Oh, we might give Telltale some goodnatured ribbing now and again, but really, we consider them a BFF.
However! As far as non-linear gaming where choices have consequences, we feel there are those who take that concept to a whole different level. During a particularly tense seminar, the Mojo Editorial Board™ voted that two games should be presented as what we consider proof of said statement: Life Is Strange and Until Dawn.
So here they are, and now you should run and read our take on them, as well as what differentiates them from Telltale.
bgbennyboy
Life is strange is still sat there unplayed. This review has made me remember that and make a desktop shortcut to it. I probably still wont get around to playing it, but at least I'll feel guilty when I see it now.
Thanks Reimzo!
The Remster aims to please. ;
Thanks Reimzo!
jmm444
I'm sorry Mojo, I'm a long time lurker but I have to disagree with your assessment of Life is Strange.
[..]
Feel free to disagree
Here I wrote a long reply, but decided it didn't really matter.
I'm glad about the disagreement! Sure, I think you're totally missing points, like the ending not mattering as much as the journey, which does have some incredible twists depending on what you do through your choices. You can undo and redo almost anything.
I'm kind of in the David Lynch-camp as far as endings go; it's the journey that matters.
But thanks for the response! Getting an opposing opinion that is well thought out is always appreciated.
It is a "branching" story, but does it matter? To me it feels like most choices are just for show, to have choices (like most recent Telltale stuff)
Not my cup of tea.
I'd rather have something with a beginning, middle and end, with a journey with a few choices that matter, even if it is a linear story, than having the mess that at the end was LiS. Come on, at the end the only choice that matters: Save the girl or save the town. A choice that disregards what you did during the whole game OR ignore all and say whatever, it didn't matter.
LiS was riddled with "heavy" moments that are undone with no consequence (e.g.: the euthanasia choice).
It is a victim of their own "do over" mechanic that made most choices irrelevant or superfluous.
And do not forget the threads that ended nowhere or were just abandoned mid game (And no, most of them can't be resolved in a new season without changing history, which is within the realm of possibilities in the game, but won't matter at all)
I'm not elevating or defending Telltale, they clearly have their own set of problems, but Dontnod's Life is Strange is no masterpiece either. To me, it is just an ok-ish game with an ending episode as disappointing as the ending from Mass Effect 3.
Feel free to disagree