Life is Strange - your thoughts

[Auron225]

Absolutely loved it, it's among my highest rated games. I was completely absorbed into it and blasted through the whole thing within a week. Very few games I've seen have even tried to tackle half the issues LiS wrestles with. I know it's not for everyone, but I highly recommend it nonetheless.

 

[happyninja42]

Absolutely loved it, it's among my highest rated games. I was completely absorbed into it and blasted through the whole thing within a week. Very few games I've seen have even tried to tackle half the issues LiS wrestles with. I know it's not for everyone, but I highly recommend it nonetheless.

For me it was just the ability of the game to capture the teenager mindset so well. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm 40, and thus have a comfy distance of time from my teenage years, that I don't freak the fuck out like other people do about the "cringe worthy hipster dialogue". Sorry but it's cringe worthy because it's teenagers. We talked like that as kids, you can hate that fact all you want, but it's not an inaccurate look at the teenage mindset and outlook on the world. I remember playing it, and aside from a few modern catch phrases, it felt very much like what me and a lot of my friends acted like back in the 90s. Coming up with crazy fantasies about us leaving our small town life, and going on to rule the universe (me and a friend in highschool actually discussed this, I would be Universal Distributor of Weed, while he was the Lord Emperor of Everything). Losing your shit about things that are ultimately trivial, but to you are super important. Being deeply invested in your music, and having it be sort of a shield from the world for you (this one was a deeply familiar point for me). Hell even the mannerisms and clothing were similar for a lot of them.


And Chloe was this bizarre hybrid of 2 girls I knew in school. They were inseparable, and somehow, DONTNOD found a way to splice the two of them together into one girl. It was eerily accurate and bizarre at the same time. And Warren, hell I WAS Warren to one girl in school. Hopelessly in love with her, and she just saw me as a friend, but always came to me for help with serious shit, because she knew I would help her.

So yeah, I stand by the game's writing as being accurate for the age bracket being shown. You can hate the dialogue, but that doesn't make it wrong.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I think it's just a sign of the times that the overabundant access kids have to social media and various influences of it mostly serves to compound the already difficult job of raising a decent kid. A half century ago parents had maybe two balls to juggle, and now that number could arguably have at least tripled.

I find the game reflective and empathetic to some point, but at the same time it makes me end up wondering if life was ever supposed to be so complicated. When did all this depressing, anxsty bs start anyways. I perfectly understand why people who've lived in the city their whole lives want to retire in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Dalisclock]

I find the game reflective and empathetic to some point, but at the same time it makes me end up wondering if life was ever supposed to be so complicated. When did all this depressing, anxsty bs start anyways. I perfectly understand why people who've lived in the city their whole lives want to retire in the middle of nowhere.

In fiction, Romeo and Juliet is a fairly old example of Angst. Teens being moody isn't exactly a new trope.

And Chole and Max are still more likable then Holden "WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! EVERYONE'S A PHONEY BUT ME!" Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye. The only book I can remember where I kept looking for a line stating "Turn to page 199 to throttle Holden so he shuts the hell up for once" and then remembered I wasn't reading a choose your own adventure book.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Half way through the second episode and I've surmised that the only way for these types of games to work is if the story and characters are nothing short of amazing, because the gameplay itself is borderline insufferable. Getting really tired of "looking" at and "using" everything while shuffling around each location at a snail's pace. The dry comments at nearly every interactive object only ratchet up all the wrong kinds of tension as most of them are seemingly pointless.

I really hope something monumental develops in the story, because otherwise this is going to be a chore.

 

[Redryhno]

Half way through the second episode and I've surmised that the only way for these types of games to work is if the story and characters are nothing short of amazing, because the gameplay itself is borderline insufferable. Getting really tired of "looking" at and "using" everything while shuffling around each location at a snail's pace. The dry comments at nearly every interactive object only ratchet up all the wrong kinds of tension as most of them are seemingly pointless.

I really hope something monumental develops in the story, because otherwise this is going to be a chore.

About 90 percent of the story you can correctly assume if you've consumed pretty much any time travel fiction, or watched Donnie Darko.

The real test of patience is if you like Chloe or not.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I have some empathy for her, but if she is a focal point of the greater story arc, then she's in dire need of more screen time. Max is the one who's really testing my patience so far.

 

[Major_Tom]

I just finished it (yay Steam summer sale) and I absolutely loved it. I don't get the dialogue complaints, I mean teenagers are pretty cringy, that's the point. Even the cringiest line in this is more believable than anything said in Dawson's creek, ever. The ending fits perfectly and comparing it to Mass Effect 3 is pretty pointless, this game is closer to Spec Ops if anything.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Well the second episode was at least better than the first. I can see how things might start branching out story-wise but not sure how it fits into the overall arch.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

So I'm about half way through Episode 4: Dark Room and the game has surprisingly gotten much, much better. Episode 3 really got me invested more in the characters and the story, which seemingly opens up both in choice and the weight of those choices.

