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Telltale's Guardians was first revealed during the December 2016 Game Awards, though rumors of the game had been previously found in material released by SAG-AFTRA actors as part of the 2016 video game voice actor strike in November. Telltale and Marvel's goal was to make the story accessible to people who may not have read through the comic series but had seen the film, while still dropping in hints and Easter eggs referring the Guardians' history in the comics to long-time fans. This approach was novel for Telltale, since the character interactions the player opts for in earlier episodes can have a stronger impact on the later episodes, particularly in the relationship between the other Guardians. To achieve this, they planned each episode to center around each Guardian and explore their past, though the player will primarily remain in the role of Star-Lord throughout the series. Telltale saw this as well as elements from the established character histories to find "potentially surprising" elements to include, according to Telltale producer Justin Lambros. Described by Marvel's Bil Rosemann: "A good Guardians story is about them as a family and showing how they're all misfits, they're all underdogs, they all feel like they don't have a family anymore" and coming together to form their own family that they depend on. Telltale decided to go against an origin story, and instead focused on the connections between each of the five Guardians. Telltale and Marvel partnered to develop the game, quickly establishing that they wanted to make an original story that used the characters' canon but was not tied to the 2014 film. Within the series, the player primarily plays as Star-Lord, but may at times briefly take the role of another Guardian during action sequences, or, during specific times, play as another character in a flashback. Players make choices, such as dialogue selection, that create determinants within the story affecting later actions within the episode and in future episodes. Guardians of the Galaxy plays similar to other Telltale games, in which the player's character talks to other characters, explores environments and interacts with objects within it, and at times, completes action sequences made up of quick time events. The plot centers on the Guardians' finding an artifact of great power called the "Eternity Forge" which each individually covets but must protect from the malicious Kree Hala the Accuser, who wants it for herself.
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Based on Marvel Comics' Guardians of the Galaxy comic book series, the game's first episode was released on April 18, 2017. Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series is an episodic graphic adventure video game series developed and published by Telltale Games.
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