Let’s Play Game of Thrones (RPG) – Part 1: Winter is Here (HD)

Welcome all, to my first big project: A LP of Game of Thrones for the PS3! This is going to be a huge undertaking, and I hope you guys will be here to provide feedback, give advice, or just chat in general. I always love getting comments, so leave one if you have something to say!

Intro:

You know what Game of Thrones is, or at least you’ve heard of it. Better yet, you know the spectacular book series that started the whole thing, called “A Song of Ice and Fire”. The book series is currently five books long (and, from what I’ve heard, is made up of even more outside the United States because of the way the material has been split up) and the author, George RR Martin, has two more books planned to finish it off. The books themselves are amazing; Martin uses a rather unique style of telling the story from multiple points of views, with characters always being well fleshed out with intricate backstories, motives, and relationships. What TRULY sets this series apart is Martin’s refusal to conform to usual story-telling norms. “Main” characters die left and right. No one is “good” or “bad’, with each and every character having their own reasons and desires for what they set out to accomplish. “Predictable” endings are turned on their heads, and there’s a plot twist that was fully foreshadowed, but you didn’t catch, in every other chapter.
But what you’ve probably heard of most is the now critically acclaimed “Game of Thrones” HBO series. Based heavily on the books, the show is just about as good as you can possibly get with an adaption. They follow Martin’s superb method of storytelling to a T, and the casting for each role is almost always spot on. Because the show has been such a hit, Game of Thrones is now recognized world-wide, and it’s only natural that a video game would follow. So, in 2012, Game of Thrones: The Game was released for the Playstation 3 Xbox 360, and PC. I’ll be playing the PS3 version of the game.

But games based on movies/TV suck….

Yes, they generally do. And to be honest, Game of Thrones, when compared to what immediately pops in your mind as its competition (Elder Scrolls…), is not all that great. The combat can be monotonous, and the overall gameplay is something that requires a certain taste. But the narrative is what hammers this game home. I was utterly shocked by the twists and turns that happen throughout, and because the ending changed because of your choices, I couldn’t help but play through until I had found them all. The story truly meets Game of Thrones standards, and has a certain immersion to it if you’re a diehard fan like I am. I’ll be heavily editing battles most likely, as they are quite repetitive and not fun to watch. But I’ll be keeping the story in full tact, and for those of you who might not understand the world of Westeros that much, I’ll be providing additional commentary on characters and situations that will help you enjoy the narrative to its fullest.

How DOES it play exactly?

It’s very combat based, and you have multiple choices to make when it comes to attributes of our two protagonist, Mors and Alester. Now before you ask…. Yes, I’ll be playing this game on easy. There’s a very specific reason for doing so: The game itself is rather slow, tedious, and can be overly difficult on higher settings. This is not to say EVERYTHING about the game is like that, because it isn’t. The voice acting is great, the characters are relatable, and even some boss battles can be pretty intense and fun to watch. But a good 70% of the combat just isn’t good entertainment for the viewer, so I won’t subject you to it. This means that I’m not going to trouble myself with a higher difficulty when the game’s greatest strengths have nothing to do with it. If that makes sense.

I know nothing about Game of Thrones, or anything that has to do with it. I should skip this LP, right?

Well, no, I don’t think so. Because this game is a PREQUEL to the entire book and TV series. Yep, you heard that right. It starts before the first book and first episode even begin, so you won’t be lost at all. And, like I said, I’ll be explaining everything that occurs so that an “Unsullied” (someone who hasn’t read the books) can understand it properly. If you’re looking for a good jumping on point, this game might actually be a good first step for you.

Alright, the elephant in the room: Spoilers

Yes, spoilers. Because the TV series is well behind the books in terms of content, people have been spoiled like crazy. I don’t intend to do this. I’ll be taking the material that’s presented, and explaining it to the best of my knowledge. And because this takes place before the books even occur, there’s really not all that much to spoil. What happened during the third book, for example, has nothing to do with this game’s story. So I will do my best to keep spoilers to an absolute minimum for the people watching.

Thanks for watching!

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