I think it's time to address Telltale Games' biggest problem

[FakeSympathy]

Now, I am not saying their games are bad. Other than their latest series TWD: Michonne I had fun playing each episodes of their series.

But here's the problem; They don't have their own flagship IP. Almost all of their games were from other licensed franchises and none of their games are original. The wolf among us? Originated from graphic novel series Fable (Which I recommend for everyone). Game of thrones? TV show and George R.R. Martin's work. Jurrasic Park and Back to the future? From the movies. There are some games that are TTG's original, but no one gives ape's shit about them. Hell, even the new Batman series that I'm excited about is based on the DC comic books.

TTG, we can see you guys have great potential. Please come up with your own stuff instead of borrowing shits from others

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

There's no gameplay and choices don't matter?

 

[DrownedAmmet]

There"s no gameplay and choices don't matter?

Well, the gameplay is the choices, which makes it suck worse when the choices don't matter

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

The only one that was very worth playing was Strong Bad's Cool Game 4 Attractive People.

It was the only one with self-aware comedy and an appropriate art-style and a sense of heart. I mean the Walking Dead just looks silly with a way too serious plot. Like watching Schindler's List with sock puppets.

And Game of Thrones looking like Wind Waker? Man...woof.

 

[FalloutJack]

There"s no gameplay and choices don't matter?

Well, the gameplay is the choices, which makes it suck worse when the choices don't matter

Welcome everybody to Whose Game Is It Anyway? where the game is made up and the choices don't matter!

Heh...had to do it.

 

[tippy2k2]

Well this thread is escalating quickly. Poor Telltale, I still love you!

TTG, we can see you guys have great potential. Please come up with your own stuff instead of borrowing shits from others

I don't mind that so much when it's an existing IP with original characters (see The Walking Dead). It's when they take IPs with established characters that it really hurts them. For example...

Spoiler: Telltale Game of Thrones very mild spoiler

My interaction with Ramsey Bolton dramatically changed from what I wanted to actually do because I knew that Ramsey would be untouchable. How I actually felt and wanted to act was altered because I knew that Telltale wouldn't/couldn't touch an established character like that

While I would prefer them to try a truly original IP, I'm fine with them using established IPs if it is the universe alone.

 

[CaitSeith]

I don't see how that is a problem in any way. I simply can't.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I think their biggest problem is that they have too many projects going on at once. Maybe if they dialed it back a little bit they might be able to come up with some new ideas, or flesh current ones out. If they kept their current workload or format and added a flagship IP, I feel it'd be a lot of the same without much differences besides story and setting

 

[Vykrel]

i think their biggest problem is their engine. i would prefer that their games not freeze, drop in framerate, and repeat audio every time there is a transition.

 

[Jute88]

I don't mind that so much when it's an existing IP with original characters (see The Walking Dead). It's when they take IPs with established characters that it really hurts them. For example...

Spoiler: Telltale Game of Thrones very mild spoiler

My interaction with Ramsey Bolton dramatically changed from what I wanted to actually do because I knew that Ramsey would be untouchable. How I actually felt and wanted to act was altered because I knew that Telltale wouldn't/couldn't touch an established character like that

I had the very same problem. Knowing what happens in Westeros really affected my gameplay (of the first episode) negatively. I just couldn't choose some options or favor certain charactes because I know what happens to them.

Also, how did people react to Walking Dead season two? To me, it was a disappointment. It felt like the plot was constantly moving and I didn't have enough time to catch my breath and get more familiar with the characters. I played it through once, and once was enough. I didn't want to go back to it, which is a pretty big deal for a game series that uses replayability as its strongest asset.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I typically don't mind the lack of choice in a game that boasts it, but with Telltale games there seems to be very little if any player agency or consequences. To the point where you'd have to wonder if this wouldn't work better as a straight-up TV show.

To me a really big problem is that ever since I played Until Dawn Telltale's game mechanics feel very frustrating. Primarily everything being a timed response. You have three choices in each dialoge option (four if you count the 'say nothing' option), and you get about 5 seconds to read all three, compare how each would stack up to what's just been said, and then choose which you want to go with. And maybe this is my slow brain, but that's just not enough time for me to make a proper decision. And while I know in reality you don't get infinite time to respond during conversations, you also don't get a limit of only three things to say.

Also, the way the games blatantly reset your actions after you've made a decision the game doesn't agree with, beyond showing how much your choices don't matter, is really cheap.

This is what has caused me to drop Tales from the Borderlands during its first episode, despite it generally being well written and very funny.

