This article was originally supposed to run back when the third episode of GOT released. We decided to publish it anyway so as to provide some additional insight to the game before running our final review which will release tomorrow. These impressions are closer to a story analysis, players who want to go in blind will be better served waiting for the full review.
Just as the season 5 premiere of HBO’s hit television series lands, we’re greeted with the official midway point of Telltale’s Game of Thrones. We continue to follow the tale of Asher, Mira, Rodrick and Gared. Three siblings and their pal that have seen better times.
Quick recap. The Forresters were once allies to House Stark which, is a pretty bad thing to be as of season 4 of Game of Thrones. Guess which season Telltale’s game falls in line with? Yep.
If you’ve played Episode 1, you know it ends with a death in the Forrester family that has some heavy implications as to the future and safety of the House. While Episode 1 was fairly engaging in its own right, it felt very much like an HBO episode 1, an appetite teasing iceberg lettuce salad that leaves you hungry for the meat of the meal.
Episode 2 is also very true to HBO’s formula. It still feels very much like we’re in the warmup, but it does shake things up a bit and lands one character in each of Game of Throne’s major political spheres. Rodrik, second eldest of House Forrester, attempts to bring the Northern house back to order while he also feuds with the McCoys to his family’s Hatfields, a house named Whitehill. Rodrik is having a bad time, having suffered massive injuries in the War of Five Kings, he must prove to his house and his enemies that he is more than just a cripple and capable of becoming a strong lord.
The Forrester’s second oldest son, Asher, is our connection to Essos. As such he’s seeing many of the “after effects” of Queen Daenerys’ occupation and trying to capitalize off her war efforts as a sellsword. So the reader isn’t confused, there is no interaction with the Queen of Dragons quite yet, you’re more the ant scrambling for the scraps of her sugary feast. Introduce alongside Asher is his soul sister Beshka, a badass merc who doesn’t afraid of anything. Asher and Beshka are having a bad time, taking on a job that quickly goes south and results in them becoming Yunkai’s most wanted.
Next is Mira who is having a bad time. Hanging out in King’s Landing, everyone seems to want something of the surprisingly nondescript handmaiden, with this one and that one and which one often asking her to prove their loyalty to them. Who knew being responsible for changing ones bed pan could be such a demanding job politically.
Finally there’s Gared, squire of House Forrester sent off to The Wall for his own protection (and as part of a secret mission). Gared joins the Night’s Watch where he ends up having a bad time, with instructors out to get him and bullies wanting to punch him for lunch money.
In episode 2 each story has a slightly different approach in terms of tone and goals. Asher and Beshka pretty much have the most ‘laid back’ story and theirs is also where the Game of Thrones writers took the most liberty. I mean, without anyone directly engaged in the politics of the Free-Cities I suppose it is a bit like writing your own Dark Sun campaign. Asher and Beshka are also completely fresh to Telltale’s Narrative as of episode 2, and being worlds away from the Forresters and the War of Five Kings, they have a lot more freedom to carry through the game with a devil may care attitude. Asher and Beskha is the most ‘fun’ to be had with lots of witty banter and action scenes.
Gared Buttler. I mean Gared Tuttle joins the Night’s Watch, because Telltale has to make sure they hit all the show notes. Gared’s journey is more or less an exact mirror of Jon Snow’s journey in HBO’s show. Does this mean later Gared gets to have nasty wildling sex with a fiery redhead? I guess we’ll see. Now when I say he hits all the same notes, I mean it. Instructors that hate him, bullies that mock him for his lineage and later become brohs (I don’t feel this is a spoiler, you can see it from a mile away). Jon Snow even takes him under the safe, warm wing of his cloak and tells him “Hey, man, your storyline is my storyline. It gets better.”
Rodrick is a man who has to balance honor, duty, strength, love and pain. A very difficult juggling act indeed, I speak from experience. That’s right. My family was betrayed at a wedding and we ended up combating men with swords while drunk. The main through-line of Rodrick’s campaign is the story of his potential marriage to a childhood sweetie. Episode 3 Rodrick’s slife is full of secret late night meetings with ladies of intrigue and constant not so subtle insults from his enemies. It very much feels as if you’re watching a junior storyline of Robb and Ned Stark. Hopefully Rodrick keeps a strong head on his shoulders over it.
