The Walking Dead: Michonne - Episode 1: In Too Deep Reviews
I'm still kind of let down that the core gameplay remains mainly unchanged over the years. Telltale is great with character choices and delivering a striking painterly color palate, but all of that can grind to a halt since the hacking and slashing gameplay feels repetitive, especially compared to last year's adventure breakout Life Is Strange. Telltale is still the king at what they do, making the active conversation in a game feel tense, urgent. I just hope that's enough for the remaining two episodes of The Walking Dead: Michonne.
This won't create any new fans of the series or bring anything extremely different to the foray, but it's still a solid first start to a 3 part miniseries. I do hope the other two episode play out just a little longer than the 90 minutes this lasted, but otherwise, I'm definitely down for the next episodes.
The Walking Dead: Michonne "In Too Deep" is easily one of the shortest episodes to be released and won't take you long to complete, but Michonne is an intriguing character and she has a lot of emotional baggage. Seeing how she will develop in the next two episodes is enough to make you want to come back for more. Those who decide to jump into the game will likely have experienced Telltale in one form or another; the gameplay remains the same as previous TellTale experiences and occasional lag unfortunately creeps back in.
Despite a slow start and slow character development with secondary characters, The Walking Dead: Michonne has a lot of promise looking ahead. If the momentum gained in the last half of this episode keeps rolling into Episodes Two and Three, I have no doubt that this series will be regarded as highly as it's two predecessors.
As far as gameplay goes, if you've played anything by Telltale then you know what to expect: a story-driven game filled with dialogue choices, quick time events, and a bit of exploration.
In Too Deep is yet another solid addition to Telltale's growing portfolio.
The Walking Dead: Michonne – Episode 1: In Too Deep is an effective opener, as long as you aren't expecting dramatic changes in Telltale's modus operandi. It feels like there could be something special here in further episodes but success is very much dependent on where they'll let this character go.
Fans of the comic books will surely love this addition to Michonne's story, as it gives a glimpse into what went on during her disappearance in the comics
I feel like I'm being very harsh on The Walking Dead: Michonne, but that's only because I've been such a fan of Telltale games over the years, and this doesn't meet my expectations of the team. I do want to know more about Michonne's backstory, I just wish she was working it out with more engaging characters.
Telltale Games take a different approach with their The Walking Dead series by placing us in the shoes of established character Michonne. But with an attachment already made with some fans, will this mini-series be able to capture the emotional drama that the talented development studio is known for?
There are hints of more significant and interesting narrative arcs to come - ones that will hopefully play out in the coming episodes, with Michonne's own past being one of these - but with how haphazardly the rest of the characters' narrative arcs have so far been handled I'm a little wary of the outcome.
The first episode of The Walking Dead: Michonne is a fun, interesting journey into the psyche of Michonne and how she handles a new violent group of survivors.
It's sad to say, but The Walking Dead: Michonne - Episode 1: In Too Deep is a poor introduction to Michonne's story and Telltale doesn't have an entire season to build towards something special this time, as there are only three episodes planned… This is a definite pick-up for fans of the comic, but for those coming in because they enjoyed the previous Telltale The Walking Dead titles, this feels humdrum in comparison. With any luck, Episode 2 will be the one where Telltale turns things around.
Michonne's mental battles make for the most interesting part in this first episode. But with only two left and with the characters being as lackluster as they are, you're left with a lot to desire from this Telltale miniseries.