Stepping out from the monumental shadow of Telltale's superb take on The Walking Dead, the first episode of the five-part The Wolf Among Us series immediately stakes its own claim as one of the most exciting adventure games of the year. Titled Faith, this episode makes filling the shoes of Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of a magical version of New York City populated by the fairytale characters that we all grew up with, is an energetic and memorable experience. Telltale builds upon the same emphasis of choice and consequence as its 2012 predecessor, while providing a starkly different tone via just how physical it is for an adventure game.

Throughout this two-hour chunk of adventure, I enjoyed making many tough decisions as the imposing sheriff of this strange, dangerous, and magical world. I had no qualms with roughing up a suspect, busting down doors, or tearing apart a room during a fight. That last one is particularly important, because the action scenes in Faith are absolutely fantastic. Loading Think of them as choreographing a fight scene in a movie through the lens of a choose-your-own-adventure book. During a scuffle, the action periodically pauses for a brief moment and gives you the choice of how to proceed. Do you try to talk your way out of a fight, or surprise them with a sucker punch? Toss your opponent at a dresser, or smash them into a sink? Use a bottle, or keep swinging your fists? The handful of these scenes provided a nice bit of excellent chaos, and I felt the urge to replay each one in order to see what sort of different outcomes I could reach if I’d chosen differently. These work particularly well on an iOS device, as the act of tapping on a object to grab it or swiping across the screen to swing a fist feels incredibly satisfying.

This physicality isn’t just limited to our actions as Bigby – the entire world is populated by brash, violent, and downright entertaining characters. As a prequel story to Bill Willingham’s Fables comic series, the story revolves around solving a shocking murder while trying to maintain a semblance of order among a tight-knit community of displaced fairytale characters. Every moment of this episode's investigation is filled intriguing characters, mysterious settings, and fantastic writing. Loading

During your search, you'll come across cockney toads who refuse to hide themselves from the human world, a member of the Three Little Pigs with a bit of a drinking problem, and an abusive woodsman with a startling revelation regarding Snow White. Since it’s based on characters that pretty much everybody knows, The Wolf Among Us is able to toy with us by upending expectations and delivering some truly surprising and entertaining character beats. It's amazing how the dialogue drifts between funny, tragic, brutal, and magical all over a course of the two-hour episode.

Even the presentation of Faith pops in a way that successfully highlights the harsh oddities of this strange world. All of this episode’s great interactions are delivered with a neon color palette and a stylish synthesized score that brings to mind shades of Drive and John Carpenter's movies, all of which work towards building the mood of a late-'80s noir. As you make your way across the gritty boroughs of this alternate New York City, you’ll experience a great juxtaposition between the grime of the city and the wonderment of magic.

Sadly, the first leg of this journey is marred by a noticeably choppy framerate, one of the main problems of The Walking Dead. Transitions often stutter for a brief moment, and each time it removed me from that world for a fraction of a second. These hiccups are more noticeable on the console and mobile versions of the game than the PC one. It's not a deal-breaker, but it’s an annoyance I’m disappointed to see reoccur in this new series. Of course, it doesn’t stop me from enjoying the impeccable story and my sense of ownership over it any more than it did in The Walking Dead.

Bigby's arc is punctuated by big moments of obvious decision-making where the gameplay will slow to a halt and let you linger on which path you want to go down. Despite being a bit on the nose with announcing those moments, knowing exactly where a big intersection was made me want to immediately go back and replay the episode to see what would've happened had I made different decisions. A character who died in one playthrough can survive another. A suspect in custody at the end of my run may still be on the loose in yours. Unlike many adventure games, where I view my single playthrough as my own personal gospel, I see myself going back to uncover every corner of Bigby's complicated web.