Telltale Games in Remembrance

The loss of Telltale Games was certainly surprising and something I would have never expected. It was sudden, and oddly I didn't see too many signs pointing towards this shutting of the company. You would have expected that with all these high quality licenses that the studio was doing great, they had so many large IP being used with their unique style. That aside, I suppose it was really killing them over the years. It's even more shocking that their top hitter of The Walking Dead wasn't enough to keep them going.

With that, I want to recall fond memories of playing the episodic releases over the years. I would always look forward to a release covering them the night of and this started back many years ago during the release of The Walking Dead's second season. I received the season pass to cover the episodes as they released on Steam and was hooked from the first time. It was perfect for me as I enjoy narrative driven games and the episodic format presented a movie-like experience that was relaxing. They gave us a perfect modern version of the choose your own adventure, my only complaint then was how long it took to release them. Telltale certainly improved on the speed of releases, perhaps that was one of their problems.

Now, I know there were many releases prior to what I've mentioned thus far, but this was the part of their history that I remember well and experienced. It was great to review these titles over the years and it's going to be sad not seeing their take on Stranger Things or The Wolf Among Us Season 2 and of course the ending to The Walking Dead: The Final Season. I was even somewhat known at least by one person there, a developer knew my reviews of their titles recognizing my name off a generic nametag at an E3 event. That was cool, keep in mind usually only the pr folks there know you. It might have just been them, but I'll take it.

Tales from the Borderlands and Game of Thrones were the next on the list. The former really was awesome aside from some performance problems. It really did deliver on that unique Borderlands style and I was surprised at the level of characters they were allowed to use. Game of Thrones brought an interesting look at a family and it's a shame we won't know more. Even more so I'd love to see the Borderlands characters used in future titles within the main franchise so we get closure there. I mention those two together as they released within an overlapped window. I'm not sure where Game of Thrones would have went, but I'm sure they had ideas.

The next season was I believe a big one for them considering how many episodes there were, that being the Minecraft Story Mode. It actually had some depth after hit or miss episodes, I felt it truly captured the spirit of the game while adding a narrative. It was geared towards the younger audience, but still had some hardcore moments. There was a mini Michonne spin-off for The Walking Dead, I'd consider that one forgettable honestly. I also think around this time I ended up with The Wolf Among Us, haven't finished it all yet though still being really surprised at how dark it could get.

Batman was next up, saw that initially at E3 with some Roosterteeth members which was exciting, they had fancy drinks themed for the game as well as having the display in a Bat Cave type area. It was really neat and I loved that series, it was a mixed look at the character. The dynamics of Batman and Catwoman were awesome, pair that up with so many unique twists on villains and it was great. Damn, I'm really going to miss that one too, will always wonder what would have happened next there.
The Walking Dead continued with a New Frontier, it was odd though a different sort of take on things. I feel like I'm jumping spot to spot, but following that was Guardians of the Galaxy. They actually did a solid job on this one mixing it up right away and doing something fresh with characters everyone loved from the movies.

Second seasons of Minecraft Story Mode and Batman from there, leading up towards that conclusion with two episodes from The Walking Dead: The Final Season. I'll always enjoy these season releases and hopefully they're still available going forward as they were so distinct. Telltale did something different with their episodic model and I'll forever be disappointed not seeing a new episode pop-up occasionally.

Read our Guardians of the Galaxy Ep1 Review
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