Things went horribly for House Forrester at the beginning of Game of Thrones: Episode One and they ended even worse. Episode Two picks up right after the shocking finale and gives us some small glimpse of hope for this minor house. However, in Westeros, even a tiny shred of hope is a tenuous thing.
[alert type=”green”] MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW [/alert]
The previous episode of Game of Thrones began with violence and bloodshed; and this one is no different. We are officially introduced to Asher Forrester, who is living in the continent of Essos and racking up quite the body count. I enjoyed this part of the game a lot, considering that most of this series is so dialogue heavy. There are also some minor action scenes with Gared Tuttle and, surprisingly enough, Mira Forrester. The pseudo-quick time/real time nature of the battles work nicely and really drew me in. I wish there were more of these sequences but the few that are here are well implemented.
We are re-introduced to Roddrick Forrester who isn’t quite as dead as we were lead to believe. The sequences with him proved to be the most tense in terms of dialogue. As Roddrick, you have to walk a fine line between asserting your House’s power while not being too rash. This balance was something I had to keep in mind when talking to Roddrick’s would-be-spouse Elaena Glenmore, and Lord Whitehill. I like the way Roddrick is presented in this game just for the sheer fact that he is one of the few people in Game of Thrones who seems to be completely honorable.
More so than the previous Game of Thrones episode, this one’s choices felt as if they will be detrimental to the protagonists in the long run. I had Mira do some things which definitely will get her and House Forrester in trouble if discovered. The same applies to Roddrick and to a lesser extent, Gared. Like the books and TV series, this franchise manages to vividly show that every action has consequences and not every outcome will be desirable.
The painting-like quality of the art style is further pronounced in this episode. I noticed it somewhat in the last episode, but it was more obvious now; especially with the landscape. This didn’t always work well with the characters however. Sometimes arms would appear jagged, even though they were meant to invoke a hand brushed style. The usual problem that Telltale Games has with character textures is also prevalent. I guess since this game is available on so many devices that it can’t look as good as possible on a current-gen system.
Now that we’re a third of the way through Game of Thrones, we’re starting to see how our choices are having an effect. But as is the norm for this franchise, you can expect that something unexpected will come to unravel any carefully laid plans. It must be stated once again that Telltale Games is doing a fantastic job of making this series of feel important and meaningful and aren’t just putting out a useless ancillary set of games.
Though Game of Thrones Episode Two didn’t have as many shocking moments as the previous episode, it is arguably the stronger entry. Now that the introductions are out of the way, the game is delving into the heart of the story and is setting up a lot of high stakes drama to come. I’m very glad that this series is six episodes long and not the usual five. This ride is fantastic, and I want to stay on it for as long as possible.
This review is based on a digital copy of Game of Thrones: Episode Two for the PlayStation 4 provided by Telltale Games.
