You really gotta hand it to the folks over at Dontnod Entertainment and Square-Enix. They've crafted what is arguably one of the best episodic graphic-adventure titles of the past decade with their 2015 release "Life is Strange," and they did it in a very unique and often- entertaining way. With a story-line and characters that can only be described as "Juno meets Donnie Darko", and a fantastic game-play style that very pleasantly reminded me of the excellent interactive- horror- movie "Until Dawn", "Life is Strange" is certainly one of the more intriguing and fascinating games in recent memory. And though it might not quite be perfect, it definitely comes highly recommended from this very satisfied gamer.
We follow Max Caulfield, a young student who is attending school in the town of Arcadia Bay, Oregon. As the story begins, Max discovers that she somehow has the mysterious ability to rewind time for brief instances, allowing her to correct mistakes or change choices she has recently made. And she must use this gift and curse in an increasingly intricate story-line that unfolds over the course of a week, as she re-unites with her troubled and sometimes self-destructive childhood friend Chloe Price, tries to solve the mystery of a local missing girl and attempts to avert disaster as she begins to experience cryptic visions that suggest a tornado will destroy Arcadia Bay in only a few days time...
To get it out of the way, I do think there is one pretty moderate flaw to the game that should be addressed up front. The general storytelling and handling of character and dialog is very specific, and no doubt will turn some gamers off. It feels very "quirky" and "indie film." And this sort-of sensibility can be grating at times in the early chapters of the game... especially the first chapter, which lasts about an hour and seems to be the one most chock-full of pretentious one-liners and non-stop acoustic guitar music. Thankfully, the game quickly corrects this "eccentricity" over the second and third chapters, but it still might be a bit much for some.
The storytelling is generally top-notch, and like many other games of this style, there's a lot of room for replays as your choices impact the narrative. So each time you start the game again, you'll be getting a fresh, new experience based on the choices you make. The plot is quite fascinating and there's enough twists and turns over its relatively short length to keep you guessing and searching for the next big clue or next great character-arc to discover. Some of the revelations will definitely take your breath away and may even tug at your heartstrings. Characters are expertly written and performed (despite the occasionally-wonky dialog), and you'll very easily be able to slip into Max's shoes and feel the pressure she feels in trying to make all the right choices. It's just generally a wonderful game in terms of writing and direction, and it keeps you wholly invested from start to finish. Which is no small feat for any story.
Of particular note is the relationship between Max and Chloe, which forms the backbone of the narrative. It's an incredibly sweet and yet also oft tumultuous and turbulent friendship, going through the most extremes of high and low points. It's an emotional roller coaster, and draws so many pure feelings of happiness and despair out of you throughout the experience. And our lead voice-over actresses Hannah Telle and Ashley Burch nail it wonderfully. It is without doubt the highlight of the entire game.
Gameplay is quite astonishing for a game of this style, and both the controls and the mechanics perfectly compliment the proceedings. The basic controls are very tight, concise and easy to pick up on. It might take a bit of getting used to, but within ten or fifteen minutes, most players will have them mastered. The way Max interacts with the environment is quite cleverly implemented, with players using the thumb-sticks to look around, then using one of several buttons on a pop-up menu to interact with objects or NPC's in varying ways. The main game-play mechanic that sets the game apart is most definitely the "Time Rewind" feature, which can generally be used at any time, save for a small handful of key sequences in which Max briefly loses the ability. It's shocking how perfectly the ability is integrated into the game-play. It can be used to do something as simple as manipulate a short conversation to attain a different result, or to do something as significant as gleaning enough information in the future that you can go back a few minutes and use it to do something that will alter the entire story or even save a life. The game also cleverly creates a sense of immersion by adding in completely insignificant events that can be altered with the mechanic without any major impact to the story, for no other reason than rewarding players by giving a greater sense of depth and impact. It's brilliant, really.
