Telltale's episodic Game of Thrones adventure series is quickly nearing the end of its first season, and next week players will be able to play its penultimate episode.
Telltale Games has released a trailer to accompany the release of the fifth episode, subtitled A Nest of Vipers, in which we'll see the actions taken by the player-controller Forresters come to a head. Mira's actions at Tommen's coronation look as though they may finally be culminating with a lone confrontation with Cersei Lannister.
Rodrik's shaky alliance with House Glenmore could soon come under fire, especially now that Ramsay Snow is on the warpath. It's not yet clear what's going to happen in Meereen, where our intrepid heroes meeting with Daenerys Targaryen appear to have freed the slaves of the city (hopefully an action you can choose to initiate if necessary and not forced). But it looks like things are about to get extremely chaotic.
For a game that spent a couple entire episodes plodding along at a snail's pace, things look like they're about to get even more awesome than before. Especially if the possibility exists that we could see our heroes exacting some sort of revenge on Ramsay Bolton. Seriously, that guy's absolutely nuts. It's a shame due to this story being canon we won't see him being killed off, but perhaps something more wicked will befall him.
While I've enjoyed the previous installments of the series, it's been difficult making choices that I shouldn't have been forced into making in the first place. The typical Telltale Games style of giving you dialogue options but having your character say something completely different, nothing, or the opposite of what you actually wanted applies to these games and sometimes lends a very frustrating lilt to them, even when it's not on purpose. I had enough of that in The Wolf Among Us.
It'll be interesting to see what's done with any possible second season of the game that might be produced, and hopefully the decision will be made to swap to a new game engine since there's a considerable amount of slowdown with the current one. Perhaps something more in line with the upcoming Minecraft: Story Mode. Also, the watercolor graphics, while initially pleasing, are in dire need of a revamp, especially for a series with such a hard aesthetic. The game could greatly benefit from an art style where it doesn't look like the protagonist is constantly grimacing, even when there are things to be happy about in the story, like the fact he hasn't, by the grace of the Old Gods, been killed yet.
Game of Thrones Episode 5: 'A Nest of Vipers' will be released on Tuesday, July 21 for PC, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 owners. Xbox One and Xbox 360 users can nab it on Wednesday, July 22. Android and iOS players can get in on the action (albeit a little late to the party) on Thursday, July 23.
