History YMMV / LifeIsStrange

** While Warren can be uncomfortably awkward and is rather [[DoggedNiceGuy persistent regarding his crush on Max]], he's a good person overall and [[UndyingLoyalty will always be good friend to Max]] [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy even if the player decides to have Max pursue Chloe.]] This doesn't always apply in fanfics, where he's often ignored or vilified, with some even going so far as to make him [[spoiler:one of Mr. Jefferson's accomplices]].

** While Warren can be uncomfortably awkward and is rather [[DoggedNiceGuy persistent regarding his crush on Max]], he's a good person overall and [UndyingLoyalty will always be good friend to Max]] [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy even if the player decides to have Max pursue Chloe.]] This doesn't always apply in fanfics, where he's often ignored or vilified, with some even going so far as to make him [[spoiler:one of Mr. Jefferson's accomplices]].

** While Warren's characterization in-game verges on the creepy nice guy mentality, he's a decent person overall and can be a good friend to Max if the player makes certain decisions. This doesn't always apply in fanfics, where he's often ignored or vilified, with some even going so far as to make him [[spoiler:one of Mr. Jefferson's accomplices]].

* EsotericHappyEnding: While both endings are bittersweet to varying degrees, the ending in which Max chooses to allow Chloe to die to stop the storm from destroying the town seems to be intended as the "better" of the two and is definitely the one the developers put more effort into. Players on the other hand often have a great deal of criticisms of it, pointing out what while more characters explicitly survive in this ending and Jefferson and Nathan are busted, as far as anyone can tell, Arcadia Bay is still a DyingTown run like a fiefdom by Nathan's amoral real estate mogul father, Chloe dies alone and unloved at her absolute lowest point (with the last words she ever hears being "Nobody would miss your punk ass!"), and Max has lost the love of her life and/or best friend, may be traumatized for years, if not for life, and has essentially learned the heartwarming message that going on her adventure in the first place made everything worse.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: [[spoiler:[[BigBad Mark Jefferson]]]] is responsible for drugging, kidnapping, and taking sick photos of innocent teenage girls, yet it's Chloe who receives the most vocal hatred online due to her [[{{Jerkass}} abrasive attitude]], [[DidntThinkThisThrough short-sighted decisions]] and her willingness to commit criminal acts such as stealing from a handicapped fund.

** The reason why Chloe is such a BaseBreakingCharacter lies with this issue. Her life understandably sucks, but there's only so much a FreudianExcuse can justify before you roll around into {{Wangst}} territory. Chloe repeatedly takes advantage of Max, instigates most of the arguments between her and David, and her abandonment issues cause her to guilt trip nearly everyone around her without being self-aware or really developing. As a result, rather than being a nuanced character, to detractors, she's a borderline HateSink who the game pushes heavily as a "complex character".

* SpecialEffectsFailure:

* MemeticLoser: Chloe. Her sheer TooDumbToLive CosmicPlaything status has caused her to be seen as this by many fans and she's gone up as one of the most joked about characters. Though keep in mind, being a loser in this game [[CoolLoser isn't necessarily a bad thing]].

** Max's plant Lisa. Every time you water it, the game tells you that this will have consequences, prompting indignant paranoia from first time players and endless humorous speculation over the kind of monumental impact watering the plant could have on the ending of the game. Eventually, Lisa was the focus of an April Fools' joke by DONTNOD, where after a fervent demand for merchandise, they made a post saying that Lisa would be available to buy in the Creator/SquareEnix store. After [[spoiler:70% of players accidentally killed Lisa (due to a glitch that prevented a warning about overwatering)]], statements of mourning like "[[Film/TheRoom2003 You are tearing me apart, Lisa!]]" cropped up. Lisa has a growing fanbase [[http://www.redbubble.com/people/mdrmdrmdr/works/15890250-lisa-the-plant-is-dead?grid_pos=35&p=sticker and fan art.]]

** Max's plant Lisa. Every time you water it, the game tells you that this will have consequences, prompting indignant paranoia from first time players and endless humorous speculation over the kind of monumental impact watering the plant could have on the ending of the game. Eventually, Lisa was the focus of an April Fools' joke by DONTNOD, where after a fervent demand for merchandise, they made a post saying that Lisa would be available to buy in the Creator/SquareEnix store. After [[spoiler:70% of players accidentally killed Lisa (due to a glitch that prevented a warning about overwatering)]], statements of mourning like "[[Film/TheRoom You are tearing me apart, Lisa!]]" cropped up. Lisa has a growing fanbase [[http://www.redbubble.com/people/mdrmdrmdr/works/15890250-lisa-the-plant-is-dead?grid_pos=35&p=sticker and fan art.]]

* SurpriseCreepy: When Max goes to pick up Warren's flash drive in Dana's room, an almost demonic voice-over by Max herself says, "Must protect my [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings precious]], so Max never has to chase it down again." While you might [[FridgeLogic realize after the fact that this is something some people might say to themselves]], considering this is just a simple errand for a friend, it may catch some off-guard on their very first playthrough, even if it was supposed to be funny.

