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Life is Strange: Before the Storm |OT| Hella Walk with Me

Loved this episode. I continue to be blown away by how well Deck Nine has taken this ball and run with it. Fleshing out the character of Rachel Amber after everything that was built up in the original series is no easy task, and they've done an impeccable job of it. Every scene she's in is deeply intriguing and made all the more heartbreaking knowing how her story ends. I came into this series assuming it was fun but unnecessary fanservice, but I'm quickly starting to consider it essential viewing.

Needless to say, I am anxiously awaiting the conclusion, and whatever project this studio takes up next.
 
Holy shit at the last line spoken in episode 2 and then choosing the best Daughter song for the pre-credits scene. This prequel may be a bit stripped back from the original, but it's definitely not lacking any of the drama. Episode 3 now please.
 

Salarians

Member
Well, I took the plunge and tried it and the good news is buying the 2/3 pack DID allow me to immediately download the 2nd episode. Hope it works for you too.
Yeah, just did the same and it's downloading now. Weird that they didn't fix this, unless they weren't going to sell episodes 2/3 separately. Would have been nice to know in advance if that's the case.
 

Reedirect

Member
Some thoughts on Episode 2.

I really don't want to be the downer here, especially since I'm seeing a lot of positive reactions, but after playing EP2 I think the whole story of BtS just doesn't do it for me. Or a lack thereof. I don't think the opening days of the Chloe and Rachel relationship is enough for me to be interested in what's happening. This episode especially felt at least an hour too long, relying on some fan-servicey stuff (
the whole, completely pointless junkyard section
) and not enough on character and plot development.

Thankfully, some of that returned in the second half of the episode, while the
theatre play
was downright terrific. Sadly, that's kind of the only highlight for me. I enjoy Chloe and Rachel together, like some of the supporting characters, appreciate the atmosphere and music choices, but it just feels so wooden and lifeless sometimes that I can't seem to care much. Deck Nine definitely knows where the heart of Life is Strange is, but it still feels as inconsequential to me as when it was first announced.

Maybe I expect a little too much from something that's supposed to be a prequel. Which begs the question, if such a well told and self-contained story even needed a prequel to begin with.
 
Some thoughts on Episode 2.

I really don't want to be the downer here, especially since I'm seeing a lot of positive reactions, but after playing EP2 I think the whole story of BtS just doesn't do it for me. Or a lack thereof. I don't think the opening days of the Chloe and Rachel relationship is enough for me to be interested in what's happening. This episode especially felt at least an hour too long, relying on some fan-servicey stuff (
the whole, completely pointless junkyard section
) and not enough on character and plot development.

Thankfully, some of that returned in the second half of the episode, while the
theatre play
was downright terrific. Sadly, that's kind of the only highlight for me. I enjoy Chloe and Rachel together, like some of the supporting characters, appreciate the atmosphere and music choices, but it just feels so wooden and lifeless sometimes that I can't seem to care much. Deck Nine definitely knows where the heart of Life is Strange is, but it still feels as inconsequential to me as when it was first announced.

Maybe I expect a little too much from something that's supposed to be a prequel. Which begs the question, if such a well told and self-contained story even needed a prequel to begin with.

I like that there's barely any plot tbh. Character moments were the best parts of the original and this is pretty much just that and I could probably do 30 hours of it. Some of the fetch-questy stuff I could've done without because there's just nothing there, but most of this I really enjoyed. Did we "need" this prequel from a plot perspective? No, totally not. But to me it's a story worth experiencing, and I think Chloe is one of the most fascinating protagonists in any game ever, for many reasons. So I'm glad it exists. I'm just happy to be in this world again with these characters, and I think against all odds, Decknine has done a fantastic job with everything, including Rachel.
 

Reedirect

Member
I like that there's barely any plot tbh. Character moments were the best parts of the original and this is pretty much just that and I could probably do 30 hours of it. Some of the fetch-questy stuff I could've done without because there's just nothing there, but most of this I really enjoyed. Did we "need" this prequel from a plot perspective? No, totally not. But to me it's a story worth experiencing, and I think Chloe is one of the most fascinating protagonists in any game ever, for many reasons. So I'm glad it exists. I'm just happy to be in this world again with these characters, and I think against all odds, Decknine has done a fantastic job with everything, including Rachel.

