As a proponent and enthusiast of visual novels and story-driven video games, I love the way Telltale’s tiles are structured. Plot and presentation first, subtle “gameplay” second where appropriate, and everything else, well — it just kind of falls into place. Despite respecting the studio’s work (not to mention the passion and conviction often found behind it), I’ve never been truly ensnared, hooked-in, or obsessed with something they’ve made. The Walking Dead has certainly been a wild ride. But it never kept me up until five in the morning playing.
Tales from the Borderlands is a title I’d hoped would have that effect on me, even if by means of humor and charming temperament rather than gripping and thought provoking writing. I had the chance to go hands on with the title at PAX this past weekend, and as much as I wish I could say my demo time represented a logical progression and impressive improvement from E3’s hand-off showing, the reality is that I’m actually about as confused and bewildered about the project as ever. Is that a bad thing? I have no idea.
You can check out my E3 preview for the lowdown on Tales’ premise thus far, and the PAX demo picked up about partway through what we saw back in June. In fact, immediately upon protagonist Rhys and company’s landing and subsequent burrowing into the mess of a surface Pandora is known for, the player is brought in for some actual, real-live gameplay. As in, more than I really ever expected in a game like this. I like the concept. But I remain unsold on the execution.
The main reason for my skepticism comes down to the effect these “gameplay” measures have on pacing, both over the long haul and in individual scenes. In the demo’s main fight scene, there are a number of instances where Rhys must dodge and fight back in a melee, hand-to-hand manner. Knowing this, I prepared to get twitchy, anticipating a short window of opportunity to provide inputs necessary for my survival. Instead, dodging required slow directional movements of the analog stick, taking multiple moments to register. Attacking requires moving a cursor to an enemy’s jaw and “clicking.” The idea behind these encounters can certainly work, but it all just feels far too slow. I found myself wondering, “why can’t I just watch this unfold naturally? Why am I, the player, even needed?”
And it’s not that I care about feeling needed, either. In fact, if it helps the flow of the story, I’d rather be entirely unneeded. I’m not sure what discussion between Telltale and Gearbox have been like, and maybe the two teams are looking for that magic balance between game and interactive movie that strikes optimal immersion and (hopefully) resonance with players. I believe they can achieve it, but they haven’t yet. Right now, it’s too slow, and too unconvincing.
Worse yet, the fitful pacing in scenes that require player input draw undue attention to any writing that may be a bit stilted or cliche. Don’t get me wrong, wise-guy quips and sarcasm are no-doubt intentional traits here, and I’m not suggesting Telltale isn’t aware of Rhys’s one-liners or Vaughn’s cheeky, semi-predictable comebacks. It’s more than likely a stylistic choice. But if such things aren’t delivered rapid-fire (or at least at standard conversational speed), you begin to question them. Repeatedly failing a particular quick-time event only causes you to have to hear them again, and when Vaughn finally replies to Rhys’s decision to remain silent after a rough encounter with “what, no witty rejoinder?”, my reaction was more eye-roll than amusement. Which, I presume, is not the desired effect.
Additional gameplay came in the form of a battle between Rhys and Vaughn’s Loader-bot and some Pandorian thugs, and I enjoyed this stretch of the demo a whole lot more. The pacing was still a bit slow, but it didn’t matter because there was no real negative effect to the speed — it gave me time to think each decision through. I liked that I was able to choose precisely how each foe would be disposed of, and though it was a bit hard to believe that these supposed tough guys would keep running into Loader-bot’s line of fire when it was clear they had no chance, I took no issue chalking it up to video game logic and enjoying myself. When Rhys joked that he’d name his first child Loader-bot as the poor scrap-heap was dragged away, I smiled wide. That’s what I’m hoping Telltale can deliver more of.
Tales from the Borderlands has work to do if it wants to engross any but the most dedicated of Borderlands initiates, and in that regard its episodic nature may end up working to its advantage. Additionally, I do think Telltale and Gearbox will hit their stride in the long run (as evidenced by the demo’s fleeting brilliant moments), and deliver an entertaining, engaging, and worthy slice of Borderlands lore. It’s not that I’m unoptimistic, I just don’t entirely “get it” yet. Luckily, that magic click appears to be just a few pacing tweaks or input adjustments away from happening. What, no witty rejoinder?
