Life is Strange

Fuck man I can't remember.

I'm just pretty sure that if you let the paint can fall on her, it's an instant game over (because it would presumably kill her and she's needed later on).

Time to finish watching the stream:

Telle notes that in the first photograph you see of Chloe and Rachel, Chloe looks like Ashly Burch. Shriner says that he thinks (but isn't completely sure) that Dontnod might have slightly changed the character designs after their voice actors were cast to slightly resemble their actors.

Telle cosplayed as Max at this year's Comicon.

"If you could befriend a character from the game, who would it be?" Telle's answer was Chloe and Kate. Shriner answered with Chloe and Victoria.

Telle released a music album recently. Shriner does stand up comedy.

Since doing Life is Strange, Telle has found herself using "hella" in normal conversations.

Shriner was asked about "Bae v. Bay" but he couldn't answer because he doesn't know what "Bae" means and also because he doesn't know the ending. Telle does know what it refers to.

Telle was horrified at the results screen when she learned that she let a bird die (because they rushed through Chloe's house because of time constraints).

The end.

edited 30th Sep '16 1:12:29 PM by lrrose

it

uh

says the video is private

It was the next video of the cast playing but SE seems to have made it private.

Now it's up!

o_o

I thought that was just my graphics card acting up for the 50th time or something. Phew.

Now, this game. This, Until Dawn, Heavy Rain, and Beyond Two Souls. I seem to be a sucker for games that promise a "butterfly effect," but of the four, LIS is my favorite. There's something so peaceful about it. It's like 70 percent the soundtrack, it's "mood-setting" like someone else said earlier. Never meditated a day in my life but I feel like this game is building some kind of inner peace within me.

I'm trying to give the game some room to breath and only pick it up once or twice every 2 months, so that the "previously" segments don't start getting redundant.

Certain lines of dialogue like Max's "are you serial" that sound just... out of place. Chloe's "hella-this" and "hella-that" stopped sounding like something a college drop-out might say and more like something penciled in by an adult trying to sound hip. "Step-[insertinsulthere]" manages to stay hella funny though.

There are times when Max and Chloe's priorities seem a little off - the transition from Episode 2 (OH GOD THAT CHAPTER) to 3 didn't feel very graceful. They're suddenly dead certain something is wrong with Blackwell and convinced that breaking into campus is a good idea. Let's step back from the fact that Max has the ability to rewind time, Kate Marsh's video and Nathan's issues are top priority. Also, Max sees the principal drunk and wandering around the girl's dorm building but she barely reacts beyond evading him. I feel like I should be reading Max's journal more since I kind of stopped after Chapter 2, I know a lot of her inner feelings get expressed there. She still gets threatening texts but doesn't seem to react to it much by Ch 3. I've a feeling this is going to come to a head in Chapter 5 but still.

I fear (both from reviews of the game and my own intuition) that the endings won't be too varied and that the game won't be a worth a replay. But there's something awfully addicting about the simple gameplay mechanics and the cast. Despite their occasionally wooden dialogue Max and Chloe are two of the most genuine human beings I've seen in the last 10 video games I've played. Maybe it's because some of those included Fallout 4, GTA, and Shadows of Mordor, and most of my interaction in video games typically involves a "kill" button.

Little moments in-game like just sitting down by a tree or on a fountain to hear Max's thoughts; they can be pretty awkward, and sometimes feel like a chore, but they're easily the calmest moments of the game. I gave up trying to find every conversation and every small object, so it stopped feeling like Max was scraping every spot on campus for a place to monologue.

It's rare when you get a video game these days that makes you feel this warm inside. I've spent so much time killing orcs, super mutants, and barbarians in the most gruesome of ways it's kind of... nice, to be a teenage girl with a broken power just trying to help (or hinder) people. A game with time travel that feels incredibly down to earth. Maybe it's just the frequent guitar riffs or something. Those always put the mind at ease.