The artistic style and music are also fantastic, environmental design is quite good, the voice-over performances are exquisite and generally all other aspects of the production are top- of-the-line, especially for an episodic downloadable adventure game. This is just a really excellent game that is sadly dragged down a point due to some relatively minor issues with the tone early on. Still, I can say with some certainty that "Life is Strange" is a remarkable release and is well-worth checking out for open-minded gamers. It's not perfect... but it's darned close.
I give it an excellent 9 out of 10.
We follow Max Caulfield, a young student who is attending school in the town of Arcadia Bay, Oregon. As the story begins, Max discovers that she somehow has the mysterious ability to rewind time for brief instances, allowing her to correct mistakes or change choices she has recently made. And she must use this gift and curse in an increasingly intricate story-line that unfolds over the course of a week, as she re-unites with her troubled and sometimes self-destructive childhood friend Chloe Price, tries to solve the mystery of a local missing girl and attempts to avert disaster as she begins to experience cryptic visions that suggest a tornado will destroy Arcadia Bay in only a few days time...
To get it out of the way, I do think there is one pretty moderate flaw to the game that should be addressed up front. The general storytelling and handling of character and dialog is very specific, and no doubt will turn some gamers off. It feels very "quirky" and "indie film." And this sort-of sensibility can be grating at times in the early chapters of the game... especially the first chapter, which lasts about an hour and seems to be the one most chock-full of pretentious one-liners and non-stop acoustic guitar music. Thankfully, the game quickly corrects this "eccentricity" over the second and third chapters, but it still might be a bit much for some.
The storytelling is generally top-notch, and like many other games of this style, there's a lot of room for replays as your choices impact the narrative. So each time you start the game again, you'll be getting a fresh, new experience based on the choices you make. The plot is quite fascinating and there's enough twists and turns over its relatively short length to keep you guessing and searching for the next big clue or next great character-arc to discover. Some of the revelations will definitely take your breath away and may even tug at your heartstrings. Characters are expertly written and performed (despite the occasionally-wonky dialog), and you'll very easily be able to slip into Max's shoes and feel the pressure she feels in trying to make all the right choices. It's just generally a wonderful game in terms of writing and direction, and it keeps you wholly invested from start to finish. Which is no small feat for any story.
Of particular note is the relationship between Max and Chloe, which forms the backbone of the narrative. It's an incredibly sweet and yet also oft tumultuous and turbulent friendship, going through the most extremes of high and low points. It's an emotional roller coaster, and draws so many pure feelings of happiness and despair out of you throughout the experience. And our lead voice-over actresses Hannah Telle and Ashley Burch nail it wonderfully. It is without doubt the highlight of the entire game.
Gameplay is quite astonishing for a game of this style, and both the controls and the mechanics perfectly compliment the proceedings. The basic controls are very tight, concise and easy to pick up on. It might take a bit of getting used to, but within ten or fifteen minutes, most players will have them mastered. The way Max interacts with the environment is quite cleverly implemented, with players using the thumb-sticks to look around, then using one of several buttons on a pop-up menu to interact with objects or NPC's in varying ways. The main game-play mechanic that sets the game apart is most definitely the "Time Rewind" feature, which can generally be used at any time, save for a small handful of key sequences in which Max briefly loses the ability. It's shocking how perfectly the ability is integrated into the game-play. It can be used to do something as simple as manipulate a short conversation to attain a different result, or to do something as significant as gleaning enough information in the future that you can go back a few minutes and use it to do something that will alter the entire story or even save a life. The game also cleverly creates a sense of immersion by adding in completely insignificant events that can be altered with the mechanic without any major impact to the story, for no other reason than rewarding players by giving a greater sense of depth and impact. It's brilliant, really.
The artistic style and music are also fantastic, environmental design is quite good, the voice-over performances are exquisite and generally all other aspects of the production are top- of-the-line, especially for an episodic downloadable adventure game. This is just a really excellent game that is sadly dragged down a point due to some relatively minor issues with the tone early on. Still, I can say with some certainty that "Life is Strange" is a remarkable release and is well-worth checking out for open-minded gamers. It's not perfect... but it's darned close.
I give it an excellent 9 out of 10.