Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series – Episode 4: Sons Of Winter Review

A Colder Reception:

Telltale’s newest episodic series is an important side story to the Game of Thrones narrative proper – and is quickly becoming, in my house at least, as important as the main TV series. I know this because last month my partner got very, very angry at me when I played Episode 3 without her – so much so that I had to sit down and replay it all over again with her watching and, occasionally, calling the shots. My partner doesn’t care much for games, especially not for watching me play them, so Game of Thrones must be something truly special indeed.

Storyline:

Full spoilers for Game of Thrones episodes 1 – 3 follow

Much like the Forrester clan themselves, Game of Thrones might just have too many middle-children. With a larger season than Telltale are used to, we’ve been given two halfway episodes which both suffer from the same problems; exposition heavy story beats, little in way of conclusion and somewhat tame ‘decision making’. I’m not expecting to make any real game-altering choices until the next episode, but the knowledge that I can’t screw up too badly threatens to defang a lot of the tense scenes Telltale games rely on. It’s to their credit then – and the unpredictable legacy George R.R. Martin has left them – that I was still uncomfortable during a lot of Sons of Winter.

There are a couple of excellent moments that proved the game had teeth later in the episode, moments that had me agonizing over mashing square or circle. For the most part, however, this mechanic was reserved for moments when I got to choose who I wanted to piss off and who I wanted to keep sweet. For all its excellent writing and fun action scenes, episode four felt a little too focused on laying groundwork for the last two episodes in the season, rather than attending to the equally-as-important present.

Things have gotten pretty bleak for the Forresters. ‘Stubborn’ is as good as any of them have it right now, a sentiment that can easily be confused for ‘stupid’ under the right conditons. Rodrik is fighting a losing battle at home, Mira doesn’t seem to have many friends left – at least any with any real power – in King’s Landing and Gared, well. Gared is in big trouble at the wall for breaking his oaths and killing a brother of the Night’s Watch (a battle I’m still bitter Telltale forced me into – and unfortunately not the last. Gared has a unique knack of raising his sword when I’m desperately telling him not to.)

However, it’s always darkest before the dawn, and that is what Episode 4 begins to hint at before its credits roll. Without giving anything away, Sons of Winter left me hopeful instead of desperate at its close – a feeling I’m entirely unfamiliar with within the world of Game of Thrones, and one I’m more than a little terrified of.

Gameplay:

The first three episodes of Game of Thrones made an excellent case for an angry player. It’s rare in a game I find myself seeking revenge – not revenge foisted upon you by a hammy narrative that tells you you’re out for revenge, but real, emotion-driven revenge where you genuinely want to see someone pay in blood. As heavy handed as it may have been, Game of Thrones earned that in me – and episode four finally offers me opportunities to do something with that desire.

A hatred earned by impassioned storytelling and despicable villains forced me into making hot-headed decisions (and mistakes) throughout the majority of Sons of Winter. Whilst this dish (served very cold) felt good – and remedied much of the impotent water treading I participated in during the rest of the episode – I can tell some of those decisions are going to bite me in the ass in the very near future. If it was Telltale’s intention to push my buttons, they succeeded, and I’m thoroughly impressed they had me so sympathetic to the plight of digital characters in a virtual world. If that isn’t great storytelling, I don’t know what is.

The Forrester clan are an interesting bunch, with a whole lot of interesting tales to tell. There isn’t really a dud among them – especially this episode. Across the Narrow Sea, Ascher and Beshka continue to be brilliant characters to play as – fun, funny and with some of the best action sequences in a Telltale game I’ve seen yet. They’ve also got some of the most raw (and, at times, tender) interactions in the game, with conversations that involve as much humanity in them as they do punching. Their combat sections are pretty visceral stuff, and deliver on much of the gore-quota you expect from the universe. The Meereen chapters also ties into meaty threads of narrative from the books in interesting ways, and proves Telltale aren’t afraid to play around in the world they’ve been allowed access to.