TellTale Needs to Take a Break

Middle of Nowhere Gaming's Christian Glass loves TellTale, but thinks they could benefit from a vacation. What are your thoughts on the highly praised, highly criticized publisher?

[YinYangGaming]

I would actually agree, their formula is starting to get repetitve and taking a break and coming up with fresh ideas could help them a lot

[ChrisW]

But if it isn't broken... Well... You know the rest.

However, like they said, "Too much of a good think will make you sick." Which is why I've only played the stories that I really like - just two of their games. So I am one of those lucky people who isn't sick of their formula, yet.

[YinYangGaming]

Yeah I get that but considering the limitations of the engine they're using, would love them to take a break to better the engine too but these guys have their plate full with work

[-Foxtrot]

Yup...all the games play exactly the same and use big franchise with huge followings to bring in the crowd...people say all FPS are the same yet defend TellTales point and click games

[OpieWinston]

The Wolf Among Us is based on the Fables comic series. Much like all Vertigo comics, it's a cult following.

I've been waiting for the "Fables" movie for quite a while now, WB isn't pushing it super hard(I imagine New Line would handle it now).

[FallenAngel1984]

They make to much money to start taking a break. It's important to note that Telltale is a publisher not just a developer. And publishers do not take breaks on lucrative business practices, lest they risk going under

[Chanfriendly]

Completely fair point. To play devil's advocate, the publishers that are releasing as many games as TellTale does in a year are umpteen sizes bigger than them and usually aren't just publishing just their own games. Those studios aren't cranking out three games a year. To quote the article, there's not a developer I want to see three times a year. I love Halo, but if you gave me that Forerunner trilogy within 12 months I'd be sick of it. Hope that clears up where I'm coming from, Cheers!

[FallenAngel1984]

But those publishers are still publishing many games a year nonetheless.

Telltale being the publisher that they are cannot just take a break, they have a business to run. That's why they get a lot of different licenses from different forms of media to work on to build on the variety.

[Sharingan_no_Kakashi]

That's like saying COD should take a break. Yes it should, but that cash flow...

[Chanfriendly]

Step one to changing that is to raise your voice that you aren't happy about it. Step two is backing it up and not buying it until progress is made.

[mysterious_warrior]

Ding Ding...Somebody gets it...No matter what in life ALWAYS let your money do the talking...

[sullynathan]

weird thing that a company is making too many games

[Chanfriendly]

The whole time I was writing it I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. What a time to be alive where I can complain about having too many things.

[PlatinumGX]

A permanent break.

[ClayRules2012]

I love TellTalle. They're really great storytellers, but I really hope they get a new engine. I can only imagine how much more expressive & engaging their games could be with a new engine.

[OpieWinston]

Telltale needs to step back and invest in their current lineup. They've got another Marvel game on the way and they've got a lot of solid 1st seasons but only TWD/GoT seems to be getting the multi season treatment.

The Wolf Among Us was an excellent interpretation of the Fables comics and I really am glad they confirmed they're doing a Batman game because it confirms that the Marvel contract doesn't exclude DC/Vertigo products. Meaning I could get another season of Wolf Among Us and possibly a "Hellblazer" game.

[Realms]

They need to fix their engine the novelty of their games is staring to feel stale to me specially when a game like Until Dawn comes along and pretty much improves on their formula. Until Dawn out did Tellale and Quantic Dreams at their own game it's a hybrid of both based on what they have done in the past.

[Paytaa]

I think Life Is Strange one upped TellTale's formula as well. It was only a matter of time before other devs made similar games but better.

[AudioEppa]

No they don't. Keep the games coming.

[goldwyncq]

Telltale should go back to their roots and start making real adventure games again. I liked them better before TWD game's success.

[AudioEppa]

I like there engine tbh, it gives them their own look in a way. Some other developers who work on story adventures have amazing looking games, no doubt, but I don't want them all to start looking the same. Nothing wrong with improvements, but a overall a big change? Nah, I don't feel it's necessary.

[Chanfriendly]

Author here, I think you may have misunderstood the point of the article. I'm not calling for an overhaul of their engine. I actually quite like their aesthetic. A portion of their games are comic book based and looks beautiful on that engine. I'd like them to take the time to make it run better, which it needs, as proven by my own anecdotal evidence and the linked Kotaku article.

To your point about not making everything look the same, TellTale has been pretty criticized that all their games DO look the same. I'd argue they're trending the right way, with Borderlands being different but familiar, and Minecraft being completely different.

[ApolloTheBoss]

Thank you. I've been saying this for the longest. They should just work on 2 series at a time and take a breather. Otherwise nothing will get finished.

[Chanfriendly]

Author here, absolutely agree. It gives them more time to work on current projects and address concerns consumers have. I'd be more accepting of them branching out so much if they gave closure on any of their current series and spread out the avalanche of new stuff coming.

[Maxor]

Ditto. One day Tell Tale is going to wake up and find out that nobody gives a damn about their games anymore because it's only a matter of time before gamers get tired of the same engine and episodic BS.

They simply have way too many titles going at once while fans are waiting for the next season of Walking Dead or Game of Thrones. Speaking of which, how come the next Walking Dead season out yet, WTF is taking so long?