LIFE IS STRANGE (XONE)
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Developer: DONTNOD Entertainment.
Released: January-October 2015. Genre: Narrative Adventure. Other versions: X360; PS4; PS3; PC. Posted 27th September 2016. By Shane Battams © 2016 |
Life is Strange is great, a marvellous achievement that mixes storytelling with genuinely enjoyable gameplay. But much like The Walking Dead in 2012, many of the best moments from LoS cannot be discussed without spoiling the game if you’ve yet to play it. This article will take a look at some of the standout moments which make this one such a treat.
*DO NOT READ if you plan to play Life is Strange, frequent spoilers throughout*
Time Travel is the key theme here. While many media products have explored this, Life is Strange puts a new and intriguing spin on things. It’s a more intimate look, focusing on a student balancing her new-found power with curriculum and teenage problems, such as identity, bullying and cliques which form with common interest. Though indeed travelling through time is a power – Chloe actually calling her a superhero bluntly points this out – it never overtakes the drama. Max often must make crucial decisions, and though you can often explore these by abusing the rewind function, eventually you must progress to a point you can’t go back, such as implicating one of three individuals in regards to the bullying of Kate Marsh.
Speaking of Kate, Life is Strange is also striking for its taboo explorations. Drug abuse is prominent – Chloe often smokes weed and is a central cause of tension between her “step-douche” and either Chloe or Max, depending on whom you implicate. There are also many observations on mental health on both ends of the spectrum. Nathan, for instance, borders on completely psychotic. You can instantly tell that he suffers from an aggressive disorder – maybe bipolar – by how he behaves around Max, especially if you snitch on him. Kate, on the other hand, suffers from depression thanks in large part to persistent bullying and the mockery resulting from her drunken viral video, which in itself offers a scathing look at the dangers of internet and viral videos.
*DO NOT READ if you plan to play Life is Strange, frequent spoilers throughout*
Time Travel is the key theme here. While many media products have explored this, Life is Strange puts a new and intriguing spin on things. It’s a more intimate look, focusing on a student balancing her new-found power with curriculum and teenage problems, such as identity, bullying and cliques which form with common interest. Though indeed travelling through time is a power – Chloe actually calling her a superhero bluntly points this out – it never overtakes the drama. Max often must make crucial decisions, and though you can often explore these by abusing the rewind function, eventually you must progress to a point you can’t go back, such as implicating one of three individuals in regards to the bullying of Kate Marsh.
Speaking of Kate, Life is Strange is also striking for its taboo explorations. Drug abuse is prominent – Chloe often smokes weed and is a central cause of tension between her “step-douche” and either Chloe or Max, depending on whom you implicate. There are also many observations on mental health on both ends of the spectrum. Nathan, for instance, borders on completely psychotic. You can instantly tell that he suffers from an aggressive disorder – maybe bipolar – by how he behaves around Max, especially if you snitch on him. Kate, on the other hand, suffers from depression thanks in large part to persistent bullying and the mockery resulting from her drunken viral video, which in itself offers a scathing look at the dangers of internet and viral videos.
Everything ultimately hinges around Chloe
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Save Kate and you'll reap the rewards of new story elements
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This leads to one of the, for me personally, toughest segments in the game. Not because it’s hard (this isn’t Dark Souls) but because it is, to be blunt, emotionally traumatising. After all the abuse she has suffered, she climbs to the roof of the girl’s dorm and attempts to commit suicide. Through sheer force of will, as well as several nose bleeds from using her power too much, Max reaches the roof. What follows is a series of dialogue trees which, unlike most scenarios, cannot be undone due to Max being nearly unconscious. You can either successfully talk her down, preventing her suicide, or (and often through one mistake) she will jump and die. Permanently. Though the game continues, it feels like a genuine fail-state and leaves you heartbroken, especially as DONTNOD develop her early on in Episode 2.
There are a lot of choices which have major impacts on the game late-on. Early on in Episode 1, you must solve a pretty clever puzzle to shift premier-bitch Victoria from the front of the dorms. After, you can choose to chide her or show sympathy. The former will result in her becoming very aggressive towards you in later episodes, such as trashing her room along with Nathan. But not only that, in Episode 4 you will discuss with her and, depending on your actions throughout, she will either believe you or call you out as a liar, the latter resulting in her death in that timeline. Though admittedly, this can all feel wasted as Max jumps back and forth in time.
