Telltale Games has a difficult tightrope to walk, balancing as it does between narrative and gameplay. The studio counts on you being immersed in the universes it creates, but also has to keep all that character from getting in the way of the game it has crafted.
Poker Night at the Inventory seems to be drenched in the studio's typical humor and likable characters. But it quickly becomes clear that the repetitive dialog is muddying a poker game that was already weak to begin with. In short: Telltale has fallen off the rope entirely.

At least in Sam & Max there's always the chance of redemption in the next narrative-led mission. In Poker Night ... well, there's just the next oddly timed "sandvich" joke.