The Wolf Among Us (2013)

God, I fucking love this game. As tired as the concept may be for some, the idea of taking fairytale/fantasy characters and putting them into modern cities and realistic situations has always been something I dug, and it was done wonderfully here. The setting is vivid and easy to immerse yourself in, the characters are varied, likeable, and charming, the mystery is suspenseful and gripping, the choices and consequences are satisfying, and the soundtrack is brilliant.

The ending has one of the cliffhangers that have haunted me most through my time in gaming, and I am both excited for and terrified of the sequel. Hopefully it lives up to the first game's quality and ties up the loose ends it needs to.

(Sidenote I include with all Telltale reviews: Telltale's games often get a bad rap for having your choices not influence the story, but to me this misses the point of what they do. Variant endings are a nice bonus in games, and I enjoy them when they do pop up in Telltale's stories, but for the most part your choices aren't here to change where you go. They're there to change how you get there, who you are when you get there, and often who you get there with. They influence and change your relationships with the characters around you. The joy of replaying these games is to experience the different dialogue, the different reactions to you, the different routes you can take on the way, the different bonds you can evolve with people - not to have a wildly different ending. I think this aspect is overhated and sadly misunderstood by a lot of players, so if huge, game-changing differences are what you're looking for, I'd temper your expectations.)

This is obviously hardly a game, the least of all the Telltale titles I tried, by far. There are many sections of the game, where a cutscene ends and you are dropped in the world, there you literally have 1 option to click something and 0 interactions with anything else and invisible walls from all sides. I truly do no understand why they even did that. Pad the time it takes the complete? Make sure the player is not asleep?

The only real gameplay there is (I will never acknowledge QTA as gameplay, it is just a gimmick, and a back one) are the choices. Those are indeed the best part of the game since most of them are actually meaningful and affect the playthrough of at least the episode in a big way. Not all choices are like that, there are many that are useless or "fake choices" that change barely anything, but it is nice, that even those small changes are taken into account.

And that is it in terms of gameplay.

In terms of the story, which is 99% of the game, there are some parts that are quite good, some that are mediocre, and quite a lot of bad ones. Since I prefer to end on a high note I'll just go with what is bad.

Everyone is miserable. I understand that the world presented is bleak and hard, but everyone is one tone, picking their attitude from an array of: angry, sad, evil, miserable. The only exceptions are Mr. Toad and TJ and the main character who is a mix of those if you decide so. The rest is just annoyingly one tone and unresponsive to your treatment of them. Snow White is especially guilty of it, having a horrible attitude towards Bigby even when you try your hardest to do things her way and be nice to her. She is supposed to be one of the good guys of the story, but fails to recognize any form of good will.

In general female characters are especially badly written or/and cliche to a pain. I know this is a noir story, but most women are prostitutes, the rest are: serial killer, owner of a low-life bar and Beauty, who is super ashamed of working the counter of a sex-motel and is the worst of them all. Her and Best are the only glimpse of the writers being aware that they are pushing the noir too hard, since they are completely guilty of their own problems, not being able to cope with having less luxury than they used to. I wish at least of those characters have been fleshed out, and Beauty was the closes to that, but ends up being a tertiary character. All the prostitutes have the same motivations for their line of work which they hate - I had no other choice. In reality they do have other choice. The Farm is mentioned many times, and even though some characters seem to be afraid of it, it is never really specified why would it be so bad. Apparently Fables there are taken care in material terms and don't have to hide? If I have to choose between slave-sex labor and a farm where I don't have to constantly dress-up as someone else I am choosing the farm.

Dumbledees story also seems like a waste, where no matter your attitude towards them, the end result is the same. It at least makes sense for them to be this stubborn , although it is rather unsatisfying that they simply do not learn anything from kindness or mercy.

And then the rest is just angry or sad people, where no matter what you do, beat them up, scream at them, or try to play it cool, they are gonna belittle you, complain, whine and moan about how bad you are and how shite their lifes are. It does get tiring.

