Telltale

[Deloria]

I've recently replayed some Telltale adventure games (all three seasons of Sam & Max and Tales of Monkey Island) and I have to say, I think they're brilliant. I think the puzzles are fun and engaging and I think the storylines are very much in the spirit of the old Sam & Max and Monkey Island games. I don't see why people insist that Telltale are out to ruin the adventure game industry. How does everyone else feel about them?

[HitBattousai]

For the most part, the games are good, the Jurassic Park games being the exception.  I think the main issue some people have with Telltale is that they just weren't all that ambitious in their format for making games, Sam and Max, Monkey Island, and Back to the Future all play very similarly and the puzzles aren't especially difficult or creative in any of those games imo.  Basically Telltale found a format that worked better for general gamers and applied it repeatedly to make good games, but not great ones until The Walking Dead games came out.  And even The Walking Dead games actually play pretty similarly to the games in the list above, it's the narrative/choices in The Walking Dead series that sets it apart.     

[Oldbushie]

I felt that their episodes were a tad short and not highly challenging. I would have loved to see them make your actions in previous episodes count towards different results. Granted, I'd like to see the same for Cognition as well, but Unity's engine is a bit limiting in that regard...

[stika]

I've only played the Monkey Island remakes and Seasons 1&2 of Sam and Max.

Honestly, though I love that they brought the old actors from Monkey Island back, I feel that a lot of them miss the timing on the jokes, probably because written humor differs from spoken humor.

as for Sam and Max, I loved Season 1, loved its jokes and the songs, but Season 2 was a bit weaker though, for starters there was only one song and really, the whole relationship between Sybil and Lincoln was funny at first but it got pretty old pretty fast

[darthkiwi]

I know what you mean about Sam and Max season 2. It was fun but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first. Season 3 is better than both 1 and 2, though. In fact, I think season 3: ep2 is one of my favourite adventure games EVER, because it has a really clever plot device.

I guess they haven't exactly pushed the medium forward (except for Walking Dead, should play that some time), but is that really what anyone would want from a Monkey Island or Sam and Max game?

[stika]

probably not and I do love Telltale, but I feel that their games often live on either Nostalgia (Monkey Island, Sam and Max) or are just games for more famous franchises (Jurassic Park, Walking Dead).

I'd like to see them come up with more original creations (Not sure if I should count strongbad as he was originally created for a webshow)

[darthkiwi]

Fair point, and I'm sure their games wouldn't have sold as well before they became a brand if they'd been an original IP rather than Sam and Max or MI. But I thought The Devil's Playhouse was as strong as Hit the Road if you took it on its own merits (though the final episode was lacking a bit in that the plot was mostly played out, there was very little Max interaction and there were no toys of power). The first four episodes, though, were gold dust.

It's hard to compare one MI game to another since the first ones have become almost legendary. But I did enjoy ToMI and I *think* I found it about as fun as CoMI, once you peer through the mist of nostalgia, though it's hard to be sure.

But yeah, I would like to see more independent work from them, ie. not sequels or an adaptation.

[GrahamRocks!]

Since I've started watching videos of all the MI games, and now I'm finally at Tales, I have to say that I'm impressed so far! And yes, I liked MI 3 and 4 too, sue me!

[stika]

I really like MI 3 as well. Mi 4 starts out well enough, but I kind of got bored with it after a while

[Deloria]

You really should play season 3, stika.

You must admit though that there have been some ToMI puzzles that have been extremely in the spirit of the original games, such as when Guybrush was strapped in the chair in the Marquis de Singe's house and had to escape by using his limbs to shock a monkey in a cage to deliver the key to him.

[stika]

I haven't played Tales of Monkey Island yet, only the remakes of MI 1&2

I need to get a job before buying more games

[Cez]

Of course everyone should play Season 3 of Sam & Max. That's the one I worked on!

I find their games good. They are shorter and yes, not as challenging, but really, who has the time to solve hard puzzles this day and age

[Deloria]

I actually think there's a lot to be said for how reasonable their puzzles are. The fact that there are only ever two main locations you can visit in the first (and much of the second) season makes the realm of all objects for all available puzzles a lot smaller, but it also means that they're a lot more cohesive and well thought out, rather than just being fetch quests.

[Neonivek]

I really like Telltale, though they are usually all pathetically easy and to solidify how easy the game is they actually turn ON hints at the start of every game, but my biggest issue is just the episodic nature.

When you think of a game everything at the start is slow just to help you get into things and everything builds towards the climax (often multiple).

Because every single Telltale game is split into multiple episodes it means that EVERY single chapter has its own slow section and climax.

Which wouldn't be a problem but everytime I feel like I am just getting into the groove of one of their games... it is over! and the next one doesn't allow me to transition because it needs to do the "slow start so everyone who didn't play last episode can follow along" as well.

Which is the thing about Silver Lining, because it is just one large game split up into multipler chapters (unlike Telltale where it is a series of individual games with a continuous story) it doesn't fall into that same problem.

[darthkiwi]

Of course everyone should play Season 3 of Sam & Max. That's the one I worked on!

I find their games good. They are shorter and yes, not as challenging, but really, who has the time to solve hard puzzles this day and age

Actually, what part did you work on? I had no idea you'd worked on that particular game, though I knew you worked at Telltale.

Neonivek: Deloria and I played through all three seasons, with the episodes pretty much back to back, and I don't think we experienced that too much. Yes, each season starts off slow, but with later episodes you're really thrown into the thick of puzzle-solving. And although it did have the rhythm of a TV show, where every episode has its own story arc, there was always a definite overarching plot which gave each season a feeling of cohesion.

I totally agree that the pacing is different from a traditional, all-in-one-piece adventure, but to me it felt like the difference between film pacing and TV show pacing: different but not better or worse, necessarily.

[Neonivek]

Yes, each season starts off slow, but with later episodes you're really thrown into the thick of puzzle-solving

Each episode starts off slow. Each season starting off slow is no problem for me.

although it did have the rhythm of a TV show

Yeah very episodic and oddly enmough you said "where every episode has its own story arc" which is funny because often they are outright connected or continuations.

Back to the Future for example is just one story but is told as if each episode was an entirely different story from the one previously.

different but not better or worse, necessarily

Of course. It is just what kills Telltale games for me personally. The fact that once I am finally drawn into their story, setting, and characters the game is over and I need to reset.

Oddly enough the game I had the LEAST problem with in terms of the story feeling broken up was Wallace and Grommit... and it was meant to be episodic. How does that happen? Though it helps that unlike most of the games it actually had episode to episode pacing (unlike the other games where EACH chapter must be as stunning as possible)

[GrahamRocks!]

I'm nearly done with ToMI! The story has been really good!

Although, if you'll excuse the pun...

Spoiler (mouse over to reveal):

Poor little Guy!

[crayauchtin]

Does anyone know how some of the Telltale games are on PS3? I just bought a PS3 so I was thinking of getting some of their games that work on that platform.

[KatieHal]

I played Walking Dead on PS3, I liked ther interface there. I got the feeling it was made with a console interface in mind as the primary one.

But note that if you replay scenes or conversations, the buttons for your options may change! They're sometimes randomly assigned, so what was Triangle the first time may not be on a second playthrough.

[crayauchtin]

Oh that's confusing! But hopefully I will be able to deal with it.