TellTale Games' Game of Thrones: Season 1/ Episode 2 "The Lost Lords" – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Overview

“The Lost Lords” continues to deliver an experience which highlights why TellTale Games is deserving of its recognition and why you can only hope your favorite program will one day become a game made by them.

Review (with Spoilers) – Below

Characters & Story

With Ethan’s death has come increased pressure on House Forrester. For now they are being murdered in their own home, and with the Whitehill house intruding on their grounds, it is time to mount a multifaceted defense. One in which Asher has to raise an army where he is, with the help of his uncle and loyal friend Beshka (Toks Olagundoye); Mira has to negotiate with Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), as well as deal with Sera, Margaery, and death threats; Gared has to continue on to find the North Grove, while dealing with the personalities of the Night’s Watch; and the amazingly alive Rodrik Forrester (Russ Bain) must deal with Lord Whitehill, and securing an alliance with his wife to be Elaena (Amy Pemberton) to even keep himself from being all talk.

Praise

With every decision, I felt the character’s life was on the line. Whether it was grabbing an axe before a battle when it came to Asher; deciding whether or not to kill a man with Mira; or whether I should fight someone as Gared. In each case, I felt the need to learn from my mistakes, and begin to really pick and choose when to be bold and when to kneel. For while it isn’t too apparent, this time around, what is destined to happen or not, the game does lead you to feel a bit more cautious.

Take for instance when you play as Mira and have a midnight rendezvous. In that segment, each sound and random occurrence isn’t like past games which left you unbothered. For with Ethan’s death, a tone was set that anyone could die, and truly anytime you don’t hit the keys or gamepad button quick enough, there is a slight fear a do-over won’t be an option. Making it really seem TellTale learned from The Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us about how to set your tensions high and how to make you feel like decisions could matter both short term and long term.

Criticism

There still remains the issue of lack of exploration. Also, especially after playing Life Is Strange, I more than ever wish we were given the ability to talk to random people, whether recognizable faces or not, and the decision to speak to that person mattered. For while you understand why the game is linear as it is, with a huge amount of dialog choices which may or may not matter, at times the game leaves you wanting to explore this vast world with the options TellTale gives you for dialog. If only because there aren’t too many games which give you this much dialog control, while giving you consequences, and also let you fully explore the world surrounding you.

Things To Note

Mira: With Mira, you are given the decision to betray Margaery’s trust; try to setup Sera with a man, since she is a bastard with no knowledge of who her family is; deal with negotiating with Tyrion, who wants a favor in the future; and deal with an assassin.

Asher: With Asher, pretty much most of your decisions deal with your friendship with Beshka and escaping Yunkai safely.

Gared: Upon arrival to The Wall, you are forced to prove your might, loyalty, and are given the opportunity to speak with Jon Snow. Leading to you, if you choose, spilling that you need to get to the North Grove to save your house, like I stupidly did.

Rodrik: With you being brought in next to the corpse of your father, assumed dead, not much is thought of you. An issue for while your council and family supports you, it makes the idea of you fending off Lord Whitehill’s demands laughable. However, with Elaena’s family having an army, and enough power to fend off Whitehill, it becomes imperative to bring her to your side. Something only charm and confidence can do. For while she loves you, it seems offering half of the Iron Woods is what brings her around. Which, all things considered, isn’t a big deal since when he dad dies you’d inherit it anyway right? Still, with Lord Whitehill speaking of taking the rest of your woods, keeping your little brother hidden away, and trying to embarrass you, you can choose to stand tall or bow.

Though, it should be noted, the daughter of Lord Whitehill, Gwyn (Laura Bailey), seems to be friendly to you and watches out for your brother. After all, she did have a thing for Asher in the past. Something which seemingly caused bad blood between the Forresters and Whitehill family.