The thing I am in the middle of is the main mystery. It is not particularly interesting "who-did-it" that plays it by the books of noir movies, with an ending that has no chances of being truly happy, although it does leave you with an option to truly punish everyone responsible, which is a bit rare in those kind of stories, where the game tries to question the morality of people responsible and make it seem like it is impossible to win as the good gay, while remaining truly "good".

It is simply too weird to me, that everyone knows about the Crooked Man except for Bigby. It is sometimes as if he appeared in the world the same day the player starts the game. He can be really surprised by obvious things, which is sometimes infuriating but is overall just a good guy, beat up by life, but still trying to do the right thing. Seemingly the only person in the story that tries for it truly, if you choose to. In more realistic story, where the Fables community is really not that big, The Crooked Man should be the obvious point to start the investigation. If Bigby is the sheriff and community is so small, he really should have known the main players of the dark side of their "town". In most noir stories the detective usually knows the city and its people, but Bigby is more like a fish out of the water character, just cause the player needs to be surprised.

The other thing that is sometimes bad, but sometimes good is the audio. There is a lot of really weird, stocks sounds. Like Bigby sounds when he is in wolf form. It sounds ridiculously bad and out of sync. But then again, the music is kinda good and voice actors do the heavy lifting where the writing fails.

The game also does not always allow you to do a lot of the gameplay bits, where you are checking things out on a body or crime scene etc. You will randomly pick a thing to look at and it will just initiate and scene ending cutscene and you can't go back, even if the situation clearly allows Bigby to spend more times on the subject.

I guess in the end I did not find too many things I did like. The story plays is safe, each episode has a 1-2-3 construction with a clear beginning that sets up the main thing in the episode, by-the-books middle and a ending that resolves something, but opens something else up.

The game ending cliffhanger was something interesting since it was a small thing, but was pushed too hard with the flashbacks. I do not like when writers think less of their audience and fell the need to explain everything so hard.

I expected much more form the high scores, but I guess I forgot that most of gamers haven't read a book in their life. So they might be impressed by a story that repeats the basic instructions from a screenplay writer guide 5 times in 20 minute episodes like it is a sitcom, but a serious one, cause everyone complains all the time. I get enough of people like that in my life, don't need to deal with them in the game too.

Granted, I have very little experience with the genre, on top of which I don’t really gravitate to it that much, but The Wolf Among us might end up being the best Telltale game I’ll ever play. I had no idea what was in for when I booted it up, and I ended up being treated to quite an original take meshing the fantasy fables of old with modern-day reality in a surprisingly coherent way.

There’s a lot to love here. The Wolf Among Us comes with great comic book art style and voice acting, plays very solidly for a Telltale title (clearly better, for example, than the first two The Walking Dead games), and most importantly, it features a gripping, compelling story that kept me hooked and invested from start to finish. The whole experience was very engaging, more so than some far more kinetic games I’ve played this year.

There is some nuisance on display here, like not being able to skip the ‘Next time on the Wolf Among Us’ sections in between episodes, the intros or the recaps. And like a lot of similar games, it tries hard to give you the impression that you have more control over the narrative than you actually do. But despite that I had an awesome time with this game, and would easily recommend it to anyone who is a fan of not just the Telltale genre but solid narratives in general. 8.5/10

The Wolf Among Us is an amazing game that I enjoyed very much. It is another masterpiece from Telltale Games, so I knew that it was going to be fine at least, but when playing, it really impressed me yet again.

You play as Bigby Wolf, a werewolf that is also the sheriff of Fabletown, a city filled with all sorts of magical and fairy tales creatures. Instead of the jolly and kid friendly concept of fairy tale, you now got a dark, grim atmosphere, full of crime, treason and drug abuse.

There are many problems and incidents in the town lately and it is up to you and your partners Snow White and Ichabod Crane to solve the murders, crimes and mysteries in the game. Eventually, it is shown that the “Crooked Man” is the main villain in the game and that he is behind all the chaos and violence in the town. You eventually get to him and release your inner Werewolf. This scene was so epic, and I replayed it many times.

