I will admit, the first play-through of the first episode was very fun when I started the game. You are presented with a variety of options for the characters to choose, which will(presumably) lead to different outcomes in the future. The story was engaging enough to keep my interest and the raw brutal nature of the world is as Game of Thrones as you can get. Punishments are severely harsh and the politics lay the groundwork for the story. Ultimately, it seemed like a very intricate and engaging game of choice, like you'd want from a simulation of living in the GoT world.
The SECOND play-through, however, reveals the game's biggest flaw: Your decisions don't really matter. It was very disappointing. Even as I made completely different decisions, the outcomes were the same. The biggest moments of the story were unchanged as were the consequences of your decisions. As we all know, the heart and soul of GoT is that what you do renders consequences, which is not represented here whatsoever. The game takes it upon itself to enforce the finality regardless of what you do. It ceases to be a game at that realization.
Contrivance is an undesirable element when watching a story unfold, at least for me, and it is present throughout the chapter. Gared fails to save Lord Forrester and WILL be sent to the wall, Mira fails to please Cersei and WILL NOT garner aid for her family, and Ethan fails to appease Lord Whitehill and WILL be killed. I must have played the first chapter 4-5 different ways and these outcomes were absolutely unavoidable. The game will even contradict my choices to ensure the outcome, making me question what the hell the point is in the first place.
For instance, if you choose to have Gared stay, the game will tell you "Nope, he's going to the wall anyway". Just as if you decide to only let Ramsay inside the castle, his men come in anyway and take over. These immediate contradictions to your choices are frustrating and betray the notion that you have any control whatsoever. An overall waste of time, except for a few minor dialogue and setting replacements.
I'll admit, I did not pay for he next episode, so I can not speak to whether the new choices would yield any significant consequences to the main narrative, but if the play-through was as contrived as the first, then I would guess not. After playing this chapter, the only possible enjoyment I can see anyone having would be from the story unfolding(ignoring the contrivances), rather than from any personal contributions they make. Would NOT recommend.
The SECOND play-through, however, reveals the game's biggest flaw: Your decisions don't really matter. It was very disappointing. Even as I made completely different decisions, the outcomes were the same. The biggest moments of the story were unchanged as were the consequences of your decisions. As we all know, the heart and soul of GoT is that what you do renders consequences, which is not represented here whatsoever. The game takes it upon itself to enforce the finality regardless of what you do. It ceases to be a game at that realization.
Contrivance is an undesirable element when watching a story unfold, at least for me, and it is present throughout the chapter. Gared fails to save Lord Forrester and WILL be sent to the wall, Mira fails to please Cersei and WILL NOT garner aid for her family, and Ethan fails to appease Lord Whitehill and WILL be killed. I must have played the first chapter 4-5 different ways and these outcomes were absolutely unavoidable. The game will even contradict my choices to ensure the outcome, making me question what the hell the point is in the first place.
For instance, if you choose to have Gared stay, the game will tell you "Nope, he's going to the wall anyway". Just as if you decide to only let Ramsay inside the castle, his men come in anyway and take over. These immediate contradictions to your choices are frustrating and betray the notion that you have any control whatsoever. An overall waste of time, except for a few minor dialogue and setting replacements.
I'll admit, I did not pay for he next episode, so I can not speak to whether the new choices would yield any significant consequences to the main narrative, but if the play-through was as contrived as the first, then I would guess not. After playing this chapter, the only possible enjoyment I can see anyone having would be from the story unfolding(ignoring the contrivances), rather than from any personal contributions they make. Would NOT recommend.