During my first playthrough it seemed like my decisions were important and had a major impact on the story and was planning to playthrough the game again to see how different it is but I've read that even if you try and save Shawn he still dies and Duck survives. Is the story and who lives and dies pretty much set and your decisions just affect how people act towards you or can you create major story shifts?

It's kind of hard to tell just off this one episode. A lot of the choices in the game either warrant the same result  (saving shawn or duck, Having larry punch you whether you side with him or not) or the results are interchangeable based on the choice (Leaving during the day vs leaving at night, saving doug over carley or vice versa pretty much warrants the same follow up conversation regardless of which one you saved)
 
The test will be to see how it affects episodes down the line. I'm really hoping there are a lot of branching twisting paths based on your decisions as the game goes on. I also hope subtle choices also play just as big a part as the major choices. I want to know that if I don't have Kenny's loyalty that it'll affect the story more than just the fact he talks to me differently. 
 
Outside the major choices which have been obvious thus far when you make them, i don't feel the decision making will be that paramount to be honest as the episodes go on which kind of sucks but i'm still hopeful

I just played through it again and it seems like nothing you do matters further than the next line of dialogue except for the very last choice you make.

yeah more or less. Like i said, the test will come in seeing how it's implemented in the upcoming episodes.

I guess Kenny does say something about Lee having suspected Duck of being bitten during the preview for the next episode.

Yeah he says that if you sided with larry to throw duck out or whatever, If you side with Kenny and stand up to larry, in the previews, Lily is yelling at you about how you didn't take her father's side
 
 
It's all seems pretty interchangeable which is kind of saddening

Like Heavy Rain, this is a game that should only be played once. Don't break the illusion, and play thru and enjoy it. It's unreasonable to expect massive changes of a story in a game, there's too many variables and it just really doesn't work.

@allworkandlowpay said:

Like Heavy Rain, this is a game that should only be played once. Don't break the illusion, and play thru and enjoy it. It's unreasonable to expect massive changes of a story in a game, there's too many variables and it just really doesn't work.

When they devote the first screen you see you talk about your choices having an impact and hearing Gary talk about how each episode had a 400 page script due to the variables I think it's justified to expect a little more.

The bigger and more diverse choices are likely to come later if at all. In the earlier episodes its just too hard to change the story that much. If you leave the splits until later it is easier to handle and much less content whereas if they allow you to make major decisions early then they have to accommodate that through the rest of the season.

@allworkandlowpay said:

Like Heavy Rain, this is a game that should only be played once. Don't break the illusion, and play thru and enjoy it. It's unreasonable to expect massive changes of a story in a game, there's too many variables and it just really doesn't work.

especially for one that costs $4 an episode! regardless, fantastic game.

@Hunkulese said:

@allworkandlowpay said:

Like Heavy Rain, this is a game that should only be played once. Don't break the illusion, and play thru and enjoy it. It's unreasonable to expect massive changes of a story in a game, there's too many variables and it just really doesn't work.

When they devote the first screen you see you talk about your choices having an impact and hearing Gary talk about how each episode had a 400 page script due to the variables I think it's justified to expect a little more.

What more do you want though. Each character has different reactions to you based on not just your previous actions but also how you react to them. Take a look at an early example with Hershel. You tell his son something about yourself, and Hershel will have something different to say to you, and then there's branching lines based on that versus what you said before, then a follow out with different branches based on the other two things. There are easily a lot of variables that form out of that. Also, 400 pages of script for those variables + the length of the game isn't that large. Usually the rule of thumb for a film is 1 page per minute. I'd imagine that works a little differently for game scripts, but considering the added variables, 400 seems about right.

I think your expectations are just way out of line for the capabilities of video games. I've seen the same issue with Mass Effect nutballs and their "choices." e.e

@Hunkulese: How can you have any idea how much of an impact there will be yet?

This thread is silly.

@Hunkulese: remember when larry smacked you in the mouth? Theres a way to avoid that, but then kenny won't like you as much. These events carry on more into the next game. Plus it is only the first episode they wanted you to get a feel for the choices and everything. Shawn and Duckies death were almost considered a tutorial for decisions to come.

For a game that was only a couple bucks you can't expect to have the most In-depth choices around. Plus this stuff will carry onto the next games, and by the last game we will all have very different scenarios going on.

@senorfuzzeh said:

For a game that was only a couple bucks you can't expect to have the most In-depth choices around. Plus this stuff will carry onto the next games, and by the last game we will all have very different scenarios going on.

I wouldn't put too much faith on that. Again, think about it reasonably. Like Mass Effect, all choices need to equalize back into the central story arch in a way that doesn't drastically deviate from the design of the story. You might have a few less characters by Act 5, and have different relationships, or even a different ending cutscene, but you won't see a drastically different storyline.

@Hunkulese said:

@TentPole Because I've played through the game multiple times and 90% of the dialogue was the same. It's the same problem I have with most games that attempt to give you choice. Most of the dialogue is written for your character to act a certain way and if you don't play that way some of the interactions can be jarring. My second play through I was an enormous dick to everyone and not much changed at all.

The other episodes will branch. To complain about them not branching enough before they are out is silly.

You could still be right but we just don't know yet.

