Recently another Gameskinny writer mentioned how Telltale Games should dive into the classic Johnny The Homicidal Maniac comic, which got me thinking of what I'd like to see from the developer's ever-growing catalog.
It's no secret that I've been very critical in the past of Telltale's lack of meaningful choices in their entirely choice-based games, and I also wasn't a fan of the ending of the first season of Game Of Thrones.
That being said, I'm still a sucker for all things Telltale, and would desperately love to see the company return to the glory days of Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead.
More than many other developers, Telltale has managed to nab some very big name IPs across film, television, other video games, and of course comics / graphic novels. These are the eight series -- including the Netflix smash hit Stranger Things -- we'd love to see Telltale tackle next.
Stranger Things
It seemed everybody just knew from the first trailer that we were in for something special with Stranger Things, which landed on a perfect blend of Stephen King and classic '80s Spielberg adventure.
While many are elated, personally I was disappointed at the announcement that season two would continue with the same characters, as this is a show that really should have been an anthology. The story of Eleven and the Upside Down was already told and it had a satisfying, conclusive ending. It remains to be seen how it will all play out, but I'm of the opinion that artificially extending it will only reduce the quality.
That's where Telltale could step in -- covering minor characters from the show and seeing what they were doing during the major events, bridging the gap between seasons one and two with the main characters, or even spinning off to an entirely new story with a similar tone.
True Detective
A tale of amazing highs and truly abysmal lows, True Detective was a double whammy that came out of nowhere, showing us that Matthew McConaughey could act and had been hiding it for years, and shocking the world with the revelation that this was actually a mythos story about the King In Yellow and not a cop drama (as it was pretending to be).
Did you know Telltale released both Law and Order and CSI games before hitting the public gaming consciousness with Walking Dead? With a strong precedent on investigative based games featuring police officer leads, it's an obvious fit for this series to get the Telltale makeover with a proper second season.
What's that you say? You think there was already a second season of True Detective? No, I'm sorry, you are mistaken, there wasn't anything of the sort, and it certainly didn't feature Vince Vaughn uttering jaw-droppingly bad dialog such as "It's like blue balls... for your heart." That was all just a bad dream my friends.
Telltale picking up the series could be a shot at redemption for both this developer's aging engine in need of a massive overhaul, and HBO's stunning ball drop with the follow-up to television's best debut season ever.
Since the show was named after an anthology comic series, there's no reason it couldn't cover totally new mythos or weird fiction territory, but there's plenty of story left to mine from the first season as well. From that silent cop in the dress blues who was clearly part of the cult to the schism between the backwoods practitioners and the high class cultists like Reverend Tuttle, there's a ton of material for players to explore in a Telltale version of the story.
Shutter
If you loved the juxtaposition of classic children fairy tale characters doing very adult things in Wolf Among Us, then Shutter from Image Comics is absolutely for you! Amazingly, there's an even stronger and more shocking mashup here with an anything-goes cartoon style.
From a platypus who will beat you down if you a screw up an assassination job to a salamander going on a killing spree after getting served divorce papers, this is a truly wild world that rivals the insanity of Borderlands and could be just as much fun if done over by Telltale Games.
Star Wars
Seeing as how Telltale already did Batman and is slated to cover Guardians Of The Galaxy later this year (and now that Star Wars mania is at an all-time high with the release of Rogue One and the impending Episode VII) this combination seems like an obvious choice.
With Telltale backing perhaps could see the story from the tragically canceled Star Wars 1313, or maybe even a return to the KOTOR storyline. Of course, they could also go with totally different characters and location than with existing movies and animated shows, allowing us to see a different side of the galaxy far, far away.
Either way, I'd love to get a notification in the corner of my screen that a Hutt will remember what I just said and then worry about the implications of my choice for the rest of the episode.
Borgia / The Borgias
Several different shows throughout the years have covered this infamous family, most recently with both a European version and a separate U.S. rendition from Showtime just a few years back.
Political intrigue within the Catholic church between these dueling aristocratic families, punctuated by occasional moments of violence when people decide to stop plotting and act more directly, is absolutely perfect for Telltale's style and is already mirrored in Game Of Thrones.
While perhaps constrained a bit by the history aspect, there's still plenty of wiggle room here for players to choose differently than their historical counterparts did.
Warhammer / Warhammer 40,000
Games Workshop just hands this license out to literally anyone -- even development studios with absolutely no previous releases to their name -- so there are a ton of subpar Warhammer games covering every style and genre you can imagine. Why not finally get a new twist that's actually worth playing from Telltale?
The Fantasy Flight tabletop RPG line covered a multitude of scenarios that aren't primarily combat-based, so there's precedent there for an investigative game that would fit the Telltale genre.
There's a huge range of options that would work well, like the player taking on the role of an Inquisitor rooting out corruption, a Rogue Trader doing as he pleases beyond the bounds of the Imperium, a squad of Imperial Guard soldiers stuck behind enemy lines, or even a group of cultists working to bring down the Emperor's minions from within.
Black Science
A story that rivals Shutter for its wide-ranging creature options but with a very dark bent, Black Science is essentially a hard R-rated version of that old dimension-hopping TV show Sliders.
With multiple timelines and unlimited possible realities, the choice-and-consequence aspect of a Telltale game could create some really interesting and unique branching stories, allowing the developer to add a layer of complexity previously unseen.
As anyone who has read the comic knows, there's also a strong emphasis on those episode/season ending cliffhangers Telltale just adores.
Hellraiser
Those who only read The Hellbound Heart or just watched the movies might be surprised to know there's several different comic series covering the actions of various Harrowers and the denizens of hell. Some of those were pretty “meh," while others were simply phenomenal.
As the various graphic novel series show, there are many more ways to access or interact with Leviathan's realm than just the toy maker's box, and there's a lot more to this universe than to what went on in the handful of decent movies and horde of godawful direct-to-DVD entries that never should have been filmed.
If Telltale truly wants to dive into a horror story with some gruesome quicktime events, this would be the series to mine for inspiration next.
For now Telltale is wading through the third season of The Walking Dead, and we know that next up will be Guardians of the Galaxy and a return to Game of Thrones, but from there absolutely anything could be up for grabs.
What did you think of our picks for the series Telltale should pick up next, and what movie or comic book do you think the developer needs to re-imagine soon?
Published: Jan 4, 2017 11:30 am