It's been great that we are able to introduce important characters such as Elsera and Josera into this universe as well as the mysteries of the North Grove. Since that moment, Telltale has fleshed out House Forrester's backstory, their stake in the Ironwood forest and their position as bannermen to House Stark. The entire idea of House Forrester was born from a single line from Martin's novel A Dance with Dragons. The team at Telltale has been working in close collaboration with HBO in creating the game since its inception. Can you talk about Telltale's collaboration with Martin and HBO in creating these characters and creating the North Grove? Were these primarily Telltale creations, primarily HBO and/or Martin's creations, or somewhere in between? These seem to be pretty significant characters to exist beyond The Wall, a land of great significance in George R.R. Players finally reach The North Grove in episode six, where it's revealed that Gregor Forrester had two bastard children, both of them with magical abilities: Josera Snow is a Warg, and Elsera Snow practices blood magic. Starting players in a similar position with House Forrester was useful in providing an authentic experience, but we let the player take the story in their own direction, letting them live or die with the consequences of their own decisions. We were consciously aware of how important the themes of the Stark story arc have been to Game of Thrones. We intentionally started squarely at one of the most memorable scenes of the HBO series, the Red Wedding, but now players are creating their own circumstances, carving their own path through a story that's happening in parallel to the events in the show. We wanted to provide an experience that was familiar and accessible to both players of the game and fans of the show. How consciously were you following the arc of the main family in Game of Thrones, and why was that important for the story you wanted to tell? House Forrester's story mirrors House Stark's story in some explicit and subtle ways, from murders of the family's patriarchs (see: Gregor Forrester and Ned Stark) and matriarchs (see: Elissa and Catelyn) to potential death fake-outs (see: Rodrik and Jon Snow) and more. The choices players make in season one set the stage for what's to come. What may seem like small victories after the downfall of Ironrath are important ones.
Indeed the Forresters did have a very rough time in season one, but there is a larger story to be played out. Things rarely go well in the Game of Thrones universe, and there is always a price to be paid for playing. Is a happy ending possible, depending on decisions made in previous episodes, or are the Forresters doomed no matter how the game is played? What informed the decision to conclude their story on such a dark note? I'd say that's been a defining approach here at Telltale over the last 10 years, as we've always envisioned our games as more in line with interactive drama and playable cinema than what most might traditionally think of as "games." So while we cannot say exactly how far along season two is right now, we can say that there's never a shortage of sticky notes on the walls around the studio.įocusing on season one, the final episode ends with House Forrester in shambles - at least in my play-through as Rodrik. It's from then on that we take the live development aspect into play, observing the audience and their feedback as we adjust and build upon the experience along the way.
Game of thrones a telltale games series season 2 tv#
It's incredibly similar to how TV often spends so much time in preproduction and planning before moving into actually shooting. It's not unusual for our games to exist longer on whiteboards and sticky notes and in scripts than they do in traditional game production. Across all of our series - The Walking Dead, Minecraft: Story Mode and more - the development process at Telltale spends a significant amount of time upfront in the writer's rooms not just with writers, but designers, directors and creative input from all across the studio. While we cannot divulge any of the specific details, we can say that Telltale's approach to game development is much more like television than most other game developers. How far along in the development process is season two?