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Life Is Strange |OT| Rewinder Me

NeatoKuni

Member
I've been slowly building a spotify playlist for the game since I played the first episode back in January. If you guys are interested you can read the tracklist and stuff here.

I hope this is allowed, I'm not sure if it counts as self promotion or w/ever. I'll delete it if I need to, I just really wanted to share it!
 

Bboy AJ

My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Just finished it. Great experience. The story dragged on parts but looking back, amazing journey.
 

VARIA

Member
Just started playing this, so far I find the main character's internal monologue to be a bit awkward and unnatural. The story and setting are interesting and I'm curious to find out more but I find myself losing immersion in the narrative because ,much too often, it doesn't sound like a real person talking to themselves. I dunno if I made any sense, haha, but I'm willing to finish up and give my full analysis when it's done.
 
Just started playing this, so far I find the main character's internal monologue to be a bit awkward and unnatural. The story and setting are interesting and I'm curious to find out more but I find myself losing immersion in the narrative because ,much too often, it doesn't sound like a real person talking to themselves. I dunno if I made any sense, haha, but I'm willing to finish up and give my full analysis when it's done.
That's an issue I had with Episode 1. Max's inner commentary and the dialogue between characters just doesn't feel that well written. I've heard it's the weakest chapter, so I guess it's just something to soldier through for now.
 
Ep1 did a lot of necessary dirty work to establish the setting, characters, and gameplay, which future eps really capitalise on. And I dunno, although the writing could be grating at times I really enjoyed the atmosphere DONTNOD put forward. Weak just feels like the wrong word--it's the least great, in that the other eps get progressively greater.
That last and final episode fucked me up.

I saved Chloe

Right there with ya.
 
Was it ever explained how Max got her powers? Any fan theories?

She takes a picture, heils Hitler, and all of a sudden she can go back in time.
 

Bluth54

Member
Was it ever explained how Max got her powers? Any fan theories?

She takes a picture, heils Hitler, and all of a sudden she can go back in time.

No it's never explained how Max got her powers.

Honestly I'm guessing it would be difficult to come up with an explanation that wasn't shitty or disappointing.
 
Not going to read this thread at all right now, but I just finished Episode 3 and that kind of blew my mind. I can't imagine the alternate reality will be permanent as it kind of ruins the character development and decisions I made up until that point.

I am really enjoying this so far! There are obvious downsides to it: the writing is a bit hokey, especially for Chloe, the facial animations are... sub-par, and there are decisions that I wish I had even more precise control over, but that would be hard to keep up on the developer's side. The game has some really beautiful artistic moments, the lighthouse at the end of the first episode at sunset was breathtaking. The story telling is compelling so far, it is taking some elements of Donnie Darko and a bit of Twin Peaks, both things I love. I will probably finish this by tomorrow night and will report back.
 

Meowster

Member
Was it ever explained how Max got her powers? Any fan theories?

She takes a picture, heils Hitler, and all of a sudden she can go back in time.
Spoilers for the ending:
This is why I had to choose Chloe - everything points to fate. Why would Max get these powers for absolutely no reason and be condemned from using them for any single act? She also happened to get them right before she met Chloe.. no coincidence. The only explaination I can come up with is fate. Max was destined to meet Chloe and save her life.
 

FluxWaveZ

Member
Spoilers for the ending:
This is why I had to choose Chloe - everything points to fate. Why would Max get these powers for absolutely no reason and be condemned from using them for any single act? She also happened to get them right before she met Chloe.. no coincidence. The only explaination I can come up with is fate. Max was destined to meet Chloe and save her life.

ENDING SPOILERS: Or
Max was "destined" to meet Chloe before she inevitably dies, becoming reacquainted with her best friend after they hadn't seen each other in years, becoming very close to each other and Max gaining an increased appreciation of her friendship and an increased understanding of her friend. All this instead of her dying in a girl's bathroom without Max ever having been able to see her again.
 

HabeeNo

Member
That last and final episode fucked me up.

I saved Chloe

Just finished it too and that makes two of us

Both on getting fucked up, and saving Chloe

I feel like saving her would be extremely selfish with everybody. I turned back on my decision after seeing what would happen and sacrificed her after

Yes. I cried multiple times during this damn game. What a ride. My GOTY.
 
Happy to see new players discovering the game and all these positive impressions. Which reminds me I should still play the final episode for the second time, now that I'm fully recovered from the first time.
 

