Yeah it kind of has everything going against it, Critical Role, Ecelebs etc and somehow you end up playing as a competent white dude who gets to choose between two hot chicks and tardwrangles his diversity squad. It's like a fluke or something.
Shit dude, this is... Actually really good. Up there with WD Season 3. Graphically it's very beautiful and it has it's own visual identity, which shines amongst a sea of Unreal/Unity slop. This might just be me being the demographic, and it does feel a lot like "Invincible for 20-30somethings" but I really like the writing. You can tell there's a lot going on with almost all the characters. The most unbelievable part is a corporation being so undeniably good, to be honest.
The gameplay is the best gameplay Telltale's ever done. It's actually easy to just breeze through but hard to master. Some of it is bullshit, not gonna lie, like on your early shifts if you want to do perfects your best chance is often to just gamble on one dude somehow soloing a hard mission. Once you start getting your hero powers and you get your synergy teams grinded out I figure you'll start stomping shifts very easily.
If you care about choices mattering so far it's 4 episodes and we have a double determinant and what seems to be a score for the love triangle. You can kick one of two heroes, Sonar or Coupé, with most people choosing Sonar (Figures, gameplay-wise it makes the most sense) and then you get to recruit Waterboy (He kinda sucks) or Phenomaman (He's really busted but you better not fail even once.)
So basically Golem is very solid. Weird. Usually the versatile chars in these management or turn based games tend to get hit with Kimahri Ronso syndrome and are just "Versatile but why the fuck would you use them when they are so much worse than your specialists at anything they can do." Golem's mostly carried by his synergy with Invisigirl, which allows him to get 50% more XP for every mission he's on when he's with her, and they're THE team for petty bullshit. Which there is a lot of.
Invisigirl is somewhat running support but once you get her extra XP power she's worth sending on as many missions as you can. You don't even have to keep her to petty bullshit for her safety though, the writing and the design account for her power being pretty busted and she gets a lot of missions she can just solo. Even if you send her with an escort, guaranteed success is always great.
Flambae with Supernova is probably the best character in the game. He gets free Combat and Mobility to the max as soon as he does two missions, he has a synergy team with Prism who covers for his shittier stats, and he gets to build every other thing and presumably max out. Either he's gonna have a massive redemption arc or he's gonna die, or both, because this level of power is frankly an insane thing to give to players. He also flies, so he gets to and from missions in a blink. AND he gets to solo a lot of missions where flying or fire would sort it out.
As for the big decision between the two recruits, I read Waterboy grows well but realistically Phenomaman is the way to go if you're competent. Dude can wreck any combat mission on his own and as long as you don't fuck up he literally needs no rest, has no travel time, and carries no downsides.
I'm kinda surprised how it's gone slightly under the radar. I've seen no one in my circles discuss this or even express any interest in it. The writing is, except for occasional bouts of cringe when trying to be funny, pretty damn solid. The love triangle isn't super deep but it works and it's well set up. Robert is competent, likable, and if anything maybe a little too type A rather than the usual tropes of white guy= Absolute chucklefuck who needs to be wrangled by stronk wahmin and minorities. He is the one that's surrounded by idiots and goofballs, matter of fact.
Look, the game might very much start with a dick joke, but it quickly uses that to establish what Robert is and isn't. He's a man who has taken up the mantle of a hero because it was the right thing to do and he also wanted it. That doesn't mean it's without it's downsides. He's cynical and stoic, but he's not whiny or angsty. He's not Invincible with the wangst and he's not Deadpool with the complete disregard for anything resembling a serious tone. He's trying to avenge his father, he'll endure the goofy shit without turning into Jack Garland, but he's clearly not amused.
