The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series

K. Fields
2025-06-27T12:45:13-04:00
Video Games

Most of the time, I don't have the desire to play video games as I did when I was younger. Every so often, however, I play a game that rekindles my love for video games. The Walking Dead series did just that. I loved almost every minute of it. I already wrote a bit about Season One and Season Two. After playing those standalone versions, I switched to The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series to play the remaining games. It included remastered updates to all seasons as well as the 400 Days DLC and Michonne DLC.

400 Days - This was a single episode done in an anthology style. You played five distinct characters with their own stories, In the end, those stories dovetailed to a unified ending. Given the shorter stories, 400 Days lacked the depth of the longer episodes and the continuity of whole seasons. Despite being the weakest entry in the series, I was still glad I played it.

The Walking Dead: Michonne - This DLC contained three episodes featuring a notable and popular character from The Walking Dead comics. In fact, it filled in what Michonne was doing for the dozen or so issues when she was missing in the comic series. Because it centered around a familiar character, I was much more engaged with this one than 400 Days. This was set in the timeline between season two and season three. It was a great warmup to get me revved up to play season three.

The Walking Dead: A New Frontier - The third season returned with five episodes and new characters. The main protagonist was Javier "Javi" Garcia, a disgraced former pro baseball player. There was a lot of family drama in this one. Javi's brother David was a major character as well as David's wife Kate and their two children, Gabe and Mari. I wasn't sure that I was going to like switching yet again to another main character after season two. However, it didn't take long for me to enjoy playing Javi. Season Two's protagonist, Clementine, eventually shows up in the story as well. A lot of the drama was centered around the New Frontier group based in Richmond, Virginia. There was political infighting and the potential for a love story with Kate. I shouldn't have been surprised but I enjoyed this one even more than I thought I would.

The Walking Dead: The Final Season - This fourth and final season went back to Clementine as the main character and protagonist. By now, she had reunited with AJ (Alvin Jr.), the child who lost both his parents, Despite being a young teenager, Clem had to act as both older sister and mother to AJ. She tries to keep him safe and teach him life lessons whenever she can. Clem is a very likable character. Actually, what she becomes and what AJ becomes has a lot to do with your choices in the game. The story was primarily set in a boarding school populated with a small number of children who have managed to survive on their own. With no adults around, Clem really got to use her leadership skills. There were friendships and plenty of emotion to be had in this final entry. I am usually nervous about whether or not the creators will do justice to the ending of a beloved series. As we have seen many times, the finales of tv series and movies often disappoint. That was not the case here. I think the story concluded in style and should please most players.

These were not your typical point and click adventure games. They were more like choose your path adventures. Combat and action were included but they were never meant to be overly challenging. Unlike many other adventure games, puzzle solving wasn't much of a thing here. It was all about the story and all about your choices. After each play session, which usually ending in a cliffhanger, I couldn't wait to see what was coming next. The fact that I could shape at least part of the story line made it that much better. This was a real gem that I will never forget.