Telltale continue their popular point and click games with... Minecraft? Definitely an odd choice to go and create an interesting story, but certainly a popular franchise to go with. The question is, was it a success?
We take control of Jesse, and for the first time you can pick the look of Jesse and even play as either gender. Jesse and his friends are builders. Originally it was given five episodes, which then changed as they announced a further three episodes. This makes me think that rather than do a season two, they chose to release extra episodes instead. Could it be that it didn't sell well? Or maybe it wasn't as praised as they had hoped.
Episode 1:
Jesse and his friends enter a building contest and hope to finally win one. Their main rivals taught them, calling them "losers". Jesses's best friend, Rueben, a pig runs away during the contest leaving Jesse to find him. While on a trip to EnderCon, they hope to meet Gabriel, the legendary warrior from The Order of the Stone. At EnderCon, the man who ripped off your friend, Petra, creates a Wither Storm to target Gabriel, but loses control as the Storm starts wiping out the whole place. Jesse sets out to stop the storm with his friends.
Episode 2:
The Wither storm continues its destruction across the Minecraft world. Jesse is given a choice of two members from the Order of the Stone to help aid him in defeating the storm. Magnus, the leader of Boom Town and a demolition expert, or Ellegaard, a master in engineering.
Episode 3:
An ally of Jesses's continues to get worse and worse from the wither sickness they've contracted. The gang try and find the fourth member of the Order of the Stone, Soren, the great architect. We're even greeted to an appearance from the Endermen, will they prove to be an unlikely ally?
Episode 4:
The Wither storm finale. Will everyone survive the final battle or will sacrifices be made? I have to give props to this episode, it gave one of the most emotional scenes across all the Telltale games, it even rivals The Walking Dead Season One finale.
Episode 5:
The new Order of the Stone assemble! Ivor sends the team to hunt a rare artifact. The gang are taken to Sky City, nothing below but The Void. An old rivalry ignites when it turns out The Ocelot's are in town. They manage to convince the leader of Sky City that you are the bad guys, Jesse intends to clear their name and bring home the mystery artifact.
This is where the original story ended. It didn't really go anywhere or set anything up in my eyes. I think they announced a further three episodes because they didn't think it was really worth doing a second season, but wanted to wrap up the story. I think that's a good thing, a complete story. I wouldn't really be excited for a second season, that's not to say the first season is bad though.
Episode 6:
Through another portal, a new world... infested by zombies. While running for their lives, the gang find an invitation to a spooky mansion. At the mansion, the gang are greeted by another gang of people. The lights go out and there's been a murder! The White Pumpkin reveals themselves and announces that they will continue to kill the guests until they find out who has the items they want in their inventory. This murder mystery is by far my favourite episode in the series.
Episode 7:
Jumping from portal to portal in an attempt to find their way home, the gang enter a world where everyone is controlled by a sinister machine called PAMA, who wants to make everyone "useful". The only option is to run away and somehow bring PAMA down, hopefully the help from a new ally can help.
Episode 8:
Welcome to The Games! A deadly tournament run by a trio, who will reward Jesse and his friends a way home if they win the games, but if they lose they will go to the mines alongside the other losers. Can you trust your fellow competitors? Can you work together to beat the trio? Are you strong and smart enough to win the games? Will you survive? The final chapter is certainly one of the best.
The characters are very likeable and are very well acted. If you choose male for Jesse, you're treated to a great performance from Patton Oswalt. The story has a nice variety of adventures, although the first few episodes seem a bit slow. There are great twists and emotional rides to keep you engaged.
Each episode has a cool and relevant intro. There is a combat function and a nice, simple crafting mechanic, which is expected seeing as it's a Minecraft game. They brought the Minecraft world to life brilliantly and it's so colourful. Even though it seems more child friendly, they aren't afraid to kill off characters. There is even great character development on some people.
It was an enjoyable experience, but I would be happy if it ended here. It was fun and there were some great adventures, but the only way I'd be happy for a season two, was if each episode was a different adventure like the last four episodes. There is so much they could do, but it doesn't seem like it'll go further.
7.3/10
No comments:
Post a Comment