GAME REVIEW: Life is Strange™

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GAME REVIEW: Life is Strange™

Post by Meteorite » Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:09 pm

Life is Strange is a game on Steam. It's divided in five episodes and is about choices you make. You have the ability to rewind time and... ... dnaemitdniwerotytilibaehtevahuoY ekamuoyseciohctuobasidnasedosipeevifnidedivids'tI maetSnoemagasiegnartSsiefiL

Life is Strange is an episodic game where you take control of M- Mfolortnocekatuoy -you follow the life of Maxine 'Max' Caulfield, a photography student who discovers that she can rewind time. This comes in handy when making decisions, which is the game's... s'emagehtsihcihwsnoisicedgnikamnehwydnahnisemocsihT emitdniwernacehstahtsrevocsidohwtnedutsyhpargotohpa -a photography student. Max has a relatively normal life, until she wakes up from a vision of a disaster heading towards Acadia Bay, the town she moved to to study at Blackwell Academy. Shortly afterwards, she inadvertently discovers she can rewind time when she overhears a confrontation which leaves a girl her age dead. After rewinding and changing events, Max ends up tangled in a web of events that she must uncover and expose- esopxedna -and fix- xifdna -and escape- epacsedna -and deal with.
[CONCENTRATE ON STORY] ● [CONCENTRATE ON GAMEPLAY]
The game focuses on decisions that Max must make. Some are minor, such as watering your plant everyday. Others are... heavier decisions, and the game will pause and force you to decide which path to ultimately follow. You can rewind these choices immediately after you make them though if you don't think you've made the right choice, but once you move on, they're set. teser'yehtnoevomuoyecnotubeciohcthgirehtedamev'uoyknihtt'noduoyfihguohtmehtekamuoyretfayletaidemmiseciohcesehtdniwernacuoY wollofyletamitluothtaphcihwedicedotuoyecrofdnaesuaplliwemagehtdnasnoisicedreivaeh erasrehtO yadyrevetnalpruorgniretawsahcusronimeraemoS ekamtsumxaMtahtsnoisicednosesucofemagehT
[CONCENTRATE ON STORY] ● [CONCENTRATE ON GAMEPLAY]
The story has a mixture of various elements. Skipping past the obvious time travel factor, there is a dark secret lurking within Acadia Bay, a mystery which Max and her old friend Chloe ultimately become dangerously involved in. Only through rewinding back in time with new knowledge, can they unlock new paths and get to the bottom of the secret, and the approaching disaster. retsasidgnihcaorppaehtdnatercesehtfomottobehtottegdnashtapwenkcolnuyehtnacegdelwonkwenhtiwemitnikcabgnidniwerhguorhtylnO nidevlovniylsuoregnademocebyletamitlueolhCdneirfdnaxaMhcihwyretsymayaBaidacAnihtiwgnikrulterceskradasierehtrotcaflevartemitsuoivboehttsapgnippikS stnemelesuoiravfoerutximasahyrotsehT
[CONCENTRATE ON STORY] ● [CONCENTRATE ON GAMEPLAY]
[BE HONEST]
...I like this game. I really do. It has a wonderful game mechanic that it uses well, carried through all five episodes. People in the fourth episode will change their behaviour and dialogue based on actions you did in the first episode. You have to face the consequences of your actions, be it not saving a classmate from being pushed into a pool or inadvertently causing a dog to be run over. This game does it beautifully, with a story I found gripping to the end.

...But the final choice. I'm not going to spoil it, but the fact is, you're faced with a horrible decision, with both outcomes being horrible in one way or another. And one outcome is clearly being pushed as the 'right' choice. And you can't change this. This has... I won't say 'ruined', but maybe... 'soured' the game for me. I still love the game as a whole, but I've been awaiting each part, fretting over whether or not my choices were right... and in the end it didn't matter. Some say the whole of episode five was the end and therefore the choices did matter. Others say the journey as a whole is what mattered. And, y'know, maybe they're right. I could accept those.

If it weren't for the magical reset button.

Game: A+ +A:emaG
Game, including the reset button: B-
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<gkscotty|drawing> most people play Pokemon games with GameFAQs or a Pokéwiki open
<gkscotty|drawing> you seem to have TVTRopes :P


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Re: GAME REVIEW: Life is Strange™

Post by c_nordlander » Wed Oct 21, 2015 12:06 am

Hmm. Sounds very cool, but I see what you mean about that ending. Still, nice to know that there are still interesting games being made (by other people than Davey Wreden, at that).
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