Unfortunately, it appears that Telltale Games - the developer behind The Walking Dead: The Final Season - is undergoing a closure, as it has laid off most of its staff. The staff who have given its players beautifully woven worlds and masterful storytelling are also reportedly not receiving any kind of severance. As a tribute to those who have broken their backs to give gamers their best, we've compiled a list of those honorary games made by Telltale Games.
After all, Telltale was established back in 2004 and has developed 30+ graphic adventure games since. These games have offered us unique characters such as Clementine in The Walking Dead and Rhys in Tales from the Borderlands, as well as beautiful portrayals of established characters such as Wallace and Gromit. Without further ado, here's our tribute to the best games ever developed by Telltale Games.
7 Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures
In this title that launched to mostly positive reviews, players control both Wallace and Gromit in an unfolding story designed for all ages. The interactive world of West Wallaby Street stands as a highlight for Telltale and all worlds designed by the company. The game showed Telltale's storytelling and world-building skills, as well as its ability to develop upon familiar characters. Those who would want to check out this title won't be able to purchase it, though, as Telltale's right to distribute expired in 2014. Nevertheless, those who already own the title can go back and reminisce.
6 Tales from the Borderlands
Tales from the Borderland took players on a wild ride as Rhys, a Hyperion employee, and Fiona, a con artist. Praised for its strong characterization, humorous writing, and emotional draw, this game fit right in the post-Borderlands 2 world of Pandora. The back-and-forth flashes and stories told by Rhys and Fiona to their mysterious captor make this narrative some of the best storytelling offered by Telltale. Despite this, the sales "weren't great" so a sequel was sadly never on the table.
5 Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space
Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space launched to positive reviews and contained more dynamic NPCs, updated engine, hints, realistic animations, and more mini-games than the previous Telltale installment. This game demonstrated Telltale's ability to include out-of-this-world elements such as a killer goldfish and a murderous Santa in a way that amused and enthralled its players.
4 The Walking Dead
For some, this series has a special place in their heart. Introduced in season 1, players have watched Clementine grow from the child defended by Lee to a worthy mentor to the young AJ in The Final Season. Watching her character arc episode after episode, season after season, was something spectacular. This final season wasn't meant to be the end of the entire series, just Clementine's story, and it promised players 4 episodes of agony as her story finally came to an end. No one expected for the end of Clementine's story to be effectively canceled, giving a sour ending to several hours of emotional investment.
3 Minecraft Story Mode
Minecraft Story Mode uniquely combined the building components and mechanics of Minecraft with a story revolving around the protagonist known as Jesse. It gave emotional depth while remaining family friendly and provided Minecraft fans looks at unique locations such as the Nether. This game was a prime example of Telltale's ability to take an established universe and give it a unique, powerful narrative.
2 The Wolf Among Us
Based on Bill Willingham's Fables comic book series, The Wolf Among Us puts players in the role of Bigby Wolf. Many enjoyed the unique take on the various fables such as Snow White, The Three Little Pigs, and Beauty and the Beast. Many enjoyed it so much, in fact, that there was a seriously dedicated following for the game. Of course, this led to a lot of anticipation surrounding the planned sequel - first delayed into 2019 - that will now never launch.
1 Tales of Monkey Island
Telltale managed to establish itself in a number of ways with Tales of Monkey Island. Under license from LucasArts, the company created a game that was praised for its story, humor, and character, with Guybrush described as Telltale's strongest character to date. It also earned several awards and was the most commercially successful until Back to the Future: The Game. It also seems likely that the character development of Guybrush would give Telltale the necessary tools to make better characters in the future.
With the likely closing of Telltale Games, hopefully many people will look back and reminisce about titles like these. After all, Telltale's staff worked hard to deliver quality products with unique approaches. To everyone affected by the layoffs, we offer our best wishes, and to everyone who gave their all to the development of these games and more, thank you.
Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Final Season‘s second episode should launch on September 25th for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One, after which no further updates are planned.