There's a subtitle I never thought I'd see again.
Do you know what I hate? Being led on by a string. It's perhaps the most dehumanising process a fan can be tricked into prior to a game coming out, as what can begin with a genuine excitement might quickly descend into a robotic process of rising and clapping on command like clockwork. You announce the game, and it's all great with the sunshine and roses, and then you come back a whole year later and talk about it again and I'm supposed to be the same rapid raving mess I was 12 months ago? No, the situation has changed, maybe I've changed, and perhaps you announced the game just a tad early. It sucks, because you want to be excited all the time, but that can't always just happen on a dime. And why am I mentioning this, because I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to feel any excitement at all by the time we hear more about The Wolf Among Us 2, or if I'm going to just grunt in satisfaction that 'something' is finally here. (And no, merely saying "you'll hear something soon" isn't enough. I'm grumpy.)
But at the very least I can be somewhat interested in the fact that Telltale, the video game company who was said to be dead, seems to be back in business. That is to say, they were killed off via bankruptcy after a string of unfortunate decisions topped off by a gamble gone sour at the exact wrong moment. When they were shut down, Telltale were very much embroiled heavily in the gaming market with their titles seemingly everywhere, only for them to just slip away in the space of a week to the shock of everyone, not least of all their employees. Outside help was called in to finish the rest of Telltale's hanging commitments to fans, and I just assumed that would be the unceremonious end to their journey. They had showed up, made interactive storytelling fun for a while, milked the formula a little too hard, and then got hit by a freakin' meteor and vanished. But alas I was foolish.
Murmurs and whispers had slithered by for years that cogs were turning in the background to revive this seemingly dead brand but... I mean we've had years of GTA V single player DLC rumours for even longer and nothing ever came of that. (The upcoming Franklin update for Online has sent those rumours into the stratosphere) Honestly, even when I saw that slam dunk reveal of Bigby Wolf for another series of The Wolf Among Us (Which is my favourite Telltale game, FYI) I just assumed this was a Microsoft team that were taking over from Telltale's work. But nope, this Game Awards proved that the name has indeed been reinstated, and they've even gone to try and emulate the same visual style that made them bucks all those years ago. As for how many of the original staff are even back in the office, well I can't say that much. (I know that if I were unceremoniously let go with one day's notice, I'd have a lot of reservations about so much as looking at anyone I once worked with in the eye again. Actually, come to think of it I have been in that situation before, so I attest with experience.)
This time around they seem to be back to their old tricks of securing big brand deals with properties and 'adapting' their work into the Telltale formula. I don't think they've ever been given the trust and respect to make a canonical addendum to anything they've worked on, (I'm not sure how Fables feels about The Wolf Among Us being a prequel. Maybe they accept that, at least.) but they've had the chance to work with Marvel, HBO and The Walking Dead in their prime, so this song-and-dance is practically old-hat to the team by now. This time around the lucky series is The Expanse, and good luck on figuring out whether that's based on the popular and lauded TV show or the ongoing novel series. (Actually, we don't need to play that game this time like we did with The Walking Dead game. It's the TV show, they even recycled one of the actresses to play the lead.)
Now I unfortunately have never watched The Expanse, but hold off before you execute me so that I can provide my pitiful excuse! Okay? So, I don't watch much TV that isn't either gaming related, Anime or just straight trash that I can make fun of. (Why do you think I've watched almost every episode of Supergirl?) So I'm no expert on what this show is, although I've heard it described as Mass Effect set before the First Contact War (The event which marked humanity's first contact) and so if that sounds as interesting to you as it does to me than you'd probably think this show sounds pretty dope too! And that description was offered by Pucci himself, and who is rightly more trustful and has better taste than a Floridian Preacher with a 100-year old, bisexual, cult-leader, vampire fetish?
What I do have a lot of familiarity with, conversely, is the tried and tested Telltale formula, which is the thing that some believe led to their downfall all their years ago. You see, Telltale make choice based storygames where the bulk of the gameplay is making decisions or OTE sections. Not exactly the most riveting stuff on it's own. What's more, the obsession with their moving-comic-book aesthetic that management swore by, as well as the heavy pressure to put out new games at an excessive rate, meant they were forced to use a game engine with a lot of development drawbacks, such as absolutely no physics in it whatsoever, making every scene a painstaking animation process. I don't know if any of that has changed in this Phoenix Downed reiteration of the name, but I can already see they're at least mimicking the old visual style, albeit decently updated, which makes me a little uncomfortable just for knowing all the headaches that the original was tied to.
I'm not one to wag fingers without evidence (What a total lie) but I wonder where exactly this new Telltale is placing itself in order to, you know, not go the way of the old Telltale. I remember hearing about a lot of ideas floating about to change up the formula so that the games would retain their narrative heart but actually embrace different types of gameplay, and that sounds great! Only somehow I don't think they've taken any of that to heart. (Call it a hunch, but I feel like that would be the very first thing that Telltale would be announcing about their big return if that were the case.) That being said, I am insanely happy to see this style of game resurrected, because in their absence the only real alternative company we've had to fill the void has been DONTNOD, and... yeah... those games are great and all... but I want something more fun.
Still, at the end of the day the reason I'm here is for the Bigsby Wolf return. Anything to do with The Expanse is cool and all, maybe I'll try to catch up with the series before this game comes out so I can enjoy it, (five season? Whew, I've got some binging ahead of me!) but I need me some Wolf Among us and this isn't going to cut it. This I say even when I know in my heart of hearts that they won't honour that niggling cliffhanger at the end of the first season. I just know that they won't. But having played it again just recently I can't shake the tantalising mystery just delicate enough in inflame anyone's curiosity; who exactly is it telling everyone that Bigsby is bad? Seriously, it ain't cool to talk about the man behind his back like that.
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