Game of Thrones - Telltale video game

Hello!

I just played through the first episode of Telltale's Game of Thrones video game! I had played the first season of The Walking Dead (also by Telltale) and really hoped that this game would be similar to it. And yay for me, it is! It has the same gameplay, meaning that you have to make choices throughout the game. As I've already experienced with The Walking Dead, these choices don't really make a big difference, because you will probably end up in a certain situation anyway, but they do change the way you experience the game, like for example how certain characters act around you. 

The graphics are nice, again, kind of like The Walking Dead. The game also has the original actors from the Game of Thrones TV-series voicing it, which really makes the experience all the more real. You also get to meet actual characters from the books/series! It's really important to know the books/series if you want to play this game, because you get thrown into the story, like, snap! It starts at the evening of Rob Stark's wedding (if you know what I mean...) and the game should go on until the end of the series' season 4. 

You play as several characters from the Forrester family. I'm not very fond of the name, because my mom used to watch The Bold and the Beautiful and whenever I hear Forrester, all I can think of is Ridge's stupid face. But, putting that aside for a moment, the story is pretty good. You get to play with two male characters (one on his way to The Wall and the other at the Forrester keep) and one female character (in King's Landing, yay!). However, I think that in the next episode, other characters from other regions will become playable as well. 

I don't think I'll continue playing when the second episode will be released around February, because I'd rather play the entire season at once. I'll have to wait a little longer, but it'll be worth it. I finished The Walking Dead in about a week and it is just so much more exciting and emotional to play through the whole story at once. I played the first half of Broken Sword (The Serpent's Curse) and had to wait for such a long time before the second half came out, that by the time it had, I had totally forgotten about the story. I still haven't played the second half... So, I've learned my lesson! I know now that this Game of Thrones game is worth playing, and I will wait for it to be entirely playable before I continue playing!

Have you played it? If so, tell me what you think of it! If no, I hope this little review encouraged you to play it when the full version is released!

✎ Jade

The Walking Dead: Season One

Grrr Aaarrgh!

The Walking Dead is a video game based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book series. It exists of five episodes, which you can buy separately, or all together for only €15. I think it’s an amazing game, that really sticks in your head after you’ve played it. It’s an adventure game, but unlike most puzzle solving adventure games, this one is more focused on the psychological aspect of the story, how you relate to the other characters and how your own character develops.

The game takes place in the same world as the comic, where there is a zombie apocalypse, hence the title: The Walking Dead. The zombies are called ‘walkers’ because of the slow way they walk, which is quite fortunate for the player, otherwise you’d be dead in an instant! ‘The Running Dead’ would’ve made for an awfully difficult game. You play the game as the main character: Lee Everett, about whom I won’t say any more, I’ll let you find out his story by yourself. Wat I can already say is that he is a character who you can sympathise with from the start. At the beginning of the game you find a little girl called Clementine, who you have to take of, which makes the game all the more emotional. You start feeling very responsible for her pretty quickly, and she is just super cute.

Throughout the game you encounter lots of other people who either join your group or become hostile. It's interesting because apparently, in a zombie apocalypse, hostile humans tend to be more annoying than the actual zombies from time to time. You have to make many decisions, which is basically the main aspect of the game: you decide and the game develops based upon what you do. That’s what makes you so personally involved, when someone dies, it’s often because of what you said or did. Often when I went to bed after playing, I kept thinking about everything I did, doubting whether I had made the right choice.

It’s a great game to play together by the way. Mind you, it is a single player game. But one person can play and the other can watch. I played it with my boyfriend, and I know other people who did it just the same way. Because you have to decide fast sometimes, you can’t always talk every decision through, but as a ‘watcher’ you are also very involved in the game. I think the best thing about the game is turning it off and discussing (and comparing) all your decisions with friends!

I also really like the graphics, not super realistic, but artistic, and I admire that. Also, it’s made by Telltale games, which is such a great company, always offering great games at low prices!

So basically, get it get it! Play it! And then tell me all about it!

✎ Jade

Ps: The second season is out too, but I haven't played it yet. I'll review it once I do!