This game is hurting me because I love the series. It just keeps getting more and more disappointing. After playing through this short third episode, I feel like the story is just spinning its wheels and doesn't have any clear goal in sight.
There was exactly ONE fun to remotely amusing gameplay scenario which comes in the last 10-15 minutes of the 2.5-3 hour episode. There is one quick scene where you need to gather tools with the illusion of suspense but no bad outcomes, and one final scene which can play out a few different ways, but regardless, one particular thing happens that is out of your control.
The disappointment just keep oozing from the seams in this episode. I don't know what Don't Nod was thinking when they decided to force the player into a relationship with quite possibly the most unlikable characters possible: a bunch of lazy, dirty, stoner, hippes who just complain, sulk, and loathe. There is quite actually an entire scene where the hippies take turns complaining about their non-problems around a campfire. I assume the intent of this scene is to make Sean and Daniel's plight feel far more significant compared to the hippes, but it doesn't change the fact that you still have to sit through a bunch of complaining for like 10 minutes.
What could be worse?
Well... The game forces Sean (the player) to not only be friends with the hippies, but forces you to be romantically involved with them. Why would they take that element of player control away from us? What about my love for my best friend Lyla? When the chapter begins, we already have a history with the dread locked hippy girl and you only have the option to push away from her but some semblance of feelings already exist and are mentioned by the side characters. It feels not only forced but completely out of left field as this is an entirely NEW character who was only briefly introduced for 2 seconds in a scene from Episode 2. By contrast, Chloe's relationship with Rachel was on-going from the very first scene in Episode 1 in Before The Storm.
The gameplay in this episode isn't interesting either. There is a chopping weed mini-game, and later you move water jugs across the camp, then finally there is one sort of "investigation" part at the very end. That's it... that's... it?! This again, is quite possibly the most boring the series has gotten so far.
I have to say, they may have missed the mark entirely on this sequel. We are 50% through and it feels aimless, almost as though they are writing the plot extremely close to the release. I reeeealllly hope they hone this story with the next two episodes, but the quality of Ep 2 and especially Ep 3 have taken a nose dive compared to Episode 1.
5/10
The silver lining...
It seems as though Ep 4 is going to be a lone wolf story, which would also go along with the wolf motif. I like Daniel, but I can do without his emotions being the climatic crux of every episode. Lets learn more about Sean on his own.
