Does it need more complexity?
Once upon a time, adventure titles were among the hardest challenges in the gaming universe. “Pixel-hunting” is a phrase many old school gamers are all too familiar with, searching for theexactright spot on the screen to trigger a required event. Some titles, like theKing’s Questseries, were extremely unforgiving, with scant save systems and sequences where instant death was at every corner. Oh, and let’s not forget the trial-and-error filled “combination” mechanics.
Telltale’s recent efforts are basically the antithesis of that formula. These days you can boot up one of their releases and as long as you can perform basic QTE prompts, you’ll progress with the story. Heck, you can even fail a lot of prompts and still be alright, or at the very least, restart at a checkpoint a few seconds back.
With the release ofthe second episode ofTales from the BorderlandsI started thinking — are you guys still ok with this?
Personally, I’m fine with Telltale’s design philosophy for one simple reason — it still works, even ifGame of Thronesis showing us that it’s becominga bit more stale. While I could stand to use more puzzles likethe second episode ofThe Wolf Among Us, you really know what you’re getting with a Telltale game in terms of a simple interactive story.
But is it enough for most of you? Are you starting to grow tired of the lack of impact with most of your choices and the simplistic design? Old school adventure games still have a special place in my heart (especiallyKing’s Quest VI), and I’d love to see more of them, but there’s definitely still a place for interactive stories that don’t make you think all that often.
