Have any of you played any of the pre-TWD Telltale games? Are they worth getting?

[ninja666]

So, we all know that Telltale Games became big with their The Walking Dead episodic adventure game. They were in the business for much longer, though, and made some other games following the same formula way before TWD. Have any of you played any of them? I'm thinking about picking one, maybe two, of them up and giving them a go, but I don't know if they're worth playing at all.

What I'm looking for is a good, engaging story, no matter its nature. I'm not expecting a hidden gem, but I don't like wasting my time on utter crap either, so keep that in mind when recommending anything.

Also, I've noticed that most of them are based around well-known franchises such as Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, or Law and Order. Do I need to be a fan of a specific franchise to understand the game's story, or did they manage to create their own, independent thing, like they did with TWD and Fables (The Wolf Among Us)?

Thanks in advance for replying and helping me decide.

 

[TelHybrid]

I loved the Back to the Future game. Was fantastic!

 

[Zontar]

I quite enjoyed the Sam and Max games. Quite a bit of humour to them and a decent amount of gameplay.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Strong Bad's Cool Game 4 Attractive People is the only TellTale series worth playing.

 

[Neverhoodian]

If you're a Homestar Runner fan, you owe it to yourself to play Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People. It's your typical point-and-click adventure fare with the signature humor and charm you've come to expect from H*R.

If I have one major beef about the title, it's that some of the game's progression hearkens back to annoying Sierra-style "click every inventory item on every bit of scenery until something happens" schtick. Also, it probably won't do much for you if you aren't already a fan, as there are lots of inside jokes and callbacks to the website.

 

[Leg End]

I join the BTTF group in saying that game was fucking awesome.

You don't really need to know the original franchise that I'm aware of for the rest and they did a decent job of letting you fill in the blanks with what they mention if there are call backs to the original franchise and the stories themselves are good stand alones.

And, you can always pick up some Sam and Max goodness.

 

[Kotaro]

The Sam & Max games are hilarious. I recommend those.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I enjoyed the hell out of the Poker Night at the Inventory games, but less because of poker and more because of hilarious cameos.

 

[bluepotatosack]

Huh, I actually thought the BttF season was substantially weaker than their Monkey Island and 2nd and 3rd season of Sam and Max.

I like 'em all though. Basically the old point and click adventure formula with much easier puzzles.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Everybody has already brought up all the other good ones, but... No one has mentioned Puzzle Agent! You fools! Puzzle Agent 1+2 are damn good. They are basically Layton clones, but they have a fantastic story, art-style, and atmosphere all their own, so I definitely recommend them.

 

[FPLOON]

Back to the Future was pretty awesome... and Jurrasic Park was just okay, at best...

Other than that, at most, all of TellTale's pre-TWD games are enjoyable in some way, shape, or form... and even more so, at times, when you know the source material like Strong Bad...

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I'll go one further and say that I loved BttF, not necessarily for the gameplay but for bringing closure to the series for me. The movies are such a huge part of my life for many reasons, it brought a tear to my eye for capturing the essence of those wonderful films. I could never in good conscience support a reboot and would heavily boycott the shit out of it.
Telltale effectively hooked me with that series and sealed their awesomeness with TWD. Note I am not a Walking Dead fan and even I loved the games.

 

[Elfgore]

Jurassic Park was mediocre at best. The QTEs are pretty poorly done, the characters are boring, and the story is pretty meh. But, it had dinosaurs and some pretty cool scenes involving dinosaurs. It's worth a purchase at like five dollars for all episodes, but not regular price.

I have not played any of their other games though.

 

[Zaltys]

Sam and Max series and Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People are definitely worth checking out if you like Tales from the Borderlands. I didn't enjoy Tales from Monkey Island much: wasn't my type of humor, and it felt too repetitive. And I didn't get far in Back to the Future, because the characters and setting bored me.

It's hard to recommend any of Telltale's older games to fans of TWD and GoTT. But if you like humorous point-and-click adventures, definitely try them. They've aged well enough, as adventure games tend to do.

 

[raeior]

And another vote for Sam & Max. The puzzles are pretty simplistic most of the time but the humour is great. I enjoyed those games far more than I did TWD.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Yeah, i'd also have to go with Sam and Max.
That remake/reboot/sequel(?) was my first contact with TTG and i really enjoyed it. It can be described as a sitcom/cartoon in point n' click adventure form, except the humor is much more absurd and the riddles are much simpler(albeit require certain... hmm, mindset that follows the bonkers setting) than in your average Lucas games classic.

 

[Rack]

Everybody has already brought up all the other good ones, but... No one has mentioned Puzzle Agent! You fools! Puzzle Agent 1+2 are damn good. They are basically Layton clones, but they have a fantastic story, art-style, and atmosphere all their own, so I definitely recommend them.

I almost missed that too, but yeah I'd say Puzzle Agent is probably the best of them, definitely where I'd go.

Depending on how you time it Hector predates TWD as well and that's actually fairly great, if a bit crude.

As for the others Sam and Max is pretty good, though the first season is a bit hit and miss and Tales of Monkey Island was okay too. But that's really as far as I can go in recommending them, they're alright if you're hankering for an adventure.

If you want an adventure game outside of Telltale I'd definitely recommend Time Gentlemen Please though, so long as you can stand crappy graphics and no speech.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Jurrasic Park is mediocre but has it's moments. Haven't played the rest.

Let's be honest, Jurassic Park was about watching all the ways everyone could die, not playing the game or advancing the story.

I've always been a fan of Sam and Max, they were pretty good fun, albeit very weird.

 

[Pseudonym]

Strongbad's cool game for attractive people and Hector are both hilarious. You can look up strongbad on youtube to get a taste. Strongbad is a douchebag and a loser who insults people and who tries to do unimportant things. Hector: Badge of Carnage features detective and pervert hector and a whole lot of profanity and gross stuff.