** Some Chloe haters paint the scene of her [[spoiler:killing Frank and Pompidou]] as proof of her being a bad person. This is ignoring the fact that A. [[spoiler:Frank]] was threatening her and Max with a knife/gun and B. That she is [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone visibly shaken]] after gunning them down.

** Max can examine a broken car in the junkyard and she'll wonder if seeing it reminds Chloe of her father's death. In ''Before the Storm'', [[spoiler:Chloe comes across her father's car in the junkyard - complete with very visible damage from the crash that killed him - and has a breakdown over it.]]
** Hearing Nathan scream at [[spoiler:Chloe]] "Nobody would ever even miss your punk ass, would they?" just before he shoots her in Episode 1 is even more heartbreaking if [[spoiler:Max chooses to go back in time to that scene in the finale and let Chloe die, as Max slumps down behind the bathroom wall and cries, re-watching Nathan kill Chloe]].
** Letting [[spoiler:Warren pummel Nathan until he becomes a sobbing wreck]] can be upsetting when it's revealed that [[spoiler:this is the last time Max sees him before he is killed by Mr. Jefferson]].
** The tornado threatening Arcadia Bay? [[http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/widespread-damage-after-tornado-hits-the-oregon-coast/457168773 It's a sadder now.]]
** In episode 1, one of Chloe's many insults towards David is that she wishes he would leave Joyce. [[spoiler: In ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2'', we learn that if you sacrificed Chloe, her death caused David and Joyce's marriage to fall apart, and if you sacrificed Arcadia Bay, Joyce died]].
** The BrickJoke about the missing tablet containing pictures of the owner's late cats. This is built in as a recurring joke throughout the game, with notes going back and forth on public bulletin boards. That is, until Episode 5, where Max can come across a bag with the tablet inside and a very sincere apology note from its thief, saying he was remorseful of what he did and had planned on giving it back to the owner. To make this even more depressing, Max can only find this [[spoiler:during her trip to the Two Whales Diner as Arcadia Bay is being destroyed by an incoming tornado. Judging that the bag in the middle of the street, the thief is presumably dead.]] What makes it even better is that [[spoiler:handwriting analysis on the original note asking for the tablet back shows that Nathan is the guy who lost it in the first place.]]
* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Hannah Telle carried the game as Max in the views of many fans, with her warm, dorky, but emotionally complex delivery being well received. She remains very popular with the fanbase and even recently still has done interviews about the role.

* InformedWrongness: David's desire to put up surveillance cameras in Blackwell and Pan Estates. While David ''is'' dangerously paranoid and does do several privacy violations like stalking Kate and putting cameras around his house without Chloe or Joyce's knowledge, putting surveillance on a large private property is a pretty reasonable means of security. Especially Blackwall with Nathan managing to smuggle a gun on campus which could end with him shooting Chloe, Frank selling drugs on campus, [[spoiler: Kate sneaking onto the roof to commit suicide, and one of the teachers being a SerialKiller responsible for the death of Rachel Amber. The prequel retroactively makes his alleged paranoia even more justified when another drug dealer, and one considerably more dangerous then [[AffablyEvil the relatively benign]] Frank, violently assaults one of the North brothers on campus.]]

* InformedWrongness:
** David's desire to put up surveillance cameras in Blackwell and Pan Estates. While David ''is'' dangerously paranoid and does do several privacy violations like stalking Kate and putting cameras around his house without Chloe or Joyce's knowledge, putting surveillance on a large private property is a pretty reasonable means of security. Especially Blackwall with Nathan managing to smuggle a gun on campus which could end with him shooting Chloe, Frank selling drugs on campus, [[spoiler: Kate sneaking onto the roof to commit suicide, and one of the teachers being a SerialKiller responsible for the death of Rachel Amber. The prequel retroactively makes his alleged paranoia even more justified when another drug dealer, and one considerably more dangerous then [[AffablyEvil the relatively benign]] Frank, violently assaults one of the North brothers on campus.]]
** Disagreeing with Chloe will often earn Max a scathing WhatTheHellHero from her, and the player is expected to agree with her on everything if you want to be in a relationship with her. This would include things that violate common sense or basic decency, like Max refusing to take the fall for her when David catches her smoking pot, answering Kate's call, and refusing to let her steal money from a fundraiser for handicapped students to pay off her debt.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
** In Episode 2, [[spoiler:when Max runs to the dorm to prevent Kate from jumping off the roof]], she suddenly discovers she's actually frozen time. It wears off the second she gets to the roof, though. Max comments on getting stuck in that state, but never uses it again, although it's suggested that it only happened because she overtaxed her powers.
** The [[spoiler:nightmare sequence]] in Episode 5 also, considering that it suddenly comes out of nowhere and it's never explained. The gameplay shift to stealth is also jarring.