The Walking Dead: The Final Season (2018)

TL;DR - An exciting and emotional conclusion to Clementine's story that features a younger supporting cast compared to previous seasons. This gives the finale a different feel and allows the game to fully showcase how much growth and development Clem has undergone. Her relationship and adventures with AJ was sweet and unforgettable, and makes this game one that you can't miss.

INTERACTIVE DRAMA - Clementine, now a hardened survivor, takes on the responsibility of protecting and raising AJ, as they seek refuge in Ericson's Boarding School.

PROS:

++ Clementine and AJ. Really loved the relationship that Clem and AJ had, and I really loved all the parallels made with Lee and Clem's relationship. It was such a joy to see Clem all grown up and now being fully responsible for someone else. In Season 1 & 2, she had to be cared for and protected. In A New Frontier, Clem was mostly a lone wolf. So it's nice to see her being a guardian and older sister to AJ. And AJ himself was an adorable little guy and all throughout, I truly wanted the best for him. My choices felt more important since AJ was intently paying attention to the example that I set. In my opinion, Lee is more interesting than adult Clem but AJ is more interesting than kid Clem. Overall, they were a fantastic duo and their dynamic was as great as Lee and Clem's.

++ Satisfying conclusion. It's kind of a tall task to conclude a series, but I feel like they did a pretty good job. I'm happy that they deviated from completely following the events of Season 1 (Clem surviving her zombie bite because of AJ's quick thinking) and that we received a very wholesome and happy ending. Yes, more could have been done, but overall, I was content with the conclusion.

++ Younger supporting cast. Having a younger supporting cast was a great change of pace. These were not adults who had it all figured out. These were not adults who had numbed themselves in order to survive in the apocalypse. These were children who were working together while still trying to retain their relative innocence. It just made each of them more likeable and people we could easily sympathize with. Violet, Louis, and Tenn were all great, but my favourite character of the bunch was easily Marlon. He was excellently written and his voicer actor delivered a stellar performance. I'm kind of bummed that he wasn't utilized more. Some could have used a little more time in the spotlight, but overall, I was happy with the cast.

++ Better visuals. Game looks much better than previous three seasons, while still retaining the series' signature art-style. I also liked that the camera was more of a traditional 3rd-person view since it gave the game a different feel.

++ Improved gameplay. I appreciated that the game gave the player more control in combat segments. The first is when you have to use a knife to take down a crowd of zombies, and the second is when you get to use a bow to take care of incoming zombies.

++ Memorable scenes. There are some phenomenal scenes and set-pieces this season. Some that come to mind are: Minnie confronting the group at the bridge, Clem confronting Marlon in Episode 1, AJ's scene with Lilly, the "final conversation" of Clem and AJ, the dream sequence with Lee, and the defending of the school. A lot of great scenes that I;ll remember for a long time.

CONS:

-- Season 3. I'm kind of disappointed that Season 3 was made completely irrelevant. I really liked Javier, and it would have been nice to see him in some capacity or at least even mentioned. But all we got was a vague mention of Gabe, and the inclusion of a small scene near the end that ties Season 3 and 4 together. Season 4 made Season 3 almost completely unnecessary.

-- Missed potential. I think this season had the potential to be even better than Season 1, but in my opinion, it wasn't able to live up to its potential. The reason might be because Telltale wrote the first two episodes, and Skybound did the last two. And while the last two episodes were still great, I think it squandered some things; namely the handling of Lilly's, Minnie's, and James' characters. Two of them could have been much more compelling antagonists, and James could have created a more interesting conflict between Clem and AJ. Marlon dying early was also quite a bummer. Abel wasanother antagonist that could have been fleshed out more since it seemed that he had an interesting story to tell.

I’ve played all three main Walking Dead games earlier this year on Game Pass, so I naturally decided to jump into The Final Season once it became available in the service. And after the humongous disappointment that was The New Frontier, I have to say this was a strong wrap up. It doesn’t quite reach the emotional presentation of the first game, or the tension highs and agonising choice moments of the second. In fact, I had more issues with it than I thought I would have. But it is still a very competent outing, and the reasons why you play these games - gripping stories with great characters and well designed branching paths - are all present.

One thing that immediately caught my eye is that the game tries to be a lot more mechanically interactive this time around, not necessarily with its QTEs but with the aiming and movement. In theory I wouldn’t mind the change, but the fact is that the game’s mechanical competence can’t quite keep up with it, meaning some fighting segments become frustrating, not because you don’t know what to do or when to do it, but because either your input doesn’t register or the game is too sluggish to accept it in time.

The story itself feels draggy at first but quickly turns on its head. However, there were still quite a few slower moments compared to previous entries. Some will see it as a good way to build on backstories and relationships, but others might come away from those moments feeling a bit bored. I personally liked them but I can see both sides on this. There are also a couple of scenes that defy logic for the sake of narrative drama, and here I would’ve preferred they had been left out. The ending is no exception to this, even if it also comes with a hefty dose of heart-wrenching exchanges that will make you sad, happy and surprised as you go through them.

