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[Steamlord]

So my "interpretation," not that it's founded on anything concrete, is that rather than the universe just "giving Max powers" with no apparent purpose, Max basically willed her powers into being when she reached out to stop Chloe from getting shot. Not in a conscious way, and I don't think it really needs any further explaining, but that's what I'm going with. She happened to be in the right situation at the right time to awaken crazy time traveling powers within her in order to attempt to save her friend (who I'm pretty sure she recognized even the first time in the bathroom, she just wasn't 100% sure).

Just a baseless crackpot theory but I like it. It fits the story better than whatever random "trickster god" interpretation we can come up with.

 

[Gbraga]

Nanomachines

 

[Guri]

I found it extremely out of character that hey would be fine with everyone dying, like Chloe's mom and literally everyone else. They should be mentally crushed and not at all happy, for them to be so accepting (especially Max) of the town being destroyed so they can be happy is basically murder in my eyes.

Sacrificing Chloe is what makes the most sense to me in term of the story that we've seen of the characters, Chloe's story is pretty damn tragic but she does get a redemptive arc at the end and not to mention the fucked up universe gets corrected as well (It's cliche as hell though) where if you sacrifice Arcadia who's to say if the universe still doesn't try and kill Chloe?

On another note, what is with the deer? I don't think that got properly explained if it did I missed it.

That's exactly what the game allows you to do: elaborate theories about what could happen in the future. On one hand "who's to say the universe still doesn't try and kill Chloe?" and on the other "Max still went through all those realities in the Arcadia Bay ending, so what if another storm happens?". Which is great. There isn't a true canon ending here. Even Dontnod said that, if they make another Season, it will be with a different cast. This particular story is over and the future of these characters is up to your imagination.

As for the Chloe ending being out of character, I disagree here. The other ending was way more detailed. This is subtle. It just shows them leaving the town in the middle of the day, but they had hours between the destruction and that moment. Again, the writers left this to your imagination, like Michael said in that post. I can see why it can feel incomplete to some, but I personally like these subtle endings.

 

[Deleted member 47027]

.

Goddammit, I haven't finished Witcher 3. Fucker!

 

[LiK]

please use spoiler tags for other games.

 

[Grisby]

Goddammit, I haven't finished Witcher 3. Fucker!

Sorry, I editied it, but it's not a spoiler about the ending or anything.

 

[RipperGrim]

I also laughed at how the game became almost a self parody of itself, when the bottles popped up in the dream section and Max was basically "This is hell" and then sitting on the chair no matter how odd and out of place it is.

Edit:

Goddammit, I haven't finished Witcher 3. Fucker!

Literally nothing was spoiled

 

[ArtHands]

Damn, those endings.

Glad to be a day one player of this great game, so sad to see it end. I will need to replay episode 5 tomorrow

 

[Steamlord]

Well now that this is over, I only have to wait a few more years for KR0 Episode 4.

 

[neogaffer1]

it's been a few days since i beat the game and i can't stop thinking about it...might do another run of the game chosing stuff based on what i know is good and bad and see where they leads me.

as a side note, someone i'm subscribed to on youtube who doesn't do youtube stuff anymore but instead just uploads his twitch archives there has been playing through the game and he put up his episode 5. watched the last 10 minutes and it was just him bashing on the game, saying that it wasn't very good and "borderlands was much better."

yeah, not going to watch any of his videos again.

 

[uncleniccius]

Just finished.. I sacrificed Arcadia bay but will watch the other ending.

In the end did any choice up to that point actually make a difference?

 

[Gbraga]

it's been a few days since i beat the game and i can't stop thinking about it...might do another run of the game chosing stuff based on what i know is good and bad and see where they leads me.

as a side note, someone i'm subscribed to on youtube who doesn't do youtube stuff anymore but instead just uploads his twitch archives there has been playing through the game and he put up his episode 5. watched the last 10 minutes and it was just him bashing on the game, saying that it wasn't very good and "borderlands was much better."

yeah, not going to watch any of his videos again.

Because he disagrees with you?

 

[uncleniccius]

I just watched the save Arcadia ending, yeah, I made the wrong choice. It works better and seems to have had more time/thought than the other option. Oh well, still a great experience.

 

[QuickSilverD]

as a side note, someone i'm subscribed to on youtube who doesn't do youtube stuff anymore but instead just uploads his twitch archives there has been playing through the game and he put up his episode 5. watched the last 10 minutes and it was just him bashing on the game, saying that it wasn't very good and "borderlands was much better."

yeah, not going to watch any of his videos again.

did he meant Tales from the Borderlands, cause the orginal Bordelands wouldn't really be comparable to LiS, but TftB would (being a Telltale game).

As a side note I haven't decided yet if Tales from the Borderlands is better than Life is Strange for me, they are both the best games their developers have produce IMO

 

[Samara]

So who wrote the graffitis?
A lot of the symbolism was left out. As well as closing some characters's stories.
Feel like the game needed to be in 2 parts.

 

[Rats Off To Ya]

Episode 5 got a 6.5 from Polygon.

You could say Polarized has been... polarizing.

Spoiler

I'll show myself out.

Polygon gonna Polygon. What else is new?

 

[Lostconfused]

Because he disagrees with you?

dont need a better reason.

