Game of Thrones: 7 Things We Want From the Telltale Game

We have high hopes for Telltale's Game of Thrones adventure!

By Jason M. Gallagher | April 10, 2014 | | 0

Game of Thrones fans are eagerly anticipating the next episode of the HBO series this Sunday. It’s safe to say that any GoT fans who happen to be gamers are also looking forward to another Game of Thrones-related release, albeit one we may not see for quite some time.

Telltale Games confirmed during last year’s Spike VGX that the developer of The Walking Dead episodic games had been given the opportunity to make similar content for Game of Thrones. They are said to be working directly with HBO to make the game and details so far have been scarce. But in anticipation of the upcoming Season 4 premiere, we thought it would be fun to come up with some ideas for what we’d like to see in a potential GoT game.

Give us multiple POVs

One of the best part of HBO’s Game of Thrones, as well as the books by George R.R. Martin, is that viewers/readers are taken from place to place through the viewpoint of different characters. One moment you could be watching Jon Snow on The Wall and on the next scene/page you’re whisked away to King’s Landing to learn about the latest hardships imposed on poor Sansa Stark. The different viewpoints and settings help keep the series fresh and viewers/readers engaged.

Telltale has experience with using multiple POVs to tell a story. The Walking Dead: 400 Days did exactly that, as the story served bridged the gap between Seasons 1 and 2 of the series. There’s no word yet if we’re going to be playing as our favorite characters from the show or just interacting with them, but regardless, it would be far more interesting to let us play multiple characters across the different areas of Westeros than to keep us locked into a more linear story progression.

More half-man, please

It’s been said in interviews about the game that Telltale may have the opportunity to work directly with some of the actors from the TV show. If the likes of Tyrion, Jamie, and the King in the North are indeed going to be lending their talents to the game, we really want Telltale to make the most of this opportunity. If we’re going to recreate famous scenes from the show, just having the same old dialogue we can already quote by heart may come across as stale. What we’d like to see is alternate dialogue options that deviate from the show and the books. The more opportunities Peter Dinklage is given to ad lib new Tyrion jokes, the better.

Dracarys

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim may have sold more than 20 million copies, but the Dragonborn doesn’t have shit on the Mother of Dragons. Please, for the love of the old gods and the new, I want to roast some bitches in a blaze of dragon fire. Granted, early word seems to indicate that the game will follow the timeline of the show, and if that’s the case, it may be a couple in-game seasons before we get some serious dragon action. But when that day comes, I want to take what is mine, through fire and blood.

Don’t forget the books

One of the only things about Game of Thrones the TV show that book readers aren’t a fan of is that a lot of detail from the books is often lost in translation to the screen. Granted, HBO only has 10 hour-long episodes per season to tell its story, and what the producers have managed with the time that they have is admirable. But video games are usually only limited by their production time and man power. If Telltale is going all-in on this property as we think they are, there should be ample opportunity to incorporate scenes that were left the on the cutting room floor for the show. This is an excellent chance to give lore nerds all they can handle.

Open exploration

Telltale Games’ previous titles do encourage at least some exploration. Often that random object you decided to pick up can come into play later in the title. What we’d like to see for Game of Thrones however is for Telltale to give us a little more freedom to move around and explore. None of the other Game of Thrones games that have been released so far have done a very good job of truly emulating the experience from the show. I want to be able head up north and get chased by a white walker. I want to be able to peruse the whorehouses of King’s Landing at my leisure. (Oh come on, don’t act like you haven’t spent way too much time at the strip club in Grand Theft Auto 5) I understand the need to set some limits to keep players honed in on the story, but if the opportunity arises, I want to be able to just wander through the amazing world of Westeros and see what kind of exciting side quests I can stumble upon.

Let us be Joffrey Baratheon… or beat the snot out of him.

There’s not many other characters on TV right now that can get a fan’s blood boiling faster than the current Protector of the Realm, King Joffrey Baratheon. The evil little king delights in torturing his subjects, for no other reason than it gets him off. There’s an excellent opportunity here to let us more evil-minded gamers have a little sadistic fun. Perhaps we can be Joffrey at court, and our two choices would be to cut out a man’s tongue or chop off his hand. And for fans who are sick of watching Joffrey always get away with everything, Telltale should recreate the scenes in the series where Joffrey is put in his place. Like say, the two scenes where Tyrion slaps the bejesus out of him. Or perhaps one of the scenes where Tywin Lannister puts the boy king down.

The Red Wedding

If you haven’t finished Season 3 of Game of Thrones, stop reading now. But seriously, what’s wrong with you? Season 4 is nigh! The Red Wedding was one of the most talked about moments in television history. The death of two major characters and the upending of one of the series major plot lines completely floored every fan who hadn’t read the books. Telltale has demonstrated numerous times throughout their other games that they can pull on the player’s heartstrings when needed. The Red Wedding would be an opportunity to rip out everyone’s heart all over again.