4/5 ★ – pixelsaturn's review of The Walking Dead: Season Two.

Time to complete: 8.5 hours Platform: Playstation 5 (SPOILERS) In some areas I think Season 2 outshines its’ predecessor, but in most areas I think it’s slightly weaker. But don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s a very good and very worthy entry to this story. I think this season presents you with a lot more truly tough decisions and some that I certainly was left uneasy about for a while after. This is all elevated by another great set of characters, and the return of Kenny I think is this game’s strongest feat. Kenny’s arc is not only continued from Season One, it’s also expanded and built upon in a way that I found incredibly engaging. The writers made him an even more complex character and it all works so damn well. I chose not to shoot him at the end, and I think the scene that follows made sure that that was the right call. I truly did not like Jane at all (which I think was semi-intentional) and the fact that she lies about killing a baby just to prove a point to Clementine hammered that home. On the one hand, she’s kind of a tropey self-centered apocalypse asshole, but on the other, she’s kind of a good tropey self-centered apocalypse asshole! What I mean is, I enjoyed slowly realizing that I hated her and what she stands for, meanwhile understanding that this game is all about how we as a species are nothing without compassion, understanding and empathy, even in the bleakest of times. People have trauma, and good people do bad things, but ultimately, when the shit hits the fan… we’re all we’ll ever have left. And while I don’t agree with some of Kenny’s actions at all (namely beating a child almost to death), I think his final moments with Clem (I chose to stay at Wellington) are a good indicator of who he really is. A small thing, as well; Sarah is implied to either be on the spectrum or have some kind of anxiety disorder. Or maybe both? I kinda like that she never had a cliché moment of overcoming her fear or realizing her true strength or some bullshit. I’m glad she was just a nervous, overwhelmed wreck for the majority of the game. It felt way more realistic, and ultimately made me empathize for her a whole lot more as a result. Because like, yeah, that’s me. That is exactly how I’d react in these situations. Representation matters folks. Fuck Jane for being adamant about leaving her behind too. Did I mention I hate Jane? Now for the whingey part: Unfortunately, one thing this one did a lot more in my experience was glitch out. And bug out. Seriously there was a bug or a glitch almost every scene and while I learned to ignore it, it definitely wasn’t ideal. The most intrusive was an audio glitch where the first 0.25 seconds of almost every line of dialogue was cut out. So words would be missing their first letters (for example, “NO!” would always just be “O!”) and it would always sound super awkward. The brain fills in those gaps so it’s not super annoying after you get used to it, but again, really not ideal. Also, sometimes my inputs in QTEs would just not register, leading to a handful of deaths that were completely the games fault. I also felt the pacing kinda wobble and fall apart somewhere between episodes 3 & 4, but luckily the content of those episodes was interesting enough that I didn’t have too much of a problem with it. BUT, overall, this is really something from a writing perspective. And at the end of the day, good writing is 90% of these games’ appeal. Characters you can sink your teeth into (haha) and decisions you’re forced to make that are supposed to tear you up inside as a result. While I don’t think it’s all QUITE as good as the first season, this is still a really great story that builds upon a lot of the first one in interesting ways.