Hats off to the Telltale team. This was literally my first incursion through the genre, and with the exception of the third game I loved this series. I wished I had liked this final game just as much as I loved the first two. I was convinced I would have, especially since I had read amazing things about it before playing. I didn’t, but that’s not to say this wasn’t a solid conclusion to one of the most emotional journeys in the world of zombies. 7.5/10

Esta temporada final es un cierre de ciclo, volveremos a hablar de crecer en un mundo acabado y esta vez Clem deberá seguir los pasos de Lee y enseñar a Alvin Jr. a sobrevivir, en cuerpo y alma. ¿Cómo puede Clem, una niña rota y traumatizada enseñar al pequeño a seguir adelante y hacer lo correcto cuando ni ella misma lo tiene claro? Igual que nosotros, Clem no puede medir las consecuencias de sus decisiones, sus efectos son demoledores y marcarán a Alvin Jr. de por vida, su personalidad y su forma de actuar.

Las decisiones como siempre no marcan grandes diferencias en el curso normal del juego, pero van cambiando el tono en el que se desarrolla. Estamos acostumbrados a ello, y a mi parecer es suficiente, las fantasías de miles de diversificaciones y líneas paralelas son quimeras, tanto a nivel de presupuesto como de calidad narrativa, y seguir esperando esas cosas es de ser demasiado inocente.

Se meten algunas mejoras en las mecánicas, son algo más libres el movimiento y el combate y le sienta bastante bien. Quizá un poquito más en esa dirección hubiera dado con un mejor equilibrio mecánico junto a los diálogos. Aun así, la parte estrictamente "jugable" ahora no es tan tosca ni tan tediosa, es bastante simple, pero funcional.

Los diálogos tienen buen gusto, las conversaciones entre Clem y Alvin Jr. tienen mucha miga, sobre todo por lo genial que está plasmada su relación. Los doblajes son por lo general estupendos, han mejorado mucho desde la S1.

Sobre la historia en sí, no quiero decir mucho. Guarda muchos de los típicos giros de tuerca, las conocidas elecciones ya vistas, pero hay mucha sensibilidad en el fondo de la historia de criar a Alvin Jr. y merece la pena llega hasta el final, es una historia de niños rotos en un mundo roto y de cómo Clem y Alvin se necesitan mutuamente para poder seguir adelante, porque la primera norma de la supervivencia es nunca estar solo.

I have been playing this series since I was in school. To finally see Clementine's story end in such a satisfying way really brings me joy. I found this last season to get as close as anything the Telltale team could make to reaching the perfection Season 1 was. Clem and AJ were great protagonists and having your decisions affect his morality and how you raise him in such a scary world really pushed me at certain spots. I also found the supporting cast to be excellent, from love interests to characters I really didn't want to see die. Overall the story and characters made this a great game to invest my time in, the only small complaint I have is how bad the textures and graphics would get at certain points, but knowing the issues the studio was going through I can see past that.

Clementine's last story follows more or less the usual Telltale Games formula although it was not actually finished by said publisher. I have played through the entires series and the formula does wear thin after 5 games (Season 1, Season 2, New Frontier, Michonne, Final Season).

There is not that much in terms of gameplay mechanics (dialogs, QTEs, very light puzzles, search for items) and, as usual, the game is carried by the characters and performances. One gets used to the fact that the "consequences" prompts don't really mean much and that while the story can change somewhat with different choices, no choice really changes anything that drastically. Very rarely will a "choice" lead you to a fail state.

However, none of this really matters to me so much. I still enjoy these games and get invested enough in the story and characters them to want to it through. And with this game we finally get some closure on Clementine's story who we have been following to greater or lesser degree for 4 games by now.

Also, screw Telltale Games as a developer and especially their management. No game is worth abusing and cheating the workers and developers that make it. As Jim Stephanie Sterling often says, "Crunch is not a triumph of the workforce but a failure of the management". I really liked most of their games but they managed to sour me on their entire library knowing the kind of abuse that was inflicted in their making and the treatment of the workforce when the studio was shuttered. Unfortunately, this kind of culture is still rampant throughout this industry (and most others).

I love this game, obviously some people might not like this game because it's not really that action oriented, I mean sure there are some situations that is.

If you decide to play this game, you're playing for the story and Clem's and AJ's relationship, seriously the dynamic betweeen them is spot on.

This type of game plays more like a movie and you're the director and it's your job to direct how the story unfolds, the music is spot on, the art direction is too, interesting characters.

Telltale as a game creator and company might be gone but I really hope we get games like this in the future and that this won't be like a lost genre.

Just play it!

I finally finished it despite the telltale scare that they weren't ever going to complete it. I was pretty disappointed in the ending I feel like they could have done a better job, but I guess something is better than nothing.

The story overall was ok, I like that that they went with nonconforming concepts like same sex relationships & multiracial families. They also added a collectables feature in which you can find small items to decorate your room with.

Clem is a very near and dear character for me because I've been following her story ever since she was a child. I'm kind of sad in a way that I probably won't ever get to play her as she grows even older or see what eventually happens to her.

Thank you Telltale for The Walking Dead series :)