So, after many days of gameplay, I finally made it to the end of The Walking Dead, and let me tell you, I am speechless. From the beginning to the end this story has had so many twists and turns, but the ending truly threw me for a loop.

Overall, the ending was a very good one. Though it was very sad, and yes I did end up crying, it was very solid and I think showed how much the characters evolved up until the end. I feel I made the right decisions for how I wanted the story to go. Though most of the game the decisions I made were based on the characters I felt were important and I preferred. One of these characters was Clementine, and she was the largest reason for my decisions. Throughout the entire story, Clementine was always the one I put first. I started to develop a father-daughter relationship with her, and I just wanted to be a good role model. I wanted her to see that I was not a bad person and I wanted her to carry that on in case anything happened to me. This reminds me of a quote from Nonplayer Characters, or NPCs by Katherine Isbister. She stated, “Interactions with NPCs move players beyond para-social feelings into consequential social experiences  with accompanying social emotions and behaviors (Isbister, 2017).” This specific quote really connected with me because I definitely felt social emotions and behaviors all while being around Clementine. It is like she brought out a side of myself I never thought I would have, even though she is just a character that helps guide the story. She truly changed the way I made decisions and I think I made the right decisions because of her. Kenny was also a character that I based my decisions on because he was the one I met first, and he seemed to have his head in the right place. I felt it would be beneficial to side with him for the majority of the story. There were points where I tried to remain neutral, but for the most part, I chose Kenny. He had his family and I wanted to protect them too.

There are a few things, however, that I may want to change in the future. In the first or second episode, I ended up killing Doug in exchange for Carley. I felt it was the right decision at the time because she was in possession of a gun and knew how to aim quite well. I thought Doug was kind of useless and was not as needed. If I were to go back, I think I would choose Doug instead because I want to see how much it would change the story.  I also heard he was good with electronics, so he may have been helpful in the later episodes. Another aspect I would change would be when Lee (I) and Kenny killed Lilly’s father, Larry. At the time, I thought it was best to listen to Kenny and kill him before he came back to life since it was unsure if we were getting out of the meat fridge. I would like to go back and not bash his face in with a cinder block, and side with Lilly instead. I wonder how much it would have altered the relationship between Lilly and Lee as well as Kenny and Lee. Overall, this game was amazing with the way it brought out your own emotions and put them into the character you were playing as. The way the story flowed, and how your decisions altered the story itself was very well done. I highly recommend trying this game out yourself and see what outcome you end up with.

Photo Credits:

“Adventure Classic Gaming.” The Walking Dead: Season 1 Episode 5: No Time Left – Gallery – Adventure Classic Gaming – ACG – Adventure Games, Interactive Fiction Games – Reviews, Interviews, Features, Previews, Cheats, Galleries, Forums, www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/gallery/category/C767/.