Despite the cynically mocking title, I'm not going to be coy - I love Life is Strange. It's one of my favourite video games. I think it was absolutely fantastic from start to finish and I loved every part of it. Even the Narmy dialogue. Even the bottle fetch-quest. Even Episode 5.
Life is Strange is a slice-of-life teenage drama that fell into a blender with Braid and all the good bits from anything Telltale Games have done. The challenges you face can be worked out through original gameplay puzzles or interesting dialogue options. The supporting cast in particular are strong, albeit a tad clichéd, because they all have a certain depth to them. Teenagers: More Than Meets The Eye.
I honestly like the dialogue. And I don't want to criticize the people who didn't like the game, because you're allowed to dislike any game you want - except RollerCoaster Tycoon, I mean, come on - but the cast are primarily supposed to be teenagers; if you're not making people grimace with every other line, then you're not writing teenagers very well. Also, this game has time travel. You're okay with that, but you can't suspend your disbelief that a teenager would say 'Hella'? The most cringeworthy lines stay far away from the game's numerous more serious moments. Episode 2 had me in tears and I'm absolutely sure I'm not the only one. Your choices really do feel like they matter, instead of the game just telling you that they matter.
Without getting into spoiler territory, the game does come down to a choice between two outcomes at the end. But the outcomes are complete polar opposites, compared to, say, Season 2 of The Walking Dead, where there are five different endings but railroading forces you into the exact same outcome at the beginning of the next Season. And while the game does nudge you to pick one ending over another, it's still entirely your choice. At the time of writing this, the percentage of players who chose each ending are 47% and 53%. I think that's a very strong testament to how good the story is that players are split so much down the middle regarding what they do.
I'm excited for the sequel, which is wisely going to introduce a completely new cast instead of adding to this completed storyline, and excited for the mini-prequel that's going to flesh out some of the existing characters who weren't explored in the first series.
All in all, I love Life is Strange, and I'm hella fucking cereal.
Hella Wowser
Despite the cynically mocking title, I'm not going to be coy - I love Life is Strange. It's one of my favourite video games. I think it was absolutely fantastic from start to finish and I loved every part of it. Even the Narmy dialogue. Even the bottle fetch-quest. Even Episode 5.
Life is Strange is a Coming-of-Age Story about Max Caulfield, who, despite sharing a surname with the douchebag from Catcher In The Rye, is an engaging and likeable character, and a great female protagonist. She's geeky and funny and relatable and discovers she can rewind time to some extent after watching her best friend get fatally shot in the girls' bathroom at high school. Yup.
Life is Strange is a slice-of-life teenage drama that fell into a blender with Braid and all the good bits from anything Telltale Games have done. The challenges you face can be worked out through original gameplay puzzles or interesting dialogue options. The supporting cast in particular are strong, albeit a tad clichéd, because they all have a certain depth to them. Teenagers: More Than Meets The Eye.
I honestly like the dialogue. And I don't want to criticize the people who didn't like the game, because you're allowed to dislike any game you want - except RollerCoaster Tycoon, I mean, come on - but the cast are primarily supposed to be teenagers; if you're not making people grimace with every other line, then you're not writing teenagers very well. Also, this game has time travel. You're okay with that, but you can't suspend your disbelief that a teenager would say 'Hella'? The most cringeworthy lines stay far away from the game's numerous more serious moments. Episode 2 had me in tears and I'm absolutely sure I'm not the only one. Your choices really do feel like they matter, instead of the game just telling you that they matter.
Without getting into spoiler territory, the game does come down to a choice between two outcomes at the end. But the outcomes are complete polar opposites, compared to, say, Season 2 of The Walking Dead, where there are five different endings but railroading forces you into the exact same outcome at the beginning of the next Season. And while the game does nudge you to pick one ending over another, it's still entirely your choice. At the time of writing this, the percentage of players who chose each ending are 47% and 53%. I think that's a very strong testament to how good the story is that players are split so much down the middle regarding what they do.
I'm excited for the sequel, which is wisely going to introduce a completely new cast instead of adding to this completed storyline, and excited for the mini-prequel that's going to flesh out some of the existing characters who weren't explored in the first series.
All in all, I love Life is Strange, and I'm hella fucking cereal.