I totally get where you're coming from. And I like the work Deck Nine has put into it and hope the last episode will be a good conclusion. Just that I probably need a little more than being in the world again and seeing the beginning to a relationship I know the end of.

But if there's anything BtS made me realize, it's how much of the original game's charm is brought by Max.
 
I like that there's barely any plot tbh. Character moments were the best parts of the original and this is pretty much just that and I could probably do 30 hours of it. Some of the fetch-questy stuff I could've done without because there's just nothing there, but most of this I really enjoyed. Did we "need" this prequel from a plot perspective? No, totally not. But to me it's a story worth experiencing, and I think Chloe is one of the most fascinating protagonists in any game ever, for many reasons. So I'm glad it exists. I'm just happy to be in this world again with these characters, and I think against all odds, Decknine has done a fantastic job with everything, including Rachel.

+1 to everything here. It may not be an essential addition to the Life Is Strange canon, but it justifies its existence purely on the strength of the writing between Rachel and Chloe. I couldn't agree more with your "30 hours" remark. I'm not ready for episode three to be the last one. I'm anticipating the same exact melancholy I had after finshing the first game; it almost feels cruel every time this universe makes me say goodbye to its characters.
 

JDB

Banned
Yeah, it's basically just a way to show what the relationship between Rachel and Chloe was like. It doesn't need a big story like season 1 imo.
 

Paragon

Member
I enjoyed Episode 2, but it's starting to run into the same problems as later Telltale games (almost everything after The Walking Dead: Season 1) and others which tried copying the Mass Effect-style dialog system, where the dialog prompts do a bad job conveying the intent of what Chloe is about to say.
There were a number of times that I was frustrated with Chloe's response, and you either have to live with it or replay the entire scene again due to the lack of a rewind ability, and how infrequently it creates checkpoints.
I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with this, but it seems like there's a lot left to tell with only a single episode remaining (and a bonus one).
 
Wish there was more drama in episode 2
Felt too short
I think it's because we already knew how Chloe never graduated at Blackwell and also the ending twist didn't hit home quite as much imho. But still a solid episod and I'm thoroughly amazed how deck nine could capture the mood of the original.
The one thing I wish they stayed on UE, but I guess the new developers are more familiar with Unity (and also developed their whole animation tool for that). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
I think it's because we already knew how Chloe never graduated at Blackwell and also the ending twist didn't hit home quite as much imho. But still a solid episod and I'm thoroughly amazed how deck nine could capture the mood of the original.
The one thing I wish they stayed on UE, but I guess the new developers are more familiar with Unity (and also developed their whole animation tool for that). ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I think the animations and graphics heavily improved from the original game. So I think going from UE to Unity was not that bad.
 

Pilgrimzero

Member
I loved Episode 2. While the whole was great, the play and everything after was amazing. Yeah the reveal at the end was obvious but that’s a minor thing.

Love Chloe and Rachel and it’s going to make a replay of the original LiS even more sad.
 

dottme

Member
The play is really the highlight of episode 2.
I really like what they are doing with Life is Strange and I’m worried that only 3 episode might feel too short.
 
I really like what they are doing with Life is Strange and I’m worried that only 3 episode might feel too short.
Well Season 1 episodes were between 2-3 hours, while Before the Storm epizodes lasted 3+, and topped around 4 hours each with the graffiti hunting so far for me. It'll be enough IMO.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
The play is really the highlight of episode 2.
I really like what they are doing with Life is Strange and I’m worried that only 3 episode might feel too short.

We'll see, I'm actually very satisfied with the length of episodes 1 and 2. It's the state of Max's episode I'm worried about. I actually bought the standard version only and will base the upgrade decision on what it'll offer.
 

Ravelle

Member
I was a bit luke warm on the second episode but the last part was fantastic, the play and meeting Rachel's parents was fantastic.

Rachel in wizard costume looks super rad.
 

Staf

Member
I'm still only in the middle of episode 2. Before the storm is much better than i expected to be honest. It just sucks that it's a prequel. So much is already set in stone.
 

Pilgrimzero

Member
Confused about some things, and I’m sure eps 3 will clear some things up but...

So This takes places 3 years before Max comes back.

So Chloe and Rachel date for almost 3 year?

I’m LiS, we find out Rachel was messing around with Frank.

So really while Chloe is ultra invested in the relationship, Rachel apparently isn’t. Which makes this whole prequel thing a different kind of sad because they have such a great ship but we know Rachel becomes not as invested.

