Telltale games storywriting9/2/2023 ![]() At the same time, Life Is Strange alters the marketing strategies and language enough to make people think they’re playing a fresh spin on the Telltale formula of deception. In fact, if not for the stamps of “Square Enix” and “Dontnod Entertainment,” you could almost swear the game was produced by Telltale. Life Is Strange borrows all three of the above strategies. ![]() A critic or gamer is more likely to hold back harsh words about an episodic game (“It’s only one episode”), especially one that involves unrevealed consequences of player choice. Finally, the episode format has the potential benefit of delaying criticism. This release structure can make even the mundane seem urgent and pressing. Rather than have you wait a year or more to see the consequences of your choices in another game, Telltale’s episodic structure only asks you to wait for a few months between episodes of a game. The Telltale episode structure is a fast-food version of BioWare’s Mass Effect series. The Telltale episodic structure is not comparable to the episodic structure in Kentucky Route Zero or Broken Age, as those games are upfront about the fact that they have stories they want to tell, first and foremost. The episode format also suggests the player is making a big impact that transcends boundaries (in this case, the boundaries of episodes). Telltale uses an episodic structure to delay some of the consequences of player choice in order to manufacture suspense that might not otherwise be there. Although the statistics add nothing to the story or play, they drive player conversation about choices that Telltale preordains as powerful.ģ. The post-game statistics also work as a Telltale calling card. If the choices are so important and affecting, why can’t the choices stand by themselves within the context of the story and in the player’s memory? Telltale shouldn’t have to remind everyone of the most important decisions, but the reminders serve a purpose: to make the old idea of player choice appear fresh and current (similar to an ad that tells you half of all adults use Old Product A). To add to the appearance of novelty, Telltale presents post-game statistics that show whether your choices for the “big decisions” were selected by the majority of people who played the game. Telltale makes five of the preset choices in its games the “big decisions” (e.g., the choice to kill a character or not). But the repetitive “ will remember that” text works as a slogan to reinforce the illusion that Telltale games, unlike the “norm,” are about making significant choices - even when the consequences are next to nothing, like pissing off a nonplayable character for a couple of minutes (oh no!).Ģ. Often when you make a choice in The Walking Dead or The Wolf Among Us, some text will inform you that “ will remember that.” Influencing a nonplayable character’s behavior with one’s dialogue is neither a new nor a difficult-to-grasp idea. Telltale bombards the player with suggestive text that affirms the specialness of its product. Ignoring history, Telltale markets player choice as a novelty rather than as a convention. For example, in BurgerTime you can choose to use pepper to stun enemies so that you can get four condiments on a burger for extra points, but the consequence might be that you get trapped by enemies without any pepper to escape. In reality, player choice is a cornerstone of traditional game design. The Telltale model dishonestly suggests its use of player choice is significant or innovative, with incessant references to the notion of making game-influencing choices. The Telltale model, which Life Is Strange seeks to perfect, wants the audience to forget that obvious reality. Nevermind that almost every traditional game features player choice and consequences in some form. Choose wisely … ” (Imagine an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that begins with “This is an action-based movie that features dynamic camerawork, stunts, and the spectacle of violence and destruction.”) ![]() The first episode of Life Is Strange, “Chrysalis,” announces its intent to treat the audience as hoodwinked infants when you start a new game: “Life Is Strange is a story based game that features player choice, the consequences of all your in game actions and decisions will impact the past, present, and future. Piggybacking off a proven marketing model by Telltale Games, Life Is Strange is an extended advertisement of player choice and consequence. It’s not enough for Life Is Strange to exist as a work of entertainment or art.
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