Life is Strange - Just Wow.

[BloatedGuppy]

I keep reading that people are turned off by the teen dialogue. I gotta ask why? Is it embarrassment?

I used to manage a pizza joint, I had a lot of teens in my employ... and they talk like they are portrayed in the game. They act like they do in the game. The drama is accurate to what is shown in the game.

The dialogue vacillates between "charmingly awkward" and appropriate to the personalities/age of the characters, and "people don't talk like that" dubious writing. I thought the game was very enjoyable, but I find it hard to rebuke criticism of the writing. It could be better. It isn't consistently horrible, but it isn't consistently good, either.

It is getting a lot of hate on the Steam forums though even though it is considered extremely positive.

It was always going to generate a lot of hate, particularly in this climate. I don't know if you've noticed, but a demographic of the gaming community are even bigger hipsters than the hipsters they purport to despise. Anything that doesn't fit their definition of what a "proper game" is allowed to be is the recipient of incoherent rage. CERTAINLY doesn't help if it's in any way "artsy fartsy", aimed at casuals, or...christ I don't even know how to elucidate this...possessed of an "overly feminine energy". The game flirts with admittedly Weetzie Bat levels of twee at junctures, so it isn't going to go over well with the guns and tits crowd, either.

 

[shintakie10]

Well, I bought and played the first episode. It wasn't without little issues...the walking about was occasionally inexplicably "hitchy", and the dialogue...while generally acceptable if not above average for the medium...often sounded a bit too much like an adult's approximation of "teen" instead of actual teens actually talking. Does anyone say "Hella" as much in real life as the characters in this game? I think not.

You've never been to California if you don't think people say hella a lot. The only word said more than hella is the addition of "like" into pretty much every sentence possible. Its basically our version of umm.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

You've never been to California if you don't think people say hella a lot. The only word said more than hella is the addition of "like" into pretty much every sentence possible. Its basically our version of umm.

She's in Oregon!

I live in the Pacific Northwest!

The overuse of hella in this game is hella ridiculous!

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Just finished it/ep.1 about an hour ago, aaaaand it's pretty good, I guess? Not quite Telltale good, but definitely better-than-Cage good.

My main issues were; too much narration - even between the inner-monologue exploration sections. 'Show, don't tell' counts for games, too, maybe even more than film. The characters are supposed to be 18, right? Well, Max seems closer to 15, as does some of the behaviour and emosiuns of her classmates. Lastly, Chloe just seems overdesigned - like a videogame character who's supposed to represent 'edgy', as opposed to an actual person (other characters also fall foul to that, I think).

And yeah, I think it was trying a little too hard to be hip. A lot of the vernacular and references already sound a little out of date.

All that said? I think the kind of narrative it's telling (in terms of tone and script), and the focus is gives well written female characters makes up for its shortcomings or rough edges, and I'll certainly be sticking with it to see what happens next. The industry is a better place with Dontnod in it, and I hope they go from strength to strength.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Got episode 1, played it, liked it, got the season pass.
I've been looking forward to this a while.

Prolly will replay it to get the stuff I missed later.

I just gotta wonder how much bullshit'll arise. "Oh,it didn't sell well! Female protagonists can't be done anymore coz they ruin the game, and the game won't sell!" I imagine it won't because it's not that well known about, but I still hope it does do well. The game's pretty charming.

Dontnod had a great world with Remember Me, but not that great on gameplay. This game lets them create a great world, and not have to rely so heavily on gameplay. Piecing things together, warping time, changing events, making choices, I'm eager to see what'll come of things.

The main reason I hadn't already picked this up was Remember Me not being a particularly good game. Fantastic world building, but poor execution. It was the second to last thing I preordered -- the last was Witcher 3 (mostly because of the discount for having the other two).

So, Dontnod releases a new game that sounds kind of interesting, does the same "publisher afraid of our female protagonist" song and dance, it's not hard to see why I might be cautious.

Honestly, I wish it weren't so believable that publishers would be afraid of a female protagonist for what ever reason.

Strange Life seems to rely more on storytelling, and the time mechanic of Remember Me. Less on Combat, and platforming. There's collectibles, still, and it's possible to miss them. 5 dollars (US) for episode one prolly won't break anyone's bank, so I recommend at least giving it a try.

 

[StriderShinryu]

The characters are supposed to be 18, right? Well, Max seems closer to 15

While I generally really enjoyed the first episode, I have to agree with this point. It really did feel like the characters were aged older than they actually looked and acted. It's just a hunch but it wouldn't surprise me if the developers initially planned to have the characters younger but chose to (or were asked to) age them up due to some of the plot line content (pregnancy, drug use, a kid bringing a gun to school, etc.)

 

[DeadProxy]

Played the first chapter yesterday.

I wouldn't say it's a fantastic piece of work, though. The voice acting by the main character isn't all that great in my eyes. Most of her dialogue is very too the point, and doesn't really make you think the girl is all that deep. I dont entirely blame the voice actor though, a lot of her lines just seem very plainly written,so hopefully that gets better as the episodes go on.

It is pretty cool though that in all the episodic games out there now, this one lets you see all the branches of a conversation and pick your desired path, instead of having to replay or restart the chapter based on a bad decision or 2.

