PixlBit

(Fair warning, I very deeply feel that The Walking Dead season 1 is among the best video game experiences I've ever had. In many cases, I've even said it's one of the better narrative experiences ever. That's going to color my thoughts on season 2.)

I love this game. Review done. Now you can go play it.

You want more? Sigh. Fine then.

As I played through every episode of season 1, I had a growing appreciation of the story it was telling and how it used conversation trees as a way to condition me to question my choices. Sure, the story was filled with horrific scenes and brutal deaths, but those never elicited the emotional strength that "Kenny (or whomever) will remember that" did. Nearly every time that notice popped up, I immediately regretted my response. I wondered if there was something else I could have said, if I coud have couched my response in different language.

The ability to insert the player into the decision-making in the first season of The Walking Dead was what gripped me. Coming from a tabletop gaming background, it was the closest I'd come to experiencing true agency in a game world. And while it was artificial, it was still rewarding. I loved speaking with friends who had played it, or finding let's play videos on Youtube to see how our individual choices affected the game.

Season 2 continues this use of conditioning to terrific effect.

I can't put my finger on the reason I felt the earlier episodes in the season felt a little looser than I expected, but I believe they were necessary to put myself into the headspace of 9 year old protagonist Clementine.

In season 1, she was an NPC who became my PC's reason to live. Here was a little girl that not only needed protection, but needed guidance in living in this post-apocalyptic world. I taught her that it was important to be kind and generous, but that there were times she would have to do things she didn't like.

This carried over into my new role as the girl herself. A year after the end of the previous season, she'd grown older and unfortunately wearier. When faced with choices, my Clementine was always pragmatic. During those moments where the timer bar would quickly diminish, however, she would always make a child's decisions. She would yield to her friends or authority figures in the hopes that they were wiser.

The brilliant thing about Telltale Games' The Walking Dead is that there never is a straightforward "wise choice." Panic or desperation would set and we would have to deal with the fallout. This is something that I would consider an improvement to the first season: the story felt more naturalistic and far more compelling for it.

This is most notable in the final two episodes, which are character studies more than bombastic climaxes. Playing through the final episode 2 days ago, I began experiencing the feeling I wish for in horror fiction nowadays: dread. I don't go for the simple grossouts anymore; I don't care how someone dies. I'm more interested in feeling threatened, in being put through the wringer.

The Walking Dead wrung me dry.

I'm not going to spoil any of the 5 possible endings for the story. It's not my place to take that away from someone. I am going to say that the final few minutes were a perfect culmination of the characters, their motivations and my reactions to them. My Clementine is emotionally older and more practical than any 9 year old should be, but when it all comes down, she doesn't like being lied to. She hates being hurt. My Clementine is still a little girl.

Go play this game.