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PC version reviewed.
Life Is Strange is an episodic adventure game published by Square Enix and developed by DontNod Entertainment for the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.
This review has spoilers!
GAMEPLAY
Forced into some decisions when other options could be possible, most big options only had two choices. Ending choice of episode two was one that certainly could have used more options, such as being able to blame everyone, rather than just one person
Rewinding time could be used in pretty inventive ways, such as getting into places that were locked, or obtaining things from people that you got from the future and went back to the past with. Having the option to run through all options and even finding more helpful information by rewinding conversation was pretty cool too, almost like a really fast reload feature.
Plot holes in regards to possible rewinds, such as when Nathan finds Max and Chloe in the dormitory. Why not just rewind to get out before he arrives? This was especially annoying for me since I was trying to stay out his way in my playthrough. Something so avoidable just seemed forced to move the plot forward.
In contrast to parts like these there are moments where your choices really do matter, such as confronting Frank in episode four, there are so many things you could have done before hand both big and small that can effect the way it goes down. From minor dialogue and finding things out about him to obviously big choices regarding him earlier in the story. If the whole game offered that variety of options to progress this game could have been a masterpiece.
Really liked the detective style segments in episode four.
Being able to see how your friends or the rest of the world went through the game and its major choices was a cool little feature.
STORY
Endings could definitely have been better as they both seemingly nullify almost all your choices and lack closure, especially the save Chloe ending where you don't find out what happened to anyone other than being left to guess that only Max and Chloe survive. You're funnelled into choosing between two endings that don't change regardless of how you've played through the game and both of them seem to make what you did pointless anyway.
Some people might say it's all about the journey but that doesn't sit right with me on this because if you choose the save Arcadia ending the journey will never have happened and Max possibly might not even remember all of it, no one else will at least. So there would be no journey. If you choose the save Chloe ending then her and Max will remember everything and it will have happened but everyone is probably dead, so all those relationships and encounters with people don't mean so much, aside from the fact they ultimately built up to saving Chloe.
Didn't shy away from heavy subjects such as drugs, loss and suicide.
Regardless of the ending there were still some great characters. Max's development from a shy person to a more confident one, Chloe's development to become a less selfish figure, the tragic story of Nathan being used and abused because he was from a high status family are just a few examples, there was plenty of depth to characters and the growth of many was interesting to watch unfold.
Episode five is weak in comparison to the others, lesser gameplay, weaker story, bad conclusion.
Almost every decision in the final episode didn't actually matter because you went through so many different realities where you made the choices before switching to another, wiping out most if not all of the decisions from the previous one. Ultimately it seemed that almost, if not every decision didn't matter bar the final one, which wasn't impacted by any of your choices throughout all the episodes. Other than that the episode only really had jumping and running through these numerous realities to escape to yet another as well as loads of looking around at different objects to open the path to these other places, rather than more of the problem solving or detective style work from previous episodes.
I thought that maybe all the time jumps were going to represent that Max wasn't just getting damaged by the rewinds physically but also mentally, as everything started to become so loopy but instead it seemed that the developers realised how crazy the finale had become and that they just embraced the madness. I know it's called Life Is Strange but the final episode went beyond strange.
Complaints about it being "cringy" are terrible. Most, if not all, teenagers have moments like that. I think people complaining about stuff like that just didn't really get it.
It's one of a rare breed, as are most of these episodic story games, where the story is probably more important than the gameplay.
GRAPHICS
SOUND
Very nice soundtrack, both the vocal songs playing over the top of scenes or the more ambient music such as the minimal guitar that often accompanied conversations.
Voice acting was very good, characters were really given an extra breath of life by some of the performances. It's further commendable to how good some of the voice acting is when some of the facial animations weren't great but you were still able to connect with people.
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL
I really enjoyed Life Is Strange but the final episode let it down a bit. It's frustrating because I really enjoyed plenty of parts from the first four episodes but the fifth went pretty off the rails. If you're a fan of a good story this game should deliver, at least for the first four episodes and since the first one is free now there's hardly any excuse not to at least try it. Just don't expect quite the freedom of choice the game promises because it's still a pretty thrilling ride none the less.