Mira is – stressful as always. Playing as her is nerve wracking, as it feels as though she’ll have the most political ramifications that could deeply affect the outcome of the narrative. In this episode Mira is being called in for favors left and right, and her loyalty is often question. Will she honor her family? The Lannisters? The Tyrells? Her girlfriend or the little slave buddy she just met? That said, this is still Telltale, and so the illusion of choice is likely stronger than actual choice. For example, at the end of the chapter Mira is told she “backed the wrong party” which is an incredibly vague line and something the story could likely get away with no matter who Mira sides with. As usual Mira is kind of the most exciting story, as hers is the most ‘Game of Thrones”, and it feels as though her episode 2 has the best climax. Margaery Tyrell however steals the show a bit from Mira this chapter, now why would that be? Does someone at Telltale have a crush on Natalie Dormer? Is she someone’s favorite character? Is she just the actress they have the most access to? Who knows.
I should state I had absolutely no problem with her appearance or that of Peter Dinklage or Kit Harington. Telltale has done a great job of extracting the performances they need from these actors. Yes, each of them is a powerhouse in their own right, but you must credit good choices in directing and editing when you’re drawing out performance. We even have proof positive that, as moving as Dinklage is on screen, video games have the potential to squander his talent. Bravo on Telltale for keeping them up to the same standards as the characters they portray on the show. This isn’t to diminish the voice talents of the actors lending themselves to Telltale’s relatively original characters either, as they also give excellent performances.
While episode 2 is still a bit slow, things start to get much more exciting in episode 3. Exciting in a very nerve racking, worrying type of way, but exciting all the same. If you thought maybe the Bolton’s cuckolded the Greyjoys or the Lannisters took it to the Starks, you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen how the Whitehills treat the Forresters. Reducing the proud, noble house to little more than animals. There are several places in episode 3 where you need to decide if you’re going to satiate your immediate rage or try and keep a cool head as to your present, disheartening circumstances.
Telltale’s episodes feel as though they are the inverse of HBO’s. For me, anytime HBO leaves Westeros and goes North of the Wall or Essos, I often get bored. There’s just not a lot going on and characters are often free of the political intrigue that really drives the show. With Telltale it’s just the opposite, Westeros is the agonizingly slow part, while Essos and The Wall offer up exciting adventures. This is probably because Telltale had a lot more freedom to play around in these locations and offer up ideas you would never see happen in the HBO series. For example, while Jon Snow’s paladin level sense of honor and duty holds him to his code and mostly doing the right thing, Gared Tuttle is free to go much darker places and is offered the chance to betray his values several times. I’ve played the straight and narrow, for the most part, so far, though I am excited over the prospect I potentially have the chance to pull some sly moves later on.
All episodes try to reinforce a sense of duty to House Forrester and questions which exactly is stronger in Westeros, ones self or ones family. As much as people backstab one another in the books and the HBO series, I do feel there are very few circumstances where family doesn’t come first. Lannisters go to war for other Lannisters, Tyrells show the deepest respect for their matriarch, even the psychotic Ramsay Bolton can be reigned in when his father demands it. It takes a lot to break a family bond, no matter how tenuous, in the Game of Thrones world.
Telltale, I feel, recognized that and allows the player to challenge that. Yes the game constantly reminds you that each action you take should be for the good of House Forrester, but you are often granted moments where you can make one of 3.5 siblings turn their backs on their own. While I feel the majority of actions I’ve taken have been for the good of the house (there are times I turned my back on the coat of arms, but only if I thought it’d do the family more good later – can’t win ’em all) I do feel the idea I could make any one of those characters throw their blood under the bus at any minute is a cool way to mess with the one Game of Thrones constant, the idea that your family name needs to be the first thing in your life.
I should make a quick mention that on the technical end, the loads are finally down to a reasonable time on the Playstation 4. Thank god, because this is the very first Telltale game where I chose to rewind the story a couple of times to pick other choices.
I won’t lie, four characters is difficult to keep track of, especially with Telltale’s choice system. Even with the game’s reminders, the distance between episodes means I’ll sometimes get lost. However I am excited to see where the story takes us and, if everything I put myself through for my family will pay off, or massively blow up in their faces. Will House Forrester survive and thrive? Or will they have a bad time?
