Jimquisition: Jimquisition Awards, Part Five

jmarquiso

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JoJo said:
Gah, you don't know how frustrating it is to not have a working console at the moment, as soon as I have the time and money to invest in something I can play this game on I will buy it!

These awards overall have been fun, kudos to you Jim.
iOS. You can get all the episodes on iOS.

Edit: Didn't realize you had a PC as well. You could buy it in episodes on console, and download the whole thing at once on PC (you had to buy a season pass rather than episode by episode).
 

jmarquiso

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Abomination said:
Oh, in mine she DID call out to them - or rather waved.
I didn't realize mine was so different!
She cowered behind her gun on mine, and my friends'!
 

Jimothy Sterling

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Well what can I say.. I suppose its just Jim..
But it's a bit disappointing.

Let me start by saying that I don't think the walking dead is a bad game. It is, arguably the best adventure game I can think of, and the writing, and characters are rather excellent. The story is also well told (if a bit stretched through some of the episodes), and the conclusion is great even if I felt it was a bit theatrical and was expecting it for a while. Anyhow it is what it is, a great, thoughtfully written "chose your own adventure book" made out of cutscenes. And that is AS FAR AS THE GAME CAN BE CONSIDERED GOOD.

The game in its GAME aspect, is extremely weak. It does no strides to bring mechanics up to par with the narrative like Spec Ops does, it exposes bluntly rather than imply subtly as Journey does, and in the end, it feels just like an extremely static movie where you can switch play a different chapter in specific points of the game.
In fact it even holds back the interesting growing trend of active unconscious decision-making in favor of a spread sheet dialogue tree structure.

It presents dramatically the weaknesses of the genre too, in many situations forcing you to solve a problem in a manner so structured that it becomes obtuse, with inadequate control mechanics akin to the messy Heavy Rain, and often not even allowing the option to react as one would (like Mass effect's "choice").

I know it's a very Nintendo fanboy card to play, but games are about Gameplay, and gameplay should enhance the experience of the story. In the Walking dead, there is no gameplay to speak of, and when it's here, it rarely ever enhances the experience.
For a game of the year award, I think its a necessity to ask the questions: Could this Game be done in another medium? and, is this better for being a game? And in this particular case I think the answer is that we could very well see this game as an "interactive tv show", and even a less frustrating literal chose your own adventure book.
Considering that a few games this year managed to drive the medium forward with experiences that cannot exist outside the medium itself, and also manage to have a profound emotional impact (really, this was good but it often bordered on cheesyness) it seems like the wrong pick.. but well, maybe that's just me.
 

personion

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I don't understand why everyone loves this game. Sure, it had a good story, but the gameplay was little more than quick time events, and none of your choices really mattered. None of your choices had any real impact. Even Heavy Rain at least gave multiple branches and choices, Walking Dead was just too linear for my tastes. I felt like I was watching a movie where the main character says different things every time you rewatch it, and you're required to mash a button for every action sequence. I certainly see the appeal, but it's definitely not a good game in my opinion.
 

Saegrim

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Nice!
Now I'm curious: will we once again get a '10 Shittest Games' episode? Or are you simply going to observe quality this year?
 

JoJo

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Azuaron said:
It's on PC?
jmarquiso said:
iOS. You can get all the episodes on iOS.

Edit: Didn't realize you had a PC as well. You could buy it in episodes on console, and download the whole thing at once on PC (you had to buy a season pass rather than episode by episode).
I appreciate the tips but I don't have a iOS device and my laptop is close to five years old, I used an Xbox 360 until it broke down recently. I'm just going to have to wait it out until I can afford a new 360 or PS3 :p
 

General Michi

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Spike TV called, I couldn't make out what they said but it sounded like they were crying about having an inferior awards show.
 

SoopaSte123

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Perfect choice, Jim. It made me cry too. Definitely worthy of Game of the Year. Thank god for you and your week long awards... you're the best thing on the Escapist.
 

Saibh

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I agree with it's GotY, but I do have to disagree it had an unprecedented amount of choice. The illusion is very convincing, but play the game more than once and you'll realize that simply none of your choices matter. Not a single one. They all lead out to the same conclusion. They all lead out to the same events. It does what most games that offer choice do: have the characters around you reflect it instead. The major difference is how they feel about you, not what happens. I don't have a problem with that, but this was a hugely disappointing factor for me in subsequent playthroughs.

Personally, I think this is a huge flaw with the game I wish more people would address. Considering that TellTale could have easily made a game that changed settings every season, meaning it didn't have to deal with the consequences of many different decisions as their game kept getting longer and more complex. I felt like the episodic format could have offered up the feeling of making decisions you know will affect you in the future, but also deliver upon those expectations within the same game, without having to worry that a large portion of your players will never own the later games.
 

tippy2k2

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This game had a shit ton of problems in my eyes...

Railroading
A bunch of technical issues
Cut-scene stupidity
Illusion of choice

...with that said, I 100% agree with this choice. This has been one of the best games I have played all year (and possibly this generation) and I am incredibly excited for Season 2 to start. There are a few things that I wish Telltale would do, specifically:
I really wished that noble decisions like saving people had more risk. For example, if you choose to risk your life to save Person A, maybe Person B in your group gets killed because of the time it took you to save Person A. It does not always have to happen but I wish the risk was present.
 

Fearzone

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Whenever I see a "best games" list, it always tends to weigh story over gameplay. Games on "best games" lists tend to excel in the story over the gameplay. Not that there is anything wrong with that, and if the story is what works for whomever is making the list, then I wouldn't want them to pick a game that doesn't do right by their own internal direction of gaming quality.

But I tend to look for the gameplay, and always feel a disconnect whenever I see these lists. For once, I'd like to see a list where the Dota 2 beta is the winner, followed by Torchlight, or something.
 

cerebus23

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Duffeknol said:
And no Spec Ops The Line. Curse you, Jim. Curse you, cruel God.
Probably the reason why "the cynical brit" gave it honorable mention, its a great game but not a game you can say you enjoyed playing, just a game everyone should play.