These, though, are some of the best explorations of time-travel I’ve seen. Eventually, Max discovers she can focus on photographs in order to jump back to the moment in time in which they were captured. Upset that Chloe storms off and mentioning her Dad, she travels back and saves him from death – the believed catalyst for Chloe’s hard lifestyle of drug-taking and rebellious nature. However, upon changing the past, Chloe is paralyzed in a car accident in a car her father bought. This is a shocking approach to Chaos Theory and Time Travel, leaving you shocked at the emotional intro to the fourth episode. It really highlights how changing the past cannot delay the inevitable, especially through the multiple times you save Chloe’s life after the initial change.
There are a lot of choices which have major impacts on the game late-on. Early on in Episode 1, you must solve a pretty clever puzzle to shift premier-bitch Victoria from the front of the dorms. After, you can choose to chide her or show sympathy. The former will result in her becoming very aggressive towards you in later episodes, such as trashing her room along with Nathan. But not only that, in Episode 4 you will discuss with her and, depending on your actions throughout, she will either believe you or call you out as a liar, the latter resulting in her death in that timeline. Though admittedly, this can all feel wasted as Max jumps back and forth in time.
These, though, are some of the best explorations of time-travel I’ve seen. Eventually, Max discovers she can focus on photographs in order to jump back to the moment in time in which they were captured. Upset that Chloe storms off and mentioning her Dad, she travels back and saves him from death – the believed catalyst for Chloe’s hard lifestyle of drug-taking and rebellious nature. However, upon changing the past, Chloe is paralyzed in a car accident in a car her father bought. This is a shocking approach to Chaos Theory and Time Travel, leaving you shocked at the emotional intro to the fourth episode. It really highlights how changing the past cannot delay the inevitable, especially through the multiple times you save Chloe’s life after the initial change.
You'll need to tread carefully to get on Frank's good side
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Nathan has a short-fuse and friends in high places
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Then there’s the gut-punch twist to close Episode 4 that reveals Max’s teacher Mr Jefferson was the man responsible for drugging and photographing the likes of Kate Marsh and Rachel. A few red herrings are thrown in there: Nathan seems like an obvious candidate due to his psychosis and threatening Chloe with a gun at the beginning of the game (and actually, he is revealed as a sort-of accomplice to Jefferson) as well as the possibility of David Madsen, Chloe’s step-dad who has an awfully keen interest in Kate. You can implicate him in the aforementioned trio of guys who drove Kate Marsh to despair, but really, it’s not that clear he is the sick, perverted man capturing women and drugging them. To me at least, it was a genuine surprise.
The ending to Polarized, the final episode of the series, it actually is fitting how it’s ended up polarising many gamers. You see, it boils down to a monumental final choice: either sacrifice Chloe and save Arcadia Bay from a destructive tornado, or sacrifice Arcadia Bay and keep Chloe alive. The former decision is slow, painful and emotionally hard to sit through. The latter, though, has been criticised for being abrupt and out of character. But perhaps that is the point: the first decision is the safe option, but leaves you feeling depressed long-term. The second, though, is rash and careless, much like the ending itself. It symbolically represents the thought process behind both decisions through the endings themselves.
And that’s the beauty of Life is Strange: it means something different to everyone. Some may enjoy it for its time-travelling antics, others may find value in its exploration of life as a teenager. You may have though Mr. Jefferson a creep instantly or never picked up on it until it slaps you in the face with it. And with the multitude of sub-plots you might miss – including a pregnancy test of another girl in the dorm – no two experiences will be the same. It might harbour similarities to other games in the genre, most obviously Telltale’s, but really, it’s a different beast, and one worth experiencing.
The ending to Polarized, the final episode of the series, it actually is fitting how it’s ended up polarising many gamers. You see, it boils down to a monumental final choice: either sacrifice Chloe and save Arcadia Bay from a destructive tornado, or sacrifice Arcadia Bay and keep Chloe alive. The former decision is slow, painful and emotionally hard to sit through. The latter, though, has been criticised for being abrupt and out of character. But perhaps that is the point: the first decision is the safe option, but leaves you feeling depressed long-term. The second, though, is rash and careless, much like the ending itself. It symbolically represents the thought process behind both decisions through the endings themselves.
And that’s the beauty of Life is Strange: it means something different to everyone. Some may enjoy it for its time-travelling antics, others may find value in its exploration of life as a teenager. You may have though Mr. Jefferson a creep instantly or never picked up on it until it slaps you in the face with it. And with the multitude of sub-plots you might miss – including a pregnancy test of another girl in the dorm – no two experiences will be the same. It might harbour similarities to other games in the genre, most obviously Telltale’s, but really, it’s a different beast, and one worth experiencing.
With power comes great responsibility, as Max's friends get dragged in
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Chloe obviously never heard the expression "don't push your luck"
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