The realisation that your choices don't really make much of a difference to the story really diminishes the appeal of this game for me. People have been lauding this game (myself included) for being less of an adventure game, and more a game about player choice and communicating with different characters. Unfortunately it seems that ultimately the story is going in one direction and you don't have all that much say in the matter at all. Not saying it's necessarily a bad game because of it, but it's not the game I thought I was playing for the first two episodes. Feels a bit hollow to me now.

@Binman88: Don't discount how impactful just the illusion of choice can be on delivering an excellent experience. When you break things down in threads like this and start to see the moving pieces and the finite number of paths and endpoints, it diminishes the magic a bit, but when you're in the midst of the action, none of that matters. The writers make you feel like you're the master of your own destiny, even when they're moving you and every other player along the same basic path.

I shot the girl in the street. More so to annoy Kenny than to mercy kill her.

I didn't abandon Lilly but in hindsight I may as well have.

I talked down Kenny as well, in hindsight I wouldn't have minded bashing him.

I shot Duck. I didn't feel right leaving it to Kenny. Upon Katjaa killing herself I definitely couldn't have expected him to shoot his own son. (I'd like to do this in a future playthrough)

I did not help Omid, unintentionally. The cursor was hovering over Krista when I pushed the A button. I wasn't happy with the decision and assumed he would die but surprisingly he made it back onto the train by himself.

Did you shoot the girl in the street?

@Chaser324 said:

@Binman88: Don't discount how impactful just the illusion of choice can be on delivering an excellent experience. When you break things down in threads like this and start to see the moving pieces and the finite number of paths and endpoints, it diminishes the magic a bit, but when you're in the midst of the action, none of that matters. The writers make you feel like you're the master of your own destiny, even when they're moving you and every other player along the same basic path.

I'd agree with you for the first two episodes, but the illusion failed in episode 3 for me (without having to test choices or read about them) when it becomes too obvious what's about to happen at certain parts, but you can't do anything about it. It was clear at one point that they were effectively resetting the scenario for everyone by ending a previous choice's path. Some people will enjoy the twists and turns, but I found the events took away some of the investment I had in the story. I feel like they have to make certain things happen in the story, otherwise the game would get too complicated for them. I should probably just lower my expectations for what they can achieve within their budget and time-frame. It's probably unrealistic to expect any kind of serious branching to occur, but that's what I had hoped for up to this point.

Man, fucking Carley, I was so pissed.

And the scene where Kat kills herself, gut wrenching. As a dad, that whole plot was fucked, but I had Lee shoot Duck.

Awesome episode, except for the frame rate freezing all the time on the 360.

@Binman88: Part of the issue for people like us in the GB community that play a lot of games, is that we can't help but see the strings being pulled. Possibly because we've seen it happen before or because we have some sense of the realities of game development. People that get heavily invested into the art of creating TV and film often have the same issue. The more they learn about the craft and the more of the medium that they consume, the harder it is for them to stop analyzing and just enjoy a good movie or show.

All we can do is just try to control our expectations and keep that hyper-vigilance in check so that we can enjoy well crafted experiences like the one in this game.

@Chaser324: Nope. It's doubly difficult for those of us who understand game development *and* the general tropes involved in storytelling. The only thing that would surprise me at this point is the moment Telltale veers from the course they're setting, which is something I'm waiting for, so it won't surprise me, but it will be refreshing to see.

Hell, talk about dark middle chapter.

Is there a way that Carley stays alive?

@Chaser324 said:

@Binman88: Part of the issue for people like us in the GB community that play a lot of games, is that we can't help but see the strings being pulled. Possibly because we've seen it happen before or because we have some sense of the realities of game development. People that get heavily invested into the art of creating TV and film often have the same issue. The more they learn about the craft and the more of the medium that they consume, the harder it is for them to stop analyzing and just enjoy a good movie or show.

All we can do is just try to control our expectations and keep that hyper-vigilance in check so that we can enjoy well crafted experiences like the one in this game.

It's really simple for me to turn that kind of stuff off in the moment, but when it was all said and done at the end of the episode I thought to myself, "This is a good way for the developers to reset the character choices made so far." It's unreasonable to think that a story could upside down pyramid forever. They have mentioned it many times in interviews that the season would take the form of a diamond, but that didn't diminish the various jaw dropping moments in the game. Thinking back it's pretty amazing that my reaction to Carley's death almost mirrored the 5 stages of grief.

