This review contains spoilers for Episode One and Two TellTale’s Guardians of the Galaxy. There will be minor spoilers for Episode Three.
While More Than a Feeling introduces a new Guardian and gives us an interesting look at Gamora and Nebula’s stories, it begins to lean a bit too far into the habits of the films.
TellTale’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Episode 3 – More Than a Feeling
Developer: TellTale Games
Price: $24.99 for the Season Pass
Platforms: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, PC, Mac, Android, iOS
MonsterVine was provided with a PS4 code for review.
While last episode gave us a stellar look at Rocket’s past, More than a Feeling focuses on Gamora, Nebula, and the newest addition to the crew: Mantis. While these stories are enjoyable and flesh out the Guardians, this episode depended on the movie’s characterizations of the crew a bit too much.
Picking up from the last episode, the crew is off to find Peter’s mom (or whoever is communicating through her memories), and the secrets of the Eternity Forge. This journey leads Peter and Gamora to Mantis, an alien empath who was trapped in a cryogenically frozen state. As it turns out, Mantis was the one reaching out to Star-Lord through his mom’s memories, which was a neat twist. Peter didn’t seem upset enough about this though, even when choosing the most angry choices. In his shoes, I would be incredibly upset about someone using the memories of a late loved one to bring me to them, and while Mantis has emotion-based abilities, it seemed odd to me that Peter would let the situation go so easily.
Otherwise Mantis is done well, but her inclusion brings a bit too much of the Guardians films to TellTale’s universe. Don’t misunderstand, I love the Guardians films, and I’ve enjoyed the comics since the Abnett and Lanning run, but TellTale was doing a great job of setting themselves apart from other versions of the Guardians, while still holding on to the important traits of each character. Some scenes in More Than a Feeling are almost directly lifted from the film, typically involving how her empathetic abilities can influence her team mates. This also made the team itself lean more into their film selves, with Drax seemingly becoming more dense at times. It’s a shame to say the least, but I’m still hoping future episodes will veer back onto its own path.
“I’m glad Gamora and Nebula both received some background and growth, and I’m hoping this trend continues by giving us more info on Drax and Groot in the last two episodes.”
The overall story of the episode is consistently fun, providing some refreshing insight into Gamora and Nebula’s past as “daughters” of Thanos. While it’s up to you to decide their relationship before their big mission during their respective flashbacks, seeing their competitive streaks clashing while Thanos eggs them both on made their combative sides feel justified. Showing both sides of their story was a good choice on TellTale’s part, as Nebula’s recollection of the assassination took me by surprise. I’m glad Gamora and Nebula both received some background and growth, and I’m hoping this trend continues by giving us more info on Drax and Groot in the last two episodes.
The main choice in the end, strengthening or destroying the Eternity Forge, had the appropriate gravity and relevance for an end-episode choice. The reasons for saving it or destroying it felt equally compelling, and seeing the Guardians divided straight down the middle over and understandably personal decision gave everyone a bit of development. I’m excited to see what happens in the next two episodes, as the Forge served as a major driving force throughout this season so far. Seeing the consequences of how it was used in this episode should make the upcoming episodes exciting. On a side note, finding out that Rocket sometimes mistranslates Groot intentionally is a big deal, and it makes you question how long Rocket’s been doing this for. Also, having Mantis translate his thoughts was a heart-warming moment, especially since he loves the entire team, except for Nebula.
The usual technical issues are present, and anyone who regularly reads my TellTale reviews may feel as though I’m something of a broken record. Frame rate issues, occasional lapses in lip sync, and occasional awkward model movements further prove that TellTale needs to update their engine. I’ve said it countless times before, and I’ll keep saying it until it happens. Although “if it happens” may be more fitting.
The Final Word
More Than a Feeling gives Gamora and Nebula some real development. While the introduction of a new Guardian is always fun, the episode could be the beginning of a worrisome dependence on the atmosphere and characterization of the Guardians of the Galaxy films.
MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair
