by Jacob Doolin
“A cold wind was blowing from the North, and it made the trees rustle like living things”
Justice runs through the veins of Game of Thrones. Throughout five books, a popular HBO show and now a new game from Telltale (The Walking Dead, Wolf Among Us) that concept has been the driving force of every action from the North to the South. Each character at some point has felt the obligation, and at times the desire, to seek justice in ways both cathartic and karmic ways. As you take control of the Forrester family for this season, the question becomes: what will bring about this justice and how swiftly will it be enacted?
Taking place directly after the events of the Red Wedding, you’re put in the shoes of three of House Forrester’s children as they deal with the power and political struggles after a family member’s death. In typical Game of Thrones fashion though none of this comes easy, and you are tasked with creating and maintaining alliances by any means necessary. Most Telltale games have had a seemingly clear cut good and evil choice system, but Game of Thrones is the first game where there’s no obvious, moral high ground. Every choice carries weight. Even a simple introduction between characters carries implications that can cost the characters their lives. Seeing the look on a character’s face as they bowed to an enemy they were attempting to please, I felt just as disgusted by my choice to do so as the character was.
These morally ambiguous choices help make this the most expansive Telltale game yet. By following the three characters as they make waves throughout Westeros, you experience the breadth of this expansiveness. I was delighted to see the actions I took in Kings Landing make their way to North and vice versa. The inclusion of several cannon characters from the books and show also added to game in ways I wasn’t expecting. At first I believed them to be simple novelties, but as the game progressed they ingrained themselves into the story in such a way that I can’t imagine it continuing without them. Bringing the original cast of the show to do their own voice work is an added bonus to this, as each brings some of their best voiceover work. Peter Dinklage especially deserves praise as his work here is leaps and bounds better than his performance in Destiny.
Beyond the characters though, the world of Westeros continues to be a beautiful and lively place to visit. It's oil-painted visuals are complemented with backgrounds that appear to have brush strokes freshly applied to them. The different areas of the game all hold their own unique looks and color schemes to them, and proved just how far Telltale has come since the brown and gray days of The Walking Dead’s first season. The North remains cold and hard while King’s Landing is warm but full of shadows that spell doom for those who get to close. Unfortunately, small issues plague the game, like pop-in textures and lowered frame rates when loading up a new area.
The only other issue is the amount of knowledge about the series that you’re expected to have before beginning the game. Game of Thrones is a meaty universe with many different laws and families that rule it. The game makes minimal effort to educate you about this world. If you are a fan of the series, you won’t be lost at all, but new fans might want to read a bit of background information before hand.
For Game of Thrones fans, this first episode is a great start to a season that I am greatly looking forward to. By episode's end I felt something I hadn’t for awhile when it came to Telltale games: a burning desire to play the next episode.