I finished Chapter 3 a week ago and I didn't realize how Max could get into the office. Total accident, I only meant to rewind time enough that she'd be able to run into the office and grab stuff, and ended up rewinding back to before the door opened. Time travel for the win. It's sad because when I first picked this game up I didn't think to snoop through Madsen's garage and immediately rewind things back into order. This game, like Portal, can slap you in the face when you don't think to use the tools handed to you.

My favorite moment's when Chloe wants to go to the pool. The look on her face was just precious.

edited 26th Dec '16 9:58:42 PM by Soble

I have some choice words about Max and Chloe's relationship (as well as Chloe and Warren in general) that I'll hold onto until after you beat the game

Chloe and Warren haven't interacted in my playthrough thus far besides Max asking him how to make a small explosive.

I'm already waiting for a dialogue prompt where Max says "I'm in lesbians with you." to Chloe if that's at all what you're getting at. The pool scene and the bed scene kind of spell it out.

Though moments like Chloe bringing up the Power Perversion Potential of Max's ability, and the locker room scene had me laughing for a good long while.

I meant Chloe and Warren as individual characters, not their relationship.

And I'm not talking about Max and Chloe's blatant lesbianism either

You'll see what I mean whenever you finish the game, I don't want to spoil anything for you or create a preconceived bias.

edited 26th Dec '16 10:18:18 PM by EpicBleye

Finished Chapter 3. I've helped Chloe quite a bit (and kissed her).

...words are failing me right now. In a positive way but just damn. The universe hates Chloe. A world where her dad lives and she becomes paraplegic somehow, or a world where her dad dies and she becomes a druggie/rape victim/high school drop-out/NEET.

It's a lot to absorb. I might wait a week or two to start Episode 4 just to keep the shock of that cliffhanger going for a little while.

I started Chapter 4 anyway... and it's actually made me cry a little. I'm teary-eyed as I type this. I can't continue. Had to ctrl-esc out of the game. Objectively I know it's just a choice to make in a series of programmed computer movements but... damn is it effective.

Focusing elsewhere I seemed to fix the audio stuttering by shifting the resolution down to 800 x 600, and with an HD you can easily change the width/height to make the game look decent. Not that it's a graphical wonder but still.

I want to do a "scumbag" playthrough and make all of the negative decisions, take my mind off this twisted alternate universe for a little while.

edited 31st Dec '16 5:34:57 AM by Soble

Alright. I take that back. Audio is a huge problem right now. It's not the usual stuttering problem, but the voices cut off, or characters freeze in mid-sentence and the only ways to fix it are to pause, or to go into Max's journal.

Anyone have any fixes? Steam community forums aren't helping and everyone else seems to have a problem with stuttering.

-sigh-

Well. This is something. I guess "lip syncing" was the description I was looking for. Seems to just be an issue if you aren't playing on PS 4. I regret gaming PC more and more everyday.

Well, I guess I'll have to put up with it. No discernible fix for the voices being out of sync.

edited 1st Jan '17 6:37:39 AM by Soble

Episode 4. Finished.

...

...

I F'CKING KNEW SOMETHING WAS UP WITH HIM. BAD GUY COLORS, BAD GUY HAIR, ACTS GENERALLY CREEPY. DID HE KILL CHLOE? WHY KILL HER AND NOT MAX? My monitor isn't in the best position and there's a lot of glare on my screen so I couldn't see where he shot her.

F'CK.

edited 10th Jan '17 7:19:42 AM by Soble

..."Mmm whatcha say" would be the most accurate describer of that scene.

Yes, he killed Chloe.

That scene floored me as well. I'm pretty sure I actually just sat there for several minutes going "What? WHAT?".

Even having been spoiled on almost everything that scene still took me by surprise.

It's a very good reveal. Rather understated, actually - no dramatic music or anything, which I think helps to underscore the tension.

edited 10th Jan '17 2:30:37 PM by KarkatTheDalek

I didn't see it coming.

Someone did a Life Is Strange/Until Dawn crossover fanart and the caption under Mr. Jefferson was "Scum of the Earth." I took it to mean they disliked his "thing" with Victoria, but, honestly, what threw me off was that he rejected Victoria in Episode 3, so I thought, hey, he acts dense but he actually is an adult - he's more than aware of the consequences. But noooooo...

