They didn’t save adventure games, because adventures didn’t need saving, but they damn well gave them a much needed shot of adrenaline to the proverbial genre-buttocks. More than anything else, Telltale proved that adventures weren’t simply alive and well, but that they could reach a mainstream and hardcore audience on any platform. Telltale games directly inspired Life is Strange and Dreamfall Chapters, and former members went on to create the beloved Firewatch. Telltale games showed that adventures have to be dramatic and exciting things, not staid, backward-staring affairs. The effect of Telltale on the wider market can’t be ignored.
#Telltale will remember that series
The new series of The Walking Dead looked to be taking things in another interesting direction, somewhat like BioShock 2, by having your decisions primarily affect your ward, AJ, instead of the player-controlled Clementine. The series skirted issues of good and evil and instead pressured you with horrible choices about who would get hurt as a result of your actions.
Batman, to give just one example, mined new ground by splitting the action between Batman and Bruce Wayne, with a particular focus on Wayne. Even within the often suffocating templates, pre- and post-The Walking Dead, Telltale’s creative teams repeatedly pushed boundaries and experimented in ways that didn’t get enough credit. There aren’t many Telltale games where I can’t pick out at least a few fantastic moments. My favourite scene in The Walking Dead isn't one of the big dramatic ones, but the simple decision of which hungry people to feed, and how it makes you wonder, just for a moment, what you would have done in their place.
I personally didn’t like Game of Thrones very much, but the opening chapter was majestic-in their most powerful moments, Telltale games put you you in the boots of characters making desperate choices. But as with every story, there’s nuance in the telling that deserves to be celebrated. Jurassic Park in particular is best forgotten. Now, I’m not saying everything the Telltale touched turned to gold. The music of Jared Emerson-Johnson, the design of people like Jake Rodkin and Sean Vanaman, the acting and writing and cinematography of a whole army of excellent people that frankly the company often didn't deserve.
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