It was a mercy kill.

I read the comics.

He started the fight, I ended it.

I shot the SHIT out of that kid.

Cursor was on him, besides - he had a busted leg. I imagine he would have gotten on no matter what, but fuck it.

I did not. I figured I would be able to deal with her later, but she ends up stealing the damn RV! I hope our paths cross again and not in a Lilly-shows-up-last-minute-to-redeem-herself kind of way. She is a horrible, broken woman and deserves what comes to her. Fingers crossed for her showing up and Kenny shooting her in the middle of her first words.

AHAHAHAHA

Oh GOD, this is like reading A Song of Ice and Fire and listening to somebody who has only seen the first few episodes of the HBO series try to predict things.

@golguin said:

@Chaser324 said:

@Binman88: Part of the issue for people like us in the GB community that play a lot of games, is that we can't help but see the strings being pulled. Possibly because we've seen it happen before or because we have some sense of the realities of game development. People that get heavily invested into the art of creating TV and film often have the same issue. The more they learn about the craft and the more of the medium that they consume, the harder it is for them to stop analyzing and just enjoy a good movie or show.

All we can do is just try to control our expectations and keep that hyper-vigilance in check so that we can enjoy well crafted experiences like the one in this game.

It's really simple for me to turn that kind of stuff off in the moment, but when it was all said and done at the end of the episode I thought to myself, "This is a good way for the developers to reset the character choices made so far." It's unreasonable to think that a story could upside down pyramid forever. They have mentioned it many times in interviews that the season would take the form of a diamond, but that didn't diminish the various jaw dropping moments in the game. Thinking back it's pretty amazing that my reaction to Carley's death almost mirrored the 5 stages of grief.

Was the only moment in the game that made me pause, say aloud "holy shit" several times, and almost think about abandoning a "friend" even though I saw it coming, and even though I was forced to think of the mechanical reasoning behind why that scene had to happen.

@Chaser324: Perhaps, but like I said, I was able to ignore that stuff in the first two episodes just fine. The more I think about the story and the interactions in episode 3, the more I feel like it was less smartly written than it was written to simply shock the player. I feel like people can wrongly equate a shocking moment in a story with intelligent writing. I'm not saying that's definitely the case here (clearly you and many others are enjoying the plot), and again, I recognise that the story had to be written within the confines of what they could achieve, but it just comes off as a tad lazy to me.

Not to be a complete Debbie Downer on this episode, but outside of story stuff, this has also been the most tedious episode to play so far. The adventure-game-puzzles they throw at you are not challenging, and feel like boring fetch or push-the-button-to-do-the-thing quests.

I didn't shoot the girl. Listening to her screams while you gathered supplies was gut wrenching.

I abandoned Lilly without hesitation. As soon as she shot Carly I was hoping it was going to be an option before the game even presented me with a choice.

I guess you could say that I fought Kenny, but I really just let him beat on me a bit and vent his frustrations, never actually hit him.

I shot Duck. As a father I wasn't going to make someone kill their own kid, regardless of the circumstances. Also, I thought it pretty unrealistic that Kenny moves on so quickly after losing both his wife and son within minutes. If that were me I would have killed myself right then and there. In a world that fucked up the only thing you have is your family. Without them there isn't much reason to live.

I helped Omid but it was just a reactionary thing.

I thought the shooting portions of this episode were fucking awful. As someone who plays with inverted controls the scene at the motel with the bandits was brutal for me. I died so many times. I hope that's the last we see of any sequences like that.

@OneAndOnlyBigE said:

Also, I thought it pretty unrealistic that Kenny moves on so quickly after losing both his wife and son within minutes. If that were me I would have killed myself right then and there. In a world that fucked up the only thing you have is your family. Without them there isn't much reason to live.

I reaaaaaly don't think he's moved on. More like detached from reality altogether and ready to snap.

I don't really see this season ending with many people alive. What is kind of annoying is how every episode seems to introduce new characters without letting anyone outside of the main cast develop in any meaningful way. I suppose, it can't be helped since there are only five episodes to begin with.

