Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Life is Strange Episode 1 Review


For the past couple of months, I've been hearing about how great the game Life is Strange is.  Last week, it was on sale for 50% off ($10) and I decided to take the plunge.  Life is Strange is an episodic game released by Square-Enix.  They recently released their fifth and final episode.  My approach to episodic games has been to wait for them to release all the episodes so I can walk in and experience the full story without needing to wait months in between (the Netflix approach).  


Since I have the week off from school, last night I decided to sit down and try Episode 1 Chrysalis.  I just want to start by saying this game looks beautiful.  It takes modern high resolution graphics and mixes it with a cell shaded effect that creates gorgeous world inhabited by detailed characters.  The story is engaging and leaves you wanting to find out what happens next.  You play as Maxine Caulfield (Hannah Telle), a self proclaimed outcast with a knack for photography who was just recently admitted to Blackwell Academy.  The beginning of the game is spent learning the social ins and outs of Max's new school and getting to know the other characters.  Not long, Max experiences a traumatic event and realizes she has the ability to rewind time.  This become the central mechanic that the game focuses around.  From there, the rest of episode 1 is an adventure that involves navigating the school and reuniting with an old friend, all while manipulating time to solve puzzles or erase poor dialogue choices.  The voice acting for the title was pretty well done all around.  I think the exceptional stars were Ashly Burch as Chloe Price and Dani Knights as Victoria Chase.  The writing was exceptional with only one minor problem.  The majority of the characters in the story are 18 or 19 year old teenagers, so the writers wanted them to speak with slang that is appropriate for someone of that age.  The only problem with this is there are times it is obvious that the dialogue was written by people in their 30s and 40s.  For the most part it's passable but there are a few cringeworthy moments. 
So far episode 1 introduces a lot of mysteries that have hooked me in and I really want to find out what is going to happen to these characters.  The game also includes a choice system where you decide how to handle certain situations.  I am interested to see how the decisions I've made will impact the story.  I've made a lot of (what I would consider) moral choices, that have also put me in the crosshairs of the staff and faculty of the school.  You might like this game if you've enjoyed, Heavy Rain, Broken Age, or anything by Telltale Games.  With beautiful visuals, interesting story, and intuitive gameplay Life is Strange has made me want to come back for more.  I'll update everyone once I've completed episode 2.  On a side note, I wouldn't be surprised to see this game in a future installment of Platinum Spirit.  

 -Big O

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