Life is Strange

I can’t review Life is Strange yet because the final episode hasn’t been released, but I thought I’d do a post about the game and my experience with it. It’s an episodic, narrative driven adventure title, similar in style to the Telltale Walking Dead games. You play as Max, a teenage girl with the ability to ‘rewind’ time. As with the Telltale games, it’s a title featuring player choices which impact the unfolding narrative.

Without the fifth and final episode in place, how much impact choices really have still remains to be seen. I’m hoping it will tie together various choices made throughout the previous four, although I suspect, as with the Telltale WD games, it won’t be quite as complex a web of consequences as I would hope.

Choices in LiS fall into two categories – high impact and low impact. There are four to five high impact choices in each episode, with ten or more low impact. High impact decisions obviously alter the narrative in a more substantial way, but some low impact choices, when combined, can also play their part. There’s a wonderful/tragic moment at the end of episode 2 for example, whereby one or two high impact decisions are combined with several low impact choices to determine the outcome. It’s a great example of the choice based gameplay coming together in a meaningful way.

Of course, not every choice has such a fundamental impact on the plot, and even this moment in episode 2, ultimately, doesn’t alter that much going forward, aside from adding an additional scene. That’s not to say these choices, even the relatively pointless low impact decisions (will you water your plant?) aren’t effective at tailoring a unique, player driven narrative. In fact, after completing the currently released episodes and then watching a few other people play via YouTube, I was impressed how differently some scenes and interactions played out. 

And, it should be remembered, that until we have the final episode we won’t really know just how important every decision was - maybe that plant was super important, after all. Overall though, I was quite pleased with how the game handled decisions and consequences. I really hope the final episode ties everything together in a way that makes sense and doesn’t render too many of our decisions irrelevant. I’d love for multiple endings, perhaps even with ‘bad’ endings. I doubt they’ll go this route, and we’ll probably get a single ‘core’ ending with a few variations, but as long as they handle it appropriately, I won’t be too fussed.

Another interesting thing to note about the decisions in LiS is how the rewind mechanic plays into them. Using Max’s special power you get to see the immediate outcome of every choice, large or small. The long term outcome remains to be seen, but it’s nice being able to ‘undo’ a choice if you’re not entirely happy with it – and this ties neatly into the plot as Max struggles with her new ability and how to use it responsibly.

The rewind power can also be used quite cleverly in some situations. For example, in one episode I broke into a room, damaging the lock. I could have left the lock broken but instead, because Max’s position remains constant even during a rewind, I used the power to ‘fix’ the lock, but remained within the room. Now, I’m not sure it will matter later if people know someone broke into the room or not (and it probably won’t) but it’s a neat touch. And there are several similar situations where you can use your power like this to undo actions and cover your tracks. Or not, if you’d prefer.

Before the final episode drops, I’m probably going to set up a second run, but make as many different choices as I can, just to see how much I can alter the narrative. Hopefully, it will also impact a lot on the final episode too. But we’ll see. 

I’ve talked a lot about choices and consequences, but what about the game itself? How does it play? In terms of gameplay, it’s all rather simple, but that’s all it really needed to be. You move Max throughout the environments, clicking to investigate or interact. You can rewind at any point, and this power plays a big part in solving the various puzzles throughout the episodes. There’s nothing particularly challenging or hard to figure out, but the rewind mechanic is nicely incorporated.

There’s a lot to examine (posters, books, computers, photos etc) and the attention to detail throughout the environments is great. The game has a nice art style to it, especially for the interiors, although some of the exteriors do look a little bland. The animations, in general, are good, although the game does suffer from some horribly static facial expressions and lip sync. It’s strange, because at times the facial animations are really good and expressive, but at others, they look a bit shit.

The game makes good use of lighting and sound to enhance the atmosphere. I wouldn’t typically listen to the sort of music featured in the game, but it fits the style, tone and story. I liked the mystery aspect to the plot, especially the moment in episode 4 when you piece all your gathered clues together. Whereas the Telltale titles seem to be moving away from player exploration/investigation, I really appreciated being able to take my time and explore the environments or solve puzzles at my own pace. It’s not all just QTE cut-scenes and dialogue choices. 

Although the first episode is a little slow, it does hint at what’s to come, and thankfully it really kicks into gear during episode 2. By the end of episode 2 I was completely hooked and by 3 I was fully engrossed. I really, really got into this game in a way I didn’t expect and I can’t wait to play the final episode to see how it all wraps up.

In terms of the writing, LiS can be a little inconsistent. There’s a few dialogue heavy moments (one scene in episode 4 in particular) that get a little tedious, and some conversations feel less ‘natural’ than others. Some dialogue is a little dodgy or just, well…bad (STUPID GUN!). And there are some logical inconsistencies with regards to character reactions and the way certain scenes play out. It’s got its rough edges, without a doubt, but they didn’t stop me from becoming emotionally invested in the story.

Although I expected I’d like Life is Strange based on what little I’d seen of it, I didn’t expect to become quite so invested in the narrative or characters. Being the heartless bastard that I am, it’s usually hard to make me care. But LiS made me care. I just hope the final episode doesn’t f**k it all up.