PixlBit

As I stated earlier this week, I wanted to kick off my Indie/Small Game marathon with The Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 and Gone Home. I've completed both, and I have some thoughts on both.

Gone Home

Initally, I was worried that Gone Home wouldn't have the effect on me that it did for other people because I've generally heard the flow of the game. I knew that it was a game that plays with expectations and is much different than I would assume. Still, as I played through Gone Home, I was still taken back by how often I was surprised. 

First off, I found the story to be amazing. It was a very honest, bold and heartwarming tale that not many games would bother trying to tell. I genuinely cared about the characters, and the context given by the house developed them better than most games I've played this year. I beat the whole game in one sitting, not because I forced myself, but because I simply couldn't put the controller down. I had to find out what happened, and the suspense pulled me through.

The play on expectation was handled well in other ways too. I don't want to spoil anything, but I there were a couple of ways that i figured the story would pan out and one in particular had me extremely worried for a brief moment. One of my possible scenerios did pan out, but it was satisfying, rather than being the "i knew it..." kind of reaction. 

Overall, I loved Gone Home. Really glad to have experienced it. Not to mention, the little doses of nostalgia hit home for me, even though I was a bit too young to remember some of that stuff.

The Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 - Faith

When I heard about this, I didn't care. I loved Telltales The Walking Dead, but part of me felt like that was their one-trick pony as most of telltales past games were meh overall. After hearing the rave reviews of The Wolf Among Us, I researched the premise and found it quite interesting. I got the season pass during a steam sale and after playing episode 1, Im totally glad I did.

The great thing about the Wolf Among Us, like The Walking Dead, its its story and character building. The use of fairy tales already gives us a huge amount of background to go off of, so characters that you encounter already have some weight when you come across them. Bigby as a protagonist is pretty interesting to follow as well. The idea of playing as the infamous "Big Bad Wolf" as he tries to turn a new leaf is intriguing to me. I really look forward to seeing how the story pans out.

Other things were great too, as the gameplay is much more refined than the first Season of Walking Dead. I know Season 2 borrows some elements from Wolf, and for good reason. The action felt much more dynamic and was fun to watch and even more tense than I expected. 

Telltales usual choice driven moments are just as powerful here as before. There were several choices that I regretted, or mulled over for far too long. I will play the story out as intended, but I'm sure I'll continue to wonder if my choices were the right ones for some time. 

I also quickly want to mention the graphics. On PC, the game is BEAUTIFUL. I just love the art style, and the neon. It set a really dark, and gritty yet colorful tone that I look forward to seeing more of. If you're into Telltale's stuff, or just a good story, Give this one a shot.

Anyway, next up is The Walking Dead: Season 2 - Episode 1 and Brothers. Im stalling on the Infinite DLC in hopes of the next part getting a release date announcement soon...