 

[Nazulu]

That's not really a problem though. Some artists work better with material that's half completed (not implying they only did half the work), but I would like to see them come up with their own world.

Their 'biggest problem' to me is their dodgy looking half realistic/cartoon style. It really puts me off.

 

[Fhqwhgod]

Their biggest problem is that The Walking Dead was such a huge succeess. They completely turned away from gameplay after that to try to repeat it. And then they lost some of their most talented writers during Season 2 of TWD and everything after has been quite terrible.
Not only is there no more gameplay now even the writing is mediocre at best.
Try it. Start a modern telltale game and don't do anything. How long will it take until you are required to do something? How many ofthe choices will be skippable by doing nothing?

 

[veloper]

Enough consumers appear to be content with short episodes of mediocre to decent storytelling, as long as there's minimal player interaction and cute visuals to go with it, because TT are still doing it.

Nothing to do about it. The only loss is that I liked some of their old stuff, when they were still in the business of real AGs like Strongbad and Hector.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

The only one that was very worth playing was Strong Bad's Cool Game 4 Attractive People.

It was the only one with self-aware comedy and an appropriate art-style and a sense of heart. I mean the Walking Dead just looks silly with a way too serious plot. Like watching Schindler's List with sock puppets.

And Game of Thrones looking like Wind Waker? Man...woof.

Actually, I don't mind the aesthetics of the games. I'd agree that they don't suit the tone, and the story might have more impact if they did. But I think it's got a different effect. The Wolf Among Us really looked like a comic and in tone with the source material. TWD had a similar look which didn't quite fit the comic or the series, and Borderlands was almost straight out of the game.

Getting ahead of myself with my opinion here, but I actually like it when this discrepancy occurs. Kinda like when I first saw South Park, dodgy cartoon looking like cut out paper with kids that swear and talk bullshit. Threw me off guard and I loved it. And I'd love to watch Schindler's List with sock puppets ;-) but each their own of course.

OT: I agree with the OP, I don't know how much they have to do with the original writers of the IP's they take from, but even if it was half of their own interpretation, they tell pretty good stories, illusion of player choice or not. So it would be interesting to see what they could do to come up with their own character development and creativity.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

They are making their own IP though. It has been reported on this very site a couple of times. Though it is still a mystery. Did they not create Sam and Max? Anyhow, i have no problem with their lack of gameplay. I enjoy the writing and the mild options that exist still immerse me more than most other games. Never got into their Game of Thrones series though, it felt weak compared to The Walking Dead and especially Tales from the Borderlands, which really does show the consequences of your actions in a unique way for the final episode. I personally would recommend that as their finest so far.

Can't understand the appeal of point and click puzzle adventure games where 80-90% of your time is wasted trying to trial and error every object against another object in the vain hope that it will further the story with logic born from unicorn farts and helium bongs. It's such a slog, when all i want is more story and dialogue. I don't feel smart from guessing the puzzles, only lucky. If you have that much time to spare, then good for you! But i despise the lost time and much prefer the new method of storytelling. I only have one life and many ambitions to fulfill within in, too much is wasted already and the voice in the brain that niggles and nags that fact can only be staved off so long during those moments.

Edit: I know you lovely darlings love links, here's a clink just in case you doubt my wise words of fiction; http://nerdist.com/telltale-games-teams-with-lionsgate-for-first-original-ip-super-shows/

 

[Zenja]

I saw a user on here mention Star Trek as the IP they wished Telltale would do and I have thought that before many times myself. Perhaps with the new show coming out it may happen. That may work better as 4-5 short stories instead of 4-5 episodes of the same continuous story. I think I would prefer 4 or 5 hour playthroughs of different Star Trek adventures as season 1 as if it were a TV show. I don't think licensed IPs are the problem.

I can see choices mattering more offering better replay value but it would also lengthen the development time between episodes. The puzzles were never really great either and I much prefer the dialogue bit or if having a QTE potentially veer the story. (Instead of a game over status.) My favorite thing so far is in Jurassic park when you have to try to speak spanish. It isnt that hard but I didn't know how to say rest in spanish and it cracked me up when the delirious chick was like "I need to soccer?" or whatever.

I think they need to make less 5 episode stories and more 1 episode stories. Keep a season to 5 episodes but they don't need to be sequential. This way the story can deviate more with choice without sacrificing much. 5 episodes of 1 story works well in some cases but I think 5 separate stories would work better in others.

They should think about trying new formulas out, and not just sticking to one. The method they use isnt bad but there is more than one way to tell a story/stories. Doing it the same way over and over can make people grow bored.