I am thinking mainly, in my experience, the choice with a st. John brother and a pitchfork.

I moved my selection over to the hay and let him run his speech, telling myself that I'm above this. I knew he would die, between the wounds and being trapped... but what he said, saying that I couldn't do it, calling me out on my non-violence.

This is one of the few times in a game that a choice I originally wanted to make has been swayed by what a character had to say.

So here is my question duders, did you find the moment had the same impact on you? Any other choices you have made in this game that you didn't originally see yourself doing? Interesting to see just how well Telltale is pulling this off.

This is one of the few times in a game that a choice I originally wanted to make has been swayed by what a character had to say.

I actually killed him originally not because of what he said, but because he tried to feed Clementine human meat. Of course I restarted immediately after both of those situations, because I am NOT having Clementine have to go through eating human meat, and I felt bad that she saw me kill that dude.

I stabbed that son of bitch because he reminded me of the Illusive Man from ME2. I also put a bullet in the head of the other brother as an act of mercy.

I thought about each choice before making it though. I gotta hand to telltale's writing staff, not since Mass Effect has a game had such weighty moral decisions.

Nah, I was pretty much in the kill 'em all mode after I escaped. What any of them said afterwards wasn't going to matter either way.

I killed the pitchfork guy and I felt really terrible afterwards because Clementine saw me do it and I felt like I let her down.

Think about it: A game made me feel genuinely guilty for killing someone. That just blew my mind.

Very few games have had such an emotional impact on me in such a way, which is what makes this game so special.

@lclay said:

I killed the pitchfork guy and I felt really terrible afterwards because Clementine saw me do it and I felt like I let her down.

I did the same thing, and felt the same way. I don't think I felt guilty for killing him per say because he turned out to be such a horrible person, but more so that she had to see me do it and that Lee would have to explain to her WHY he(I) had to do it. Sure could have left him trapped and let the walkers get him eventually but which is more merciful or what does he really deserve... the game really plays on morals amazingly.

There is a point beyond redemption and for me, both brothers were past it. No mercy for monsters.

I'm usually a pretty merciful person, but standing there with the pitchfork I realized Danny was already fucked in the head, and never stop. So, I decided to make the tough call, and killed him.

Then I saw Clementine, and I actually gasped, and realized what I had done - and genuinely felt guilty.

I can't remember the last time a game made me agonize over decisions so much, and do such a good job of throwing them back in my face. The Walking Dead isn't perfect, but it's certainly well-written.

@MysteriousFawx: I was 100% ready to beat the shit out of the Brother in the rain but after seeing how the others were reacting I left him for the zombies. I had to show control as the leader of the group.

Sure, I mean it's the writing that's determined why I now despise Kenny and how I also became a little more empathetic towards Larry.

I let them both live, but kept thinking about Rick from the comics, how he says that to survive in this world you HAVE to kill. Spent a few seconds deliberating over killing the first one and ended up letting him live, and I immediately let the second one live, there's no way he was going to survive.

IF, however, they come back for vengeance then I'm killing them the fuck up, and I know Rick was right.

Yeah, I totally let game writing influence my decisions. I do lean towards good guy/paragon stuff, but I do it because that is the choice I want to make generally. In this case, I totally killed the dude. I felt bad that Clem had to see it, but I didn't want him hurting anyone else, and he clearly was unrepentant, and didn't regret anything he had done. He would've just gone on killing. However, I wasn't able to bring myself to kill the other one. After Clem seeing me off the first dude, I had to let the other one live. I guess that worked out in the end, though I actually felt like maybe I should've have given him the quick death instead. Regardless, I didn't want another traumatic even for her. She didn't deserve that.

I always play a good guy in games, so I didn't kill either brother. However, I was legitimately tempted in both scenarios, and part of me still wants to see those pieces of garbage die.

After I had killed the first brother I kinda felt bad because of clementime and all that,but I felt even worse when I killed the second one.I coudnt justify killing 1 and just leaving the other one alive I was already went down the rabbit hole

I stabbed the hell out of him, and felt good about, until I realised that Clem had seen the whole thing. Then I wished to Christ I hadn't.

Well played, game. Well played.

@Draugen said:

I stabbed the hell out of him, and felt good about, until I realised that Clem had seen the whole thing. Then I wished to Christ I hadn't.

Well played, game. Well played.

Same here. Killed that guy and and just thought "shit..." when I realized Clem saw it. I punched the other guy a couple times and just walked away, even though I wanted to kill him.

The game has done two things that I appreciate a lot. It's reassured me that it will follow the aesthetic of the comic(exploitation film with good taste) and it's created an emotional attachment with me to Clementine. No motherfucking zombie or human is going to hurt my Clementine.

Yeah, his taunting definitely pushed me towards stabby stabby and I immediately felt bad because of Clem, was a pretty cool moment.

Yeah I didnt want to kill him but did it anyway. When I then saw that Clem saw what I did, I felt PRETTY bad.

Actually felt guilty about it after I stopped playing. Good stuff. Not gonna go back on that save, Im gonna live with the consequences.

I killed both of them violently. Pitchforked the first one, beat the shit out of the second and then Sparta'ed his ass into the electric fence. My Lee don't take no mess.

