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Life Is Strange |OT| Rewinder Me

I don't care if her powers are limited in actuality or not. The logic and mechanics of the power don 't interest me at all.

The problem is that
they didn't properly convey her fear of relying on her power. A fear that should be very real given the events of Ep 3, and was repeatedly brought up again in Ep 4. I never actually felt like her power was unreliable, even if DONTNOD was trying to convince me other wise. This is one of the issues. The other is that her power disappeared at weird places.

1) You cannot avoid the confrontation with Nathan. No matter how much time you rewind, Nathan magically teleports to confront you the moment you meet up with Chloe. No explanation is given for why this is, no acknowledgement by the game. It's like DONTNOD just assumed that no one would possibly want to avoid Nathan entirely so they just didn't bother exploring this option. The other explanation is that they wanted this to happen under any circumstance, but that still doesn't stop them from letting you try.

2) You cannot teleport the notebook out of Frank's pocket. Chloe always runs away with it. I can forgive this because they wanted to explore such and such scenes but, once again, they don't even acknowledge that you might want to actually use your teleport power.

3) You cannot cover your tracks in the barn. This is the biggest offender. I even figured out a way to both acknowledge your time power as well as force you to leave a trail. All they had to do was make it so that the moment Max shares the information on Rachel with Chloe, she flips out and forces Max to open the celler again. This would open up a lot of avenues for character development, allow the player to express their agency, and let them take the story exactly the way they want it to.

Where does she use her powers instead?

To talk to Victoria (if you needed it, I didn't so I never rewound). To teleport past some obstacle. To save Alyssa some embarrassment, again. To tell Daniel to go to a party. To put that green thing back on the topmost platform.

I mean, her priorities clearly are not in order here, right? She uses the time travel powers for mundane things like talking to people, but its strangely absent whenever she's putting herself at risk while investigating a serial assault/murder conspiracy.
I feel like the first complaint could be made about any video game. If there is no time limit I could stand in front of a door for months before anything happened. Somethings just need to happen in a game because you can't acknowledge all possibilities.

Also, they couldn't really open the cellar and rewind all the way back since the barn and the dark room are two different places in the game and you can't rewind that far back. You would have to rewind before you even drove up to the barn to completely remove all traces of your presence.

I do agree that we could have done a time travel pickpocket with Frank though.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
I feel like the first complaint could be made about any video game. If there is no time limit I could stand in front of a door for months before anything happened. Somethings just need to happen in a game because you can't acknowledge all possibilities.
Well, yeah, but this a game about
using time travel to do things people wouldn't want you to do without making them suspect you. I mean, she used it break into the principle's office and then made sure not to leave behind evidence. She covered her trail again while investigating David.

Also, they couldn't really open the cellar and rewind all the way back since the barn and the dark room are two different places in the game and you can't rewind that far back. You would have to rewind before you even drove up to the barn to completely remove all traces of your presence.
This is a wholly arbitrary limitation, isn't it? You wouldn't even have to rewind that far back. Just enough to make sure the celler was never opened. It would make a world of difference, like, again, with the principle's office. The problem comes not from the fact that we couldn't do this, but that Max didn't even try. It was fine for her not to bother rewinding time for every little thing back when all she had to deal with was high school drama but this some serious shit we're talking about here. Let's say she was too traumatized by visiting that alternate timeline to perform any large feats of rewinding.

Fine.

But at least show that she tries.
 
Yeah, the game kinda force you to go through a sequence even though a better use of Max's power would have made much more sense.

Overall I really like this episode, mainly because it has more puzzles/riddles, consequences from previous episodes and It also feels longer? I clocked over 3 hours.

#TeamVictoria
 

NoPiece

Member
Well, yeah, but this a game about
using time travel to do things people wouldn't want you to do without making them suspect you. I mean, she used it break into the principle's office and then made sure not to leave behind evidence. She covered her trail again while investigating David.

What I thought was interesting was that for better and worse
this episode switched from being about time travel and was much more personal drama focused. It was very effective at drama (euthanasia, hospital visit), but it was jarring when it flipped back to being about time travel. I was stumped for a while in the barn because it didn't occur to me to even think about trying to use the time travel to help solve the puzzle. I was totally in a teen drama mindset. The only point that time travel was required was to fix the split timeline, and there was no real choice (no gameplay mechanic) there.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
What I thought was interesting was that for better and worse
this episode switched from being about time travel and was much more personal drama focused

That's exactly it. They
abandoned what made Ep 1-3 unique and turned the story into Nancy Drew and the Mystery of Arcadia Bay.
 

naeS

Member
Holy shit Dontnod.

What the fuck....

Another episode of watching credits roll as I pick my jaw up off the floor.
 

Opto

Banned
I think I'm in the last section of the episode. I had to stop until tomorrow because I don't think I can keep myself together if I did all of that in one sitting.
 

carlsojo

Member
Episode 4 Ending:
Does Warren always take that picture of the two of you together? Max could use that picture to maybe warn Warren to meet them in the junkyard?
 
