was happening there. Maybe the bandits injured her daughter, and they offered to help...? It doesn't make events easier to follow that it's a male voice that shoots arrows at you, when the bandits have been shown to have guns.)

[Apelsin]

One bandit was shown carrying a crossbow earlier in the episode as well though, so that seems like a fairly common weapon in the Walking dead universe

[Wrestlevania]

I bought and finished this over a long weekend just after Christmas, while I was stuck in bed with the 'flu (or a virus or something--whatever it was, it was sweaty and unpleasant and lasted about three days).

I've not really played through an adventure game from beginning to end before. This won me over though; echoing others, I loved the story and was also blubbing by the end. The writing between Clem and Lee was lovely, carefully observed and completely absorbing. She was instinctively my priority in pretty much every situation.

Incidentally, I played this on iPad. The "slide in a direction to move" invisible joystick controls were a little awkward and sometimes confusing when the camera perspective tracked or shifted a lot, but I had no show-stopping problems playing it this way and would recommend it to anyone else.

[melmer]

To be honest the controls on the xbox360 were a little janky at times with perspective change.

I realised today that i'm probably going to have to play Jonathan blow's 'The witness' on ipad, and hearing you say that the ipad version of TWD was more than serviceable puts my worries at easy

[Nappi]

I just played through Episode 3 and encountered a truly hair-raising bug:

I picked up some biscuits in the car with the walker and was about to offer them to Duck when I saw that Katjaa was caressing air. I genuinely thought that Duck had "turned" and ran away, and that Katjaa was in shock, still thinking that she was holding her child.

Also, is there a way to skip the "In the next episode" thingies now that all the episodes are available?

[melmer]

I don't think so, I had to mute the tele and not look at the screen for 2mins

I didn't want to risk hitting a button in case it skips the episode stats

There's no trailer at the end of ep4

[Wrestlevania]

I realised today that i'm probably going to have to play Jonathan blow's 'The witness' on ipad, and hearing you say that the ipad version of TWD was more than serviceable puts my worries at easy

I think the only thing that felt missing was a discovery mechanic for inspecting the scenery on iPad (haven't tried any other format).

The game placed hotspots over collectible or interactive items, but you didn't know what they were until you'd pressed on one and Lee went over to either look at it or pick it up. This didn't interfere with gameplay, because the hotspots never appear to put you in harm's way. It was just a little odd having to press on each hotspot and wait for Lee to find out what it actually was up close.

What might have been nice would be the first tap reveals the name of the item without moving Lee, and then a second tap would cause him to interact with it. But, as mentioned, this is much of a muchness; it's just something that surprised me initially when I played via touch, having played one or two adventure games in the past using a mouse. Didn't detract at all from my enjoyment.

[Coods]

Final Playing Dead is up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkeK1suM0DYp

[Nappi]

Finally finished this. Certainly deserving of all the praise and game of the year awards and nominations it has gathered. Good job Jake and Sean! The best Telltale game I have played by a long long way.

Clementine is basically the best morality system ever created. The fact that I was constantly asking myself "Is it okay for a kid to see this?" or "Will she understand why I did this?" instead of "How many paragon points will this decision grant me?" is a major testament to its success.

About the ending:

I thought Gametrailers completely spoiled it in one of their Game of the Year videos when they showed Clementine as a zombie. That, combined with all the weeping in this thread convinced me that Lee would have to witness her turn into a zombie. I was pretty upset through episodes 3 to 5 because of that. It seemed such a pointless decision. When I finally realized that it was in fact Lee who was doomed, and that Clementine still had a chance, I was positively delighted. He was never that important. I mean, not really.

Could have done without the scene after the credits, though.

[pabosher]

Could have done without the scene after the credits, though.

I agree with this entirely. I've read Sean/Jake say why they did it, but I don't think it's necessary at all; and, in fact, I think it would've been far stronger as an ending without it.

[Nappi]

What actually was their reasoning behind it?

[pabosher]

It's to show that The Walking Dead universe continues without you, and doesn't care about you as an individual. It's also supposed to be one last kick in the nuts, wherein you hope/believe that Clem will remember all the advice you have her.

[racingfreak92]

Just started playing and the amount of game you have to replay if you die is infuriating, especially since the game part itself is dull as all hell to play.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Can someone explain something to me... I'm at the beginning of Episode 3. I decided to try and...

Help the girl who's being attacked by zombies... by shooting the zombies as they're attacking her -- is that even an option? The reason I ask is that I aimed a zombie and shot -- but somehow hit her. What gives? Is it a bug? Freaked me out. About to try again...

Edit: Argh. It happened again. What's going on? I'm definitely aiming at a zombie, but somehow I hit her. Why give me free control if I can't actually choose who to shoot?

Edit: And AGAIN. Argggggg.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Argh. I had to look it up on the TTG forums and people are saying you had to kill her because she was bitten... WTF? Did these people not play episode 2? Being bitten doesn't do anything. Everyone who dies is zombified. /frustrated

[youmeyou]

Actually being bitten turns you into a zombie even if you survive the bite. It's confusing lore, but there it is.

[pabosher]

That's not true entirely. If you are quick enough to amputate the affected area, you can survive (see: the comics).

[TychoCelchuuu]

Pretty sure that lady wasn't going to be able to amputate the affected areas.