Once upon a time, Telltale was on top of the world. The beloved narrative-driven studio crafted adaptations for The Walking Dead, Jurassic Park, Game of Thrones, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more. But the studio shut down in 2018 after financial and workplace issues, and while games like Life Is Strange have tried to fill the gap — it wasn’t until now that I realized how much I missed the Telltale experience. Dispatch, a devilishly fun twist on the superhero story, finally feels like the true successor to Telltale — and a strong argument for the continued viability of episodic games.
Those old Telltale games were what I’d call “appointment playing,” something you made time in your schedule to play. I remember genuinely looking forward to the next episode, speculating on how my choices would play out, and being excited to see how other players reacted. And yes, Telltale’s games were often about the illusion of choice rather than actually diverging story paths — but it was effective.
