I am continuing on the path to search for story rich games to play that also meet the criteria of running on my older gaming PC. Since I haven’t done a whole lot of gaming these last few years, I seem to have plenty of catching up to do. I have done a little bit of browsing for any prospects on games to play in the future, but haven’t decided on anything yet. For the posts on Life is Strange, I decided to break it up and post on one episode at a time because it would be waaaaaay to long if I didn’t. I will link to the each episode in every post, that way it’s easy to find them.
Episode 2
What I played:
Life is Strange is a game with a similar structure to TellTale Games’ The Walking Dead, where you make decisions which effect the story, albeit in limited ways. The plot revolves around an 18 year old girl named Max who recently transferred back to her hometown, Arcadia Bay, OR, to attend Blackwell Academy, a school which focuses on nurturing young artists. Max’s artistic medium is photography through the use of a film instant camera, and is very shy and reluctant to submit a photo into an “Everyday Heroes” contest sponsored by her photography teacher Mr. Jefferson. She witnesses her best friend Chloe get shot, and suddenly is thrown back in time shortly before her friend is killed and manages to prevent Chloe’s death. After being saved, Chloe reveals she has also been searching for her friend Rachel Amber who has suddenly disappeared. She asks Max to use her newfound power to help her find her friend and escape from a debt she owes to a drug dealer, Frank. However, Max has a vision of the future where a tornado wipes out Arcadia Bay by the end of the week, and wonders just how is it all connected.
What I experienced:
One thing I noted about the characters
and overall aesthetic of the game is how “white” the game is. By
that I mean the the majority of characters, are white, with the
exception of side characters. The production itself also has a very
white hipster feel. The music, dialogue, character’s clothing,
everything just left me with that impression that the creators were
coming from that perspective.
Now don’t get me wrong, as a Latino
I still very much enjoyed the game. Everything was well put together,
including the music, the story, and the visuals. But that strong
impression definitely was felt throughout my experience playing the
game.
The layout of the game was really
intuitive and concise. There is a journal that acts as a kind of
in-game menu for any information you collect. I like how the journal
entries are updated after each segment you play through, which gives
more information on how Max as a character thinks about what has just
happened and the choices you made as the player. The entries do
change depending on your choices, which I thought was pretty cool.
You also send and receive text messages from characters which add
some extra dialogue that is interesting to read, but can also be
skipped if you just want to stay in the game. You don’t choose what
to send like you do in the visual novel Steins;Gate, but like I said
it still brings in extra character insight which I found enjoyable.
The game does a good job of building
up the story over time, with hints of what’s to come being
sprinkled throughout your (nosy) explorations of the environment and
dialogue choices. Certain actions in one episode won’t have an
effect until the next episode, and certain actions will be referenced
throughout the rest of the game which really does give you the
feeling of having the decisions matter. The major plot points don’t
change of course, but you do have a chance to learn more about the
characters with each decision tree.
Episode 1: Chrysalis
The first episode focused more on
building up the characters and setting of the game. The title fits
the overall theme as all the characters are about to set off on the
events which will change them for the rest of their lives. It also
fits with the theme of being young adults about to learn more about
the world and being shaped by their experiences. Blackwell Academy
houses high school senior students on campus, which could be
considered a chrysalis of sorts since they will have to navigate a
lot of their social and independent living as they are separated from
their parent’s for the first time.
The change that Max goes through is
significantly more impactful as she discovers she is able to rewind
time. After witnessing her friends murder Max rewinds back in the
lecture Mr. Jefferson was giving about capturing a moment in
photography. Max then intervenes by pulling the fire alarm to
distract the student, Nathan, from killing Chloe, who was ranting and
raving about not wanting to be controlled by anyone (both the lecture
and the student’s rant have a huge payoff at the end of the
episode 5, which I thought was pretty cool).
Max at this point lacks a lot of self
confidence, and has a rival who is a rich girl named Victoria. The
rival is a portrayal of trying to grow up too quickly, as she openly
flirts with the photography teacher and smokes cigarettes to appear
more adult-like. While you can choose to trade insults and play the
“mean girls” card, you can also choose to show compassion and
discover Victoria is not as bad as she acts. You then get the sense
that she feels threatened by Max’s skills as a photographer, which
could lead to her bitchy attitude. Depending on your choices, you can
either see her bitchy side and then her soft side or only
her bitchy side (sadly
there is no real escape from the bitchiness).
A lot of the conflict
revolves around confidence, because
both Max and
Victoria need to become more
confident in themselves,
but that comes later.
