More Wolf Among Us (And Other Great Telltale Chapters)

Telltale just dropped some news worth squeeing over, Season 2 of Wolf Among Us will be released in 2018!

The Walking Dead Season 3: A New Frontier

Pre-apocalypse Javier. Looks like a young guy with a whole lot ahead of him.

I've been following Telltale since their early days with Sam and Max and Monkey Island (both new additions to two of my favorite Lucasarts adventure series) but I don't think many will argue that their work on The Walking Dead really put them on the map. The story they told proved that they were capable of far more than just comedy. The story of Lee and Clementine remains one of my favorites from the last 10 years. Though it ended tragically for Lee (I draw the spoilers line at 3+ years. Sorry, folks.), we've still had Clementine around. She was the player character for Season 2 and is back in Season 3 as a very important NPC. Seeing the way that she has grown and changed over the course of the story has brought hope and heartache and Season 3's 2 episode debut shows no signs of changing that.

Amid The Ruins: The Walking Dead, Season 2

It just doesn't get any easier. The Walking Dead has always tugged at my heart. The first season made it clear that choices are not always easy, and the right thing to do might end up getting someone killed. So it is. Season two's Clementine continues to become a more responsible and capable member of the group, but choices are still hard, and people still die. 

No One's Little Girl; The Walking Dead 'In Harm's Way'

The Walking Dead has had a strong second season so far. Clementine has shown a great deal of growth since the first episode, but tragedy seems to follow her wherever she goes. The first two episodes in this season of Telltale's acclaimed series have put Clementine through some truly terrifying situations. While certainly put through her paces physically, the previous episodes focused more on mental and emotional hardships. The third episode takes all that's been pent up and dishes out one of the more action focused episodes so far in the series.

[WARNING: Some Spoilers ahead.]

Walking Dead Season 2, Episode 2: Try to Make the Best of a Bad Situation

Clementine. An eleven year old girl, awash in a zombie apocalypse. The first episode of The Walking Dead's second season was largely spent convincing the player that she doesn't need the kind of protection we fought so hard to give her in the first season. She's tougher than she was when we left her, she's resourceful and brave. The closing scenes of the previous episode made that all very clear. Uncomfortably so. With the player thus convinced, Episode 2, 'A House Divided' is free to deal more with Clem's attitude towards her new found group.

Walking Dead Season 2: Getting Serious

The closing episode of The Walking Dead's first season left me in tears. The season told an incredible story of survival and hope in a world overrun by death. Most of the first season is spent doing whatever possible to protect Clementine; a little girl encountered early in the first episode. The bond developed throughout the first season is strong, and it's this honed, protective instinct that Telltale is taking advantage of in Season Two. This time, you are Clementine.

In Which I Discover I Subconciously Hate Myself

There has to be something seriously wrong with me. The current games I'm playing are a perfect suicidal trifecta. A shortcut to terminal depression and trauma. These three games are finely crafted all, but perfectly suited to munching on my withered shell after they've destroyed me.

What trio of horrors do I speak of? What three games could combine in such a way that they could lead a man down a dark path? Is Superman 64 among them? No, it isn't, though I will not deny that games ability to crush a soul in mere minutes. 

I am currently playing Dark Souls, The Walking Dead and The Last of Us. Together. If I am too tired or burnt out on one, I will play another. I'm like an addict trying to kick his habit by using different crack pipes. It's all still crack, and it's still fucking me up, but I just don't know any better.  

This all started after I was given a copy of Dark Souls for my birthday. It's a punishing game made more so due to a long stint without using my PS3. My initial ineptitude with the controller cost me a lot of time, though I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. Once I realized that the only way I can really lose is by not playing, accepting my inevitable multiple gruesome demises was easy. It's the backtracking to recover my corpse that is the most grueling part of the experience. Especially considering that all the enemies respawn after I rest at a bonfire.

Overcoming the difficulty inherent in Dark Souls was probably the easiest of all the issues raised by my recent sessions. The Walking Dead has been far more difficult to deal with on the whole. At least in Dark Souls it was my death that I dealt with over and over again. In any given episode of The Walking Dead, I'm sure to have to decide between someone, somewhere. And the person I don't side with will either die or hate me forever. 

I remember talking to one of the developers of The Walking Dead at PAX around the release of episode three. When I asked him if he had any advice for playing that episode, he told me "drink. There are no happy endings this time." And my god, was he ever right. 

Of the three games, The Last of Us has made porridge of my insides more that either Dark Souls or The Walking Dead. Mostly in that I feel incredibly vulnerable all the time. On the advice of an article from Kotaku, I've been playing the game on Hard rather than normal. It's certainly punishing me for it, but the experience is really unlike any other game in recent memory. 

The atmosphere in The Last of Us (aided by the incredible, brilliant, beautiful musical talent of Gustavo Santaolalla) has made me feel small and helpless constantly. I am no match for most for the beasties out there, and when I have supplies and ammo I still try to save them. The Last of Us has forced me to understand the seriousness of limited resources. I'm delighted most times to just have a brick. 

I expect to be reduced to a quivering mass by the  time I've completed these games. I don't think this will be over soon, in fact I know it won't. The Walking Dead is hard to play for long stretches of time, mostly due to having children running around the house (same goes for The Last of Us) and Dark Souls stifles my spirit so effectively that I can usually only play for about an hour or two at most. 

Wish me luck, and expect a darker man than I to emerge on the other side of this. When you see that dead look in my eyes, read this and remember. I was once like you.

Endure and Survive.