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[Sora_N]

Finished the game today. Fucking excellent. I chose the

Spoiler

Sacrifice Arcadia Bay

ending. I thought that

Spoiler

despite sacrificing Chole would do the most good that there had to be a reason that Max got rewind powers and if it wasn't meant to save Chole then what was the whole point of getting them and starting this adventure?That's what I thought when I chose. Thinking about it now maybe it was just to bring to light Rachel Amber and the shit Nathan and Mr. Jefferson were doing. Or maybe it was nothing at all. What a cruel twist that would be. After watching the sacrificing chole ending I feel that one has the most emotional impact and felt true to the core of Max's character.

I finished Steins;Gate last week, and it has parallels to this.

Spoiler

Max got her rewind powers and because of this she was able to re-bond with Chloe after 5 years of absence. It wasn't meant to be, for Chloe to survive. When Max saved Chloe's father, Chloe ended up in an accident and dying after 5 years of barely living. She was constantly unable to escape dying even against Jefferson. Chloe is destined to die, but since Max remembers what happens each time to changes the past the time they spend together still holds meaning. Chloe was supposed to be killed by Nathan anyways, so she basically got free time to live and even though Chloe doesn't remember what happens when Max touched the past her character still matured because Max had been through so much and it projected onto Chloe when she had to explain herself in order to stop Chloe from doing stupid shit.

tl;dr

Spoiler

Maybe Max got the powers because it was the only way for her to bond with Chloe again, since Chloe is basically supposed to die and nothing could change that - the tornado/storm is a huge sign that she isn't supposed to live

I actually don't think we'll ever know WHY but we can always use our imagination.

I had to take breaks during Episode 4 -- it was almost too much for me.

Spoiler

Euthanize your best friend AND finding the "Laura Palmer" of the story? Too much. Wow.

I ended up

Spoiler

sacrifice Chloe

and even that was too much for me.

Spoiler

Chloe's final speech at the end did me in as well - Ashly Burch is simply incredible. Anyone else would have played that character as a cliché but you could feel the hurt.

I didn't expect that me as a 30 something year old man would be bawling at the ending of a game -- Dontnod did their job and then some.

Spoiler

I don't want a Life Is Hella Strange/Life Is Strange 2. Please. The ending for sacrifice Chloe is perfect and sacrifice Arcadia Bay leaves the door open for a sequel where Max and Chloe can go to another town and destroy it due to Max's time powers.

I also think Sean Prescott had a more direct part than the game showed. I wouldn't have been surprised if he saw Nathan and Mark Jefferson take photos or is a doomsday prepper and thinks Mark Jefferson is too. I found that Sean Prescott wrote a lot about 'taking our destiny' to Nathan in-game, so it makes sense.

I agree with the last part, gave me huge feels and then that

Spoiler

kiss

.

Remember in ep 3 (I think?) when Max

Spoiler

changed the past and got Chloe crippled? Max said 'hella' and Chloe said 'I hate that word', super ironic lol

I hope there isn't a sequel either, but I can see they would probably make another game with rewind powers and that may be kind of stale.

Last night I felt the game was decent but after having today to sink it in, it was a pretty good game.

About Sean Prescott, the game didn't let us know that much so you could be right. His creepy messages as well lol

 

[Trokil]

You people who (ending spoiler)

Spoiler

sacrificed Arcadia Bay

are monsters. >_>

No, they just missed the point of the game.

Spoiler

The game is about grieve and how you chose to cope with it. Stay angry as Chloe did, try to stay in the past as Max did and by that destroy the lives of everybody around you or move on like Joyce did and cherish the memories of the ones we lost, like she said.

At the end Max was able to let Chloe go and continue her way, people where there for her to help her. And of course Chloe stays with her with her pictures, those in her mind as well as her photos.

 

[XxSlasherMcGirkxX]

I finished Steins;Gate last week, and it has parallels to this.

Oh man I'm not gonna read that, thats the very next game I am going to play lol

 

[Zach]

No, they just missed the point of the game.

Pretty much.

 

[Sora_N]

Oh man I'm not gonna read that, thats the very next game I am going to play lol

You should totally do it, I was thinking about the story and then when I played LiS I thought about S;G as well, lol.

 

[Finaika]

If you keep saving Alyssa throughout the game,

Spoiler

when she's actually in danger during the storm in episode 5, she will inadvertently kill herself to avoid your help ("Stay away Max. When you show up, I always have to move," she says, taking a step back into thin air).

