Game On or Game Over: Episode 99

Microsoft versus Sony, Battlefield versus Call of Duty and Forza versus Gran Turismo. These are some of the rivalries that can get people talking about console wars. “Game On or Game Over” is your place to get inside the minds of Nicholas and Andy as they seek to find the true meaning of gaming and tackle some of gaming’s most controversial subjects. Both are award winning authors – although the awards haven’t been mailed or created yet — but trust them. Would they lie to you?

Nicholas: If there’s one thing that I’ve learned about you in writing these articles, other than your love for Fallout, it’s how much you love The Walking Dead by Telltale Games. It was with this reason that I was excited when I first found out that Minecraft: Story Mode which I was going to review was being made by the same developers. I thought to myself that I’d be getting strapped into an engulfing and moving story, and one that I could reflect on in the same way I think about some Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect titles.

Low and behold, I played the game and didn’t like it at all. I thought the episodic method of delivering game content was horrid and it didn’t rub me right that I only had an hour and a half of content, and now had to wait an unspecified amount of time to be drip-feed another hour and a half of content before I had to wait again.

So this week I wanted to start by discussing this method of storytelling and game design that has been made famous by Telltale. To kicks things off, what was it specifically about The Walking Dead that you liked, and what are your thoughts generally about episodic storytelling/game design?

Andy: Me, love Fallout… nah. OK, maybe just a little bit, a smidge if you will. You are correct that I am also a fan of Telltale’s Walking Dead games as well. I have enjoyed most things Walking Dead related for a while though, from graphic novels to the television show. Not so much Fear the Walking Dead though. In the case of Walking Dead the Telltale game, it’s a lot like Fallout really. It’s a case where the world is just as big of a character as the actual characters.

The thing I liked most about Walking Dead was the brutally quick snap decisions you have to make. You don’t get the luxury of sitting back, weighing your options, thinking things through and then clicking the button. Instead you are faced with a choice, that is most often life or death for a character and you need to make it in about 10 seconds. Add to that a connection that you develop with the characters and it can make for some pretty powerful moments. A great world, characters and captivating story are what makes it great. Not unlike any other game really.

Here’s the catch though, Telltale caught lightning in a bottle. They were at the right place at the right time and got a chance at an IP that many people already loved. Once they tasted that, I think they got a little punch drunk if you will and started spreading themselves thinner and thinner. Snatching up IP’s such as Borderlands, Game of Thrones and creating new ones like Wolf Among Us. They essentially tried to do the same thing over and over again. While I loved Walking Dead I haven’t played any of the others yet, so I can’t comment on their respective quality, but I haven’t played them because I’m not sure the episodic storytelling is how I want my games delivered.

When I like a game I want to keep playing it. I want the gratification of knowing what happened, and closure. In episodic games you don’t get that closure for six months (or more). Plus, like you said the more games, and episodes, they have made the shorter and shorter experiences. Now I am a big Minecraft fan but when I heard about Minecraft: Story Mode I was very sceptical. Mostly because a story mode takes away the very thing that makes Minecraft great in my opinion. I think this may be a case of Telltale doing too much of a good thing and going to the well too often.

When I think about it though, I’m not sure it’s really that different from many of the industry practices of kicking out tons of DLC for a game. Could we not say that episodic content is a lot like the release schedule of DLC for any major release. Granted, I’m not a big fan of episodic games anymore – unless I wait for them all to be released and on sale – but I can’t really fault the developers for doing it that way. I read your review and I know you said you haven’t played Minecraft before, but excluding that what are your thoughts on the trend towards episodic games being released? Is it something you want to see more of?

Nicholas: Absolutely not, to be honest. Like you said, waiting for up to six months to unlock a ‘complete’ game is just ridiculous in my opinion and something I don’t think I’d ever pay for. If I purchase a game I want the comfort of knowing that the entirety of the base game is included. DLC is optional and doesn’t always make much of an impact to the overall story, but I can’t accept spending any amount of money on a game and having to wait periods to unlock the next chapter just to see how it ends. It’s akin to paying for a television series but you have to wait months at a time for the next episode. It’s akin to buying a book but having to wait months for the next chapter. There might be fans of this style of storytelling in games, but it certainly isn’t for me.

