@Balex1908 said:

But I have to say I am a little disapointed. They already said that they are using smoke and mirrors for the choices but I would have expected at least some variation in the endings. I know, it would have been impossible to do a game which would lead to different endings for all the choices. But at the end no matter what you did, everyone gets the same ending.

Lee will always die. Clem will always end up alone in the field. Crista and Omid are always the two of your group that survive. The stranger will always try to kill you even if you did not kill anybody or steal his stuff. I thought I f***ed up by saving Ben, which lead to Kenny`s dead. And then I read that they came up with a really stupid reason why Kenny still has to go down that ladder.

Maybe this was their message, no matter what you do at the end it does not matter. But I dont think that should be the message for a game that has "PLAYER`S CHOICE" written all over it.

After playing episode 5 and seeing that epilogue, I can only assume that they are planning to continue Clem's story in season 2. That's the most logical reason for them not going for multiple endings, and even going as far as to make sure that everything turns out exactly the same no matter what choices you make (there was no reason to make Kenny die if you had already dropped Ben in ep.4, UNLESS they were aiming for a singular timeline with consistent events to carry over into another season). And that epilogue, especially. I don't think they would end on a cliffhanger like that unless they were trying to tease the events of season 2. The episode could have ended just fine without it, and Clem was already in a miserable enough place as it was. I don't think they would just end her storyline with some sick punchline of two unknown figures staring at her from the distance and her in potential immediate danger. There has to be more to that.

@Balex1908 said:

But I have to say I am a little disapointed. They already said that they are using smoke and mirrors for the choices but I would have expected at least some variation in the endings. I know, it would have been impossible to do a game which would lead to different endings for all the choices. But at the end no matter what you did, everyone gets the same ending.
Lee will always die. Clem will always end up alone in the field. Crista and Omid are always the two of your group that survive. The stranger will always try to kill you even if you did not kill anybody or steal his stuff. I thought I f***ed up by saving Ben, which lead to Kenny`s dead. And then I read that they came up with a really stupid reason why Kenny still has to go down that ladder.
Maybe this was their message, no matter what you do at the end it does not matter. But I dont think that should be the message for a game that has "PLAYER`S CHOICE" written all over it.

I have to say, after thinking long and hard about my favorite game of the year, and all of the hullabaloo craziness about "is The Walking Dead even a game?" I'm kind of wondering what my opinion of the game would be like if I played through it a second time and saw firsthand the linearity of my choices. Actually, I've made it up 'till a little through Chapter 2 in a playthrough for someone else (unfortunately, they chose many of the same things I did; lot more stay silent options than I ever did, though). That's not far enough or divergent enough for me to say either way.

I guess all I can say is that the experience I got out of it with one playthrough was spectacular, and the only reason I know some choices lead down the same or similar paths is from hearing everyone else talk about their "Lee."

Weird how me making Lee choose his final words to be "I'll miss you" had me really choked up, even though I'd picked that option, I just felt like I wanted to say it to Clem.

I guess that goes to show how powerful the storytelling is. In that moment I legitimately wanted to comfort a character in a game.

I was fucking devastated when Lee got bitten, and I regretted chopping the arm off instantly but at the time I was hammering A to chop it off as fast as I could.

Gonna take a while to process everything that went on in the story for sure.

I have only one issue with the game, and it's that in episode 4 Lee started using more slang for no reason, specifically to Brie after she described the 'poetic justice' the crawford residents received, he answers back with "Damn girl, that's ice cold." Or something to that effect. It was so out of character for 37 year old college history teacher Lee who'd never spoken in such a way up until that point. Bummed me out is all. Think he may have said "You can beat his skinny little white ass" or something to that effect too in that episode.

EDIT: What I wrote here was far too long for a post in the middle of a thread. I am not a very succinct writer at the best of times, but even by my standards it was excessive. So I moved it to a blog post.

@Benny said:

Weird how me making Lee choose his final words to be "I'll miss you" had me really choked up, even though I'd picked that option, I just felt like I wanted to say it to Clem.

Me too. Seemed like a fitting way to end it, both saying I'll miss you.

• Chopped my arm off. Was hoping it would bide some time. Ideally would chop it off when the bite happened.
• Argued with Kenny maybe but quickly patched it up and seemed to strengthen trust.
• I lied and told him I had no weapons, gave up the walky talky
• Clem killed the stranger. Stopped pressing the button a little after expecting a new scene in the fight to unfold
• Had Clem shoot me.

I though long term that Clem would be more at peace knowing Lee didn't end up a walker, perhaps wrenching is hand out the cuffs and killing others or just remembering him being a chained up zombie gnarling away for day and weeks. Clem seen her parents as walkers so again better to remember Lee as a human. Also feel compassion is when you put something out of its misery instead of it suffering and maybe help toughen her up for the future.