That accurate?
 
Confused about some things, and I’m sure eps 3 will clear some things up but...

So This takes places 3 years before Max comes back.

So Chloe and Rachel date for almost 3 year?

I’m LiS, we find out Rachel was messing around with Frank.

So really while Chloe is ultra invested in the relationship, Rachel apparently isn’t. Which makes this whole prequel thing a different kind of sad because they have such a great ship but we know Rachel becomes not as invested.

That accurate?

Yes, it will be interesting how they will handle the whole thing. It made sense to start a few month after Max left but I think people now want to know everything that happened in the following 3 years.
But I think the last episode will only cover on or several days so we will not know about things like Rachel x Frank and such.
 

Ravelle

Member
A lot can happen in three years, breakup, other disasters. Time travel?

It's been a while but I don't remember Chloe talk about Rachel a lot or in the way she's into her now so I think there's some history there.
 

dottme

Member
All the question about linking LiS: before the strange and the first LiS makes me want to replay LiS after I’m done with before the storm.
 
Enjoying the story so far.

The ending of ep. 2 didn't surprise me.

During the
dinner, I noticed that Rachel was blonde-ish and both her parents were dark brown/black and was like wtf why is her hair different and then pieced it all together right before the big reveal lol
 

Pilgrimzero

Member
A lot can happen in three years, breakup, other disasters. Time travel?

It's been a while but I don't remember Chloe talk about Rachel a lot or in the way she's into her now so I think there's some history there.

On another board someone pointed out that Rachel’s main goal is to leave town. She even tries to get a ride from a trucker.
Also it’s said she’s a very good actress and liar who is used to getting her way. And Chloe is the means to an end.

Not saying she doesn’t like Chloe but she’s not as invested as she is.

We know this attempt to leave town together fails. And no where in LiS does it say they were together romantically. So friends with benefits....?

Point being, Chloe LOVES her and Rachel knows it and while she might not exactly be using Chloe she really is.

I love the outward appearance of their relationship, both are cool characters but Chloe is being used. And her dream dad even warned her about “the fire” aka Rachel.
 

NeoRaider

Member
Episode 2 was really good, if not even better than the first one.
I really liked the play part, it was so well done.

Ending didn't surprise me at all sadly, i knew exactly what will happen and who "mysterious" woman is.
 

Anustart

Member
Spoiler question that deals with this and the first game.

Have they made any mention of Rachel is going to die in this story?
 

CEJames

Member
All the question about linking LiS: before the strange and the first LiS makes me want to replay LiS after I’m done with before the storm.

lol same here. It's been a while so I can't remember but I'm wondering if any graffiti Chloe made in Before The Storm showed up in the original.
 
I played the second episode when it came out. I absolutely loved it and I wanted to share some things that intrigued/bothered me :

- Dialogue options are misleading sometimes. They don't properly convey what Chloe is actually about to say. Moreover, I liked her in the first episode because I understood where she's coming from ( those Max texts ... :( ) but gosh Chloe! Can't you talk like a civilized person for once in front of your partner's parents? her answers were very cringy but I guess that's the appeal.

- I felt like nothing really happened in this episode in the bigger scheme of things. Although the episode took me about 4 hours it only reinforced Chloe and Rachel's already pre-established chemistry. This could be my fault, however. At this point, I assumed episode 2 was going to be the climax that would be resolved in episode 3. In hindsight, the final episode may not be as conclusive as I assumed. It may not even cover the 3-year gap till LiS and that's fine by me because it's not really about filling the missing dots as it is about shedding the light on Chloe, Rachel and their relationship.

- Very impressed with Deck Nine for handling the prequel so well so far. The music is also superb. I cannot wait for episode 3. It will be very loaded even if it's not meant to be that way because of the mere fact that it's our last contact with Chloe and Rachel before the unfortunate events of LiS
 

Ravelle

Member
The music IS really nice yeah, one of the reasons I'm thankful to Decknine and Dontnod is that I have some new bands to check out!
 

dottme

Member
From their Twitter:
DNKHp54WsAASUCn


Quick correction, the art is coming from her:
https://twitter.com/hiyartist/status/917463775330144256
 

Ravelle

Member
About halfway through episode 2. But that has been my favorite moment of the game so far.

Thinking back to that scene, she could have put her phone on Speaker mode. Lovely scene though, why would you not share your music with Rachel.
 
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