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Feb 24th, 2015 at 03:16:25 - The Walking Dead: Season Two (PC) |
Playing this without repeating leaves me guessing exactly how much the game's choices affect the plot. However, at the end of the episode, I'm presented with a selection of the choices that I made, compared to other players' choices. Some of these choices don't even have in-game consequences at all, such as the decision of whether to end the dog's life. Some of the captions on these choices (particularly: "Mercy", "Trust", "Generosity") are even rather moralizing. This, along with my causal intuition, leads me to believe that the plot doesn't actually have major branches that will lead Clementine to different locations and sets of choices, but instead that the choices are simply there to add layers of complexity to the single story-line. That isn't to say that I believe the choices don't have consequences, merely that said consequences are not enough to sway the plot beyond a sort of single, guiding continuity, unlike games with widely branching plot trees like Dragon Age: Inquisition. If I'm right in this guess, this may have been because of development scope, but I'd also like to think that the the design choice was very deliberate: barring completionists, players are free to consider each choice honestly, for its own sake, rather than for what content it will unlock.
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Feb 24th, 2015 at 00:51:04 - The Walking Dead: Season Two (PC) |
Upon starting the game, I'm already given an interesting choice. The game is designed to build off of of the player's choices in Season One, so it provides both a link to buy the prequel, as well as an option to randomly generate a series of choices, which I choose, since I don't have the time to play both. A television-style recap of Season One's events plays, showing all the major choices.
What's interesting about this choice is that the randomly generated choices (at least, what I can glean from the brief recap) immediately make me feel indignant, and that I would have chosen differently. I'm actually compelled to purchase and play Season One at a later date in order to experience Season Two from a more personal perspective, as well as to experiment with other choices. This is, if anything, a good marketing strategy from Telltale...
It's nice that the choices that will be important later on are pointed out. I also appreciate that there are some choices that seem like they might be important, but end up being inconsequential, and are left only to reflect on the player, such as the choice of which fuel to burn: a photo, a drawing, or a damp log.
The quicktime action system is a little overplayed, but it's not what makes the game interesting, anyway.
(note: I submitted this on Feb 23, and not at 12:51 or any :51....this website's clock seems to be off.)
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 24th, 2015 at 00:52:59.
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Jan 28th, 2015 at 12:39:09 - This war of mine (PC) |
Days 7-9:
Raiders came in the morning and took more than a little. Due to my lack of gastronomical foresight, resources are starting to run thin. Someone is always sick or hurt, and medical supplies are indeed a rarity. Recovery is possible without them: herbal medicine, food, rest and warmth all help a bit. I've been lucky enough not to learn yet how hunger, sickness, or injury affects these characters' lives when they become severe...
So far, I've managed to play it safe while scavenging, poking around the outskirts of dangerous areas, but I will need to start taking some risks. With considerable effort, I managed to upgrade a few workstations and build a couple weapons.
Day 10:
It's time. Health is deteriorating and I need to scrounge further.
Night 10:
...Marko was shot trying to loot the supermarket.
Reflection:
While this was perhaps a foreseeable outcome, it raises a lot of questions. How do we view the demoralization that all these characters (PC and NPC) are facing? With sympathy? Pity? Judgement? Many philosophers would denounce the stealing and violence outright, but, for example, what counts as stealing, when it's an abandoned supermarket? Ripe for analysis.
The game medium itself presents interesting choices, too: it's possible to redo a (game-time) day's worth of gameplay by reloading, including the results of the previous night (raids on the house, etc.). It's perhaps not an ethical issue, but one could ask whether this ability detracts from the player's ability to reason about the ethics that the game presents, i.e., by making it easier to go through the game without stealing or killing, thus avoiding the hard questions. Then again, the difficulty curve might be such that even that small advantage wouldn't be enough to bypass hardship-induced moral dilemma.
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Jan 27th, 2015 at 17:09:23 - This war of mine (PC) |
Days 3-5:
Things I learned:
You can go a day without food just fine. A cooked meal is enough to go by for two days (even if that sounds like hell). I probably could have skimped on meals earlier on.
Traders will appear at your door, as well as people asking for help. Bruno helped someone create a makeshift children's hospital, which didn't appear to give any material benefit, but lifted everyone's mood.
Traders often place different values on items depending on their immediate needs, although certain rare items like moonshine and jewelry seem to be always valuable. Additionally, all the NPCs I've bartered with so far have been in dire need of bandages or medicine, and some will ask for them outright. Trading with those who ask for medicinal aid will improve your morale.
Scavenging at certain areas can bring trade opportunities, others danger of gunfire, but some areas are simply private residences whose owners simply wish to be left alone.
HERE COME THE BIG MORAL CHOICES:
If you are discovered by a homeowner, even if they are not aggressive or particularly upset, everything worth scavenging from the house will suddenly be marked with "PRIVATE PROPERTY". I assume that this is a message from the scavenger PC's own conscience, since it does not appear until you have met the owners. They also really freak out if you start picking a lock. Whoops.
I expect things to get a lot more complicated and difficult, in terms of these choices.
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