Guri

Member
It will take me quite a while until I can play it again, since I've watched a few streams over the last few weeks.

As for the ending itself and not explaining why
some things happened, I'm glad they chose not to. A lot didn't need explaining. Same for not choosing a canon ending and just finishing their story. It would invalidate the idea of choosing your own ending.
 
bought this on sale and played a bit of the first episode.... uhhh, so far its annoyingly bad. but i've also read that it gets better so i'll eventually see it through but damn it doesn't make a very good first impression
 
I got the impression that after what happened in ep3, she was so put off by what happened that she didn't want to do it again. I think the first time in ep5 she
travels back into a photograph max says something along the lines of "I swore I'd never do this again" or something

Yeah, and of course
when she does do it you can see she pretty much has no way to avoid being killed
.

What a fantastic game this is, and so hard to stay away from lol. Thanks GAF for the shoutout and suggestion.

It seems like they poured so much heart and soul into it, and the story could've easily become cliché but they handled it pretty well. The characters were really well done (I really started to care for Max, and it got stronger and stronger as the game went by), the soundtrack was amazing (honestly it really helped to sell the game) and the art style was great as well. I love how they put in so many easter eggs, little tidbits, and extras (like the journal entries, for example, or things like
Dana's pregnancy test in the first episode
) and let you see what your choices resulted in. Being able to control time also helped put me in a better position because it made me feel more in control of Max, and not worry so much about taking a while to decide stuff. Gosh and some parts were really intense, too, like
the end of Episode 3 and the beginning of Episode 4
.

I picked
the Sacrifice Chloe ending, and it feels like it fit the game properly, truth be told
. Honestly, it felt like despite the premise it could possibly happen, and I felt immersed pretty much from the first major decision.

What a fantastic game. One of the best I've played this year, certainly, and possibly ever.
 

Coolade

Member
Just beat this game yesterday. Amazing game, i'll rank it #2 behind the witcher 3 for my goty list. I highly recommend it to anyone who can find the time to squeeze in an extra purchase.
 

Shoeless

Member
This has inspired me to go through YouTube and watch the various Ep. 5 conclusion Let's Play/React videos. The emotional investment some people show as the game wraps up is pretty amazing.
 

D23

Member
I'm on chapter 2, and the part where i have to search for 5 beer bottles was so annoying, i had to take a break.

pls tell me theres no more of that stuff later on
 

Menome

Member
I'm on chapter 2, and the part where i have to search for 5 beer bottles was so annoying, i had to take a break.

pls tell me theres no more of that stuff later on

One optional one in order to set up a collectible photograph.
 
loving this game so far

Question -- when you beat the game can you replay it and fast forward to get to the major decisions a la 999?
 
Picked it up on a lark while the Packers were down at the half against the Lions. Not only did that game end up turning completely around, but I also ended up with what might be my favorite game this generation out of it (it's between this and MGSV).

Regarding the ending, I had to
save Chloe. I don't know why, but it would feel wrong to just turn around and render everything that happened moot. It also didn't help that nearly everyone was either dead or fucked in their own unique ways.
 
I just ended it.

I'm shattered. I'm trying to keep myself distracted with other stuff now. Sigh, didn't think I'd get that emotional over a game. This sucks...
 

muzzymate

Member
Fantastic game. Just reached the ending.

The Save Arcadia Bay solution/ending was pretty predictable but fantastically executed. I ended up choosing Save Chloe ending though. After they both talked about jumping and changing time causing the tornado, it didn't seem logical and certain that yet another jump would suddenly fix everything and stop the tornado. Wasn't willing to sacrifice Chloe for a hunch. But I felt like the game developers didn't want to reward me for picking that ending. The quick "let's drive off together" ending wasn't satisfying in any way. The Save Arcadia Bay ending was definitely the canon ending.

Also, what was up with the random text message from Racheal at the end that Max would see her soon? Did I miss something?
 
Fantastic game. Just reached the ending.

The Save Arcadia Bay solution/ending was pretty predictable but fantastically executed. I ended up choosing Save Chloe ending though. After they both talked about jumping and changing time causing the tornado, it didn't seem logical and certain that yet another jump would suddenly fix everything and stop the tornado. Wasn't willing to sacrifice Chloe for a hunch. But I felt like the game developers didn't want to reward me for picking that ending. The quick "let's drive off together" ending wasn't satisfying in any way. The Save Arcadia Bay ending was definitely the canon ending.