Mercy killed the girl

Took Lilly with me

Had a fight with Kenny (didn't hit him once though)

Shot Duck for Kenny as well

Omid was more of an accident really. I didn't even see the icons. But would save him since he had a busted leg and all.

@Chaser324: Yeah, this episode definitely had less impact than last two. Just worse writing all around. Can't really put my finger on it, but I think that the story dragged on in certain parts.

Did you shoot the girl in the street?

No, not sure what it's says about me but I agreed with Kenny on this one. Gave them more time to get supplies.

Did you abandon Lilly?

Hell yes! For what she did... no doubt.

Did you fight Kenny?

No, but Kenny's attitude through a lot of Episode two and three as been getting on my nerves though I get his perspective. He just wanted to keep his family safe and fighting doesn't help anyone.

Did you shoot Duck?

Yes, Kenny had already seen his wife shoot herself so felt it was the least Lee could do. That whole thing was... weird! Gave me goosebumps. Games rarely do death stuff with kids.

Did you help Omid?

It was a spur of the moment thing, grabbed Crystal instead... which I slightly regret because I already hate her! :)

On a side note, thought it was a great episode. Hope they stick with this crew again, if they go killing characters left, right and centre without the player investing some interest in them then it'll lose it's impact. The situation with Kenny's family felt meaningful because the game does a great job of characterising personalities, you feel like you get to know them because of the smaller details. In that The Walking Dead is at it's best, some great writing throughout so far. That and Clementine and Lee's relationship I find rather sweet.

I let kenny kill duck. He was so eager to kill lilly's dad, he can do his own son.

@AndrewB: Yeah, he's in total shock in that conductor's seat. You can't even get past him for the map without offering him a drink.

----------------------

I loved this episode. I was slightly disappointed by 2, but this one just kept surprising me. I thought the shooting gallery stuff was an interesting change of pace even though I struggled with it. I started really liking Carly and then was completely floored by losing her. I tried so fucking hard to cool down that situation. I also really liked the train.

Did anyone else walk around the front of the train and get the zombie in the car started up? I decided not to shoot it and could hear it yelling for the whole rest of the scene until we started the train even though nobody else commented on it. I was wondering if shooting it would have started something.

On the major decisions:

• I didn't shoot the girl and was impressed how long they forced you to listen to her screams to really make you feel like shit for not helping her.
• hell yes, I wasn't going to let someone as dangerous as Lilly spend one more second around that group.
• I tried to avoid the fight but one of my answers pissed him off enough to start him swinging at me. I just took the punches and let him get it out. I loved that they let me play the scene this way.
• No, I don't know what would have happened if I had volunteered to before Katjaa did, but I'm guessing she would have done it anyway. I told Kenny it was his responsibility. I'm so sick of hearing him talk about what a real man does and then pussy out of every tense situation.
• Yeah, I felt like after pushing him off the overpass, it was my fault his leg was hurt. It was nice to have a choice between two characters not instantly result in the other one's death after getting two situations like that in the first episode.

It was a mercy kill.

I read the comics.

He started the fight, I ended it.

I shot the SHIT out of that kid.

Cursor was on him, besides - he had a busted leg. I imagine he would have gotten on no matter what, but fuck it.

I did not. I figured I would be able to deal with her later, but she ends up stealing the damn RV! I hope our paths cross again and not in a Lilly-shows-up-last-minute-to-redeem-herself kind of way. She is a horrible, broken woman and deserves what comes to her. Fingers crossed for her showing up and Kenny shooting her in the middle of her first words.

AHAHAHAHA

Oh GOD, this is like reading A Song of Ice and Fire and listening to somebody who has only seen the first few episodes of the HBO series try to predict things.

Did you shoot the girl in the street?

Nope. I mulled it over for a bit, and decided that Kenny was right. But holy shit, those screams. Well done, voice actor lady.

Did you abandon Lilly?

As quickly as the option came up. I liked her, but she fucked up in the worst way, and I was massively pissed.

Did you fight Kenny?

No. I wanted to, but it didn't fit the way I've been playing.

Did you shoot Duck?

Yep. Knowing Kenny, he wouldn't have been able to do it.

Did you help Omid?

