Jimquisition: Jimquisition Awards, Part Five

[personion]

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]

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?

 

[kaizen2468]

Spill it Jimothy, which part made you weep glorious manly tears

 

[JoJo]

It's on PC?

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

 

[Jimothy Sterling]

Spill it Jimothy, which part made you weep glorious manly tears

The ending.

 

[General Michi]

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]

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]

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]

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:

Spoiler: Not really a spoiler since there is nothing specific but I do not even want the hint of a spoiler for people who have not played

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.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

I also love how the genre listed beneath the vid is "RPG".

Role-playing. I'd say it works pretty well with The Walking Dead. I didn't really feel like I was game-playing.

 

[Fearzone]

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]

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.

 

[LordMonty]

Damned fine line up will say played 80% of them and may consider the last thanks to you loved the overall winner to a fault Walking Dead is damned good.

 

[redknightalex]

The Walking Dead is being talked about so much this year, not to mention in so many GotY categories over many different sites, that I almost feel compelled to play it. My main problem? It's from Telltale Games.

I've played a few of their games and, frankly, they sucked. Game play was non-existent, writing absolutely horrible and cliched, and it always felt like a waste of time. Jurassic Park was my first episodic game from them that I played and I only did it because they were free and they each had trophies. I'm trying to get through Back to the Future except...how can anyone play a game that's so point-and-click? It's as if they are still making games for a mid '90s audience.

From what I understand, The Walking Dead has the same gameplay as these other games but with better writing? Eh...I don't know.

And for the record, if there was ever a game that made me cry, it was Mass Effect 3 (aka the game-which-must-not-be-named), and not because of how it ended. Journey was also a bawler. Climbing up the mountain in the snow by myself...damn.

Wait, Jim, did you never cry during Journey? Well...

 

[Metalrocks]

never really cared for this game but maybe i will give it a try if i feel like it and its cheap. i still havent played spec ops which i was keeping an eye on. i wait till steam has it cheaper or get it from the store when their price drops.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Spoiler: What ending, you say? Clicky clicky!

Clemintine shot me to put me out of my misery (and I hope to harden her to make such decisions in the future) at my bequest. Watching Clemintine meet Christa and Omid at the train tracks I directed both of them to go to made me wish I had a pipe to take out of my mouth and salute myself for my own decision making.

They clearly had always wanted a kid and would care for and protect one deeply. Clemintine was now capable of defending herself, considerate towards others and sensible with her chices.

Can you perhaps give some proof of this because the ending I got and from what research I've done all go like this

Spoiler

She sees two silhouettes of people on the horizon. Seems indecisive if she should join them or stay alone. In this ending there is no proof of who they are or if she joins them.

 

[sabercrusader]

I agree wholeheartedly with Jim's choice for GOTY. It was definitely my choice too. The story was amazing, the characters were near perfect, the voice acting was great, my main problem with the game is the technical stuff. Framerate issues, saves being deleted(didn't happen to me but I'd have been annoyed if it did),etc. None of this should stop anyone from playing the game though. As for the choices not having much of an effect on the story, I disagree. Sure, it didn't change the story much at all, and the outcome was the same for everyone, but what really mattered was the character interaction, which, when you think about it, was what the game was going for. Your choices in who you sided with, how many times you sided with/against that person, and just overall whatever you say to them changed the way they viewed and thought about you. It also changed Lee's personality.

Also on the subject of gameplay, I really didn't have a problem with it not having so much. The story held me from start to finish, and when you did actually play, it wasn't by any means bad either. It was unique considering that just about every other game you see on the market now is a AAA explosions, stabby stabby, spray and pray game that, normally, focuses on the action more than the story. I value story above just about everything else. It has to be some damn fun gameplay to keep me playing if I don't find any interest in the story. Besides, in the end, isn't the point of any video game to provide you an experience? The experience that The Walking Dead gave me was by far one of the best experiences that I've ever had playing a video game. I don't find anything wrong with someone not liking it, that's their opinion, but I don't agree with the people who say it doesn't deserve the awards it's getting because it's not a "game" or that the choices don't "matter", it is a game, regardless that it has little gameplay, it is enough for it to be considered a video game, and the choices do matter, just not in a way that many people were likely expecting.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

I'm going to be getting this game as soon as possible. As a fan of the Walking Dead (comics) it is hard to believe it took me so long to get around to getting it. I think it's because I was worried it would do nothing but make me depressed, like the comic. Thank God for Jim, as he has assured that there is humor to be had in this game's journey as well.

 

[ExtraDebit]

Walking Dead was a good experience but can hardly be called a "game", there's hardly any gameplay in it. It's more like an interactive movie and for something with its main emphasis on story it doesn't even have multiple endings. In addition for people who played the scenarios multiple times they'll realized the player's choice is an illusion which doesn't really change anything. The people who are going to die are going to die and the ones that's going to live will live.

While it certainly deserves mentioning, it's by no way "game of the year".

 

[JackyG]

The Walking Dead is a bloody amazing piece of work. But it took way too long for each episode to release so i'd forgotten peoples names, what had happened etc. This of coufse can just be solved by waiting for the whole series to release before playing. Like the show. You want to wait for the box set.

My only gripe with the actual GAME is that they've followed story beats from the show too closely. I want to see them really branch out on their own next time they clearly have the talent.

Job well done Tell Tale.