I've only played the start of the episode but it's already my favourite, i never thought i'd actually get the chance to live out my dream and
kill chloe
. Hella easy decision.
 

Steamlord

Member
There are definitely some big problems with the integration of the time travel mechanic, but there have been pretty major flaws with various aspects of the game from the beginning so I guess I've just decided to focus primarily on the things it does right, because there's still a lot to love despite the flaws. I'm definitely more interested in the drama than the sci-fi, since they're generally more successful with that (though, again, with some pretty big exceptions). And I guess we can always hope for a more watertight plot in season 2...and we can hope for season 2 period.

By the way, as a big fan of horror, I have to say they did a great job with Jefferson at the end of episode 4. I'm hoping they can keep him that menacing in episode 5 and not have him lapse into cheesy monologues or anything like that (but also not go too far the other way into torture porn or whatever, which tends to be equally cheesy for different reasons). The silent and methodical approach is much scarier. Plus we can already more or less gather his motives from the context, so it would be a terrible choice to have him explain it in detail.
 

Sober

Member
What I thought was interesting was that for better and worse
this episode switched from being about time travel and was much more personal drama focused. It was very effective at drama (euthanasia, hospital visit), but it was jarring when it flipped back to being about time travel. I was stumped for a while in the barn because it didn't occur to me to even think about trying to use the time travel to help solve the puzzle. I was totally in a teen drama mindset. The only point that time travel was required was to fix the split timeline, and there was no real choice (no gameplay mechanic) there.

That's exactly it. They
abandoned what made Ep 1-3 unique and turned the story into Nancy Drew and the Mystery of Arcadia Bay.
I think it was fine overall but again,
they could easily just make Max refuse to use her powers for most of the episode, so that you don't have those inconsistent parts where you're looking for stuff, have to be more careful around people, make the whole Frank encounter feel like it matters and not just Groundhog Day the whole thing, and the cellar thing that seems to bother everyone not a big deal because Max refused to rewind it. It still mostly makes sense overall though.
 

Gbraga

Member
Still couldn't finish it this night! >_<

But I'm guessing I'm nearing the end now, around 4 hours in,
just had the showdown with Frank. Tons of rewinds there, but it was very much worth it. Cool dude. Aside from all the rage and drugs and stuff.

And damn, Warren was actually cool this episode? Not that it disproves the concerns people had about him, though, he goes batshit insane when you let him beat Nathan. I did it just to see how it would play out, but man, even if Chloe taking his weapon was a plus, that was just way too much, had do stop Warren. I hope I don't regret it too much later on.

It did bug me a bit how
we couldn't just rewind and tell Chloe to get the fuck out of there before Nathan came in. Felt like the smartest thing to do. Warren going Ape was priceless, Max even made the joke herself, haha. Also, Warren's fucking shirt, man. I'm also somewhat convinced of the toten thing's importance to this. Prescott tried to steal it, Samuel mentioned it, you could use it as conversation subject with Ms Grant instead of Time Travel.

Also interested in the e-mail from Nathan's father in his computer, seemed like a strange choice of words, stuff like "you'll soon be in this room", as well as something about it being both the Prescott's destiny and a burden.

Another thing that has been weird for a while now, but now it's even more blatant is
how Samuel is on point about so much stuff. He's obviously the typical "quirky character who seems to know more than he should", but Max comments on every little fucking thing, and yet didn't once voice how weird it was.

Overall still really loving it, though it would need to do some crazy shit in the (I assume) little time it has left to surpass episodes 2 and 3.

Yeah, the game kinda force you to go through a sequence even though a better use of Max's power would have made much more sense.

Overall I really like this episode, mainly because it has more puzzles/riddles, consequences from previous episodes and It also feels longer? I clocked over 3 hours.

#TeamVictoria

With that I definitely agree with. This episode was pretty interesting from a gameplay perspective, as well as narrative integration of such gameplay, no silly hitting the bottle rewind-puzzle. The
dialogue with Frank, and how you didn't have to be perfect to get what you needed, which could result in varying experiences, was pretty cool. Though I do wish there was a limit on how many tries you got because her nose would start to bleed or whatever, felt like there was no point in not trying it a couple more times until you get the best result. Sure, the game already thought you by then that the result that seems to be the best at the moment may come back to haunt you, but what are you gonna do, intentionally choose shitty stuff just anticipating that it could come back to bite your ass?

Also really enjoyed how
it gave me an extra dialogue choice with Daniel by remembering a simple choice I've made in Episode 1. That was great. Even if it didn't seem to make any real difference.
 

Caffeine

Gold Member
so is mr jefferson and alternate persona for sean prescott i dont think anyone has ever mentioned seeing nathans dad.
 

Leeness

Member
Help?

Max's powers are glitching out and I can't get past
the barn
.

Is there a fix for this? I know what to do, but I can't do it because her powers won't stop rewinding :/
 

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
Ending =
VNSL2Yc.gif
 
Help?

Max's powers are glitching out and I can't get past
the barn
.

