Telltale Games Anthology Review (Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo & PC)

It doesn’t matter how many QTEs I complete, or even how many times I choose to run the gauntlet with characters who “will remember” everything I say and do. Heck, it makes no difference how many choices I have to make in order to unravel a story. The truth is, Telltale Games always knows how to reel me back in, like a carrot dangling on the end of a stick. It doesn’t matter if I know the franchise, the lore, or the folks who pull the strings; it matters only that Telltale has a knack for weaving compelling choice-driven stories and inviting you in to play the narrator. And honestly, Telltale Games is one of the best in the business when it comes to episodic storytelling and making you the most important person in the room. Protagonists are great and everything, but when it’s Telltale penciling the narrative, it’s you who has the power to move mountains and chalk up conclusions. That, really, is the studio’s forte, and something that, frankly, no other developer can truly master without needing to lean on Telltale’s catalog of masterclasses.

Telltale Games is one of the few studios that knew what it wanted from the beginning, and simply chose to retain its signature design without altering the formula to appeal to a general demographic. It set the stage with its own in-house style of storytelling, and it rolled with the episodic format, complete with the QTEs, butterfly effects, and consequential gameplay elements that would later form the backbone for the studio’s future works. And it didn’t need to change all that much either, as Telltale thankfully knuckled in on evergreen concept that could, with the aid of a little extra polish and a different setting, be washed and reused time and time again. It could hang its coat in Pandora, Fable Town, Arkham, or Atlanta, but at no point did it need to find a new outfitters to replace its existing model. Telltale had an “image,” and it was as instantly recognizable as it was snug.

Spinning the Yarn

Suffice it to say that, after a long and somewhat rocky journey across multiple worlds, Telltale has become one of the primary sources for inspiration among choice-driven episodic visual novels and point-and-click games, with its lofty catalog of franchise-oriented titles being a prime choice for a lot of indie series that loom in the same category. And it wasn’t just The Walking Dead that helped shape the genre, either; it was also the likes of The Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands, too, both of which played a huge part in the development and popularization of the genre. Among those, Telltale also incubated a lot of signature elements that would permanently alter the framework, with iron facets that included liminal spaces, moldable personalities, and timelines that could be easily manipulated through dialogue and rigorous analysis, pivotal choices and character development.

Of course, if you can bypass Telltale’s brief stint on the backend of the gene pool—a period during which the studio reduced its team to a mere skeleton crew before finding newfound opportunities with LCG—then you could argue that the studio has been on an upward trajectory since its heyday debut. Obviously, Telltale Games will always be revered as the “team that put The Walking Dead on the map” — but it’s also a lot more than that. Moreover, Telltale has never faltered in its natural ability to make great episodic content. Heck, even the lesser known chapters—Minecraft: Story Mode, for example—had a lot of fantastic features and charming qualities to share.

Fingers in All of the Pies

To call Telltale Games the chameleon of the gaming industry wouldn’t be all that far from an accurate description, to be honest. As a jack-of-all-trades of its own kind, the studio has, of course, covered a great deal of ground over its tenure as a relatively small studio. And that’s something that I’ll always be able to appreciate: the fact that the team hasn’t made a habit of turning its nose up to franchises and opportunities. Take The Wolf Among Us and Minecraft: Story Mode, for example. On paper, what you essentially have in front of you is two polar opposites—an ill-tempered UFC fighter and a harmless cotton candy vendor. Yet, despite being worlds apart, Telltale has this ability to capture the beating heart from both realms and inject them with its own unique facets to create powerful relationships and synergies.

While the gameplay across all of Telltale Games’ series has been vaguely similar, there’s no denying that each episodic timeline has been treated with a lot of respect and IP-appropriate features. And, to be fair, we have to give credit where it’s due here, as the studio has been ironclad in its efforts to capture the essence of its source materials, even if it has often meant traveling into comical worlds, noir fantasies, or block-based utopias. Although unforgivingly drenched in Telltale facets, every chapter has been surprisingly on-brand and reminiscent of the focal point. Tales from the Borderlands felt like faithful spin-off of Gearbox’s poster child, as did Batman, Game of Thrones, and even Minecraft. The Wolf Among Us  was in a league of its own, but that’s another story entirely.

When all’s said and done, Telltale Games know how to mirror a source and add its own spice to its mix. Frankly, I’ve yet to delve into a world where it hasn’t felt like a love letter to the original incarnation. Say what you will about its less favorable chapters, but one thing’s for sure: Telltale has a knack for fostering excellent episodic adventures, and nothing will ever change that.

Verdict

While there’s just no telling where Telltale will plant its feet next, it’s safe to say that, regardless of the spot, franchise or standalone flick, there’ll be a lot of great things to see come to fruition, provided that the team keeps to a similar standard and brings all of its usual trimmings to the table. Game of Thrones? Stranger Things? The world is its oyster here. Here’s hoping, then, that the avenues it chooses to travel down will bring nothing but good fortune and prosperity.