Don't Stop Believin marks the end of the first season of the Telltale series dedicated to the Marvel supergroup, the Guardians of the Galaxy. Over the span of five episodes, Starlord and his trusted companions compete against the Kree Empire and a powerful artifact that, from the very first episode, shows its potential. There is a lot of meat in the fire and the Telltale guys have tried to mix the ingredients well, trying to bring to their audience an original work that does not detach too much from the light-hearted, humorous but also emotional style typical of Marvel superheroes.
Stables, stars, stables, stars
As previously introduced and during the review of the first episode, the Guardians of the Galaxy, after facing and defeating Thanos, come into possession of the Eternity Forge: an artifact with immeasurable powers that could ruin the entire universe, if this fell into the wrong hands.
The doubt arises immediately in each of them: use it for a good purpose or destroy it and eliminate the potential threat forever? Each of the members of the group will have a clear idea of what to do with it and it will be up to us, in the role of Starlord, to make the fatal decision.However, it will not be only the dilemma to create problems for the Guardians, but also a Kree faction led by the Accuser Hala, move to hunt down the Eternity Forge from motivations as selfish as they are strong. In addition to the dilemmas and adversaries that threaten the safety of the cosmos, Starlord will also have to deal with the fractures that will be created within the group, where each of its members will fight with the ghosts and ties of their past.
It is useless to point it out but, to each of our choices, certain events will correspond: especially in this saga, in the infographics of the final chapter, we understand how varied the plot woven by Telltale can be. The 25 main decisional crossroads, five in each chapter, will determine various (many) alternative endings, although some basic elements will remain unchanged.
The whole Galaxy and Knowhere
The cosmic journey in the company of the Guardians is full of ups and downs. The seeds sown with the first episode seem to promise quite well, with lots of twists that should not be underestimated. The realization of the following episodes however goes down, failing to always capture the playing spectator as it should: the most touching and exciting moments in fact will be those of the flashbacks dedicated to the various components of the group, ending up instead of losing tone when you return. in the present".
It must be said, however, that the characterization of the characters and their typical sense of humor never fail: even in moments of decline our heroes will still be able to get us a laugh. In short, the atmosphere of the original work is never betrayed. What is missing are in fact the rhythms: waning in the middle episodes and perhaps a little too hasty in the last episode. Based on the events of Who Needs You (the penultimate chapter), there are situations that are resolved too quickly by taking into consideration the motivations behind them. We try to solve everything in a race that needs to be done because of the game times and not narrative.
However, the role of Starlord, whose role we will often take on, is to be appreciated: tormented by visions involving his mother, a leader who engages in a strenuous fight to keep his group and his new family together and who, despite the fractures created, never loses hope. All the characters, from the first to the last, never lose consistency and remain faithful to their original archetype. On the other hand, Hala, the main villain, is losing depth: despite a small moving scene at the end, Commander Kree is a character who is never properly investigated, despite the fact that there are some interesting ideas. To underline this is also the final fight: after a beautiful introduction by the Guardians, the fight turns out to be quite dull and devoid of pathos. After this moment of decline, however, the swing of emotions resumes: touching encounters and scene after the credits in full Marvel style, with interesting ideas for a new season.
After all, the only missing piece of this series was precisely the continuity and the emotional "up and down" of the ending is the perfect example: this does not spoil the enjoyment but it is still a shame as it could have been give much more.
In space everyone can hear you sing
One of the cornerstones of the galactic supergroup is certainly their leader's passion for American music from the 80s. In the series we find many of the songs belonging to that period, in full rock / funk style that Starlord is so passionate about. Here, too, music plays a fairly central role, as a means that binds Peter to his mother Meredith: we too will end up being carried away by the music and falling in love with the songs that make up the soundtrack of this series. Audio / music sector passed with full marks.
The first season of Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy is an enjoyable and fun title: the gags between Starlord, Rocket, Drax, Gamora and Groot always get a laugh and there is no shortage of action moments, as well as touching and emotional ones. However, to lower the bar are the narrative rhythms slow in the middle of the work and accelerated to the maximum towards its conclusion: a swing at the scriptural level that, if not present, could have given life to one of the best series that Telltale has baked until today. So all that remains is to play it with some small reserves but hoping that in the second season, suggested by a small skit, much higher peaks can be reached.
