Poll: The Wolf Among Us - Why is it good?

[Auron225]

Spoiler: Trailer

This isn't a rant - I haven't played it (yet?) but let me explain where I'm coming from.

I played The Walking Dead, both seasons, a couple of weeks ago and was hooked very quickly. I'd heard great things about the series, and when I actually looked into what it was about, I could easily imagine why so many people (including myself) would like it. "It's a point-and-click adventure set in a zombie apocalypse where you find a young girl and must do your best to survive and keep her safe, whilst setting a good example for her and making tough moral decisions which affect the story". That description alone would intrigue me enough to buy it (even if the decisions affecting the story part is debatable at best). I cared about the characters more in it than most games have ever gotten me to (especially Clementine), the story was tense as hell, the ending messed me up and... well I have almost no complaints about it. Just the lag issues in the first few episodes and the illusion of "your choices matter" when they didn't really. Other than those, I found TWD to be damn near flawless.

The Wolf Among Us is another series I've heard nothing but great things about, and it's also made by TellTale so there's another point in it's favour... but that trailer did not sell it for me. As far as I understand, TWAU has me controlling Wolf (The Big Bad one) in a universe where fairy tales are real (but set in a gritty noir setting), Wolf is the gritty detective who doesn't play by the rules, and has to keep the peace between other fairy tale characters and solve investigations.

Is that accurate? Cause it seems like they've taken Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, put him in a suit, and want him to run around clawing up stuff (as he does) but be "smart" at the same time. Maybe that sounds harsh but it's just my initial impression.

Yet, people seem to hold this series in at least the same regard they hold The Walking Dead. I know I haven't played it and I'm not gonna claim it's inferior based on an impression of all things, but is there something the trailer isn't showing me? Is my description of the game (blunt as it may be) accurate at all?

 

[tippy2k2]

It is an excellent series....although I feel it's not as good as The Walking Dead personally but it is still very good.

Just like everything Telltale does, it's good because the characters are so good. The trailer might make Bigby (Wolf) look like a generic angry detective but that's just one way you can play it. NOTE: I did not watch the trailer cause I already played the game; I am assuming based on your post.

You're a detective and so you have to do actual detective work, which many argue makes this game better. Personally, I thought it was way too handholdy to work as a "true" detective game (most important things are pretty damn obvious by how the game treats it) but that gives you a lot to play with. You can play as the hard-ass detective who will do whatever it takes to get it done. You can play the good guy who is just trying to keep the peace, even if rules have to be bent to help people who need it. You can make friends and enemies of your allies and not everyone responds to the same techniques, something you have to figure out. This witness might open up to a friendly face while this witness might need a little....encouragement by Mr. Punch to the Face.

Like I said, I think the game is too handholdy with the detective work to overtake Walking Dead as a better game and I figured I'd give an example of this. It will be in Spoilers in case you want to go in 100% completely blind but I will be vague in the message and not give anything away.

Spoiler

There is a particular scene I remember where you are investigating a murdered person. The game has you collect evidence and while you're collecting evidence, you can say what you think about it in the process. The problem with this is that I was thinking of the evidence piece by piece and didn't make a connection right away...until one of Bigby's options for talking made a mention of the connection and I then made the connection off of that. I (probably) would have made that connection myself anyway eventually but because of the nature of multiple choice, the connection I didn't make myself was still made because the game gave it away

If you like other Telltale Games, I have a hard time seeing you not enjoy this.

 

[Lightspeaker]

tippy hit the nail on the head more or less. There's nothing wrong with the trailer per se (I did watch it) but its...more than that.

If you liked Walking Dead you'll almost certainly like The Wolf Among Us. Its very similar in style. I bought it going in completely blind having liked TWD games and, similar to you, being told its great and I absolutely loved it. Its all about the characters and worldbuilding that Telltale does so well.

 

[Mikejames]

The Wolf Among us wasn't always perfect in making your choices feel like a vital part of the investigation, but I found it far more satisfying than Walking Dead Season two. It's creative, the characters are likable, and the noir setting looks great in the cell-shaded style.

Granted, I don't think any Telltale game has topped the first season of the Walking Dead as far as overall storytelling goes, but it was still enjoyable.

 

[The Madman]

I liked the characters and the setting in the game enough it actually got me to go out and buy the comics it's based on, which isn't something I've ever done before. It's not a perfect game by any means and frankly has a number of flaws, but for what it's worth the game has more charm than most alongside a memorable cast and some genuinely great voice acting and even visuals.

Telltale have never been very good at making games look good, but perhaps because this game was made with a very deliberate cartoony style, it actually worked here whereas in other games like Walking Dead I always saw the visuals as more of a detriment than anything.

 

[Zhukov]

The characters are fun, the dialogue is very well written, the plot is pretty good.

The weakness is of course that the gameplay doesn't really exist and your choices don't effect proceedings anywhere near as much as the developers would like you to believe. However, if you've played Telltale's TWD then you know what to expect in that area.

I bought it purely on the strength of Telltale's name. I was half expecting to dislike it. I mean, gritty fairy tale characters, really? Still ended up thoroughly enjoying it.

 

[sXeth]

I think it fell apart at the end, because (besides the very blatant lineup at the Trial of "This is your checklist of choices that "changed the ending") as a mystery game, it was basically almost impossible to actually solve it before you were told. Maybe it would've been less so if you read Fables or knew the fairy tale characters, but a lot of stuff just got pulled out of left field in the last episode(s maybe 2) with the killer and the ribbons that was barely foreshadowed.

Gameplay wise it kept slightly ahead of the Walking Dead, but that's likely purely because the super-abilities of some of the Fables made for more diverse scenes then shooting/bashing slow moving zombies.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'd describe Bigby more as a tired old dog rather than a Wolverine. There are times he'll fly off the handle and go into beast mode, but even then you can decide how far you want him to go. Also, these moments don't last very long, which is good cuz they're not that great. Most of time Bigby'll just be a laidback dude puffin' a cigarette.

The Wolf Among Us is pretty good, but falls just short of TWD Season 1. The whole detective angle is thematic at best, but the characters are great, and the dark noir fairy tale aethetic is lovely.

 

[The Madman]

I think it fell apart at the end, because (besides the very blatant lineup at the Trial of "This is your checklist of choices that "changed the ending") as a mystery game, it was basically almost impossible to actually solve it before you were told. Maybe it would've been less so if you read Fables or knew the fairy tale characters, but a lot of stuff just got pulled out of left field in the last episode(s maybe 2) with the killer and the ribbons that was barely foreshadowed.

There's an actual reason for that. The plot had to be re-written between episodes 2 and 3 because astute fans already figured it all out.

If you look closely you'll see one guy keep showing up in the background of a lot of scenes. The original plot was that he was 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' essentially trying to frame Bigby for a series of crimes he'd committed because, well, he's the boy who cries wolf. I actually prefer the redone ending since it's more ambiguous and gets into some more obscure fairy-tale characters.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I think it fell apart at the end, because (besides the very blatant lineup at the Trial of "This is your checklist of choices that "changed the ending") as a mystery game, it was basically almost impossible to actually solve it before you were told. Maybe it would've been less so if you read Fables or knew the fairy tale characters, but a lot of stuff just got pulled out of left field in the last episode(s maybe 2) with the killer and the ribbons that was barely foreshadowed.

There's an actual reason for that. The plot had to be re-written between episodes 2 and 3 because astute fans already figured it all out.

If you look closely you'll see one guy keep showing up in the background of a lot of scenes. The original plot was that he was 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' essentially trying to frame Bigby for a series of crimes he'd committed because, well, he's the boy who cries wolf. I actually prefer the redone ending since it's more ambiguous and gets into some more obscure fairy-tale characters.

I would've never thought of using the Jersey Devil or the Crooked Man as Fables, for instance. I'm really glad the plot went in that particular direction, over all.

I'd say The Wolf Among Us is great if you've been a fan of L.A. Noire or of the Dresden Files series. Either in comic or game form, this is quality Urban Fantasy with the best Noir tropes available. There's a bunch of obvious clichés, of course, but they're par for the course once you settle on a classically Noir narrative.

 

[Mikejames]

There's an actual reason for that. The plot had to be re-written between episodes 2 and 3 because astute fans already figured it all out.

If you look closely you'll see one guy keep showing up in the background of a lot of scenes. The original plot was that he was 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' essentially trying to frame Bigby for a series of crimes he'd committed because, well, he's the boy who cries wolf. I actually prefer the redone ending since it's more ambiguous and gets into some more obscure fairy-tale characters.

