Game of Thrones- a Telltale Games Series Review

Our Verdict

Game of Thrones gets the feel of Martin'due south universe right, merely it relies too heavily on familiar themes to class a memorable identity of its own.

PC Gamer Verdict

Game of Thrones gets the feel of Martin's universe right, but it relies too heavily on familiar themes to form a memorable identity of its ain.

need to know

What is it? A six-episode Telltale adventure that takes place in the Game of Thrones universe.
Expect to pay: $30/£23 for the 6-episode flavour
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Reviewed on: Windows ten, 16GB RAM, GeForce GTX 780
Multiplayer: None
Link: Official site

Far into the first season of Telltale's Game of Thrones serial, ane of the characters looks upward to notice the constellation he's been searching for right where it needs to be. In that location's no Tolkienesque waiting for a particular moon cycle or fourth dimension of night; it'due south as though it never moves. Information technology's a telling event, as much of the season is wrapped upward in the same sense of inevitability. Time and fourth dimension again, I tried to change its soul-burdensome scenarios in my favor through onscreen prompts and swift decisions, only my troubles seemed every bit destined to autumn into place as those stars in the chilly skies north of The Wall. It ultimately makes for an unsatisfying overall feel despite a scattering of high marks—Game of Thrones ends up being one of Telltale's weakest recent efforts.

Don't know what The Wall is? You'll need to, as this is no country for uninitiated George R.R. Martin converts. Information technology boldly assumes you lot know the significance of terms like "Valar morghulis" and events like the Red Hymeneals. (For that matter, information technology assumes you know the dance of onscreen hotkey prompts for deportment and timed dialogue choices mutual to Telltale's story adventure games.) It'due south a smart approach overall, as it lets the plot sideslip on a coat of intrigue and action immediately rather than tripping over wasted hours of exposition. What's more, it's particularly fertile footing for the introduction of entirely new characters without any connexion to the HBO testify that Telltale draws its inspiration from.

Enter House Forrester. An offhand mention in A Dance with Dragons technically makes them catechism, just Telltale wisely uses that flimsy foundation to mold them into a notable northern house that supplies tough "ironwood" from the sequoia-similar glades that surround their vaguely Viking go along of Ironrath. The art team in particular has fun with this concept with varying success. I never grew tired of the way the shadowy, wooded setting contrasted with the often barren vistas of the HBO prove, and I commonly admired the painterly visuals used for the backgrounds even when they clashed with the more than familiar Telltale designs for the human characters.

As for the Forresters themselves? If merely their characterizations were as original as their surroundings. I'm more than than a little convinced I could draw them individually to a casual watcher of the HBO series and exit them thinking I was talking about the Starks. In that location's Forrester squire Gared Tuttle, who joins the Night's Watch and frolics with wildlings merely like Jon Snow. There'southward a matriarch who could work equally a body double for Catelyn Stark, and a young girl in King's Landing who's basically Sansa Stark with an edge. This servile mirroring of the Starks' tragic tale makes Telltale's few more-or-less original additions all the more appealing, as in the case of the Star-Lord-esque Asher Forrester and his endlessly likeable sellsword companion Beskha. Asher and Beskha's adventures hint at what could have been, but the season overall leaves a bitter aftertaste of Stark déjà vu.

This reliance on the familiar especially poses bug in the appearance of well-known characters from the series (each voiced by their HBO actors). They work best in cameo, as in the case of a tense meeting with Cersei Lannister that still makes me shudder months afterward. But ane infamous jerkwad in item sticks his sadistic nose into the rivalry betwixt the Forresters and the neighboring Whitehills for several episodes, and the plot tension suffers from the knowledge that he'due south non going anywhere presently. He's all the same kick on HBO, so no matter how brutal or disgusting he gets, I know all too well I tin can't finish his crap with a well-timed crossbow bolt or dagger thrust.

True to expectations, it'due south a brutal, fell world Telltale crafts for us here.

True to expectations, it's a cruel, vicious earth Telltale crafts for the states here. The great strength of the season is its method of calculation a personal layer to choices that touch on the lives of hundreds — something you won't go in either books or the HBO series. In theory, we're actual players in the game of thrones. It's one thing to watch or read about Ned Stark'due south choices and argue about what he should have done; information technology's quite some other to discover what you actually end upward doing on the spot. And truthful to form, the series throws some gut punches that initially left me frantically attempting to figure out what I could accept done to avoid its Aeschylean tragedies.

Merely of course, as it turns out, non much. The cast may modify, the words may shuffle, simply eventually Game of Thrones succumbs to that now-classic Telltale sensation that your choices don't actually matter. The trend stings less in games like Tales from the Borderlands, but information technology's particularly damning here every bit the appeal of the Forrester saga partly rises from the hope that Martin's horrors could have been avoided if we'd been in charge. That'southward to say zilch of the other troubles, such equally two advisers then opposed that they come off equally political cartoons, unabridged sideplots that seemingly have fiddling import for the main narrative, and a season finale that relies far likewise heavily on cliffhangers and unresolved threads.

I don't regret my time with Game of Thrones. It captures the hopelessness of the main series well (although at times it threatens to venture into parody), and in the absence of any truthful resolutions, I capeesh that it permit me vent my frustrations by ramming Valyrian steel through the skull of an detestable asshole with the help of the usual button prompts and pointer keys. Deep down, I want to look forward to another season. I kind of desire to finally see what's so special about the Northward Grove. Simply afterwards virtually a yr of misery piled on misery and after months of placing my hopes on cliffhangers that atomic number 82 to nothing substantial, correct now I'm convinced that wintertime tin can't come for this globe chop-chop enough.

Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones gets the feel of Martin's universe right, only information technology relies too heavily on familiar themes to form a memorable identity of its own.

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Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/game-of-thrones-review-season-one/

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