.

Hahaha why do I find this funny?

 

[xXCrazyCostaXX]

Just finished the game with the girlfriend and got the platinum trophy. Game was pretty good. Some shitty acting and the word "hella" almost killed the game for me. But Samuel and his squirrels saved the game. Overall I really like it though.

 

[OrlanisWorks]

Welp. The first portion of Episode 4 is surely the closest a video game has ever come to get me crying (serious goosebumps and could almost feel tears coming, but I instead laughed to shake the feeling), and probably the first time something in entertainment has done something like that to me since the Pokemon movie way back. That kinda shit really gets me and will always.

I definitely would've put this in my GOTY list in the vote thread, so screw me for delaying this game so long.

 

[ScepticMatt]

If you keep saving Alyssa throughout the game,

Spoiler

when she's actually in danger during the storm in episode 5, she will inadvertently kill herself to avoid your help ("Stay away Max. When you show up, I always have to move," she says, taking a step back into thin air).

.

you can prevent this though. Rewind and then

Spoiler

move the wood board

.

 

[datsunzep]

The girlfriend and I have been playing episode 1. Not really feeling it yet, characters are overly dramatic, and the choices haven't really made much of an effect yet. I assume that's going to change, but so far it's a meh.

 

[Orakio Rob]

The girlfriend and I have been playing episode 1. Not really feeling it yet, characters are overly dramatic, and the choices haven't really made much of an effect yet. I assume that's going to change, but so far it's a meh.

Same here. I imagine the game will get better, but it seems like most people praising the game on Gaf liked it from the start, so I'm not sure I should keep going.

 

[RedSparrows]

I liked it at the start, but I loved it by the end. Some things won't change, but much else will.

 

[Tunesmith]

Very minor "this will have consequences" decision gripe about a certain set of blue birds.

Spoiler

Nothing ever materialized out of that saving the blue bird(s) in the house shenanigans.

 

[somotodsyo]

Very minor "this will have consequences" decision gripe about a certain set of blue birds.

Spoiler

Nothing ever materialized out of that saving the blue bird(s) in the house shenanigans.

Spoiler

I believe saving it the first time allows you to save it again later. Isn't that nice?

 

[Staab]

Loved the game.
First part slowly put you into it, I liked the art and voice overs so I thought it was already pretty good, episode 2 was when things really got interesting but it was waaaay too short for me (barely 2hours?!).
Felt episode 3 and 4 were REALLY strong.
5 was a letdown however, even though I didn't' see the big twist coming I felt that it just seemed like a rushed ending and didn't fulfill all the early promises.

What an amazing adventure though, and DAT MUSIC !!

 

[Filben]

and the choices haven't really made much of an effect yet.

And they won't much. There only two endings, or one ultimate end, theoretically. Like in The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us or every other game claiming "your actions matter". They only matter while you're playing-- they matter to you, and some scenes and characters will react different based on your actions. So it's not much indeed.

But, as I said, ultimately, the story has two possible outcomes.

Doesn't change it's a great experience, though. It's one of the most emotional games I've ever played.

 

[Sendero]

Very minor "this will have consequences" decision gripe about a certain set of blue birds.

Spoiler

Nothing ever materialized out of that saving the blue bird(s) in the house shenanigans.

Spoilers for the ending

Spoiler

I expected/hoped that the actual way to keep the bird alive, would be to not allow it to fly away and instead kept it at home. After all, they already had a nest made in the garage, and several animals seemed to be mass-dying outside. Akin to you inadvertently killing the plant for watering it too much.

Not sure why the squirrels seemed to not be affected by the phenomenon at all. Also, I might be mis-remembering (and not sure if it was intentional) but weren't the fishes in the Science lab room seemed to be phasing in/out when Max got close? Was hoping that was a direct reference of her powers causing all the mayhem.

 

[Via Purifico]

My personal game of the year, possibly the best adventure game I have ever played, second to the longest journey. There aren't enough words to describe the impression this game has left on me. I felt depressed after finishing it a while ago and again after replaying it with the GF. I haven't felt like playing anything else since then, even though I got Until Dawn for christmas recently. It's also the ONLY game my girlfriend has played till the end, which is an accomplishment in itself.