There's no highschool drama. All the confrontations come from a very reasonable place. How Robert builds his relationships is also very true to life. And it is very possible, through your choices, to be a very good dude. You can be a little bit of a douchebag but I wouldn't say it goes as far as Scumbag Lee. The pacing of the game is much less sluggish than Walking Dead or Wolf Among Us. It's mostly the really strong management game and cutscenes. Even the diversity is done right. There's a sikh. He's from Florida and not in a position of prominence. One of the main early bad guys you have to beat up is a black man with a hand cannon in sports clothes with dreads. The first dude Robert fights is a chigger. There are hot women of various body types. And fuck, there's properly written sex scenes. Invisigirl's dream comes with character development. You can also get her to lie about the specifics, which is like... Oh, you motherfuckers, you gave the spectator LEVERAGE!? In this day and age!?!?!?
I'd say Bojack Horseman bordered on misery porn at times. This doesn't, and it doesn't treat the viewer like an idiot. Obviously Robert's personality and views of the world are gonna clash with his team's. Obviously he fails to see the growth in these reformed villains, even though he IS a vigilante, because he's enjoyed a rep so good throughout his tenure as Mecha Man a literal amazon Goddess comes and saves him at his lowest point. I figure that's gonna be the source of conflict, and it's predictable, but that makes it specially good, because it's just the logical conclusion. It's not a super complex story, but it's interesting enough and definitely well executed. Not looking forward to the classic American media "Time to give up for no adequate reason!" moment. Though I believe it's just gonna come with a Heroic Sacrifice of some sort. Those are at least somewhat justified.
And it has no DRM, so you know what you can do. Honestly, I've really liked it. I haven't been glued to my seat with a new release like this for years.
Honestly, I'm left wanting more. It's not even like that "Ahhh, yeah, I guess we'll see whatever happens when chapter 3 releases 400 months from now if I'm even still alive" Telltale wanting more, the management is legitimately really good and the story feels like a nice reward for getting through the management. This feels like a game from the 2000s. And it's great.
"Choices matter" games are pretty niche. I've said in a previous post, if the company isn't AAA to make a web of choices like Detroit: Become Human or The Quarry, these style of games can get pretty boring because you're essentially watching a movie. That being said, I do agree that the Dispatch gameplay is much more engaging compared to previous Telltale style games.
However, the story I don't care for that much. Right now, all the conversations I've seen are about the romances, and that overshadows any story they're trying to tell. It's why I hate shipping culture so much. It's all about "Blonde Blazer or Invisigal", and I get why they have romance in this game. Sex sells and Invisigal having a sex dream is going to get people talking, but at that point you're going to have less people talking about Robert getting his Mech suit back and more about romance.
For me, I don't feel like my choices matter and was validated when I saw the leaks. There's not a lot of variance in the endings besides the romance, kill/spare the boss, and other choices (I think Invisigal staying bad/Robert becoming a baddie).
I think people are happy that these games are coming back, but then when these types of games keep coming out consistently, people will remember why Telltale first went under in the first place.
It being actually good is nice to hear, early Telltale was really good, but TWD killed it conceptually. That being said, I'd wait until it is done before giving them money.
It feels like Invincible divorced from the slop shock value element. It is a lot more lighthearted and earnest. Normally this would be a style of writing I really hate but something works here.
Great write ups all around, but this is a Telltale visual novel game and saying 'choices matter' isn't exactly true.
You'll either get one ending that doesn't change(Walking Dead) one with minor variations (Wolf) or if they are feeling really spicy two whole endings with minor variations based on a handful of choices you made that episode.
They do the illusion of choice very well, but that is about it choice wise.
Ok so it seems like some folks on this thread already summed up my thoughts about this game. I was worried it was going to be wokeslop but despite the first dick joke in episode 1 I was shocked with how little there was. There is millennial type humor but idek why but most of it landed aside from 1-2 things. And that’s not to mention the straight white MC being a competent and genuinely heroic figure(even moreso imo than certain classic comic heroes) who has 2 attractive looking women essentially swoon over him, and the theme of the story so far is that of redemption, a very RW coded message if ever there was one. And about the romances, general spoilers because I’ve seen some leaks, but prepare yourselves for the woke crowd calling a crusade on this game after it’s finished. For the invisigal romance:
it looks like you’re able to tame this rebellious tomboy, apparently even getting her to take out her septum piercing which is lolll.
