<p>Let it be known that I am not a fan of episodic gaming. I grew up in a time when you bought a game, the entirety of the game was on the cartridge or the multiple discs some games had. I never had to wait months on end for the second chapter of a game unless it was a completely new game or a sequel and the wait was about two years. TellTale Games made episodic gaming popular. I hate them for that because other developers followed suit. Now everyone thinks it is cool to sell a game piece by piece. When I spend my money I like to have the whole experience on my disc with no wait for my enjoyment.</p>
<h3>Life Has Enough Cliff Hangers Without Episodic Games</h3>
<p>Now, don&#8217;t get me wrong TellTale makes some great games. Some of their titles are in my favorites ever category. I just have to play them once they are complete. I patiently wait until all the episodes are released, then I grab the Season Pass disc and binge play through the entire story. That is a more enjoyable experience for me, rather than buying the Season Pass disc right off the bat, playing the first episode, waiting a month or two, downloading the episode, playing it, then rinsing and repeating. My life is already full of cliff-hangers.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve been reading comic books for thirty years. And we all know how every comic books end with a huge cliff-hanger that will be resolved in thirty days. I don&#8217;t need cliff-hangers in my games as well. That makes them annoying and less enjoyable.</p>
<figure id="attachment_138444" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-138444" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-138444" src="https://cdn.bagogames.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/17015056/BatmanEnemyEp4-2-600x337.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="359" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-138444" class="wp-caption-text">(<em>Batman: The Enemy Within</em> &#8211; TellTale Games)</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Batman Episodes Should Be Limited to Cartoons</h3>
<p>Take this example, I finished the first Batman game that TellTale released. I loved every minute of it and simply could not wait to play the sequel. I purchased <em>The Enemy Within</em> as soon as I got paid. And I began downloading and playing the episodes. I took me a couple days due to work but I polished off the first four episodes. Then I attempted to download episode five only to find out it wasn&#8217;t out yet.</p>
<p>I had to patiently wait for over a month to see what type of Joker I had created. I was not a fan of that. Plus, I couldn&#8217;t add this game to my beaten list. I like to track all the games I&#8217;ve beaten each year. I started it in 2011 and now I have some nice lists of games I&#8217;ve completed. This little hampering me adding it to my list also miffed me. Now, once the month had passed and I had to make some difficult decisions as Bruce Wayne and I finally saw the credits. Next time I&#8217;ll make sure to check that all the episodes are released.</p>
<h3>Episodes Break Immersion</h3>
<p>This trend that TellTale began has been picked up by other developers, one in particular, Capcom. <em>Resident Evil</em> is my favorite franchise ever and I was put off by how they made the chapters in <em>Revelations</em> into almost like television episodes. I&#8217;d purchased the whole game and was happy with that. But the whole recap at the beginning of every episode and the upcoming preview broke the immersion I usually have with <em>Resident Evil</em> games. <em>Revelations 2</em> was a completely episodic affair and I had to wait until they put the whole game onto a disc for me to enjoy it. The game was great, but once again that whole television show feel at the end and beginning of the levels was aggravating.</p>
<p>Square Enix also tampered with this episodic mechanic for the <em>Final Fantasy VII</em> remake. But I think they may have changed their mind due to the fact that we&#8217;ve not heard a lot of news lately. So hopefully they&#8217;re just remaking the game and will have it all ready for us on one disc in the very near future.</p>
<figure id="attachment_138460" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-138460" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-138460" src="https://cdn.bagogames.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/18005640/rev22.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="416" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-138460" class="wp-caption-text">(<em>Resident Evil: Revelations 2</em> &#8211; Capcom)</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Not All Good Things Need Episodes</h3>
<p>Now, I&#8217;m not discounting how good the games are that happen to be episodic. I&#8217;m just irritated as to how I get the game and how those episodes break the narrative for me. At least TellTale has a nice story that isn&#8217;t broken up within each episode. But the <em>Revelations</em> interruptions after every level were nerve grating and took me out of the story. I do enjoy great single player campaigns and TellTale has some of the best. I just wish I could get the whole story right off the bat. Hopefully, Capcom and Square Enix will stay away from this mechanic in their upcoming games. I would have been insanely mad if <em>Resident Evil VII</em> was episodic and took me out of that Baker House every time I beat a chunk of the game.</p>

Aging Gamer: Episodic Gaming
- Categories: Opinion
- Tags: BatmanEpisodic GamingResident EvilTellTales GamesTop Stories
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