Major props to dontnod for creating such a unique game. Chloe and max's friendship felt so real and engaging that it managed to carry the overall game to great heights and provided me with some of the most memorabel moments I've had in gaming. Sure the game is not without faults, but when it's made with such love it's hard to be bothered by them. I really hope that the game was a succes for them, would love to see they get every freedom and oppurtunity to craft the second season the way they envision it.

 

[emag]

you can prevent this though. Rewind and then

Spoiler

move the wood board

.

True, but given the context I felt justified in not doing more for her.

 

[Anteo]

So I started playing this yesterday, after getting it on the hunble bundle.

So Chapter 2:

Spoiler

I didnt manage to save Kate, I was one question away from saving her but the question about her family and then the bible quote blindsided me. I just didnt check her room at all. I later reloaded on another save to check what I needed to do, and a right answer on either of those questions would do it.

Oh well.. I'll play another chapter tomorrow

 

[Filben]

Spoiler

I later reloaded on another save to check what I needed to do, and a right answer on either of those questions would do it.

Oh well.. I'll play another chapter tomorrow

I strongly advise eyerbody against reloading (whether for just checking or actual replay). You'll get are more tense and immersive gaming experience when you just deal with the consequences, as harsh as those might be. That's part of the experience.

And you cannot destroy the illusion of choices that matter when not looking "under the hood".

 

[Anteo]

I strongly advise eyerbody against reloading (whether for just checking or actual replay). You'll get are more tense and immersive gaming experience when you just deal with the consequences, as harsh as those might be. That's part of the experience.

And you cannot destroy the illusion of choices that matter when not looking "under the hood".

I'm not changing my choices. I'm still playing with the original choices in the original savegame. I just wanted to see what I needed to do to get the other result.

 

[Filben]

I just wanted to see what I needed to do

I know. That's why I wrote "whether for just checking or actual replay". You can do that. I just want to advise against other players doing so.

 

[Courage]

I binge-played this yesterday and today. One of the best of its kind, with a more memorable cast and setting than any Telltale game I've played, even TWD Season 1.

In regards to the ending, I ended up

Spoiler

sacrificing the Bay, but after watching the Sacrifice Chloe ending on Youtube, it's by far the better ending and provided better closure than the ending I picked.

.

 

[aaaaa0]

Spoiler

I don't want a Life Is Hella Strange/Life Is Strange 2. Please. The ending for sacrifice Chloe is perfect and sacrifice Arcadia Bay leaves the door open for a sequel where Max and Chloe can go to another town and destroy it due to Max's time powers.

They've said that if they do a season two, it won't be a continuation of Max's story.

It will be different characters and a different story, like they way True Detective or American Horror Story works.

 

[21x2]

Finished this yesterday. Very impressed with Dontnods effort! Despite Telltale and Quantic Dream having years and years of experience in the genre I feel Dontnod has outdone them both, pushing the genre considerably both in regards to gameplay, narrative and how the two interact.

I'm most of all impressed by how authentic the entire world crafting feels. Characters talk like they were actual teenagers about things teenagers talk about, every song feels perfectly fitting for a hipster photographer high school girl (in a good way! I loved both the original soundtrack and licensed music), and well as the very open and uncensored handling of themes like bullying, social isolation, teen angst, family pressures, and much more... I feel all pieces of the world crafting fits together perfectly. And while there's some of the standard clunkyness inherent in choice based dialogue, I think Dontnod has done a very impressive job at making dialogues flow naturally, something video games very rarely get right.

Something I liked very much in the way choices affect the game is how the devs seem to have sidestepped one of the biggest issues I've had with Telltale's games; how the story is "choked" into the same end results regardless of your choices. LiS does this as well, and I understand why devs have to do it with these games, but I think they've gone about it differently.

In TTs games, they usually give players choices which drive the story forward, but to prevent too complex ways for the plot to develop, they often "overrule" the player choices not too far afterwards, something I feel a bit... I don't know, disrespected about?
LiS isn't immune to the issue of couse, but I do think they handle it better. I've done no in-depth deconstruction of the game, but I think a lot of the events progressing the story are outside the players control. This might seen bad at first, but it means that almost all choices the player makes actually have a permanent consequence - it's just beside the main plot. And thus, it more or less never becomes overruled by the game design. I personally think this is a very good way to approch the problem with plot becoming too complex.

As for the final episode, I liked it, though not as much as the others. I thought it was very well designed, but suffers from how different it's set up compared to the previous episodes, both narratively and gameplay wise. It simply feels a bit out of place as part of the larger game. I can see why some people are dissatisfied with it.

