Telltale's Game of Thrones Episode 1 review (PC): A strong start

Release Date: December 2 (PC), December 3 (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4), December 4 (iOS), December 9 (PS3)
Platforms available on: PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC and iOS
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Genre: Adventure

In Telltale's past few efforts, the studio has carefully plotted its episodic adventure games in a balance between keeping long-time fans engaged with new stories in familiar worlds, while still making those stories accessible to newcomers.

Both The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us expand the mythos of their respective licences, but they also serve as valid entry points to their worlds for someone who never picked up an issue of either comic or watched The Walking Dead on television.

Game of Thrones – A Telltale Games Series deviates from that tradition by assuming players are quite familiar with the land of Westeros already; at least through the third season of show, or third book if you prefer.

While the prerequisite familiarity may limit the game's audience, those with the necessary foreknowledge are treated to a game that takes full advantage of what the Game of Thrones licence can offer.

The first episode, 'Iron from Ice,' introduces fans to House Forrester, a noble house from Northern Westeros which lays claim to the kingdom's primary supply of valuable ironwood.

As a fairly obscure family, barely a footnote in the books and never mentioned in the show, the Forresters offer a ripe blank slate for telling an original story.

More so even than any of Telltale's past games, every conversation Ethan or Mira have is fraught with choices that promise to have far-reaching implications for the story.

Like the show and books, Telltale's episodic Game of Thrones features multiple main characters and swaps perspectives between them frequently.

And while the episode starts with house Forrester's squire at a certain infamous wedding, the story quickly settles into a pattern alternating between two of the Forrester children, Ethan and Mira.

The Forrester children offer an excellent dichotomy of trying and navigate the volatile political and social landscape of Westeros, Ethan from the family's keep of Ironrath in the North and Mira from within the castle at King's Landing.

More so even than any of Telltale's past games, every conversation Ethan or Mira have is fraught with choices that promise to have far-reaching implications for the story. What makes it even more interesting is that there is a very tangible sense that a decision intended to help one character could easily have unintended fallout for the others.

The downside is that 'Iron from Ice' is not a particularly self-contained episode, with much of it spent making choices as set up for the rest of the series and very few of those choices panning out before the credits roll.

There are also a number of uncomfortably convenient parallels between the circumstances and character geography of House Forrester and another more well-known Game of Thrones family, bordering on being formulaic.

That said, the few events which do come to a head in this first episode show incredible promise for the series going forward, showing hints of what could distinguish the Forresters as unique and once leaving me literally slack-jawed staring at the screen in disbelief.

Telltale is not pulling its punches in capturing an authentic, interactive Game of Thrones experience, and what the episodic game lacks in the series' signature nudity it more than makes up for in other areas.

But while Telltale has certainly stepped up its game in the narrative department, it isn't quite as consistently successful from a technical standpoint.

Setting up dominoes isn't nearly as interesting as watching them fall, and Telltale's latest series is not immune to that issue.

Character animations are stiff and lack a sense of momentum or urgency during a key battle scene, and a few times I encountered characters speaking without moving their mouths. Though it is worth noting that the speaking glitch was inconsistent and didn't always happen in the same scenes during repeated playthroughs.

The game's visual style may also throw off players, with the foreground rendered crisp and clear while there appears to be a watercolour filter blurring any objects or scenery in the background.

The background filter doesn't necessarily look bad, in fact there are some scenes where it can be quite beautiful, but it is such a stark departure from the show's visual style that it comes across as an odd aesthetic choice even at its best and as a mistake at its worst.

These technical hiccups are minor though compared to the narrative strength that permeates Game of Thrones – A Telltale Games Series.

'Iron from Ice' does what so many first episodes do, spending far more time setting up the season's story rather than actually telling the story. Setting up dominoes isn't nearly as interesting as watching them fall, and Telltale's latest series is not immune to that issue.

What this first episode sets up though, holds tremendous potential for the season ahead. And while banking on potential can be dangerous for an episodic game, if Telltale can maintain the precedent it's setting here for narrative risks and twists then the payoff will be all the better for it in the end.

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