Kotaku: Now that the first season of The Walking Dead is over, it's natural to ask the question: Did my choices even matter? Was this all smoke and mirrors, or did I really have a say over the outcome? It's the same sort of thing raised as any lengthy, branching video game story reaches its conclusion.
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Before the announcement that a heavily narrative focussed Walking Dead video game was announced in 2012, Telltale games was a development studio that not particularly well known. Despite putting out other similar properties with Back to the Future: The Game and Jurassic Park: The Game, the products were largely met with a very mixed and ultimately tepid response from the public. The rampant acclaim and runaway success reached with The Walking Dead launched the developer into one of the most anticipated and favourable studios out there with one revolutionary product.
I think the walking dead story telling is amazing. I really love the games and think that they bring the respect of gaming story telling up in the world of entertainment in general :)
A reflection on the business perspective of Telltale Games.
- Only one "Who lives?" scenario actually had any non-railroaded outcome which was in Ep.1, and even the person who survives that just dies close the beginning of Ep.3. Ben's case was similar. At least they felt involved for as long as they lived beyond their optional death, though.
- Who's with you at the end of Episode 4 doesn't really matter because they all come together after a certain event early on in Episode 5 anyway.
- What bites you in the ass at the end was from an event that wasn't something you could choose to stop.
It's a lot like Mass Effect, though a little better than that. Beyond mentions of certain choices and things you said your decisions don't have much of an impact. The stuff that really affects the story is that stuff that absolutely had to happen somehow.
But you know what? I loved it anyway. It was a great story and my choices not mattering much can't change that. The only thing that really bothered me was how Kenny ranted about how unsupportive I was a few times when I'd had his back 90% of the time.
I thought the choices did matter for the same reasons stated in the article. Did my decisions change the events in game a lot? Not really. Did the decisions I made make me care about the characters more than probably any game I played prior? Yea!
The choices I made were often reinforced with appreciation & support (Carly) from those I helped & I was more suprised when sometimes they weren't (Kenny). Kenny was a great character because after helping him you'd expect him to be on your side when often he wasn't. Not because he didn't like you but because he's his own man in that his view of the world just doesn't quite fit so nicely with yours. I think that makes him a far more believeable character than you'll find in almost any game. GTA4 had a bunch of friends with emotional baggage & they didn't always agree with you but would ride with you regardless even though they would have you kill their old bff's (Dwayne & Playboy X, etc.)
Getting waaay long here but the point is the story was very well written in the way you can relate, understand & care for people you don't like or agree with. That's something that's hard to not be interested/invested in.