Yeah, I kinda like the guy. Also, I acted before I realized it was a choice.

---

What an episode. It didn't feel as structured as 2 did, but I was pleased. Telltale has a record of having one really weak episode per season, and I thought this would be the one. Thankfully, I was wrong. Laying waste to that many main characters, that fast? Even the show doesn't have balls that big (the comics likely do, though... haven't read them yet).

When Katjaa died, it didn't click for me that she had killed herself. I thought at first that Lilly had caught up to us and shot her.

Side note: Banang container in the RV. Nice! Walking Dead and Sam & Max in the same universe confirmed?

Personally, I think this is the weakest episode so far... but after 1 and 2, that means it was still pretty damn effin' awesome. For me, this series got a 3/3 so far. If anything, I'm actually glad to see that even when the quality of the game isn't as good, the game is still a really enjoyable experience.

I do agree with certain points some of you make about this episode though. What happened during the episode was often predictable, and there are a lot of examples of that. For instance, why would Carly be very close all of a sudden ? When I saw that, I immediately knew that she would bite it, and not only because that's an obvious thing to do (make a character closer to you to make the death even worse) but also because it would make sense in the context of Telltale. Having to keep people's decisions throughout the entire game is time and money consuming, and with the scale of the game it certainly wasn't possible. Another example was the part with Clem when looking for the blowtorch. You just taught her how to shoot and that she needs to be tough, of course they are gonna get attacked and Clem will end up getting the gun somehow. It kinds of takes you out of the experience a little.

And it doesn't help that this episode's narrative cohesion is all over the place. It really feels like there are a lot of elements and scenes in this game that are here just for plot convenience. There is a survivor in the city that comes screaming in the streets without anything to defend herself and apparently doesn't know how to handle walkers ? Hey, maybe she was in a coma, like in the TV show. Carly and Lee have a thing all of a sudden ? Why not. A creepy old guy appears out of nowhere and gives everybody candy ? Sure, let's invite him into our group without asking any questions. The worst was maybe the last chapter when you meet the couple. Not only the group is like "Yeah, hop on board !" but also I think it would've been so much better to end with Duck's death, and then have the cliffhanger scene with Clem's talkie. It really felt like that scene was dragging on this episode for characters they could have introduced next episode anyway.

But even with that, I still really enjoyed "Long Road Ahead" and I'm really invested in it emotionally. The only other series I remember being that invested in the decisions I was making was Mass Effect. The adventure-puzzles were, like episode 2, way too simple and basically "Find that item and use it here" but it's enough for the interactive story Telltale is making. I also surprisingly liked the shooting part. It's not really hard and not really FPS-like but still somewhat enjoyable. And even knowing some things are eventually going to happen, they are well made enough that you are still shocked or scared when they do happen (Carly's death took me several seconds to process I was so shocked). I'm still really looking forward to episode 4 !

Anyway, here are the choices I made :

• Did you shoot the girl in the street ? Nope. I almost immediately decided not to. She was already bitten and alone. We had a lot of people to feed, needed the time to get the supply and walkers were not on us for the moment. I got all the supplies I could get so her death wasn't in vain. Also, I love the fact that you can hear her scream while your getting the supplies. It makes you feel bad (and you should).
• Did you abandon Lily ? No. Even if what she just did was horrible and unjustified, I don't think you should make important decisions on the heat of the moment. You end up regretting it later. I took her with us so I could have time to think about it.
• Did you fight Kenny ? When I saw this listed as a decision, I thought "Wait ? You can fight him ? What the hell ?" I assume that's when Duck is coughing blood. I just went to him and told him his wife was holding his dying kid in her arms, so he should put aside any problems he has at the moment and go be there with them.
• Did you shoot Duck ? Yeah, and right before that, I said to Kenny that Katjaa should be the one doing it. This wasn't even a choice. Kenny kept saying he couldn't do it before, so I took the responsibility.
• Did you help Omid ? Seeing the number of people that chose someone by mistake, myself included, I think we can assume that the herd scene at the end was just very badly designed. Everything was going fast, I saw my cursor over something and just pressed A, ended up picking the girl. So I'll just say I threw my arm down and caught whoever was the closest to it.

