The Rise of Telltale Games

Games historically have more or less been about gameplay. Story was a great extra if it was good, but as long as the gameplay was good, so was the game. This is in full display in Call of Duty or the recent Destiny. They have their issues, but they're fun to play.

But with games like Gone Home, The Stanley Parable, and The Last of Us, things have changed a bit. Yes, people say good things about the gameplay, but these games are known more for their story than anything else. And the studio known for games that are talked more about for their story over gameplay? Telltale Games.

As the makers of The Walking Dead Seasons 1-2, The Wolf Among Us, Tales From the Borderlands, and Game of Thrones, Telltale knows how to tell a story. Telltale games leave gamers wanting more and begging for the next episode. But how do they do this? Well, like I said, they know how to tell a story.

Telltale tells stories the captivate people. They make stories the suck people in. And they make stories that are paced perfectly. Just when you think things settle down, something else comes up. And with heartbreaking choices, they leave gamers speechless. With some many different outcomes and choices, no one's experiences are the same. And that is fun to talk about with other people.

Telltale does a lot right. But what they do the best is characters. From Lee and Clementine from The Walking Dead to Rhys and Fiona from Tales from the Brorderlands, they make characters that are different. They are flawed, but lovable. Characters that change with every choice and every game.

And the last thing about Telltale is they make you feel. They leave you regretting every choice, yet wanting to play them again. They make feel sad when someone dies and happy when someone else doesn't. They make games like Games of Thrones where there is no right choice but you still feel like you made the wrong one.

Telltale became part of pop culture with The Walking Dead but stays there with every game that follows. They tell stories that don't need gameplay to enjoy. They make games that are so good at what they do that they are so frustrating and nerve-racking to play. And if they dropped a game today that people knew nothing about, people would still buy it.