Throughout your investigation, you make choices, ask questions and trying to put the puzzle together in order to progress. Choices, accusations and dialogue you choose, all have a great impact on the outcome of the game, just like the Walking Dead series.

You also got some quick time events that are not required to progress but will affect the outcome of the story in the end. The Wolf Among Us is the only game in which the quick time events did not feel pointless, unlike many other games out there.

The game is split up into five episodes, each with their unique story, but linked chronologically. Back in the day, you could buy and play the episodes separately, but in late 2014, the retail version came out, including all the five episodes.

I loved all the episodes and every story just as much as the previous one. It kept me on edge, always wondering what would happen next. You are guessing where a certain villain will be, what will happen to a certain character in the game and are constantly questioning yourself: “Did I make the right decision back there?” The first time playing this game is a magical feeling that you can only experience once.

The Wolf Among Us looks beautiful. The cell shading style works very well, especially because this game is based on the comic Fables. It is polished and detailed and the animations and facial expressions are just perfect. The characters really have emotions in their face, and it is this kind of games where you really bond with the characters.

The music and sound are also perfect. In the background, violin music and grim themes are playing, enhancing your experience. The voice acting is excellent and many times, I forgot that I was playing a game and instead thought I was watching a good movie.

The Wolf Among Us can be considered a point and click novel, and being so, the click controls, and quick time events are responsive, like they should be.

The best aspect of this game is of course it’s story. It is so powerful and really takes you into a comic book and let you experience an epic journey. I really cared for the characters, was always curious what would happen next and applauded when I finished all the episodes. This game deserves all the love it can gets and the developers from Telltale Games can be proud of their work.

I can only praise The Wolf Among us and would certainly recommend it to everyone.

Oh man. What a great way to spend an entire Sunday. This game is such a fun ride- it's like a blend of Dimension 20s Neverafter and Unsleeping City seasons, mixed with that 2010s Canadian drama Lost Girl, maybe some Big Little Lies in there- it's a really great mystery story. My interactions felt meaningful, I audibly gasped at several plot points, I loved the lovable characters and I despised the villains. There were moments that were just genuinely cool and cinematic. On the whole this was a rad experience I would recommend to anyone/everyone.

As for what keeps it from a 5, it's all little stuff. This game has an art style that, while cool, also helps it age really well. The animation, on the other hand, definitely pulls the experience back in time. Especially towards the end there were a few bugs/jumps/glitches that ruined the flow of really intense reveal moments, which was kind of a bummer. Never more than a second or two, but enough to break up rhythm. Also (and I find this with a lot of telltale games) every chapter dips in energy a little during the middle. I want to see how choices play out differently but unlike other games (say Oxenfree) I'm not itching to jump back in and do it all over again.

Another note, and this is a plus or a minus depending on who you are: this game is GRUESOME. I had less squeamish-hide-my-eyes-and-pull-my-headphones-off moments playing The Last of Us Part II (by FAR). The art style probably helps but it's still pretty brutal.

All in all I can't wait for season 2 this year. ESPECIALLY because of that wtf ending

Ichabod: "We have to find the murderer amongst us"

tries really hard to hold back laughter

Halfway through Chapter 1 atm. I never quite understood the people criticizing Telltale for not "honoring decisions" when the strengths of their games rely on telling stories in entertaining QTE/dialogue ways rather than just watching a TV show. Although considering the big fat disclaimer at the beginning saying "YOUR CHOICES MATTER", I can kinda see where they're coming from at the get go, but I'm here for where the story takes me still.

I like the vaguely comic book aesthetic this goes for. It kinda helps some of the designs and the moody noir city really fits, even if the music is more cinematic drama than actual noir music.

The Wolf Among Us is arguably the best Telltale game that has been released. The detective noir story that centered on a group of fairy tale characters had plenty of plot twists, enough to keep me playing. Each episode was perfectly paced and had a good balance of dialogue and action sections.