For the record, I also told everybody about my past, including Clem. But it took me quite some time to get around to telling her. "Does she really needs to know ? I mean she's a kid, I don't even know how she's gonna take it. But again, it's something really important so she should know. But..." Finally, I also felt really bad when cutting her hair. I know how important it is to a girl that age, because you know... it's the only thing that really shows it's a girl.

Anyway, here's what I had to say about this episode. Thanks for reading :')

P.S. : By the way, was I the only one that can't get over how shitty the herd looked in that last chapter ? I mean, I get it, you make the game for a lot of different platforms on a limited budget and time, but come on ! That really looked like crap.

Did you shoot the girl in the street?

Yes. It just seemed like the thing my Lee would do. Also, fuck Kenny. You don't tell me what to do! (at least that's how I was feeling then)

Did you abandon Lilly?

Yes I turned on her quick. She just murdered Carly. Her justification of "trying to protect us" kind of made me feel bad for a second, but I feel like I made the right decision.

Did you fight Kenny?

Yes, but not because I wanted to. I wonder how that works. I picked a few options that made Lee yell a bit more than I thought they would, and then one just set him off. I wanted to talk him down. Was a bit bummed out by that, felt a little mislead by the dialog. Thought about seeing if I could reset, but didn't.

Did you shoot Duck?

Yes. Didn't seem right to make Kenny do it. It's funny, it says 25% of people didn't shoot him, but almost everyone here says they did. Is GB a bunch of child-killers?

Did you help Omid?

No. I helped Christa because she was the first person I saw to click on. I kind of thought I'd be pulling them on one-by-one. Luckily Omid made it on anyway, I liked him.

Didn't shoot the girl because I needed the supplies. Left Lily because she is a cunt. Shot duck myself because that would be too much for Kenny. I fought Kenny and I didn't save Omid because I clicked on the girl without knowing it was a choice thing. Best episode so far and it sucks to have to wait for the next.

And yeah, I agree, loved this episode. I liked 2 a lot, the WAY the story was revealed was incredible, but I really knew what was happening the whole time. This one constantly surprised me and the shock of so many major characters dying was just crazy. Really sad there's only two episodes left!

Probably the most bitter decision I've ever had to make in a video game was *not* to abandon Lilly right there. My Lee (and me) was always sweet on Carley. Luckily this game gives you little time to make decisions. If I had a few moments to think it through, I probably would have left her (and I'm sure Telltale would love to hear about that reaction).

@fullmetal5550 said:

You can kill Duck? Finally, I hate that kid.

FINALLY!!!

I did tell Clem back in the drugstore office that I killed someone. Then, when I had the option to tell her again she acted all surprised and knew nothing about it. Either she has a really really bad memory or someone screwed up :P

@Sarx: I noticed that too. I just didn't remember exactly how much was revealed to her back then when she was present during that conversation with Carley (I think it was Carley).

Oh yeah, and I just told everyone about my past. I was kind of laughing as I got to the end when I had told everyone but Ben, and thought, well, what can he do now that he's the only one that doesn't know? Maybe Telltale will be bitches and find some way to turn that against me, but I can't really see it being that bad. I wish I had told Omid and Christa right off the bat, but I panicked when the timer was going down.

How I told people: Clem first, she needs to know. Katjaa because I wanted to see how she would handle it. Kenny next because I thought he might use it against me. Then I told Lilly because I realized that was an option too. Then Ben because I could!

I went back to the chapter where Lily escaped with the RV this morning, and took the option to go with her. After convincing her that I really wanted to go with her, she told me to go get Clem and get back on the RV. But once I was off the RV, she drove off like normal and the scene continued. There was a popup during the scene that said something along the lines of "Lily will remember you said that", so that might not be the last appearance of Lily.

@Binman88 said:

The realisation that your choices don't really make much of a difference to the story really diminishes the appeal of this game for me. People have been lauding this game (myself included) for being less of an adventure game, and more a game about player choice and communicating with different characters. Unfortunately it seems that ultimately the story is going in one direction and you don't have all that much say in the matter at all. Not saying it's necessarily a bad game because of it, but it's not the game I thought I was playing for the first two episodes. Feels a bit hollow to me now.