Max’s other friends include a devout
Christian girl named Kate and a potential love interest named Warren
who strongly flirts with her. Kate looks depressed in the short
interaction you have with her in episode 1, which becomes much more
relevant in the 2nd episode. Max asks for Warren to vent
to him in this first interaction. The relationship with Warren in
later episodes goes from slowly blooming romance to mixed signals, as
some major plot points make it ambiguous about how she feels despite
either making it clear she likes him or is rejecting him. I think the
creators try to play it off as teenage impulsivity or her lack of
confidence, but it just comes off as they needed him to drive the
plot.
After first discovering the rewind
ability you meet many of the students right outside the school steps,
and the area is basically a tutorial on the game elements without
being told it is a tutorial. It is very smooth experience, as you
learn to talk to people, get some information before they shut the
conversation down, and then rewind to use that bit of information to
either build rapport or get answers before they shut down again. For
instance, one of the characters doesn’t want to let anyone see his
photo album unless they know some hardcore details of a certain
photographer. You fail the first time you talk to him and he tells
you what the answer should have been; you then rewind and give him
the answer right off the bat and get to see the album. There is also
lot of background information on the missing girl, Rachel Amber, and
you get a sense of what her character is like. That area was a really
good way to get you to care about each of the side characters as well
as the missing girl.
The “reflective sitting” is also
introduced in that area of the game. In addition to the journal
entries, there are certain spots where Max will sit down and just
reflect on the story so far. Since Max is pegged as an introvert (yet
her innate ability to walk around and befriend everyone doesn’t
quite match), she does a lot of introspection. Again, lots of
character development over time as she weighs her previous actions.
The end of the episode is where most
of the story elements start to build up. Right after saving Chloe you
are given a choice to tell the principal about how a student, Nathan
Prescott, pulled a gun on Chloe (and would have killed her without
intervention) or keep it hidden for now due to the connections the
wealthy Prescott family has not only with the Academy but also the
entire town. The decision makes a small difference in the dialogue
you get in the 2nd episode, but for the first episode it
kind of sits there.
In the dorms you interact with a girl,
Alyssa, who is always being teased with something being thrown at
her. Brooke definitely makes it known she is interested in Warren
which can lead to future conflict with Max, depending on what you choose. Dana is fraught after
having recently undergone an abortion, and her roommate has to deal
with a cheating boyfriend. I think the game did good at portraying
these common struggles without making it overly dramatic or take away
from the main story. In the later episodes you learn how each
character copes (or doesn’t) with the struggles that make up life.
The biggest moment comes when you
officially reunite with Chloe after escaping a confrontation with
Nathan. He figures out Max intervened because she threw away the
(instant camera) selfie which she had planned on submitting to the
“Everyday Heroes” at the scene of the pre-crime and is not happy
with having his manslaughter interrupted. The butterfly effect is
ever present throughout the storyline. If Max was more confident in
her ability as a photographer, then she would have submitted the
photo and her identity would have remained anonymous. But in later
episodes, we learn that not all negative actions have negative
consequences, and not all good intentions lead to the best outcome.
Warren comes in for the rescue, as he
fought (and lost to) the bully as a distraction. Setting an example
for others to follow, it isn’t whether you win or lose, what
matters is that you stand up and do the right thing and protect the
ones you care about. A movie that had a similar outcome and was
really funny because it played on tropes was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,
and it is soooo goood. If you enjoy movies ore than TV, that is
definitely one that should be on your list of things to watch.
Anyways…
After they escape, Chloe gives Max a
little bit of shit for not keeping in touch in the 5 years she was
gone, especially since she moved away right after her father had died
in a car crash (that plays a bigger part of the plot in episode 3).
Max is whisked away to Chloe’s home after the run-in with Nathan,
leaving behind Warren to get his ass beat. At Chloe’s house you
learn more about the relationship Max and Chloe used to have, and
some of the awkwardness of Max having moved on but life has thrown
them back together again. That part of their relationship did a good
job of showing that nothing truly lasts forever, despite them being
reunited.
Max had moved away, and then moved on,
and that is something most kids/teenagers don’t really think about;
the future. As adults we learn life is in flux, opportunities lead us
in different directions and eventually you move on. For a teenager,
there is only the now, and now is
forever. Depending on your experience in the chrysalis that is
adolescence, you will handle it in much different ways. Chloe is
trying to return to a past that no longer exists, and she is angry
for it. More
on that later.
In conclusion, the
episode was a really strong start to
the story. Lots of characters to add their perspectives, and
learn more about the world that is Blackwell Academy.
The
usual (and
dare say cliché) teenage
problems like pregnancy, bullying, relationships,
are
set up to draw you in for the next episodes to find the resolution;
and it works! All
those
roller
coaster
of
emotions
that we adults are glad we left behind makes for good entertainment
and
storytelling. I will continue on with my thoughts for each episode in
the next few posts. As for you readers, looking back at your own high
school experience, what ind
of teenage
clique did you end up in? I ended up in the nerdy clique that looked
down at all the party-people. Let me know yours
in the comments!
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