I think I'll have to rescind my previous statements about Until Dawn being a superior choice-based game at this point. I've also been reminded of how it's nice being able to run a little here and there.


*edit* Just finished it, and I thought it was worth the playthrough. Pretty interesting story with some of the more powerful themes seen in gaming, but

Spoiler

kind of a letdown that it basically boils down to an A or B ending.

I chose to Sacrifice Arcadia Bay because well, why not it's only a game, and the town was already kind of a mess anyways if it was left to go on as it was. Maybe a reset would help clean up all the carelessness (bullying gone rampant) and corruption (Prescotts owning damn near everything and everyone). Besides, Chloe seemed to have made a nice character arc into being willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good, which is more than can be said for many of the known residents of Arcadia Bay in the first place. She didn't deserve to die tragically while the sick teacher gets away with everything. The whole point of the game seemed to revolve around what you would do if you had the power to change fate, so why not.

Life is Strange was a fitting title.

 

[Major_Tom]

Did you try the other ending too?

The whole point of the game seemed to revolve around what you would do if you had the power to change fate, so why not.

I thought the point was that if you try to change the fate, you will inevitably fuck something up. Heh, it seems they got the title of the last episode right.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Did you try the other ending too?

The whole point of the game seemed to revolve around what you would do if you had the power to change fate, so why not.

I thought the point was that if you try to change the fate, you will inevitably fuck something up. Heh, it seems they got the title of the last episode right.

No not yet. Yeah you're right about the other point too. Either way there will be a set of good and bad causes and effects.

 

[bluegate]

Finally gotten around to playing the game and I'm still only up to chapter 4, but I really enjoy what I have played thus far, can't wait to play further.

I sure as hell am glad I never bought the game when it was releasing as separate episodes, the wait between episodes would have killed me.

 

[Catfood220]

Finally gotten around to playing the game and I'm still only up to chapter 4, but I really enjoy what I have played thus far, can't wait to play further.

I sure as hell am glad I never bought the game when it was releasing as separate episodes, the wait between episodes would have killed me.

Yeah, the wait between episodes 4 and 5 had me tearing out what is left of my hair

 

[dscross]

If you like choice driven stories, it's great. Your decisions make a difference on how the story plays out, that's the appeal for me (although there are only a couple of possible endings from what I remember). Irrespective of the tone, if you like things like Until Dawn, Heavy Rain, The Walking Dead telltale game, etc, it's a must play.

Plus the soundtrack is pretty great. The time travel gimmick and characters do grow on you.

 

[gorfias]

Loved it, made me feel like a teenage girl again.

LOL. I hear it is good and got it for free on PS+, started playing and my wife started dissing me for being a fat old dude playing as a girl.

Hey, it is in the script.

She also practically accused me of being pedo for playing hide and seek with a little girl. It was at the beginning of Dishonored and I was learning stealth skills!

In reality, she just wants me doing more around the house rather than gaming! I try to fit it all in. With limited success both on gaming and house chores.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

If you play it, try to enjoy it for the ride. As some others said, the ending is an A or B choice where every choice you made in the game doesn't matter. However, they do actually impact the game quite a bit while you're playing through it.

I really enjoyed the game, and it does some things very well. The writing is very good (with the exception of some of the dialogue. Apparently they had a writer's daughter or something like that validate the teen lingo, but it really doesn't show). It also does a great job of puzzle solving, particularly at one point in the game. They set it up in such a way that you need to have figured out the puzzle to proceed. Randomly reloading and trying different options would just take forever. It was a pretty clever execution

It had its flaws, but I'd still say it was well worth playing

 

[bluegate]

Finally finished the game myself and I thought it was a pretty good game, it has left me with the same post-game "depression" as The Last of Us did in that I am sorry to have to part with these characters. The game has some faults, but overall I enjoyed it a lot.

Although it might take away a bit of a choice's weight, I really like being able to rewind most choices in the game as it allowed the player to quickly view multiple outcomes without having to reload or play the entire game again.

 

[CritialGaming]

I just don't get it. I gotta be honest, I tried, and I just don't get it.

Look a don't care how great the story in any game is....if there is no game, then I'd rather watch a movie. I have this same problem with Telltale "games". Putting QTE's over a cinematic, doesn't mean you made a game. It means you made a movie that automatically pauses every three minutes until you press resume.

Hell at least walking simulators require you to constantly input and look around for shit.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Hell at least walking simulators require you to constantly input and look around for shit.

Isn't that exactly what Life is Strange does? Most of the game is you walking around and looking for shit.