I got the same feeling. Definitely can feel the game-y-ness of it; how no matter which choices you make everything is going to turn out relatively the same with a few small differences. I thought the first couple episodes had the game-y-ness hidden a lot better.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, FUCK YOU BEN.

And I regretted letting lilly stay on the RV, this game is a masterpiece.

@xobballox said:

@Binman88 said:

The realisation that your choices don't really make much of a difference to the story really diminishes the appeal of this game for me. People have been lauding this game (myself included) for being less of an adventure game, and more a game about player choice and communicating with different characters. Unfortunately it seems that ultimately the story is going in one direction and you don't have all that much say in the matter at all. Not saying it's necessarily a bad game because of it, but it's not the game I thought I was playing for the first two episodes. Feels a bit hollow to me now.

I got the same feeling. Definitely can feel the game-y-ness of it; how no matter which choices you make everything is going to turn out relatively the same with a few small differences. I thought the first couple episodes had the game-y-ness hidden a lot better.

I always got the impression that the choices were more about the effect it has on how other people react to you, and not actually choosing the path of the story itself.

@bkbroiler said:

@xobballox said:

@Binman88 said:

The realisation that your choices don't really make much of a difference to the story really diminishes the appeal of this game for me. People have been lauding this game (myself included) for being less of an adventure game, and more a game about player choice and communicating with different characters. Unfortunately it seems that ultimately the story is going in one direction and you don't have all that much say in the matter at all. Not saying it's necessarily a bad game because of it, but it's not the game I thought I was playing for the first two episodes. Feels a bit hollow to me now.

I got the same feeling. Definitely can feel the game-y-ness of it; how no matter which choices you make everything is going to turn out relatively the same with a few small differences. I thought the first couple episodes had the game-y-ness hidden a lot better.

I always got the impression that the choices were more about the effect it has on how other people react to you, and not actually choosing the path of the story itself.

Sure, that's a big part of it and that works for the most part (why I don't say all the time is because you can have someone REALLY pissed at you and then in the same dialogue session if you ask something else they can act like you two are really good friends) but some of the choices try to make the illusion that what you choose is going to have a huge impact on how the story carries out, but it almost always just ends up about the same with small variations or some people judging you for that decision. The first couple episodes hid that better in my opinion, while this one I was able to "see the strings being pulled" the entire time.

@xobballox: You're right, it's not perfect. Sometimes small decisions can come back to bite you in the ass in ways you never wanted them to. Like Kenny being pissed at me all of EP2 for not taking his side when I thought I was the whole time (turned out okay since I began hating him that episode, but still).

As long as the quality of the story remains high, I won't mind not having a huge impact on it. If juggling too many options makes it worse, I saw stick it like this.

Did you shoot the girl in the street?

Nope, because logically it would've made no difference. Walkers hearing her screaming would've had to pass the Pharmacy anyway. Would've just been more on the road back.

Did you abandon Lilly?

Yes, partially because SHE JUST FUCKING SHOT MY BOO IN THE FACE and secondly I metagamed a bit and knew that she appears in the comics so she obviously survives the events of the game and/or leaves at some point. I figured no matter what choice was made she was going to be leaving one way or another.

Did you fight Kenny?

No, I managed to talk him down. He pretty much hated me since Ep 1 (I actually half-sided with Larry in Ep 1 and Lily in Ep 2) but I didn't feel like fighting him because seeing how the episode was going it would've been all too easy for the fight to go to far and whoops there goes Kenny off the train and now we are stuck with Ben, Clem, and Chuck.

Did you shoot Duck?

Yes. Again, Kenny hates me. Don't trust him with a gun.

Did you help Omid?

Yes, I felt guilty because I sorta threw his ass off a bridge.

Also I told everyone about my past. Sort of.

I told only Katjaa and Lily that I was going to prison for murder. I did however tell Katjaa that Kenny killed Larry.

I told Katjaa, Clem, and Ben that I was simply just going to jail.

I didn't tell Duck anything. Not because there was no option...but because DETECTIVE DUCK ALREADY FUCKING KNEW. DETECTIVE DUCK KNOWS ALL.

I shot the girl in the street. I had to think about it for a second..but it seemed like the right choice.