@allworkandlowpay: Cuz you would know this, since you've played all of them right? The reason I have faith in Telltall games doing this is because they don't have to focus on anything else shooting mechiancis or high-depth graphics, plus its a short 3 hour game compared to a 30 hour game. So their able to do more with it since it doesn't branch off more.

Maybe you should look at the glass half full mister!

@TentPole said:

@Hunkulese said:

@TentPole Because I've played through the game multiple times and 90% of the dialogue was the same. It's the same problem I have with most games that attempt to give you choice. Most of the dialogue is written for your character to act a certain way and if you don't play that way some of the interactions can be jarring. My second play through I was an enormous dick to everyone and not much changed at all.

The other episodes will branch. To complain about them not branching enough before they are out is silly. Maybe you are right but we just don't know yet.

Exactly. It's unfair to preemptively complain about stuff like this when we don't know. You can't base your argument off of 1/5th of the game.

@senorfuzzeh said:

@allworkandlowpay: Cuz you would know this, since you've played all of them right? The reason I have faith in Telltall games doing this is because they don't have to focus on anything else shooting mechiancis or high-depth graphics, plus its a short 3 hour game compared to a 30 hour game. So their able to do more with it since it doesn't branch off more.

Maybe you should look at the glass half full mister!

I know this because it's unreasonable to expect massive variations, based on the very foundation of how video games are even produced. The number of variables become far too complex to produce a game within the budget this game is likely to have -- hell it's unreasonable to expect that from massively funded games.

Even if you don't know much about the inner workings of game development, most people don't, some basic examples will show you how unreasonable it is to expect massive variations:

Let's say the other four acts have two major flashpoints in the story, just like the first act. Now let's say they , like you hope for, wildly deviate the games course. You now have to essentially make two separate and equal length halves for the current act, and proceed to continue ow doubled workload and costs.acts. You've now doubled workload and costs. If every game does this, and every new half has two new ways to halve it, you've spiraled the game into something like 14 different separate story arcs that all need to fit on these little 500 mb downloads and half to fit in their equally limited budget of both time and finances.

That's not how game design works. No matter if this is your fantasy of a perfect adventure game or not. It won't happen, it's simply unreasonable to expect this. As such, you are forcing Telltale to step up to a pillar that's unobtainable, which is simply unfair and only sets you up for disappointment.

Glass half full is for morons.

I'm going to take a guess that the last few minutes of the last episode will depend on your choices as seen through Clementine's eyes.

Maybe something happens where its up to her to save your life or someone else's. If you were a dick towards her or showed no compassion, she might not save either of you. Or if you were compassionate and showed you cared for other people and she knows you're sacrificial, she'll save the other person knowing its what you would've wanted. Either way Lee dies, the only difference is the lasting impression on Clementine.

Probably won't be anything like that, but I'm hoping there's a really huge payoff for the end based on most of your choices.

@hbkdx12 said:

@SomeDeliCook: As cool as that would be i hope the endgame decision process is more paramount than that. Clementine helping you or leaving you for dead in a dire situation would be cool around episode 2 or 3 depending how you've played the game up to that point

But also Lee dying and Clementine moving on and becoming whatever you molded her to be is enough closure for the game. Lee's death = the end of the episodes (for this season) and you'll either feel like a hero at the end or an empty asshole for corrupting a growing child.

Hopefully though there will be something even more epic

@allworkandlowpay said:

Like Heavy Rain, this is a game that should only be played once. Don't break the illusion, and play thru and enjoy it. It's unreasonable to expect massive changes of a story in a game, there's too many variables and it just really doesn't work.

Really? I played Heavy Rain like 3 times and the differences in terms of character deaths and paths make a huge difference.

As for what this'll mean for The Walking Dead (I wish this game had a subtitle or something), remains to be seen, but I'm not holding out too much hope that it'll be different aside from some dialogue changes.

It definitely effects the game with different choices. Maybe not immediately, but how characters perceive you throughout the next episodes seems to matter

I just beat it. I was under the impression that saving one person over the other would change who ended up with you. Shawn or Duck. Carey or Doug. That's disappointing that that is not the case. I guess that would be a ton of work tho. I was imagining if I had not saved Duck that Kenny and his family would of never been with me at the pharmacy... guess not.

That being said... it was enjoyable. I mainly liked playing it just for the art style. Looks nice.

@LegendaryChopChop said:

@allworkandlowpay said:

Like Heavy Rain, this is a game that should only be played once. Don't break the illusion, and play thru and enjoy it. It's unreasonable to expect massive changes of a story in a game, there's too many variables and it just really doesn't work.

Really? I played Heavy Rain like 3 times and the differences in terms of character deaths and paths make a huge difference.

As for what this'll mean for The Walking Dead (I wish this game had a subtitle or something), remains to be seen, but I'm not holding out too much hope that it'll be different aside from some dialogue changes.

But it really didn't. It changed a few areas you couldn't access, and in one case I believe it made one character go to a different location, but ultimately any major variables of change occurred only in the last act of the game, specifically the end sequence. Which is what I'm trying to say here, there will be variances, but it's unreasonable to expect wild and crazy divergences of the story this early on, or even at all until the ending. Expect a few character specific dialogue conversations to change, and even when it comes to the ending, I really only expect Telltale to have a binary ending system in place. Lower your expectations.