The Wolf Among Us : Smoke and Mirrors

I drank the Kool-Aid when I finally got to sit down and play The Wolf Among Us, Chapters 1 and 2 (Faith and Smoke and Mirrors respectively). Charles reviewed Chapter 1 with mixed results of disappointment in not getting to shape the story like he felt Telltale games told us would happen, but salivating for chapter two. I walked away after playing both chapters back to back thrilled with the story, and hoping my choices echo far in the future for end game episodes.

I didn’t play the first chapter when it came out, so I have been pretty evangelical about how much I love the story for the past week. I have experienced two pretty polarizing reactions: either “yay, isn’t the story AMAZING? Can’t wait for chapter 3!”, or “Eh, It’s a story on rails. My choices aren’t changing anything. Tell me how the next chapter goes.”; and to tell you the truth – both of these reactions are totally valid. The story is intriguing, the characters are people you want to know more about (especially for those who are not familiar with the Fables comic books), but you totally are forced into scenes, stories and choices – it’s a movie where you have to push the right buttons to make the next scene happen. I am that gamer that eats up someone telling me a good story, so I forgive being railroaded and even get excited knowing that something was left on the table and I want to play again to see what happens if I chose checking what was in the freezer instead of answering the door right away??

This review is going to contain spoilers for those who haven’t played Chapter one, and a small preview of things in Chapter two. Sheriff Bigby is reeling from finding the head of Snow White at the steps of his building, which is one of the problems Charles had with episode one. When you felt like you were crafting choices to influence what Snow White thinks of you but she dies at the end, I can see the irritation. Spoiler – Good news everyone! Snow White isn’t dead, and you get to learn so much more about the poor woman who died in Chapter one. You learn more about the conflict between Beauty and Beast, Ichabod Crane’s position, and the introduction of fairytale characters that you may not be familiar with if you are sticking to those that Disney made some movies about in the past 80 years!

A gripe that I found many players had with Chapter one was the sudden button mashing that happens in action scenes. You’re watching the movie scene roll out and suddenly you need to rapidly press the Q button, or Bigby is dead. It’s jarring, and while it does move you to the edge of your seat, it also removes the veil of disbelief and reminds you that there is a mouse and keyboard that you super need to pay attention to. To those gripes, nothing changed between chapters. Something has to be said for consistency I guess?

So what about the player decision driven plots? I don’t want to say that the feeling that we were promised our choices being meaningful wasn’t valid or that those who felt like they made no difference in the direction of the plot by their choices were wrong – maybe an answer is, Chapter one just was too small of a sample size. I will hold off my commentary on that until chapters 4 or 5! I understand that nothing you do is going to stop the fight with the woodsman in chapter one, you’re always going to land on that car; nothing you do is going to defuse the fight in the bar with Grendel. My opinion is that you have agency with Sheriff Bigby, and people with that axe to grind were never going to be walked down from that fight they were itching to pick with you. Your agency can only go so far in key situations that are needed to keep the plot moving in a way where we are all still playing a similar story!

I certainly felt Bigby was given the option of being much more of a badass in Chapter two. Fights were going to happen, but as you’re strolling through the Pudding & Pie with a bat and being presented the option of tearing the place apart and beating the crap out of this and that? It’s a dark game, but that reminded me how extra dark this character could go. (I super played it nice, and left most everything intact). I can’t wait to really see Bigby go full wolf – you know it has to happen!

In the end, I think Wolf Among Us is a fantastic game that caters to a specific audience. I’m glad to be part of that audience because they are telling a super engaging story! There is one little tiny part of me that is upset that I picked up this game, only because now I have to wait forever for the rest of the chapters to come out and finish the story for me.