I abandoned Lily because that's the worst it would let me do. I was fucking PISSED. Like other people in this thread, Carley was pretty much the only one I felt was totally loyal and trustworthy to me(other than Clem of course). I didn't really like the whole romance angle, and I was gonna shut it down given the option, but she would have been awesome as my lady-bro.

I didn't even know fighting Kenny was a thing that could happen.

I shot Duck. As big a dick Kenny had been up to this point, I couldn't make him do it.

I helped Christa. I figured, grab her then Omid since Omid was ahead of her.

But god dammit Lily..if it gave me the option to shoot her I might have done it. I want Carley back.

@YI_Orange: Yeah, I hope they didn't gimp themselves by killing Doug/Carly. I have playthoughs with each of them alive, and they're both great characters. Hopefully they'll do good with Chuck/Omid/Christa.

I replayed that like 8 times trying to find a way to save Carley, hoping there was a way get Lily to shoot the kid instead. :-(

Still curious about this:

@oraknabo said:

Did anyone else walk around the front of the train and get the zombie in the car started up? I decided not to shoot it and could hear it yelling for the whole rest of the scene until we started the train even though nobody else commented on it. I was wondering if shooting it would have started something.

Still curious about this:

@oraknabo said:

Did anyone else walk around the front of the train and get the zombie in the car started up? I decided not to shoot it and could hear it yelling for the whole rest of the scene until we started the train even though nobody else commented on it. I was wondering if shooting it would have started something.

Left the girl in the street, then felt like shit when she continued to scream throughout most of the pharmacy scene.  
Felt pretty good telling Kat, Kenny, and Ben about my past. Was going to tell Lilly, but when she said "If it's bad news, save it" I backed away, couldn't tell Clem
Took Lilly because I thought leaving her would've been too light of a punishment for her, foolish me. 
 Didn't fight Kenny. 
 I shot Duck because as they said, no parent should have to go through that. 
And I helped the other chick because Omid ran ahead and she was the closest one to the cursor.  
 
Episode 4 looks to be insane though, didn't expect that twist at the end. It didn't even dawn on me that they were heading to the city her parents were in until the scene with the map.  
Good thing I never had the heart to tell her her parents were probably dead.

Really enjoyed this episode, but I also thought the gamey-ness shone more through here than in previous episodes. Aside from the story, some of the "puzzles" felt extremely contrived. Not letting you grab the maps while you can easily reach over was really silly, or the way Kenny wants you to leave him alone when you try to grab them, but talks to you through another dialog option.

I also made the mistake of trying to unhook the train before starting it, leading me to walk back and forth with all three tools separately. He can't carry three tools?

Anyway, this is me clearly not being a fan of adventure game tropes. Thank god (for me) this game mostly isn't a standard adventure game.

EDIT: my choices:

* Shot the lady

* Didn't abandon Lilly

* Shot the kid (anyone else got a little teary eyed through all of that?)

* Fought Kenny - well, let him punch me aparently that counts as fighting.

* Saved the lady, like other people didn't realize it was a choice but that was the smartest one anyway.

I was suspecting that Kenny was conspiring with the bandits the whole time. I thought that they may have threatened his family or something and he was hindering the member of the group that he saw as the biggest problem. I trusted practically every member of the group except for Kenny and that's why I told everyone Lee's secret except for him. Can't believe how misplaced that trust turned out to be.

@RecSpec said:

@oraknabo said:

Still curious about this:

@oraknabo said:

Did anyone else walk around the front of the train and get the zombie in the car started up? I decided not to shoot it and could hear it yelling for the whole rest of the scene until we started the train even though nobody else commented on it. I was wondering if shooting it would have started something.

You can't shoot it. The game won't let you because you'll make too much noise.

Weird. It almost seems like it was part of something they had to cut at the last minute. It was a decent jump scare during a fairly quiet part, but other than that, pointless. Most people probably won't go over there anyway.

After playing the game I've seen alot of post and threads about Carley, but I have to wonder did anybody who played episode 3 have Doug in their game and if so does it pretty much turn out the same for Carley? This is kind of making me itch at starting another game just to see how Doug fared through the first three episodes.

@I_Stay_Puft: My wife saved Doug, but hasn't played yet. I'm hoping I can see tonight what happens there. I'm assuming it's essentially the same, but details are different, especially the coming clean stuff just before.