I only saw it coming because I went back to Episode 1 and listened to him again, and you know it just sort of "clicked." Then as Max and Chloe were heading down the stairs and you saw the equipment I knew where it was leading. And even knowing where it led that scene just slapped me in the face.

Goddamn it this game.

Have to finish Episode 5 now.

edited 10th Jan '17 7:41:24 PM by Soble

-incoherent rambling-

This is the worst choice a video game has offered me since I had to pick between Yoda and Vader.

I knew this ending was drawing near but had no idea the scope, the misdirects, or the twists involved. I loved how Jefferson and the Dark Room came back. And Max's texts being from Joyce, Samuel, and even Pompidou. That might be the most unnerving thing about that sequence.

But now it's: go back in time and let Chloe die, or watch Arcadia Bay get destroyed.

Which is such BS. I'll have more on that later but Max and Chloe really believe that nature is reacting to Max's power and that just by saving Chloe... nature decided to go all Donnie Darko and screw everyone else over. I'm trying to remember at what point she settled on that. Samuel mentions it a few times and Warren speculated on it, but Max took to it pretty quickly.

I pretty much haven't said no to Chloe - except in Chapter 3 - but then I usually try to play in-character and not contradict earlier decisions. I know Max wouldn't sacrifice Chloe no matter what and the skeptic in me says "a few people die, but most of the main cast is still alive and poor weather reporting is what f'cked everyone over." Yet, the story thus far is telling me that the most thematically appropriate way to conclude this little adventure is to let Chloe die.

That sucks.

-somewhat coherent rambling-

If Chloe is shot by Nathan technically a lot of lives remain unchanged and things will turn out bad with Jefferson and Nathan, and Frank. Max does her best to incriminate Jefferson.

If Max doesn't go back, Arcadia gets fisted by mother nature, but more than likely people survive. Lot of animals die and the town's fishing industry will definitely die, but... still. Jefferson's locked up, David and Joyce can heal.

Either way... I guess this rollercoaster is almost over. Just one last big choice to make. Phooey.

edited 11th Jan '17 6:22:58 PM by Soble

Make your choice. Bay or Bae.

And... it's over. Like peeling off a bandaid that through some form of black magic has stayed on for a month and a half without wearing out.

A sad ending. And I don't imagine the alternative is any happier.

Hah. Time to distract myself:

Starting to see why they include a URL for a suicide hotline on this game's website... I'm not that depressed but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get misty after all that. I'm really sad to let this game go. That's yet another first for me.

Wasn't there a TV series in the works?

edited 11th Jan '17 8:11:11 PM by Soble

I think there was, but I don't think it would be/have been very good considering the whole game was about you making decisions.

That said, the ending was more-or-less terrible for that very reason, so.

Anyway: I feel like Max and Chloe's relationship was way overstated. I never fell for Chloe, and the game gets pretty ridiculous in basically worshipping Chloe and ignoring all her character flaws by the end of the game.

But it wasn't terrible: I just feel that they pushed it after seeing how fans reacted and it ultimately took away from the game.

I also don't like how the game sorta-kinda brought up a valid point in that Max only became so outgoing because of her time travel powers and had she not had them she'd have just let all the terrible things happen... and then doesn't really go anywhere with that.

I also dislike Warren being almost completely pushed to the side and very underutilized for being the only person to completely support Max even when not being told all the details. Even Chloe sometimes gets pissy with Max when Max is iffy about her time travel powers and their usage.

But I'll be damned if the general atmosphere and soundtrack weren't phenomenal. Not to mention the tense character moments- especially in regards to Kate's suicide attempt. ^note It was so amazing feeling being able to keep Kate from jumping because I was able to recall everything and paid attention to all these details. Sadly, I think many people looked up the answers which takes away from the experience.

I did expect her to attempt suicide, but I managed to talk her down without looking anything up. I suppose I'm just the type to search every inch of the area to find stuff that might end up being important.