I'd give it a low 7 or high 6, it's worth the couple of hours your 5 bucks gets you, but the kinda poor writing leaves a bit to be desired.

Sam is probably my favourite character so far, for being able to bounce between "creepy pedophile" to "artful wordsmith" back to "creepy pedophile." Janitors are weird.

 

[SecondPrize]

I've skipped it for now as it really doesn't seem like my bag. Just wanted to chime in and warn people to NOT look too far in discussing this game online because the possibility of getting the story accurately spoiled is high. Turns out people parsed the files and found references related to decisions, locations, chapter/segment/sequence names that DONTNOD inexplicably included in chapter one. So just be careful where you dig if you like the game and don't want it spoiled for you.

I do kind of dig the pricing at five bones for a few hours of entertainment but I've always felt that many indie games overstep in occupying the AA price point. I learned long ago what kind of experience 20 bucks should buy me and it's not what I've seen of late.

 

[Slycne]

Most of her dialogue is very too the point, and doesn't really make you think the girl is all that deep. I dont entirely blame the voice actor though, a lot of her lines just seem very plainly written,so hopefully that gets better as the episodes go on.

I honestly couldn't get passed it. The dialogue was so bad. It was this awkward combination of silted lines and dressed up like how someone thinks a teenage girl thinks/talks. I just kind of wanted to yell at the screen "This isn't how people talk to each other in conversation!"

I liked the combination of adventure game and time travel mechanics well enough though. Anyone that's played through more, is it worth stomaching the dialogue?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I liked the combination of adventure game and time travel mechanics well enough though. Anyone that's played through more, is it worth stomaching the dialogue?

As someone who enjoyed the game very much despite being critical of the dialogue, I would say "it depends". It's going to be almost entirely dependent on what you want from a game, and what your predilections are as far as different mechanics or story devices go. The game certainly puts a premium on whimsy and melodrama, so if that sort of thing triggers disgust, you're not going to get far no matter how good/bad the dialogue is at any given moment.

 

[Longing]

The dialogue is atrocious. I could actually handle teen slang and angst, but this is in the realm of "fucking nobody from earth talks like this".

It's bearable at first, but as soon as you get to the courtyard, it all goes tits up. All of the characters feel like tropes written by someone who's never seen actual human beings interact and who seems to thing that people will only talk with you if you've impressed them with obscure knowledge you have regarding the exact same thing they're doing at that moment.

As a big interactive story fan, I do not recommend. It's bad when you can't even come up with good writing when it's pretty much the only thing required for your game.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I played the demo and I broke out in hives at the amount of "hipsteriness". I wanted to pop that frikking teacher in the mouth the moment I laid eyes on him. I usually try to refrain from using this word, but God was it pretentious. Maybe this is what life on a university is actually like, but I couldn't stand this fucking dialoge. Any character that uses the word 'hella' unironically needs to be thrown off a cliff.

Also, how are these girls 18 when most of them barely look 15? What are they vegans or something?

 

[TravelerSF]

I'll just post what I posted on their Facebook page:

"It is a flawed creation with a strong identity.

Opinions from a man who has no experience in game design carry little weight, but I'm hoping you're willing to take your fan's opinions into account nonetheless. So here I go:

The time rewinding mechanic is an interesting one, if a tad repetitive. Though it allows redoing your choices and fixing mistakes, that's almost everything it is used for. I liked the few puzzles where I had to use the rewind, but would've wanted them to be a tad more challenging. Perhaps now, after the introductions, players can be given something a tad more complicated to solve?

The cast is diverse enough, but perhaps a tad too big. I felt exhausted going through the school, talking with everyone I could see to get all the dialogue. I felt like it was a chore to introduce myself with all of them, instead of the game introducing them to me. Same goes with the environments, too much objects to look at, too little relevant information gained.

I do like Max as a protagonist. She's plain, but that's something we need in videogames now - more characters we can relate with. It's a shame so much of her personality is explained through monologue. Instead of us seeing or even doing the things that are supposed to define her (shyness, creativity, photography) we're stuck on listening to them.

Chloe really is the saving grace of the episode and her relationship with Max is a strong gravitational center to the story. A rebellious teen is a character which can easily slip into a cliche, but the multiple issues and her complicated, yet strong relationship with Max help making her a proper character. Dwelling on the childhood nostalgia was definitely the strongest part of the episode for me.

One BIG improvement I'd like to see made though is the dialogue. You don't need to inject teenage slang into it to make it believable. Believe me, namedropping Kickstarter out of nowhere doesn't enhance the immersion, it breaks it. Just write everyone as characters, persons, and not teens.

All that said I did end up worrying about the fate of the town in the end. That's a strong sign, hope you can deliver on that."

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Unless spacegod Cthulhu demands 100 % of all videogame protagonists to be fucking boring then I guess it's all right, but we really, reaaallllyyyyy don't need any more of them. Seriously, can you name 5 protagonists that aren't bland as paper and not meant for the player to project themselves onto them and are instead meant as actual flawed characters in their own right?