Telltale's signature art style fits perfectly with the gritty world of The Wolf Among Us. My only gripe would be that I noticed a copld of performance dips in some animation heavy scenes. This wasn't enough to spoil my experience but it was enough to be noticeable.

If you have yet to play The Wolf Among Us, I highly recommend you do so.

PRE-PLAYING THOUGHTS

I've been a fan of choice-driven games for quite some time now. I love the thrill it gives knowing you're making the story progress as your own. I also love watching films, so having the chance to somehow create your own through a game is a nice feeling. I've played games from Supermassive Games and Quantic Dream but none from Telltale yet. This game's going to be my introduction to the Telltale series!

GAME PLOT

Telltale did a great job on this one. From the characters, the graphics, the choices, and everything in the plot itself.

The Wolf Among Us is an interactive action/thriller/mystery game. This one's a very unique game having an interesting story of its own. Seeing all the fables reminded me of my childhood and made me research about some that I wasn't familiar with. The game changer here is the mystery part. You see, unlike other genres, mystery gives a lot of mind activity. You have to be smart and not just blindly play the game. Which action should you do? Which choice should you pick? Which option should you decide? And a lot more of W-type questions. There's a lot going on as you progress and that's what made this game so amazing.

The thing is, with a mystery there's a truth. And there should only be one truth because that would bring confusion to both the developers and the players. With that, expect that there's not going to be a lot of branching in this one unlike other choice-driven story games. So just play the game as you should see fit and not worry about the branching to much, we're all going to arrive at the same ending as that's what Telltale wanted us to experience. It's all about the journey, not the destination. ;)

GAMEPLAY

It's already apparent that Telltale is a choice-driven story game. The thing that makes The Wolf Among Us very different is the element of mystery. You gotta play it smart.

Unlike other games I've played wherein you can examine/interact with everything in the area for how much you want, this game doesn't allow you to do so (in some areas). It's very crucial for you to examine things in an intelligent manner. The order of interacting is important. You could miss an evidence if you just blindly follow an objective.

As for the choices, it's not like other games where you could take as much time as you want to make a choice. You have to decide right away since there's going to be a time-limit. If you can't decide within the time limit, your character would choose silence (because it's a valid option). So it's really thrilling! Some time limits are fast, while some are slow. It's best you take time on the slow part but make sure to decide fast when you're short on time.

If you're looking for something to make you curious or just work your brain cells out, this game could be for you and I'm sure you're going to love it. :)

One of the things that had never been done at this point that was fantastic for the Telltale medium was to setup a good mystery. Sure, there were choices to make, lives to decide and QTEs to smash, but was there any investigating? Figuring things out? Plot threads left to tantalize the viewer? The Wolf Among Us may not lead in the mechanics department, but more than makes up with that with an engrossing story and an air of mystery that the player figures out.

Based on the comic series, the player is Bigby Wolf, a sheriff of Fables in a New York that while it takes place in modern times, definitely gives off shades of anachronism that give it a grimier, late 80's cop feel. The lighting, shading, and designs make the best of what Telltale's engine had to offer from The Walking Dead while making it looks smoother, crisper, and more comic-like.

This likely isn't the player's first rodeo with a Telltale game, as most of the basic elements remain the same. However, the player has a strong choice set on where to investigate, what evidence to pick up, who to interrogate, and what to say. Of course, the game tends to focus a lot of Bigby Wolf trying to either shake or embrace his reputation as a monster, but it's surprising to see how effective and satisfying even the more violent methods may be.

The game narrows down to a basic conclusion like most other Telltale games, but the journey does vary quite a bit, keeping track of how you influence and deal with characters and even giving you the chance to kill or keep more of them alive. Compared to the inevitability of The Walking Dead, it's very refreshing.

If you don't mind a little grime and grit (and F-words abound!) and are looking to see a top-notch tackle of the Fables series, Telltale will give you just the place to start.