A Crooked Mile slaps us right in the middle of some pretty amazing and memorable moments to date in this game. Around every corner Telltale succeeds at introducing new characters in almost every scene which keeps the interest up, and brings some more light and story to characters we’ve only just seen a small glimpse of over the past two episodes. This episode drops some tough choices on you and some crazy consequences to boot, so overall this episode really gives you the feeling of being these characters and owning the story itself!
My biggest beef with episode two was the lack of story / plot progression you had as it just didn’t move forward enough, but A Crooked Mile is just the opposite as this 90 minute episode makes every second count. This episode also introduces a new character which was a lot of fun, a witch of Fabletown who lives by the old world standards that really brought a sense of magic to the story which tingles the intrigue of where the story is going.
Without going into many spoilers here, this episode brings us one of the biggest scenes to date. Watching Bigby finally bare his superpowers against an army of angry dwarfs is just a taste it seems of what you get to look forward to in future episodes. This incredible moment in the game lasted about as long as a blink of an eye, so the wait for episode 4 is going to be a nail biter for sure.
One major plot line of the story that is really starting to take shape and become the star of the show is Bigby’s sadness and frustration. With that being said, time really seems to be limited in A Crooked Mile, and always moving forward, so you can’t see everything or meet everyone. One thing that really made Bigby’s emotions standout is due to a big change from episode 1 and 2 as you had very limited time to react to conversations which isn’t the case in this episode. Oddly I like the fact they gave us more time in the conversations and story this time cause there are some brutal decisions to be made throughout.
As great as this episode was to play through I had a little beef in a couple of the scenes as they decided to cut before I had a chance to fully explore the surroundings. Both of these scenes were packed full of things to explore and items to discover, so one moment I’m happily exploring, the next I was sliding right over into the start of the next scene which was disappointing.
This episode pushes the boundaries of brutal encounters and wacky decisions that really push the story forward and brought almost all the characters to the playing board. This is one of Telltales best episodes to date on any of the games they’ve written, so I can’t wait to see where they take Bigby in the next episode!
The second episode of Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us, titled Smoke and Mirrors, takes us to a whole new level of awesome! This masterpiece of a world that Telltale created is still bouncing with vibrant neon colors, but all the characters this go round are coming in shades of grey!
Want some villians? Well, this episode has got plenty of them as they set the foundation for some really nasty ones who you will quickly love and hate all at the same time. SPOILER ALERT – One of the nasties in this game is named Georgie, a strip club owner and pimp with an absolute numbness to human dignity and need. No matter how you handle Bigby’s interaction with him, through understandable violence or forced restraint, the scene plays out great both ways. A few of the major decisions from Episode 1 also have some nice moments of payoff in Smoke and Mirrors. Particularly how you handled Belle lying to Beast and who you chose to chase out of the bar result in very different scenes that shape both the story and Bigby as a character.
Overall The Wolf Among us series continues to bring moments of joy while playing, but at the same time tears away at the multitude of emotions while dealing with people. Sadness is something you see quite often in Bigby’s life as he is alone in this journey, or so he feels. You quickly learn that he has more allies then he realizes after meeting some of the other characters in this game. Telltale makes it more than worthwhile to go back and replay the episode as a complete maniac or a restrained reasonable person. This is really something I never wanted to do with any of the other adventure games Telltale has made, so good job for sucking me in even further Telltale.
Have you ever been in your car at a complete stop but thought you were moving, freaking out and smashing the break just to realize you really weren’t moving at all…? Well, that’s how this episode played out for me cause I thought we had some momentum built up and the story was really moving, and building to quite a climactic story plot…..then BAM you realize this episode is almost at a standstill in the story, or at least a creeping crawl in first gear.
This episode of the game is anything but graceful about it’s approach to the people in Clementine’s life as they seem to exist solely so their departure can hurt her. The loss of people has been a large focus of season 2 and this episode is no different other than how Clementine begins to process those big hits. She as a young girl really is put through some awful and terrifying situations, but those moments seem to define her from the decisions she “You” get to make for her.
Characters vanish in this episode so rapidly and unexpectedly that it steals some spotlight away from the emotional connection this game brings with it’s characters. Some of the characters exits are cheap and unfulfilling, while others are unjustified, forced and forgotten very quickly. Worse, some of those departed characters are replaced by new villains who come out of nowhere with no introduction.
Season 2 has been a large building block for the story and seems to be something much larger for Clementine, but it fizzles here by the end of Episode 4. Large stories by this time like the political battle between feuding sides seems to vanish, and Clementine begins to feel much smaller in the grand scheme of things, despite the grand large she is having to overcome. Meanwhile, although The Walking Dead: Season 2 has been building to something bigger for Clementine, it fizzles here by the end of Episode 4, the complex political drama that’s been brewing between feuding sides all but evaporates. Bickering elders don’t seem to weigh on Clementine as much as the grim things she has to do on her own. She’s starting to feel small, despite the big things she’s doing. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing yet.
This game quickly took the top list of favorites in my book second only to Telltale’s The Walking Dead series. They came very close to knocking The Walking Dead out of my number one spot but not quite.
This was a relatively quick episode to play but easily a two hour chunk of time you need to really see everything in this first episode. The game drops some majorly hard bombs on you early on with the decisions you have to make, but being a big bad wolf made it a little easier to rough some Fables up. Action and adventure are some of the main themes of this first episode but at the heart of things comes a mystery. This is what makes this game such a joy to play is the wide use of emotions and rich story surrounded by well done characters.
During your search, you’ll come across a rather interesting toad who refuse to hide himself from the human world, a member of the Three Little Pigs with a bit of a drinking problem, and an abusive woodsman with a startling revelation regarding Snow White. Since it’s based on characters that pretty much everybody knows, The Wolf Among Us is able to toy with our expectations and delivering some very surprising and entertaining character developments. It’s amazing how the dialogue swings between funny, absolutely tragic, brutal, and magical all over a course of the two-hour episode.
Telltale Games created a masterpiece with the Walking Dead game series and I took the hook, line and sinker when I first started playing the game. Now almost two years later after season 2 finished leaving fans with mixed emotions on how things ended, Telltale Games seemed to have closed the story with season 2. The famed developer company has been quite busy lately with the alternate story of their Michonne miniseries and just yesterday I saw the newest addition will be a Batman game coming later this year. All of Telltale’s games are pretty awesome if you ask me, as I’ve tried just about all of them, but the big question on the table is when the heck are we going to see the next season of The Walking Dead series release?
Hey again everyone!
This story became dark quickly and all happiness, smiles, and sense of safety was sucked from the monitor you’ve been watching. Clementine’s new family has now just been imprisoned by Bill Carver, the maniac who debuted in Episode 2: A House Divided. Clementine and her gang’s overnight escape plans put everyone at risk, and the story line built a very uncomfortable and surprising climax which will make you squirm in your very seat.
Telltale games has done something pretty magnificent with this episode as they have made me play Clementine completely different. Her bitterness in previous episodes was changed as she opened up in this episode to the people she found and so quickly became family with. This was all done because of Carver and his psycho tendencies, as it pulled you away and shows what can happen when you become cold and don’t cherish life.
A Hobbits Journey 