Is there a fix for this? I know what to do, but I can't do it because her powers won't stop rewinding :/

Do you have a controller connected you're not using? I had this happen and then realized my 360 pad had fallen off my desk and the trigger that is bound to rewind was being pressed.
 

Skux

Member
Help?

Max's powers are glitching out and I can't get past
the barn
.

Is there a fix for this? I know what to do, but I can't do it because her powers won't stop rewinding :/

There's a glitch if you use LB to skip through time. Stick to just using LT and RT for now.
 

Leeness

Member
Do you have a controller connected you're not using? I had this happen and then realized my 360 pad had fallen off my desk and the trigger that is bound to rewind was being pressed.

PS4 and only one controller :/

There's a glitch if you use LB to skip through time. Stick to just using LT and RT for now.

omg, thank you, that was so frustrating. Just been sitting here for like 20 minutes :/
 
I think it was fine overall but again,
they could easily just make Max refuse to use her powers for most of the episode, so that you don't have those inconsistent parts where you're looking for stuff, have to be more careful around people, make the whole Frank encounter feel like it matters and not just Groundhog Day the whole thing, and the cellar thing that seems to bother everyone not a big deal because Max refused to rewind it. It still mostly makes sense overall though.

I thought about it and short of
rewinding every conversation regarding Nathan that you had, Jefferson would have figured out Max and Chloe broke into the Dark Room easily. Nathan has been onto you for damn near 2 episodes now and I'm sure Jefferson knew of the Rachel/Chloe link. The two of you snooping around on campus asking about Nathan, Nathan's burner going missing (even if you did cover your tracks you still needed to take the phone which he'd notice eventually) along with his bag with his notes and then the torture chamber being broken into?. Nah, it's too much. To avoid the ending of episode 4 would have required an insane amount of foresight.
 

A-V-B

Member
I feel like the first complaint could be made about any video game. If there is no time limit I could stand in front of a door for months before anything happened. Somethings just need to happen in a game because you can't acknowledge all possibilities.

Also, they couldn't really open the cellar and rewind all the way back since the barn and the dark room are two different places in the game and you can't rewind that far back. You would have to rewind before you even drove up to the barn to completely remove all traces of your presence.

Or..

"Hey, Chloe, before we go in, I'm just gonna get a picture of this barn real quick, ok? For evidence."
 
The opening is genuinely emotional and everything, but I couldn't help but laugh at the quintessential adventure game moment when
Chloe asks you to get her water and you instead walk around looking at everything in her room as she coughs in the background
:lol

Lip sync is still awful but it does seem slightly improved, as if it's at least attempting to kinda-sorta almost time up with the dialogue.
 

A-V-B

Member
The opening is genuinely emotional and everything, but I couldn't help but laugh at the quintessential adventure game moment when
Chloe asks you to get her water and you instead walk around looking at everything in her room as she coughs in the background
:lol

That happened multiple times.
When I got back with the morphine, I half-expected her to say, "what the hell, Max? Did you go to Mordor to get that?"
 

Kanashimi

Member
Just finished the 4th episode. The rewind bug was a buzzkill and wasn't sure what I had to redo and what I didn't.

In terms of Mr. Jefferson there's still a lot that's weird. It still seems like the game is setting up Nathan, Jefferson, and David to all be bad guys (though David saving you would be pretty sweet).

But yes, in terms of leaving evidence, it bugs me that I couldn't rewind any of it.

It saddens me a bit that Rachel is dead, I was kinda liking the theory of her being a time traveler. I sort of wonder now why does Max have any power at all if Chloe is just gonna die over and over? It cheapens the experience to me a little... Well, we'll see in episode 5.
 

Choomp

Banned
This episode is already tearing at the strings of me greasy heart and I've barely done anything yet. I'm not ready, guys. This game is just so beautiful. My god.
 
Just finished the 4th episode. The rewind bug was a buzzkill and wasn't sure what I had to redo and what I didn't.

In terms of Mr. Jefferson there's still a lot that's weird. It still seems like the game is setting up Nathan, Jefferson, and David to all be bad guys (though David saving you would be pretty sweet).

But yes, in terms of leaving evidence, it bugs me that I couldn't rewind any of it.

It saddens me a bit that Rachel is dead, I was kinda liking the theory of her being a time traveler. I sort of wonder now why does Max have any power at all if Chloe is just gonna die over and over? It cheapens the experience to me a little... Well, we'll see in episode 5.

I think David will be seen as a good guy when its all set and done
 
Some of this writing...

"You deserve the best stationery"
"Those beached whales are so sad.. i know the feeling"
A highschool teacher with "friends at nasa"
 

Manu

Member
Just finished. That ending, man.

104238-CANT-DEAL-WITH-IT-gif-ZawL.gif


Other than that it was a solid episode but seemed to be much more linear than the others. That, plus the length made it feel a bit overlong. But man was that ending worth it.

My favorite bit was (GAME RUINING SPOILERS)
Rachel's fate. We were all expecting a supernatural explanation. The truth felt much more realistic and because of that, much worse. Devastating. Kudos to Dontnod.

Episode 5 can't come soon enough.
 
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