Life is strange is a new game from Developer Dontnod, who most know from their first game Remember Me that some say bombed and others loved. Life is Strange follows a girl called Max as she returns to her hometown whose style and overall look hasn’t changed, but the people who live there have changed drastically. Not even a month into living in her hometown she gains the ability to reverse time, as if fitting in wasn’t hard enough, and so her tale begins, a Telltale if you will.
Story
This review is for Episode two and will has spoilers for the first episode. For a more in-depth look at the beginning story and gameplay find the first part here
Through saving her best friend Chloe from a gunshot, finding out about the missing woman Rachel Amber, and dealing with everyday BS of academy life. Through the choices in the first episode the interactions between characters can be very different, Kate referring to how you dealt with David, as well as side characters noting some of the other options you chose.
Episode 2 follows on with Max learning how to control her powers with Chloe at her secret spot near a train track. Through arguments, clue finding and talking with the people of the world you will learn a bit more about the Town and how it has changed in recent years. Choices pop up a bit more in this episode as there is no need for a tutorial and the effects are felt pretty close together. Some of the choices you made in the first episode show themselves pretty quickly, which I feel is a better way of doing it then what Telltale does.
Max continues to get visions of the tornado that will destroy Arcadia Bay, and Max feels almost isolated with her power with the little amount of information she has on it. Opening up to Chloe is her first step to learning more about it and Max continues to use it in everyday life.
To playthrough the second episode the first time I took around 3 Hours, looking at the majority of background items, taking pictures with Max’s retro camera and talking to the classmates. Though a subsequent playthrough lasted around 1-2 hours.
Gameplay
There wasn’t much of a improvement in the systems behind Life Is Strange as all the controls stayed the same and no new mechanics were introduced. Something a bit different was having to find 5 bottles that were hidden around an environment, and having to list a set of events to prove your ability to Chloe.
The time-reversing powers need to be a bit more grounded in this episode as turning back time meant erasing around 3-5 events and having Max stay in the same spot, which would seem weird to a lot of people with her mysterious almost teleporting powers. There were a few “mess with people” options in conversations, one being a chemistry experiment and making it explode in someone’s face, which I felt the game needed to add more character to Max.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
The music definitely picked up in the second episode and I heard every track as they started up during the different scenes you play in. The music style really fits with the game themes and the personality of Max. Each track was appealing and were made to a high quality.
The game keeps in its skipping feature, which is sorely needed for a game with time travel. Once you have seen a scene, or talked to someone you can press the spacebar to skip through that part and move onto the next section, I still felt the game should allow this the first time and not after you viewed it once for separate playthroughs.
Overall I give Life is Strange a 3.5/5, it continues all the themes from the first episode without the overused tutorials. However a lot of the characters in the game pulled the score back quite a lot, with one-dimensional personalities of “bitch”. Talking with people felt like kind of a chore when they wouldn’t give an interesting conversation in return. I found a lot of annoyance with traversing the hide and seek section as well.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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