Also, what was up with the random text message from Racheal at the end that Max would see her soon? Did I miss something?

DONTNOD have said that that ending basically got less attention due to budget and time constraints. Whether they realised this before the crunch moment and concentrated on the other ending instead, or whether they hit an unexpected bump and had to juggle the balls in haste, we don't know.
 

painey

Member
Just finished it. Really enjoyed most of it, especially the bits that reminded me of Bully. Glad the achievements were not related to the choices, but fear of missing a photo was very annoying.

Overall I wouldn't even consider it close to being GOTY. Too many bad voice actors (David and Alyssa were some of the worst since PS2 budget game days) and stupid choices/plot holes.

I thought the ending sucked too, especially
choosing between a town getting smashed up or letting an annoyingly written character die. Also, the whole point of the game seems moot as Max gets powers and saves Chloe, which fucks everything up.. so in the kill Chloe ending, she still gets powers? and she just wasn't supposed to use them to save Chloe?? It's not explained, nor does it make a lick of sense.

Really enjoyed Max's character though, especially her voice acting. Just a shame that many of the choices were Telltale-like in the fact that there is no 'good' choice. That always bugs me in games like this.


Also, what was up with the random text message from Racheal at the end that Max would see her soon? Did I miss something?

In her 'nightmare' she gets lots of strange texts, even gets called out by Franks dog
 

kgtrep

Member
Finished the game
by sacrificing Chloe. Watching Max cry helplessly knowing Chloe will come in any moment now and die was quite powerful.

I liked the game a lot overall, but have mild criticisms about the last episode.
The initial scenes with Mark were definitely chilling and well done, but I thought some scenes building up to the nightmare, such as exploring the psyches of girls other than Max in the girls' dormitory, watching students in the hallway talk and walk backwards, avoiding being spotted by various characters, were out of place and should have been cut.

I really liked
the montage of what people are doing or thinking at the end of an episode. This was done in episodes 1 and 2, but was dismissed in favor of a not-too-shocking twist in episodes 3 and 4. I was glad to see it brought back in episode 5 (only if you sacrifice Chloe, cause otherwise, well, no one else is alive).
 
Bought the bundle and am at the end of episode 3 now, but I think I'm going to stop playing, because of a moment where the game makes a choice for me, that I feel should have been MY call to make
(I'm talking about saving William, Chloe's dad. I'm not going to rewind and save him)
Fuck this game that I loved so much so far.
 

Guri

Member
Bought the bundle and am at the end of episode 3 now, but I think I'm going to stop playing, because of a moment where the game makes a choice for me, that I feel should have been MY call to make
(I'm talking about saving William, Chloe's dad. I'm not going to rewind and safe him)
Fuck this game that I loved so much so far.

Some story moments are written without choices for a reason. I suggest that you keep playing, but... your choice.
 
Some story moments are written without choices for a reason. I suggest that you keep playing, but... your choice.

I understand this, but in a game so full of choices, you can't take away player choice in an important moment like this, you just can't. If the writer absolutely wants the story to go this route, they have to write it in a way that all choices end up the same way or that the alternative, for whatever reason, would be unreasonably to take (as in far worse, nobody would do this... or absolutely out of character like "we didn't give you the option to throw your best friend under a bus for funsies here").
 

BokehKing

Banned
When you buy the whole season at once, does it tell you when an episode ends?

I'm trying to fix my camera right now but I got this feeling I'm in chapter 2?

I'm loving this right now and I'm not going to want it to end
Any idea how many hours it is?
 

Menome

Member
I understand this, but in a game so full of choices, you can't take away player choice in an important moment like this, you just can't. If the writer absolutely wants the story to go this route, they have to write it in a way that all choices end up the same way or that the alternative, for whatever reason, would be unreasonably to take (as in far worse, nobody would do this... or absolutely out of character like "we didn't give you the option to throw your best friend under a bus for funsies here").

EDIT: You changed the wording, so that makes my reply redundant.

I am assuming you've reached the absolute end of the episode, final cutscene, yes?
 

Quonny

Member
Just finished episode one.

It's kinda grabbing me, but I feel like some of my choices aren't felt, but maybe that's for a good reason, or maybe I just haven't gotten to where they matter yet. It's likely the latter, but I'd like some kind of payoff for my decisions, even if they're minor ones sprinkled throughout.
 
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