Telltale Games: How did the Walking Dead studio change the story of the game?

Six years ago, on a cold November day, I was forced to make the most difficult decision that a video game ever made. I was playing the fifth and final episode of The dead who walkThe first season, and although I had predicted for a long time how things would unfold, it was not easier when the time came. A beloved character was starting to become an undead monster and he wanted me to kill him. All I had to do was press a button – but I worked on the decision, not knowing how to kill someone, even someone. one about becoming a zombie, would touch me. Finally, I pulled the trigger, but it was not easy. Six years later, I still think about it.

This was Telltale's power over interactive storytelling. The best games in the studio were like prestige television crossed with a video game, creating dark and emotional stories that made you feel like you were part of it.

Now it's over. After last week's devastating news, most of Telltale's talented employees were fired, following rumors that the studio was mismanaged and poisoned and workaholic. But we must not forget the importance of Telltale in its magnitude.

The studio may not have left for a long time, but its influence will continue to be felt.

The dead who walk the first Telltale game – the studio has already made series of comedies based on strongbad at Wallace and Gromit – but that's the game the developer will remember. It's also a game that did a number of things that nobody expected and did very well.

This has shown that licensed games, which are historically forgettable experiences that coincide with the release of a movie or TV show, could not only be good, but sometimes even exceed their sources . The dead who walk was faithful to the mythology of comics and television shows in a way that was logical for a game. The story was terrible and full of painful twists, all the more painful as it was. were you making the choices that had led them? It was not just more Walking Dead, it was a new way to experience the world.

The dead who walk has also pushed the boundaries of what could be a mainstream video game. Telltale was not the pioneer of the concept, as independent games like Dear Esther were already playing with the idea of ​​games that led you through a story with limited interactions. But it was Telltale who took the same idea and applied it to one of the biggest entertainment properties of the moment. And not only The dead who walk often watch and feel like a TV show, but it was also structured as one. The game was divided into five episodes of about two hours each, broadcast over a period of seven months.

To try one of these things would be ambitious, but The dead who walk did it all – and it worked! The dead who walk was a critical and commercial hit, and he turned Telltale into a star. In 2013, I called the studio "HBO of gaming". The brands began to call: before knowing it, Telltale was working on new series based on The iron Throne at Minecraft. This is partly what caused the fall of the studio, while Telltale was taking over too early and the work and the staff were suffering. Series like Guardians of the Galaxy were largely forgettable, but there were a lot of strengths. Borderlands Tales shot a sci-fi shooter in a hilarious parade, while Batman: the enemy in the interior was a fascinating character study, a study that allowed you to model the Dark Knight in your own vision of the iconic hero.

But even outside the Telltale office walls in San Rafael, California, the influence of the studio is still visible. There are very direct examples. Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin, two of the leading directors and writers behind The dead who walkThe first season, continued to create a new studio called Campo Santo who released a game called Fire picket in 2016. Fire picket was in a way a cross-media drama with a hike through the woods, pushing these boundaries of interactive storytelling even further. The studio has since been acquired by Valve and is currently working on an even more ambitious title entitled In the Valley of the Gods.

One of the most notable aspects of Telltale's work is dialogue. It's your main tool for interacting with history because you make choices that can have a profound impact on the unfolding of events. In 2014, the former senior editor of Telltale, Adam Hines, co-founded a new studio called Night School, which released a game called Without oxenfree. Apparently, a typical teenager thriller on a band of children trapped on a haunted island, Without oxenfree makes dialogue the center of the experience; people were always talking, even when other things were happening, so you had to be careful and make choices. It was built from the Telltale formula intelligently, and Night School seeks to continue with the demonic drink game. After the party next year. (In 2016, Telltale and Night School teamed up on a Mr. Robot mobile game.)

Meanwhile, other developers have taken up the idea of ​​episodic game and use it. The most notable is Dontnod, the French studio behind the Life is strange franchise. The first season of the series looked remarkably like a TV show, shooting Twin peaks and Veronica Mars, and he presented the same episodes the size of a bite popularized by Telltale. This allowed the developer to continue developing the series in an interesting way. Last year saw the release of a three-episode prequel entitled Before the storm, while in June, the studio teased Season 2 of Life is strange with a standalone episode. The second season officially begins on September 27th.

Last month, the first episode of The dead who walkThe last season has been launched. The second and third seasons have suffered from the lack of concentration of Telltale and they have never reached the same heights as the beginnings. The protagonist of the series, Clementine, was lost, suffering a seemingly endless stream of trauma, like her creators. But with the last season, things have improved. Clementine had found a new home and Telltale seemed to have found the perfect way to create something new in the inflexible world of The dead who walk. The new plot puts almost entirely focus on children, resulting in a completely new dynamic. Episode 2 should be launched this week.

Just like the first season, I have a good idea of ​​how things will end and the difficult choice I will face in these last moments. Unfortunately, with the virtual closure of the developer, it seems that neither Clementine nor Telltale will be able to see this story until its conclusion. I will not have to make that painful decision again.