As far as the comparison between episodic games and DLC, I’m not too certain I agree to be honest. With DLC it’s always a bonus to what you already own. Sometimes it’s little more than a few more weapons, another stage for multiplayer or some side missions, but it’s never something that completes the story for the game. You’ve never bought a game before where you get close to the end and then the game prompts you “please wait a month for the final mission”. If Telltale released the complete game in full, and then released additional story components as DLC then I’d be fine with that, but breaking up the baseline story is just another thing entirely.

When I was discussing this game on Facebook a friend compared it to a television show and how we have to wait a week or more for the next episode. If we have no qualms with that, do you think it’s fair to make the criticisms we are making above? Furthermore, when you think about the way certain developers create and design their games, are there any companies that you personally feel get it wrong (even if the majority of gamers might love it)?

Andy: There is one thing that immediately jumps to mind when I think about that, it’s not so much one company or two companies rather it’s the industry as a whole that do it – in my opinion, wrong. And, now that I think of it, episodic games fall into this category too. That would be Season Passes, and how every game seems to have one now. We talked last week about game pre-orders, but I think pre-ordering a Season Pass is even worse. Especially before the base game is even released. You mentioned at the start my love for Fallout, even though I love the series there is no way I’d pre-order the season pass.

For starters I don’t know for certain I’ll like the game – it’s highly likely I will but there’s still a chance I may not, and add to that the fact that they don’t say what is included in it. I have a friend who pre-ordered the Season Pass for Batman: Arkham Knight and he is literally beside himself in frustration at how bad the content is for it. His season pass for that game has been a couple extremely small chunks of story, a handful of skins and some Batmobile races. He paid $39.99 USD for that pass and in his words “If I had paid $20 I’d still be pissed.”

If you think about it Telltale does term the release of these episodic games as a Season Pass to get them all at one price. So for one price you can get all the episodes for that season, yet I keep going back to the idea that they don’t tell you what they will include or when they will include it. I think it’s only a matter of time for a developer to release a season pass either for a game or for an episodic delivery and then for whatever reason not be able to follow through on it, or what’s to stop them from having a five point season pass but release a portion every six months?

We have talked about questionable DLC practices before, but I think for the most art we have ignored Season Passes. DLC plus trying to get pre-orders for it that just makes me throw my hands up in the air and almost want to give up. What do you think the appeal of a season pass is? Or better yet, what is the reason gamers are so happy to voice their displeasure about almost every other aspect of gaming but many seem to be OK with forking over money for essentially something that doesn’t really exist at the time of their purchase?

Nicholas: I think it comes down to the anticipation that they’ll love the game and that they want to guarantee every last bit of content for it. For this reason I don’t see season passes as a massive deal for smaller franchises, but more so those large series like Batman, Fallout or Forza. There are some big-time fans of those games that probably ride the hype train from the E3 announcement to the release date, and season passes are just an extension of pre-ordering the game and getting the best edition possible from the retailer. The only problem, as you’ve mentioned, is that too often season passes seem to be mostly filler content and nothing substantially worthwhile.

You mention that gamers voice their displeasure about most topics except season passes, but I’m not entirely sure that’s true. I remember that there was a lot of chatter surrounding the season pass for Arkham Knight and the fact it cost $40. From memory it was the most expensive season pass to date, and there was more negativity about it than fans being excited. Truth be told, I don’t really hear a lot of good things about season passes, but I think gamers are wary to the pitfalls they can fall in if they buy one. To date there isn’t a single one I’ve purchased for even my most favourite of games, for the fact that I don’t think I’ve ever played a game for as long as a developer has released DLC for it. Typically by the time I finish the story I’m over it and I move onto something else – let alone play expansions.

At least with episodic content (and with Minecraft: Story Mode in particular), the season pass is just the cost of a single episode multiplied by the total to be released for the game, so it isn’t like gamers are being over-charged. Furthermore, I think it’s safe to assume that the direction they take for one episode will be the same they take for the remainder. When it comes to being disgruntled about season passes though, shouldn’t that fall back on the gamer? If there are a lack of details surrounding what’s the come and when, and if they (typically) are mostly filler, we can’t blame the developer if people get too eager and buy it early?

