Season 2 rant and personal comparison to Season 1
Hello all, I have recently finished my first-ever playthrough of S1 and S2, and I needed to get a few things off my chest (late to the party, I know).
- My biggest issue with S2 is the cast.
From the start of episode 1, I didn't like anyone from the new group (except Pete and, to an extent, Nick), so I was hoping to just find Christa and ditch all of them. I was forced to travel with these people, so let me point out the worst part about all of them.
My biggest issue with the S2 cast is incompetence and constant moaning.
I am not even mad about them letting me do everything because at the end of the day I am playing as Clem and want to do stuff. Yeah, it could have been written better, but it wasn't the worst thing about the writing/cast.
- Everyone is getting on Kenny's nerves because they think his plans suck, but when you ask them what they think we should do, it's always "I don't know," "Let's rest," "Let's wait and see"... How about YOU wait and see while Kenny and I leave you here? Without going into too much detail about each character, I will only point out some of Luke's strikes against him in my book, since he is the people's favorite in this new group.
- Never thought ahead or had a plan, or when he did, screwed it up himself (letting himself get caught stealing FOOD when trying to let us out of Carver's compound.
- Wanted to lie about Nick killing Walter's friend.
- Doesn't take accountability and doesn't want to make hard decisions—spending two hours with Sarah in the trailer only for Clem to have to make the decision with him just standing there - if you wanted to save her so bad, then die fighting the walkers at the door for/with her; that's what I would've done if it were Lee or Kenny. Don't try to pin this situation on me.
- Luke's not all bad - he did have redeeming qualities, and I am in no way hating on him; I am just letting you know why I wouldn't even want to travel with the 2nd most capable person in the new group (after Jane). He did have a touching death, and he did save Clem underwater if you tried to help him. He was an undecisive good guy that had the bad luck of being surrounded by even more undecisive people.
- Making objectively bad decisions just to be portrayed as good people—Carver might've been a murderer and a psychopath, but I think he was right about this group. Remind me, why exactly did we drag Arvo with us after he helped the Russians ambush us? Because we had two choices - shoot him or cut him loose to fend for himself. Dragging him with us IS NOT an option, ever. What are we hoping to accomplish? Reform him? He already told us where the cabin is; I think we can manage to find the food in there ourselves, thank you. Or at least cut him loose after getting the food if you don't want to shoot him. Dragging him like a prisoner only made him hate us more, so he was a ticking time bomb. Imagine my "surprise" when things turned to shit because of him. Bonnie was trash anyway, but Mike let me down there. How stupid can you be to escape with all the food and leave a newborn with nothing? Because of what? Because Arvo is a cripple? Because you are scared of Kenny? Cmon...
- The cast acted mostly like carbon copies of the S1 cast but waaay worse. Just as an example, Carlos wanted to protect his daughter like Larry did, but Larry let her be her own person and didn't shield her stupidly from everything that's happening, and that's why I could understand him completely. We had differences, but I never disliked him. His daughter was also one of the strongest characters in the group. Carlos, though - no relatability whatsoever.
All in all, as a standalone season, I would've liked it a lot more, I think. As a continuation of S1, not so much, but it had its moments. As with Luke, I am not hating on the whole season or the game itself, just a few things that made me feel a certain way while playing, which is the whole point anyway, so good job to Telltale for that.
Even though I liked Jane because she was the only truly competent person in the new group, the ending was a no-brainer for me, and letting me actually walk off with Kenny and AJ into the sunset as I wanted to do during the whole season was a great touch. My Lee told Christa and Omid that I want Kenny to watch over her anyway, so I was glad that happened. He is a hothead and has his problems, but who doesn't? In a way, he is the last thing Clem has of Lee (and her cap), and I also know he will protect her with all he's got.
Onto S3 now.