Spoiler

Considering the final choice. I understand how some people think it's strange that we don't have a truly good ending. But, I find it a bit poetic how the entire game is about rewinding to fix every mistake, get on everyones good side, get the ideal outcome of every scenario... Basically redoing everything you're not satisfied with because you aren't stuck with your choices for more than a few seconds or minutes. And then the final choice literally becomes - Do you stand for everything you've caused? Or do you erase everything? I like how, at the final moment, the game shows how the rewind power, a superpower not just for the character but also in the gameplay context of choice-based adventures, is utterly meaningless in the larger scale of the game. Non-conventional game design for sure, but I think it's quite fitting.

 

[Megatron]

Welp. The first portion of Episode 4 is surely the closest a video game has ever come to get me crying (serious goosebumps and could almost feel tears coming, but I instead laughed to shake the feeling), and probably the first time something in entertainment has done something like that to me since the Pokemon movie way back. That kinda shit really gets me and will always.

I definitely would've put this in my GOTY list in the vote thread, so screw me for delaying this game so long.

Its not too late. Lists can be updated through the final day which is something like Jan 21-23. Thats what im going to do. Im just thinking through where to out it. I think I know, but hsing the extra time.

 

[OrlanisWorks]

Its not too late. Lists can be updated through the final day which is something like Jan 21-23. Thats what im going to do. Im just thinking through where to out it. I think I know, but hsing the extra time.

Hot damn. Thanks for the heads up.

Spoiler

It entered my list at #2.

 

[matrixman92]

cant believe the shutterbug achievement is still glitched for a lot of people on xbox one, including me. Hope its at least fixed by the time the physical edition is out...or if for some reason playing that version unlocks it

 

[malfcn]

Fuuck. Episode 2.

Spoiler

Saved with wife help.

 

[Anteo]

I know. That's why I wrote "whether for just checking or actual replay". You can do that. I just want to advise against other players doing so.

I missed that part, but still, that is completly subjective. I do not think anything about the "tense and immersive gaming experience" is gone by checking what I needed to do to get the result I wanted instead of the one I got.

Also, the inmersion was mostly gone when the game took away the manipulation of choices you had, it was like "welp, boss time I guess"

 

[Sora_N]

What did you guys think of episode 5?

Spoiler

Super disturbing to me honestly lol.

 

[Lothars]

I had initally saw this game being played on twitch for a little while and found out that it was life is strange, so I bought it on the xbox sale and wow I love this game, I just finished episode 2 and want to keep playing. It's outstanding. I really hope it keeps up and stays as good.

 

[Sora_N]

I had initally saw this game being played on twitch for a little while and found out that it was life is strange, so I bought it on the xbox sale and wow I love this game, I just finished episode 2 and want to keep playing. It's outstanding. I really hope it keeps up and stays as good.

3-4 seemed way better to me. Enjoy!

 

[somotodsyo]

What did you guys think of episode 5?

Spoiler

Super disturbing to me honestly lol.

To me, episode 5 was

Spoiler

a really strange mix of being disturbing and hilarious. The part where eveything is backwards (I especially love the photo you take by going into the diary) and the random text messages were some of the funniest moments to me. Bu also a bit disturbing, yes.

 

[Sora_N]

To me, episode 5 was

Spoiler

a really strange mix of being disturbing and hilarious. The part where eveything is backwards (I especially love the photo you take by going into the diary) and the random text messages were some of the funniest moments to me. Bu also a bit disturbing, yes.

Spoiler

Stealth scene was creepy AF but it was hilarious when you read Warren and Jefferson's dialogue lol. Freakin' creepy and hilarious.

Those kind of scenes actually make me feel uneasy so it was kinda hard to get all the bottles, I made sure to do it the first time so I didn't have to do it afterwards lol.

 

[CanUKlehead]

In terms of the choice at the end, it was easy fot me.

Spoiler

I always saw that Max's time powers were just a temporary gift (or curse) to her to be able to reconnect and have fun with her long lost friend, but even early on it felt very Final Destination where some other force is now trying to correct things as none of these things were supposed to happen. She got to reconnect with her friend but as with all things in life, everything is temporary and can be taken away. So I couldn't go ahead with the choice of destroying a whole town for my own selfish fun. Now would that be what the character Max would've done? I would say maybe not. But I don't think that entity would rest until everything else is corrected anyway. The Chloe ending would certainly make things more fun for a sequel though!