Andy: It is funny how these conversations play out and how certain themes keep popping up time and time again, just in different ways and different versions. How many times have we said in the past some version of “well, if gamers didn’t support it (buy it) then developers wouldn’t do it.” Sometimes I disagree with it and think the onus should be on the developer, but in this case I  – man I can’t get in the habit of saying this – think you’re right. This is absolutely one of those cases where gamers need to stop what we are doing. Stop pre-ordering DLC for games that aren’t even out yet. I get it, you are looking forward to the game but make the developer prove themselves before you pre-order DLC.

As much as I love Fallout I will not be pre-ordering the season pass until after I have played the game. I try not to tell people not to do something, but man this one boggles my mind. For those reading this – hello lone random internet person! – in the comments below, tell us why have you pre-ordered DLC/season passes before? I remember pre-ordering one piece of DLC for a game in the past, Batman Arkham Origins, and I played the game, beat it and ended up giving the code away on Twitter when it was finally released. After that I developed a strict no-pre-order DLC edict.  There is just too much uncertainty now for me to do that, and a season pass is even worse. Bigger price point, and way more guess work involved.

I want to bring this back around though to your initial start here. I know you never played Minecraft before (is it a game you have been interested in and just never played, or one you just had no interest in?), but one thing really sticks out to me. In Minecraft one of the beauties of the game is being able to load it up and get lost in the game for hours and hours… and hours. According to you, and several others, Minecraft: Story Mode “Episode One” is less than two hours of content. Heck there are countless times playing Minecraft where I spent two hours building a wall, just one wall. As much as I enjoy Minecraft I have never wanted a story mode, much less one that charges me $5 for less than two hours’ worth. Was it the length that disappointed you the most or what exactly was it?

Nicholas: The reason I’ve never played Minecraft before is because I don’t enjoy games where I need to build the content. I’m of the belief that I should buy a game, start it and then explore the world that the developer has created – not be given a blank canvas to create my own. Perhaps it’s part laziness but mostly because I’m not creative in the slightest. I’m a plug and play kind of gamer. The other main reason is because I find Notch incredibly annoying, and it’s kind of been a refusal to support him financially as well. Yeah, I’m petty.

As for Minecraft Story Mode, I suppose it’s partly due to the length. If I had all five episodes and they added up to five-seven hours of content then I’d be OK with it, but only having a morsel to play with out of the box just doesn’t work well with me. The other reason is it’s so simplistic that I found it boring really. I was playing (and hooked) on Batman: Arkham Knight at the time and in comparison Minecraft just couldn’t compete. Like I said in my review though, I just don’t think episodic content is for me. I understand it works for many others, but not me.

To wrap things up, we’ve discussed some of our pet peeves in gaming, and we both agree that we’re not particular fans of episodic content as a means of game design and delivery. You mentioned you loved the Walking Dead game by Telltale, and to close, I wanted to ask, despite all we’ve said above, is there any television show or movie that you’d love to see be done by Telltale? What elements would also need to be there for you to enjoy it?

Andy: Man, that’s a really good question. Part of me wants to say I have seen enough of the episodic delivery, but then I get to thinking and think well… for starters if they do more episodic stuff I wouldn’t get just the first episode, I would hold out until all the episodes are available. Mostly because I want to play it at my pace not be at the whim of the developer. The first couple TV shows I could think of have already been done Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. Both of those two are perfect for this style of game because of the choice and consequences brutal nature of the shows.

So, then I started to think about shows that have that tense edge-of-your-seat concern for characters and the only one I could think of (that I watch anyway) is ‘The Strain’ and I know that doesn’t have nearly the amount of viewers as the other two. Maybe something like ‘Dare Devil’ from Netflix, possibly ‘Breaking Bad’ as well. I think it’s tricky because you have to find a show that a lot of people watch and that is a definite draw that will make people want to play it via this delivery method.

Even though you and I are not fans of the delivery style, there’s no questioning the appeal there seems to be for gamers. I mean look at all the episodic content that seems to be hitting our consoles right now, and not just from Telltale. Like you said in regards to season passes, if gamers didn’t buy it developers would stop doing it pretty quickly. I know a bunch of people that enjoy the episodic style release because they don’t feel like they only have to play that one game for hours. They can do bite-sized chunks and move on. In that regard it does make sense, it’s just something that doesn’t really work for me. But hey, that’s OK. We’ve said before play what makes you happy, there are so many choices out there. No sense in losing sleep in what others may find enjoyable right?

Tune in next time for the next instalment of Game On or Game Over. If you have any ideas for our next article, feel free to contact Andy or Nicholas on Twitter.