A NEW SERIES
I've realised over the years that I haven't shared as much gaming related content on this blog as I'd like to so I thought I would rectify that by creating this brand new series to share and discuss the games I've been playing throughout each month. The idea originally started as one post every few months to summarise the games I'd played during each month but as I begun writing, I found that I had too much I wanted to talk about and had already written a large chunk for one month already. Instead, if I have played a lot of games that particular month then I will elaborate in one big post, if in other months I have played less games then I will do a post summarising over multiple months. You get the idea. As the Xbox One is my main console for playing video games, I will most likely be sharing games that I've played on that. Any games that have been played on other consoles will be mentioned in another style of post. I will also include the amount of gamerscore I've earned in that game at the time as a way to record it for myself to look back on but others may be curious or find it helpful to gage the difficulty of a game. For me personally, it's usually a good indicator if I've enjoyed a game if the gamerscore is relatively high as it means I've spent more time playing it.
Now let's begin. January's games have left me feeling like I've been on an emotional rollercoaster and journey, the games have been heavily based around the same game series and theme. Here is my list of games I've played:
THE WALKING DEAD: A NEW FRONTIER* (1,000)
Wow! Where do I begin to even start with this game. This was the first video game I have ever cried at. Yes, really. Cried. Actual tears.
The game is an episodic, graphic adventure game based on The Walking Dead comics. Which is about a zombie apocalypse. This game is set four years after it began with occasional flashbacks. The choices you make throughout the game have a variety of consequences throughout which can effect outcomes and even the downfall of other characters. It also, like all Telltale games, it has easy achievements too if you are looking to boost your gamerscore.
I first heard of this game through my favorite Youtuber, JackSepticEye's play through of the game. As someone who loves his commentary, I usually end up watching games I'd never usually find myself playing. However, after watching his videos on it I got really into it and wanted to play it for myself. Even though I'd never heard of the series before this and due to being creeped out by anything zombie related, I was surprised at how much I had enjoyed watching it. So I asked for this as a Christmas present which I was buzzing to get off of my boyfriend.
After playing it I did feel like I had missed out having not played the previous games of the series as there were certain references that I think I missed and especially not knowing much about Clementine, who is basically like the core of the entire series or AJ. I'd definitely recommend playing the previous games before this one. As it turns out, all your decisions from playing these games can determine outcomes in other games so it is worth doing. Despite not having played the other games, I still thought it was so powerful and emotional all the way through.
It had a great storyline with some interesting plot twists that definitely caught me off guard. I love the graphic novel art style of the game and the character detailing. I felt there was more focus on character development and character backstory than the zombie side of things, which I generally preferred as it gave the game so much depth and allowed you to connect to all the characters (as a scaredy cat like me who finds zombies terrifying!). Which made it even worse when bad events happened to them, as I'm responsible for that happening. One of those moments was during Episode 4 with Conrad, I had kept him alive that long and I stupidly missed the qte which ended up him sacrificing himself for my character so I felt gutted that had happened. I was still reeling for ages afterwards. Another incident especially was when I got one of the bad endings of the game which was with Gabe. I won't say anymore than that but if you have played it you'll know what I mean. It is amazing how a game can make you feel devastated due to the decisions you made. Even though Gabe was a total brat throughout this entire game, I still felt devastated that my choices caused such a tragic scene. It made me want to replay the entire game all over again haha!
On a happier note: how awesome was Paul, a.k.a. Jesus? The only guy who could look like a rockstar with a man bun. I hope we see more of him in the final season.
THE WALKING DEAD: SEASON ONE* (1,000)
After being devastated from season 3, I then naturally decided I had to play it from the beginning to understand the game series more because I hadn't already put myself through enough of an emotional rollercoaster!
Along with A New Frontier, this is definitely up there as one of my favorite games I've ever played. I started to take notice that Telltale have this ability to really connect the players to the characters and they do it so flawlessly. Even with the characters you find annoying or love to hate. They make you feel something towards all of them.
This game is about the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, where we are introduced to Lee who is on his way to be taken to prison and how he ends up rescuing a young girl named Clementine who is on her own after her parents had left for Savannah for a trip and her sitter turned into a zombie. They journey together to find her parents and other survivors along the way, whilst teaching her how to survive in this new world they are in. It's a story of friendship, love and tragedy. You also get introduced to Kenny, who is quite irrational at times and his family. He is another important character to the series and Christa and Omid who are worth taking note of too.
Whilst playing through the game, you immediately have a soft spot for young Clementine and how sweet and innocent she is in such a horrific world. Her relationship with Lee almost becomes a father-daughter relationship and their bond throughout the game is really special. It plays a huge part of the storyline and character development, especially for Clem in later games. I also feel like Kenny becomes almost like an uncle to Clem too.
There were some parts within episodes that felt slightly drawn out and tedious, such as the episode with the abandoned station wagon and episode 2 was particularly gruesome for someone like me who gets a bit squeamish. But overall I thought it was a great game and incredibly emotional at the end. Again, I cried at that one too. If you play that game and don't feel the slightest bit sad at the end. You are heartless. It is one of the very rare games that I've played where I think it would be amazing if it was made into a film later down the line. I think it would work really well.
THE WALKING DEAD: 400 DAYS (DLC)
This was a downloadable episode which stems as a bridge between season one and two. It has 5 different protagonists to each story and their stories began on a random day during the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse but all interlink with each other over the first 400 days. For example Vince's story begins on the second day of the apocalypse, whereas Bonnie's story begins on day 220. Also worth taking note of some of the characters, especially Bonnie as some play a part in season two.One thing I picked up on was that in Shel's story, her character had similarities in appearance to Lilly from season one, Stephanie looked like Carley from season one and Roman looked similar to one of the guys from St John's farm. I'm guessing the developers modded the some of the original characters to bare resemblance to the people in this game but I'm not 100%. It wasn't the best game I've ever played but it was an interesting concept and pleasant change of pace in preparation for season two.
THE WALKING DEAD: SEASON TWO* (1,000)
It was probably no surprise that this was next on my play list after the previous games. To be honest this game didn't really stand out very much to me the way the other seasons did. Although it did have a good mix of storyline and fighting sequences. It was my least favorite and I didn't find it as emotional as I did in other games.
This game is the sequel to season one and leads on from the events of the previous game. It begins one year after the events of the first game. In this game you get to play as a slightly older Clementine, which was refreshing as you get to see the world more through her eyes and she is accompanied by Christa and Omid from the last game. I felt like there was a lot of isolation for Clementine in this game. Even though she meets new people, there isn't the same connection as she had in previous games, especially season one. This game introduces several new characters that Clementine develops relationships with. Including Carver, the antagonist who's community has several people from 400 days. It also introduces you to AJ, who has relevance in season three and the final season and Jane who plays an important part mainly towards the end of the game. Again, as with the other games, the choices made in this game play into the next season.
NBA 2k17: THE PRELUDE (800/1,000)
This is a basketball simulation game that came out as free demo before the main game was released. I have played the main game with my boyfriend before but never for myself so decided to give this a try as I was looking for a more lighthearted game after getting through all The Walking Dead games. I must admit, for a quick freebie this game has good quality graphics, the gameplay was fun albeit repetitive but it gave a good taster of what was in store for the main game. It also has easy achievements too, although the last achievement I didn't get after completing the demo as it glitched out multiple times at the end but I wasn't really bothered by it.
Thank you for reading! Have you played any of these games? Let me know your thoughts :)
I hope you are looking forward to this new series!
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