Wasn't Detective Brannigan going to have a bigger role too? I remember them changing the title cards with her in it anyway...

 

[Summerstorm]

My terrible secret: I do own "The Walking Dead" - but i only played a bit. Didn't really grip me. Always wanted to finish it though...

"Wolf Among Us" had a perfect atmosphere. Great supernatural gumshoe story. Loved it. (Now that i think about it, i might play it a second time sometimes)

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

"Wolf Among Us" had a perfect atmosphere.

This. It's such a lovely world to get lost in. It's almost a shame that it's a Telltale game and not a big RPG. Characters are great and the story is interesting and keeps you engaged. I was looking forward to every episode. I can't wait for season 2. It's better than TWD IMO. But I don't really like TWD.

 

[Auron225]

I bought it purely on the strength of Telltale's name. I was half expecting to dislike it. I mean, gritty fairy tale characters, really? Still ended up thoroughly enjoying it.

From what I can tell, this seems to be the experience of many; "the concept seemed daft but I still loved it". That is of course not including those who actually were sold on the concept of gritty fairy tale characters.

I think I'm gonna have to give it a shot. The promise of interesting characters and a well-written plot (which I can believe because TellTale did it) justifies trying the first episode at least.

 

[astrav1]

It was before tell tale made it so your choices don't actually matter so, other than one or two moments, it is very good. Much better than TWD season 2.

 

[hermes]

It was good, just not as good as the first season of TWD (haven't played the second one). The setting was presented greatly, and it was intriguing enough that made me read the entire Fables comics in the time between episodes 1 and 2.

And that was part of my issue with the game. Episodes took a long time, much longer than other telltale games (there were like 4 months between episodes 1 and 2), and they were of irregular quality. At its best, it was TWD levels of good, at its worst, it was rather mediocre. If you played through the season in one go, it would have lessen the blow, but if you played them as they came out if was infuriating at times. The first episode was, by far, the best, but later on episodes became less and less interesting. The consequences of missing stuff depending of your decision, or using detective work to catch people on their lies were gone for most of the rest of the season, and some episodes were pretty lineal and only a couple hours long.

Besides, the game does not responds well to player choices. I tried to play my Bigby as a rugged but fair cop in a quest for redemption. I didn't use excessive violence, and went out of my way not to mess up with people more than I had to...

Spoiler

(didn't tore Grendel's arm, didn't punch the Woodman during interrogation, didn't send Toad's family to the farm, didn't burn down Greenleaf's tree, didn't kill Tweedle Dum, was decent to Beauty, Beast, Flycatcher, Holly, etc) despite that, in the final episode, when the focus of the trial changes, everyone treats me like I am the biggest bastard this side of Fabletown.

I get that the scene fails if they can't depict the Crooked Man as a messed up but relatively fair alternative to "the authority", but it just felt like lazy writing when his defense included stuff I never did and people I never messed with turned up on me.

 

[Zhukov]

... justifies trying the first episode at least.

Heh. I'd bet good money that if you complete the first episode you'll end up playing the at least the second one as well.

 

[Thyunda]

I preferred it to TWD because TWD was just all misery all the time. The sense of threat was always so constant it was just boring for the most part. I guess if everything's shit I just get really apathetic about all the characters. The Wolf Among Us had moments of levity and genuine character friendships that weren't just going to be severed by a random death every now and then.
The other thing I really liked was that, if you had a mind to, you could kick the shit out of basically anybody. You're the hardest bastard in the game. But it's not about being able to kick fuck through fairytale creatures, it's the fact that you're gonna look a complete prick if you do.

And I thought that was really great.

Also Bigby's hairstyle is sick as.

 

[Gizmo1990]

I picked It's fantastic in the poll but I should say that I have never actually played TWD. I don't like making judgments on stuff I have not played/seen/read but I simply don't like Zombies or post apocalyptic settings and as TWD is both I think it is a safe bet that I would not like it full stop never mind compared to The Wolf Among Us.

As for why I personaly enjoyed The Wolf Among Us I was a fan of Fables before the 1st episode and I got to spend time playing as Bigby Wolf. How could I not love it. The beginning of episode 5 was especially awesome for me.