Unless my or one of my family member's lives are in danger, I can't see me actually killing somebody. We got that guy, he's injured, he's no longer a threat. I'm not going to kill him. I'm not a murderer. It's cool that the game brought that feeling out of me, though.

I didn't kill either one.

Once they were unarmed they were no longer a present threat. Sure they could potentially somehow still survive, but I think what they were doing was something they were justifying to themselves and in the end it weighs heavy on at least Andy- if not the other one. The other ones leg is fucked though so I'm not to worried about him.

I don't know- they may come back, but it's not my place to take their lives when they have been unarmed. That wouldn't have served any purpose. I have to set a good example as well.

Killing zombies is one thing, but killing people (no matter what they do) is not my place to judge. Sure, they did some messed up stuff, but they were doing what they had to to survive. I don't believe that came as an easy decision. I don't agree with it, but when there is no longer law morality becomes law and that's when most people choose to justify more atrocious behavior. They feel more justified (at least as a binary choice).

Interestingly enough, at least according to the statistics, most people are choosing this path as well. Reasons may not be the same, but I thought that was intriguing.

I didn't kill ether of them, But the fight with the one brother, where you are punching him and punching him and punching him. Then they go to the long shot of the whole group just watching you beat this guy senseless, and your reflection in the pool of water. That was great.

I don't know what would have happened if I would have keepet punching him, I stopped, because Clem was watching me beat this guy up.

I knew from point one that I wasn't going to play judge, jury, and executioner, no matter how deserved that role might be.

I wanted him to suffer, so I let him live. Same with his brother (although I still beat the shit out of him until the game made me stop). I did feel bad when he was on his knees crying my name, though. I almost wish they gave you another chance to turn back and put him down, but at that point the zombies were too close anyway.

@MysteriousFawx said:

I am thinking mainly, in my experience, the choice with a st. John brother and a pitchfork.

I moved my selection over to the hay and let him run his speech, telling myself that I'm above this. I knew he would die, between the wounds and being trapped... but what he said, saying that I couldn't do it, calling me out on my non-violence.

This is one of the few times in a game that a choice I originally wanted to make has been swayed by what a character had to say.

Same with me. I'm always the good guy in games but he just pissed me off and I did it without blinking. Then Clementine yelled no and I regretted it. I didn't want her to see that. But I did what I had to do. I'll do whatever I have to do to protect Clementine. She's the first character I ever really, really cared about and wanted to protect.

Yeah, I killed him mid-jeer. And then felt like a terrible person, seeing Clementine recoil in fear. Then when it came to the other brother I shot him in front of everyone for all the shit they did to folk, including Mark, and what they would have easily done to us. And then felt like a terrible person, just straight up murdering another person in front of Clementine. Then I decided we would take the food to survive. And then felt like a total schmuck for doing what it took to survive, after killing people who were essentially doing the same.

And then I felt like a terrible person when Clementine scolded my ass by refusing to take the sweater. I left episode 1 thinking things would be easy, and I'd make sure Clementine had a good example. But goddamn episode 2 done gone and fucked it all up.

I spent way too much freaking time wanting Kenny to like me. I don't even know why! He sucks! But I tended to favor his family and views for a good while. It wasn't until I did a second playthrough and sided with Lilly on the whole Larry thing that I realized what a grade-A asshole Kenny is. I understand when Lilly hesitated to save the guy who just killed her father in a "what-if" scenario, but when I did the try-to-save-Larry playthrough, Kenny camped out in the stall and watched Danny try to put lead in my face just because I didn't agree with him. Prick.

Other than that, only Clementine has any sway on me. I killed Danny without hesitation because he was one fucked up dude, but felt terrible when Clem witnessed it. And the thing is? I would have killed Andy too...because I actually felt sorry for him. It's not his fault he was raised believing that eating people was okay, and he wasn't a creepy psychopath like his brother. He honestly seemed like an okay guy outside of the whole...y'know.

Telling him that his brother and mom weren't coming back...and hearing him wail "Lee!" over and over as the walkers approached to give him his horrible death, I wanted nothing more than to turn around and give him a mercy bullet to the head. But I just couldn't because I didn't think I'd be able to explain that to Clementine - literally, I don't think the game would have let me. If I could shoot the dude in the head and then tell her that it was a mercy killing, I think she'd understand, but oh well.

I straight up murdered Larry without thinking because he tried to leave me for the walkers in episode one, and then felt like a horrible human being afterward.

But that didn't stop me killing both brothers. I'm sorry Clem had to see it, but they butchered a living man and fed him to us, and yet justifications of only eating people who were dying were complet bullshit; Mark would have been fine, and it is highly unlikely everyone else they killed was a mercy killing.

So fuck them, I wasn't leaving them behind to do that to someone else.

Danny completely pushed my buttons and I shoved the fucking pitchfork in in a fit of utter rage, and then Clem saw me and I wanted to take it all back... The way she was looking at me when I had to decided to kill the other brother was enough to leave him be. I took the food though, you do have to survive.

Bravo to Telltale for actually making me feel a little sick to my stomach for doing something I've done a million times across a hundred games.

And fuck you Kenny!