Opinions are often split on this. Look how many people preferred the mute personality void that was the Dragon Age Origins protagonist over Hawke, the Inquisitor, or even Shepard.

For some people being able to imprint on their protagonist is the most important thing. They want to insert themselves into the narrative and get very salty when they can't.

I'm fine either way, really.

 

[TravelerSF]

I do like Max as a protagonist. She's plain, but that's something we need in videogames now - more characters we can relate with....

I, what?

Unless spacegod Cthulhu demands 100 % of all videogame protagonists to be fucking boring then I guess it's all right, but we really, reaaallllyyyyy don't need any more of them. Seriously, can you name 5 protagonists that aren't bland as paper and not meant for the player to project themselves onto them and are instead meant as actual flawed characters in their own right?

I might've painted with a too broad of a stroke, but this was meant to be just a personal view. Videogame protagonists often function as a power fantasy and are therefore rather close to at least physical perfection, often mental as well (being super heroic and all that). And that's what I find boring, mostly because it's so common, and that's why I personally find characters like Max more interesting. She looks like a regular girl and she HAS genuine character traits and personality. Granted those are handled extremely poorly since they're mostly just explained through Max's inner dialogue which, don't get me wrong, gets absolutely intolerable from time to time.

What I was trying to say was that I'd rather have protagonist who're normal, relatable people thrown into odd situations, rather than superhumans who're already at the very beginning above anything I could ever aspire to be.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Sure people can have their void to project onto, games without a plot like Skyrim are probably better off, but when an actually interesting protagonist appears in maybe 5-10 games of all games ever made, I get a little pissy when people say they need more of the bland type.

To be fair, Max is more of a character than the vast, vast majority of game protagonists. However low a bar that might be to clear. Whether or not the nature of her character will appeal to everyone is another question entirely, as she spends a healthy portion of the first episode being a bit of a wet blanket. If she has any kind of arc, that should change.

Imagine what one's opinion of, I dunno...Chihiro would be, if one were to watch only the first fifth of Spirited Away. Probably not very good.

 

[Mikejames]

Eeeh, I'm on the fence.

I actually like the premise of the power, but I'll have to see what they do with it. Will they subvert expectations and show unexpected consequences for what feels like a better choice in the short-term, or will they have it remain as a Reload Auto-save button? Will emotionally manipulating people carry weight in the end, or is it a shorthanded way to make everyone automatically like you?

The characters are pretty hit and miss. I like that a few don't fall into tropes (i.e. the cheerleader girl isn't automatically a villain, the religious girl isn't just set up as the straw man, etc.), but the majority of students are stereotypical gits that won't talk to you unless you indulge their egos and parrot their lingo. (I was genuinely surprised that there wasn't an option to punch someone with an automatic rewind to avoid consequences).

So, I guess I am interested enough to see where things may go, but I acknowledge some pretty blatant flaws.

 

[Battenberg]

The game seems promising, but what I don't get is why literally everybody must imitate Telltale's shitty business model and release the game in pieces, so you have to pay outrageous prices to be able to play the whole thing. Either way, I think I'll play it in a year or five when they decide it's time to stop milking money from the customers and release the last "episode".

Lolwut? Sure you have to pay more TIMES but you don't pay more money; certainly nothing 'outrageous' as far as gaming costs go. I don't know about this particular series but Telltale's games come in at around £20 a series at most which is around an 8-10 hour campaign if you just buzz through it and don't take a whole lot of time exploring and trying things out (and who doesn't take time out for a bit of aimless clicking in this genre?) and, more importantly, has solid replayability because of all the various choices you make. Plenty of games get away with charging £40 for their title when it launches for around about the same amount of content.

Personally I'm not a massive fan of the whole episodic thing because it means taking month long breaks every time you get 20% of the way through the story if you play it as it launches but regardless I fail to see how Telltale (or anyone utilising episodes) are "milking" their customers or charging prices that could possibly be considered extortionate or outrageous. Aside from anything else their model actually allows you to try a portion of the game for a portion of its total cost allowing you to decide if it's worth forking out the cash for the rest of the game as opposed to taking the chance that you're spending 5x as much and only realising too late that it isn't your kind of game.

 

[maninahat]

I've not finished it yet, but I haven't had the same experience. Whilst the concept of time travel in a mundane setting is appealing (a la The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) in terms of how it is used for good or abused in a creepy or malicious way. In practise it has so far been largely applied to timed point and click adventure puzzles that feel awkwardly levered in. Within twenty minutes of discovering they have awesome reality bending powers, the protagonist uses this incredible ability to...get a girl to budge over on a step.

The writing is a bit sophomoric too. There is a lot of crude symbolism, simplistic archetype characters and unnatural, dated dialogue. I'll come back to finish the game, but I've not yet seen enough to convince me to buy a full season pass.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

It's a pretty good story so far. Doesn't quite hit the level of "The Walking Dead" just yet though. Still, I'm very interested to see how the choices with rewinding time etc. will be reflected in the future episodes.

I don't care about the "classifications" and "groups" thing going on in the game. But as far as portraying highschool (actually it's more like college I guess, but I'm European so wouldn't know) thing, that's something which actually goes on in youth culture, so no surprises.