 

[Joeku]

In terms of the choice at the end, it was easy fot me.

Spoiler

I always saw that Max's time powers were just a temporary gift (or curse) to her to be able to reconnect and have fun with her long lost friend, but even early on it felt very Final Destination where some other force is now trying to correct things as none of these things were supposed to happen. She got to reconnect with her friend but as with all things in life, everything is temporary and can be taken away. So I couldn't go ahead with the choice of destroying a whole town for my own selfish fun. Now would that be what the character Max would've done? I would say maybe not. But I don't think that entity would rest until everything else is corrected anyway. The Chloe ending would certainly make things more fun for a sequel though!

Spoiler

The game is both a coming of age story for Max and a piece for us to reflect on those we had close to us as a kid that we haven't reconnected to, or missed our chance to do so. We can't always go back in time and be with them again. We can't always pick up where we left off. We all have a Chloe of our own.

 

[somotodsyo]

Spoiler

Those kind of scenes actually make me feel uneasy so it was kinda hard to get all the bottles, I made sure to do it the first time so I didn't have to do it afterwards lol.

I feel the same, actually. So I just rushed past it and now I need to go through that

Spoiler

nightmare

again. :|

 

[dreamfall]

Regarding the ending,

Spoiler

BAE over Bay, any day - ALL DAY.

Pour it out for all the other townies, WE GONNA BE AWRIGHT!

I really loved the game. I also love that the ending choice left me wondering what to do for a split second before deciding

Spoiler

to embrace all that chaos for Chloe!

 

[Dmax3901]

So just started playing this, really enjoying it, but it's making my GPU sound like a fucking lawn mower. Given the fairly low-fi graphics this is confusing me.

Anyone encountered something similar?

i5 4690k, r9 290, if it helps.

 

[Persona7]

So just started playing this, really enjoying it, but it's making my GPU sound like a fucking lawn mower. Given the fairly low-fi graphics this is confusing me.

Anyone encountered something similar?

i5 4690k, r9 290, if it helps.

My friend had a similar issue and I think the solution was changing anti-aliasing settings. Some kind of bug or something.

 

[zero shift]

Been playing this. Just started Episode 4. Man thought the game I justed wanted to punch

Spoiler

blue hair Chloe

in the face. What an entitled little shit.

 

[ScepticMatt]

I feel the same, actually. So I just rushed past it and now I need to go through that

Spoiler

nightmare

again. :|

The game crashed near the end and had to redo the entire section. I really wish there were a fast forward button in this case.

 

[RedSparrows]

Been playing this. Just started Episode 4. Man thought the game I justed wanted to punch

Spoiler

blue hair Chloe

in the face. What an entitled little shit.

She doesn't deal with her grief very well, but she lost her dad aged 13 or whatever, who she adored. No, she wasn't super strong, she was weak. She can be annoying, but I can completely understand her.

 

[Royal_Flush]

I am surprised one thing rarely gets discussed about the ending:

Spoiler

The game spends the last third or half of E5 telling us that we fucked everything up by going back in time trying to "fix" stuff. So the good ending is going back in time trying to "fix" stuff? This doesn't make a lot of sense to me...

 

[Quocia]

I'm also one of the few (or so it seems) that wasn't a big fan of Chloe. She just runs too much into trouble for nothing.
I still enjoyed the story, and at least I felt more close to Max thanks to Chloe.

 

[RedSparrows]

I am surprised one thing rarely gets discussed about the ending:

Spoiler

The game spends the last third or half of E5 telling us that we fucked everything up by going back in time trying to "fix" stuff. So the good ending is going back in time trying to "fix" stuff? This doesn't make a lot of sense to me...

Spoiler

It's about acceptance, essentially. The only way to fix it re: saving the Bay, is, yes, to go back in time, but then allo events to unfold as they would have. Trying to have everything broke everything. The theme is infinitely more important than the plot device, if you see what I mean, and I don't think it's contradictory. The 'fixing' is the issue (hiding William's keys), not the going back in time.

 

[Brandon F]

Yikes. Just wrapped up Ep. 4 and well...Let's just say I adored everything up to the final reveal. That final shot may be the biggest bullshit moment in interactive storytelling. I really hope ep. 5 makes good sense of it and doesn't utterly destroy what this entire journey has been building.

 

[RedSparrows]

The final shot is

Spoiler

Jefferson, right? Or is it Chloe dead on the ground?