During the years that I spent as the Managing Editor of We Got This Covered, I reviewed a lot of games. Since this was during the boom of the episodic and narrative focused game, a number of them ended up being based on titles from Telltale or DONTNOD, the former of which is best known for The Walking Dead, and the latter of which brought us Life is Strange. Since they were released episodically, that meant several reviews for one game.
One of the better episodic games I played and reviewed was The Wolf Among Us. Based on Bill Willingham’s Fables series of graphic novels, it really stood out and developed a cult following. People have been asking for a sequel for some time, and apparently one is coming. What we have now, though, is The Wolf Among Us: Remastered, which brings an updated version of the game to modern devices.
The Wolf Among Us: Remastered marks the return of Sheriff Bigby Wolf, who happens to be the Big Bad Wolf from fairytale lore. You see, while this game is set in New York City, it features a cast of fairytale characters who use witches’ glamour spells to hide their true identities, be that of a small toad or a big pig with the face of a man. For years, these fairytale creatures (including Beauty, Beast, the Woodsman and more) have lived in relative harmony, existing as a subset of the New York City population. A troll owns a bar, a monster is a regular, and the Big Bad Wolf is a sheriff with a troubled past who tries to keep the peace.
Things pick up as Sheriff Bigby is asked to go up to the Woodsman’s apartment, where a ruckus is occurring. There, he finds the man beating a working girl, and can decide to intervene. Not long after this scene ends, though, the woman’s head is found decapitated and laying on the steps of the Fables’ main business and apartment building. Her identity isn’t known, either. This begins an investigation where players must jump into Bigby’s shoes and discover what is going on, and why she was murdered. This leads to startling revelations, hidden identities and more. It’s really quite interesting, and hooks you early; especially when Snow White enters the scene.
Being that this is a Telltale game, one can expect lots of dialogue/moral choices that have different results, and lead to varied outcomes. As such, one can complete multiple play throughs and experience different things based on altered choices. There are also a number of quick-time events, and button presses, which come into play during fights, chases and times where you must avoid things.
The Wolf Among Us: Remastered may be a complete game and full release, but it still maintains the episodic format. One episode may lead to another, but there is a short break where the player can see their choices and how they compare to those of others. Some things never change, nor should this have.
This Remaster also continues to feature the unlockable character profiles and informational collectibles that the original did. Each episode features a number of them, and some can be missed. Those who find them all will unlock an achievement or trophy.
The Wolf Among Us: Remastered provides an impressive visual update to this seemingly hand drawn, and 80s-90s comics styled affair. It looks amazing in 4K and runs really well. It uses the engine that they utilized for later games, like Batman, and features noticeably improved resolution, lighting and character models. They did a good job, and fans will be happy.
This release also features an optional black and white (noir) filter, playable deleted scenes, bonus behind-the-scenes content and the ability to link a Telltale account so that one’s choices will carry forward into The Wolf Among Us 2.
When it released, this was one of the better episodic games, and it remains that way, despite maintaining slight pacing issues and a bit of Telltale jank. Returning to it in this updated form reminded me of just how good it actually was, and how I maybe didn’t appreciate it enough then. I’m glad that I had another chance to experience this game ahead of its sequel, and definitely recommend this quality update.
This review is based on the XBOX Series X version of the game, which we were provided with.