Went into the game purely on recommendation, I expected a strong story but was even more impressed in how they kept the choices and story going. Makes Heavy Rain a really poor effort really. I think me having no spoilers, no idea about the comics and tv story, or even how the choices weren't that consequential made the experience one of the best.

I think the consequences thing doesn't matter and maybe some miss the point, its about what you did and didn't do, how you feel, not that the story mechanic had an linear goal. I've seen some comments like, "game had no consequence so I stopped playing" "gave it an average score for not being more technical" completely missed something.

ME (Lee), Clem, Kenny, Omid and Christa was a tight unit at the end. Real trust was built, helping each other when it mattered.

Final note, I played on PC, the complete package, no real bugs or save problems. I seen one floating graphic as a scene ended midway, floated through a door. Utterly fantastic game and about bloody time too, I was getting weary of games in decades of gaming.

My two cents:

Bought the disk version on PS3 a couple weeks ago, finished it today. (You know, just to get me in the Christmas spirit.) This game is something special, despite it's flaws.

• Chopped arm off
• lost temper with Kenny
• Surrendered weapons
• Did not kill stranger (didn't think I could when the prompt faded away)
• Did not make Clementine shoot me - I feel like I'm in the minority with this one. I just couldn't deal with the fact that this little girl lost everything and I would make her shoot me on top of it. And it's not like she saw me turn anyway. And the part where she puts her hand in Lee's when you choose this option just broke my heart and I cried more than I thought I would. Such a powerful game. I'm glad it's the only game that came out in 2012 that I played to completion in the same year. Bravo, Telltale.

My choices:

• Chopped my arm off: Didn't think it would matter either way, but I wanted to at least see if I could do something to survive.
• Lost my temper with Kenny: The whole conversation seemed legitimately irrelevent. I was only concerned about getting out of that attic.
• Surrendered my weapons: Made choices like this throughout the game. I tried to be as honest and forth-coming as possible, hoping the game would reward me.
• Killed the stranger: I don't think I've ever hammered a button on a quick-time event quite like when I choked that son of a bitch out. Didn't prevent him from reanimating, though. After killing the first brother in Ep. 2 in front of Clem unnecessarily, I never did it again unless I had to.
• Stopped Lee from turning: Yup.

I was so pissed when Kenny died. I chose to let him stay rather than fight with him. Literally got up from my chair and starting swearing because I was so upset. There were so many parts where I hated him through this game, but he was like my brother.

The final confrontation was brutal. As it played out and I saw my fate, and more painfully, Clementine's fate unfolding, I couldn't help but be filled with anger and frustration and sadness and god dammit even a little fear.

Interactive story-telling just got real. That was incredible.

I just got done with the last episode and I'm really torn. I was really lukewarm on a lot of this game. There were some highs, mostly Chapter 3 and 4 but most of it seemed a little long winded. The last episode was my favorite thus far and the last scene between Clementine and Lee was actually really touching. At the same time I thought they really wasted such a moment. That scene should have had more swelling music and something more to it. The series overall has a ton of plotholes but maybe just some overview how she gets out of the city would have been good. I mean, 5 adults barely made it to her across a few blocks. The way it ends into silence and then the title pops had me a little on edge like "what? thats it???" I hoped and preyed there would be something after the credits. The credits was also another disconnect since I told her to get to a boat and the other guys were supposed to be waiting for her. I suppose go to the fields is the cannon choice and you're supposed to fill in the details yourself on how she got there.

I can see how some have put this on their GOTY lists. The ending is really powerful and I think a lot of us that chose to cut the arm off knew it wouldn't do any good but were secretly hoping maybe it did. When I realized that Lee was looking more and more pale as time went on I knew he was turning but at the same time I kept hoping that maybe it's just the blood loss. Yet the powerful ending doesn't erase some of the weaker part of the entire series. What it has done is gotten me on-board to buy the next episode the second it appears.

@Humanity said:

I just got done with the last episode and I'm really torn. I was really lukewarm on a lot of this game. There were some highs, mostly Chapter 3 and 4 but most of it seemed a little long winded. The last episode was my favorite thus far and the last scene between Clementine and Lee was actually really touching. At the same time I thought they really wasted such a moment. That scene should have had more swelling music and something more to it. The series overall has a ton of plotholes but maybe just some overview how she gets out of the city would have been good. I mean, 5 adults barely made it to her across a few blocks. The way it ends into silence and then the title pops had me a little on edge like "what? thats it???" I hoped and preyed there would be something after the credits. The credits was also another disconnect since I told her to get to a boat and the other guys were supposed to be waiting for her. I suppose go to the fields is the cannon choice and you're supposed to fill in the details yourself on how she got there.

I can see how some have put this on their GOTY lists. The ending is really powerful and I think a lot of us that chose to cut the arm off knew it wouldn't do any good but were secretly hoping maybe it did. When I realized that Lee was looking more and more pale as time went on I knew he was turning but at the same time I kept hoping that maybe it's just the blood loss. Yet the powerful ending doesn't erase some of the weaker part of the entire series. What it has done is gotten me on-board to buy the next episode the second it appears.

i agree on the music in the ending part. I was devestated, and crying a little when it ended, and it would have been good with some powerfull music as the black screen came, instead of just sounds of zombies. Apart from that, i didn't notice "a ton of plotholes" exactly. Also, i also went "huh" when just seing Clem walking in a field, and not to the train. Maybe a little explenation would have been fitting there.

EDIT: btw, did someone else catch what must have been a Star Wars easter egg? Lee talking to Molly about borrowing her hatchet, they more or less have a conversation straight from Han Solo and Lando about Lando borrowing the Falcon along the lines of "she won't get a scratch"

Just finished playing through all the episodes over the past few nights. As someone that didn't have to wait between each episode etc. I personally feel episode 5 was the weakest. It just seemed to have a few glaring plotholes that soured me on the whole thing. The two that stick in my mind are 1. the wall of the attic in your mansion apparently leads seamlessly into an apartment block? Not from the outside it doesn't. And 2. Crazy stranger guy is pissed with you because you stole from his car and so he's stalked you ever since. Right, fine. While I feel that that alone is a pretty weak setup for the whole Clem going missing thing, and I'm willing to overlook his amazing spy skills, how is he able to know about shit I did BEFORE the station wagon? Specifically the cannibal farm fiasco.

Eh, I dunno. I was completely on board with this game and it lived up to all the hype for four episodes but that last one... yeah.

(It also irks me that "stay on high ground" and "find Omid and Christa" apparently translates to "wander through an open field" to Clem)

• Chopped off my arm, then chopped off the other one and swapped them around and grew extra middle fingers on each so I can flip you quadratic styleee.
• Argued with Kenny and gave him the quadra-flip. He dove at me and we tussled on the floor until I pinned him.... long stare into each others eyes while panting heavily and then a few gentle kisses growing more frenzied and passionate until I said "Get off me, homo!" and gave him a cross-armed, thumbs down gangta-flip-4
• I surrendered my weapons then took them straight back while high fiving myself.
• Stranger went to shoot me then dropped the gun and we made love while his wife's head barked out stuff we interpreted to be encouragement.
• Clem handcuffed me to the radiator and said "Leeeee, it was my birthday recently and through all we've been through I feel like I'm a real woman now, and being as you're not going anywhere..." I said "Come here baby" and as she moved in flipped the switch on her jetpack and she went crashing through the roof. The closing scene had me swallowing lit sticks of dynamite but I'm still not sure if that means I'm dead.

-Hid the bite

-Went Alone

-Kept My Arm

-Lost My Temper With Kenny

-Surrendered My Weapons

-Diddent Kill The Stranger-Had Clem Shoot me

Did anyone notice that Vernon wanted to take Clementine because he thought the boat idea was bad and it wasn't the safest idea, but before Lee gave an answer, Vernon stole the boat? WHAT WAS VERNON EVEN THINKING LIKE HE DIDNT EVEN WAIT FOR AN ANSWER HE DIDNT EVEN ASDFGHJKLJHGFDS WHAT

• Chopped arm off ( i cannot believe so many people did the same as me!)
• stayed calm with Kenny (because he was kinda right)
• Surrendered weapons (this guys knows everything, I can only assume he knows about the cleaver)
• Did not kill stranger (didnt think this was a choice?)
• Did not make Clementine shoot me (i didnt want to make her do things like that more then she needed too)

I dont know why she went to a field when i told her to find Omid and Christa who where looking for a boat...

@ashogo: I think the after credits teaser is for the "thing before season 2" Gary Whitta was hinting at. I could see a short one episode length adventure of Clementine as she makes it in the world. A perfect setup for the time skip at the beginning of season 2 when Clem is now 16.

Kept my arm, don't recall the thing with Kenny, gave my weapon up, Clem shot her kidnapper, let her save the bullet.

I'm sorry but I was getting really sick of there being walkers every damn place. Kenny died in a really stupid and moronic way. I mean Lee getting bit from a walker hiding in the trash is really stupid and a cheesy way of doing it but anyway. I found this eps to be really dull and the pacing to be tedious. The street and little shop scenes just dragged and I thought it made the ending suck.

Overall I think the game was ok but not great. The kidnapper thing was really lame and I think going after the boat bastards would of been a far better way to end the game. And yeah wtf is up with her in the field? At least show us that it was impossible to make it to the train.