A Telltale Games and Game of Thrones marriage sounds almost too good to be true. Almost like a Stark and a Frey union. Both entities like to snowball one minor choice or action into long reaching, chaotic events, they both love to have you doubletalk your way out of situations or die tryin’, and they both take great pleasure in making you like a character only to rip them away in an instance of visceral bloodshed. But here we are, TellTale’s new Game of Thrones series shows the plight of the previously unseen House Forrester during and after the War of the Five Kings and does a remarkable job of fitting itself into the overall Game of Thrones universe in the process.
In Episode 1, “Iron from Ice”, you jump between the perspectives of three characters, each a member of the previously mentioned House Forrester. The setup is as so: House Forrester grows “Ironwood” trees, a tough sumbitch of a tree that can be used to make some of the strongest furniture and shields in all of Westeros. Forrester was once incredibly loyal to House Stark, and has a long standing Hatfields vs McCoys type rivalry against another Northern house named House Whitehills. With the future of House Stark currently unknown, House Forrester finds themselves at the mercy of their many enemies.
There are plenty of guest stars to engage those who are purely fans of the show, Cersei Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, Margaery Tyrell, and Ramsay Snow can all be found making appearances in the first episode and each are wonderfully acted by their real television series counterparts. If you’re not familiar with the Telltale formula they’re pretty easy for just about anyone to pick up and play. Action sequences are constrained to quick time events, closer to playing a game of Simon than having to dig in to complex mechanics, and the style of the overall game is Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-y. Of course unlike Choose Your Own Adventures, you don’t have a chance to go back if you make a real bad mistake, so think carefully as you try and navigate your way through Game of Thrones’ incredibly tricky world.
Now back to how Episode 1 plays out a bit. Gared Tuttle, squire to House Forrester, is the first perspective we meet. He gets into one little fight and his Uncle gets scared, sending him away to try and protect the lives of everyone in service to the Forresters. Ethan Forrester is the next member of the House you meet, third son to Lord Gregor Forrester, and the young man finds himself saddled with a large amount of responsibility that could lead to war and the death of his lands if he’s not careful, last but far from least is Mira Forrester, situated in King’s Landing where the meat of the story often takes place in Game of Thrones.
Episode 1 gets off to a bit of a slow start. Nestled just after the events of the Red Wedding in the show, squire Gared finds himself caught up in a sneak attack being committed against the banner he serves. Gared ultimately manages to get away, but he’s greeted with an even worse situation upon arriving home and his actions there set off a long chain of events that deeply impact the rest of the episode. Next we take brief control of Ethan, but this segment is more a general introduction to the show’s politics and the world of House Forrester than it is a truly engaging affair.
Where the game truly starts to pick up is when you take on the role of Mira Forrester. Game of Thrones is perhaps as much about the political intrigue, clever dialogues and mind games as it is the sex, fights, and death. Mira is pulled into a battle of wits between Queen Reagent Cersei and Lady Margaery Tyrell, with Tyrion Lannister a casual observer to the whole affair. Mira, forced to “apologize” for her family’s actions in serving the Starks war against the Lannisters, has a few options as to how she engages Cersei, and if she sells out Maggy in the process. This moment truly felt like I was taking part in the show, with a bunch of witty dialogue taking place, trying to use psychological tactics to claw my way out of a den filled with poisonous snakes. Mira has no physical threats to her, at least not yet, but you could feel the political weight on her quite heavily in this moment.
Then the game takes us back to Ethan, and that’s when things truly hit a fever pitch. It’s incredibly difficult to discuss Ethan’s storyline without spoiling the game, but if you’re a fan of either Game of Thrones or Telltale games in general, or if you ever wanted to know how it felt like to be one of those tough as nails Northerners in the fantasy series, Ethan grants you the chance to engage in it.
If there’s one critique for this episode it’s got nothing to do with the narrative or overall gameplay, however I grabbed this purchase for the Playstation 4 and met with some impossible load times. In fact one might even have time to read a passage from A Song of Fire and Ice in the time it takes for this title to load new set pieces. I can’t speak to the Telltale Game of Thrones experience on other platforms, and other Telltale games I’ve played ran smoothly on PC, but I found that the load times on the PS4 at times interfered with the otherwise engrossing story.
Telltale’s episode wraps up with a cliffhanger that’s, and excuse me for reverting back to my urban roots, really off the hook. I didn’t see it coming and thought it was right up there with some of the show’s more amazing episode ending moments. it’s definitely going to pull me back to at least see the next episode, and sums up the entire Game of Thrones experience quite nicely. Kudos to Telltale for grasping the tone of the show, and creating their own little side story within this vast narrative that fits nicely, doesn’t interfere with the main story, and creates their own engaging narrative. I am fully curious as to what will happen with House Forrester, and cross my fingers that I will be able to see them claw through their future ordeals relatively safely. Or maybe not at all safely.
If you are utterly jonesing for Game of Thrones, read all the books, are fully caught up on the series, and need something to ease your withdrawal until April, you should definitely pick this up. If you’re not jonesing, but just like Game of Thrones, you should still pick this up. I found it completely worth it.