And for BB romance:
After certain events take place she gives up her necklace that gives her powers so she can live as a normal girl, dating our straight white MC of course. The anti-girlboss.
Edit: just a bit of a side tangent/note, but the expectation of the game to be shit and it actually turning out good so far reminds me of the guardians of the galaxy game in 2021, another expected capeshit game that ended up being very good.
And about the romances, general spoilers because I’ve seen some leaks, but prepare yourselves for the woke crowd calling a crusade on this game after it’s finished
The subversion was normalized to the point where normal is subversive. If this game came out five years ago, Robert would sacrifice himself and Invisigal and Blazer would end the game as lesbian lovers.
The subversion was normalized to the point where normal is subversive. If this game came out five years ago, Robert would sacrifice himself and Invisigal and Blazer would end the game as lesbian lovers.
Oh I don’t doubt that’s what would’ve happened if the game was made 5 years ago. I’m just happy that even if it’s a fluke, this game is featuring normal hetero shit. And since it’s a capeshit game it should enter the normie sphere fairly easily and pull large numbers.
It being actually good is nice to hear, early Telltale was really good, but TWD killed it conceptually. That being said, I'd wait until it is done before giving them money.
Ive been debating getting Dispatch cause I liked the Telltale Batman Games and this seems really up my alley. But I'm also worried its going to turn out to be a waste of my time by sinking my time and money into the game just for it to turn into a bummer. Hoping this isnt the case.
Great write ups all around, but this is a Telltale visual novel game and saying 'choices matter' isn't exactly true.
You'll either get one ending that doesn't change(Walking Dead) one with minor variations (Wolf) or if they are feeling really spicy two whole endings with minor variations based on a handful of choices you made that episode.
They do the illusion of choice very well, but that is about it choice wise.
So out of curiosity I recorded the first fight scene (only place in the game that even uses those sliding qte things) to compare them side-by-side, literally 9/10 of them do absolutely nothing not even one right before Mecha activates his shields, now the ones that do do something are just changes in animations, the biggest one is where Toxic throws that container if you miss Mecha gets thrown against the wall, but the duration of the fight remains the same.
But anyway how are Telltale so bad at the one thing the explicitly advertise providing? it's not like there aren't studios who haven't already done (real) choice based gameplay, from cinematic games like Detroit to weeb novels like Long live the Queen or CRPGs like Fallout...
After certain events take place she gives up her necklace that gives her powers so she can live as a normal girl, dating our straight white MC of course. The anti-girlboss.
This is a spoiler for the Blazer but if you read the comic that unlocks after completing episode 3/4 she literally wants to settle down and become a house wife, which is why she broke up with Phenomaman.
I'm surprised by how subdued the millenial writing is in this, it still irks me from time to time but its mostly solid, nothing as bad as dustborn or the saints row reboot
new batch of episodes coming out in an hour, hopefully the quality stays consistent
And for once youtuber voice actors that aren't completely atrocious, obviously critikal is in it and he does a fine job but I saw jacksepticeye in the credits? does he voice the irish midget if so I couldn't tell, we've come a long way since hunt down the freeman
Chase was such a good character. Losing his team and his ability to be a hero.
Fanfic time:
This was probably always his dream. To work as a hero team with Rob. That he was able to pull one over Shroud of all people was icing on the cake.
It is a shame, the e-celeb voices genuinely make it a lot harder to like certain characters. I really like Sonar as a character, business bro archetype but a bat guy, genuinely funny stuff, but Moist Kritical is THE WORST fucking VA who is literally just doing his regular voice.
Him saying "Victor, 'cus I'm a FUCKING winner." Is a genuinely great line but Moist's delivery is so bad, it ruins it. I would have cut him from the team if he wasn’t up against a nigger.
Your choices affected more than usual in that, but the real gold standard is their Batman game I think. Season 2 can have a lot of variation, including 2 entirely different final episodes.
I assume this will be a lot less, since it is so short, but with this being a big success there is hope a season 2 could really expand the choices outward.