 

[Corpekata]

There's really nothing objectionable in that Polygon review, and they echo a lot of what has been said in this thread about the episode.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

Not gonna give Polygon hits, so I guess I'll won't find out why.

But it's probably like "after playing mario maker, I'm disappointed Life is Strange doesn't let you custom create your own story. Also disappointed you can't jump. Docking 3 points."

 

[Smiley90]

I am shocked at the amount of people that would sacrifice a town, including your friends and even Chloes mother.

You would think Chloe would be a bit more upset you sacrificed her mother and her step-father (who she came to realize was a good guy).

The blood on your hands is deep and dark.

Not everyone dies. I mean, you see tons of people escaping, some with your own help. David is in a bunker and Kate is in a hospital out of town.

Even if you assume everyone present AT the bay dies (though the town doesnt look so much worse afterwards, but still), it's likely Joyce, Warren and Frank of the characters we care about.

She had the vision of the storm before saving Chloe and that was the reason she was even IN that washroom.

I see it as she was given those powers (by Rachel?) to stop Jefferson and save Chloe - at the cost of the town that killed Rachel and would've killled Kate and Chloe. The storm is a vision of what they'll have to pay to save her.

 

[matrixman92]

*wakes up*

"yep, still depressed"

This is my life from now on

 

[Manny Calavera]

it's been a few days since i beat the game and i can't stop thinking about it...might do another run of the game chosing stuff based on what i know is good and bad and see where they leads me.
.

I can't stop thinking about it either and I've been depressed the last couple of days because of the ending.. I've now played the game twice from the beginning and I might start my third run at some point. This is without a doubt one of my top GOTY contenders.

 

[Manny Calavera]

Does it, though? I mean, it certainly didn't feel that way to me. After all, if you look at the statistics, there is a small difference between both choices. Throughout the last episode, they are referenced indirectly. In the place you can save the fisherman, there are two flyers. One that Max says "if we get out of this, Chloe..." (meaning they would go to that event) and the other about a sports event at Arcadia Bay that wasn't going to happen anymore because of the storm.

If you save Chloe, you can assume that they went to that event. If you save the town, the sports event happens. They kept presenting both choices in an equal manner and, while the Arcadia Bay ending is certainly longer, the other one just needed to be short and subtle.

You can argue that Chloe accepts her fate, but she also leaves the option for Max to decide and says she'll support any. And while you can definitely say that Chloe was supposed to die at the beginning, you can also say that this is about stop trying to fix the past and learning to live with the consequences.

I think what makes you lean towards either ending is your experience throughout the episodes and what you get out of it.

Very good points actually and can't say I disagree. I guess in the end it's subjective after all. I interpreted the last episode and the final moments that the game was guiding me to the "sacrifice Chloe" direction, with all the memories before the final decision to give it more weight. Also I use the same argument, but the sacrificing Chloe ending seems to be the one they spend a lot more time with and ultimately the more powerful and memorable. Also probably the single hardest choice I've made in a video game. One thing I can say that the ending haven't left my mind since I played it and ultimately it proves how deep and thought provoking the game is.

 

[neogaffer1]

Because he disagrees with you?

no, it's more of the way he acted. like he called chloe a "stupid bitch" after chosing to sacrifice her and complained about them kissing in that ending, among other things. hard to describe, here's the video: https://youtu.be/mZNQM_xuW8o?t=7126

did he meant Tales from the Borderlands, cause the orginal Bordelands wouldn't really be comparable to LiS, but TftB would (being a Telltale game).

As a side note I haven't decided yet if Tales from the Borderlands is better than Life is Strange for me, they are both the best games their developers have produce IMO

yeah i think he meant tales from the borderlands, he's been playing that too

I can't stop thinking about it either and I've been depressed the last couple of days because of the ending.. I've now played the game twice from the beginning and I might start my third run at some point. This is without a doubt one of my top GOTY contenders.

absolutely.

 

[A-V-B]

Very good points actually and can't say I disagree. I guess in the end it's subjective after all. I interpreted the last episode and the final moments that the game was guiding me to the "sacrifice Chloe" direction, with all the memories before the final decision to give it more weight. Also I use the same argument, but the sacrificing Chloe ending seems to be the one they spend a lot more time with and ultimately the more powerful and memorable. Also probably the single hardest choice I've made in a video game.

I spent like ten minutes thinking about it.

But I'm kind of ashamed to admit that most of those 10 minutes were me trying to figure out how the system was gaming me with those two choices.

 

[Gbraga]

no, it's more of the way he acted. like he called chloe a "stupid bitch" after chosing to sacrifice her and complained about them kissing in that ending, among other things. hard to describe, here's the video: https://youtu.be/mZNQM_xuW8o?t=7126

Ok, that seems dumber. Though I also do have some issues with the kiss that I haven't been able to figure out yet.

Quoting myself:

Could someone offer me their perspective on the kiss for the Sacrifice Chloe ending? It felt a bit weird to me.

I can definitely see it coming from Max, for many reasons throughout the game, but more explicitly, we see in Episode 5 that Chloe making out with anyone is a nightmare for Max, that says a lot about her romantic feelings torwards Chloe, but I never got the same impression from Chloe. Their previous kiss was just a dumb dare she did to sound badass, and when Max took her up on her offer, she was really embarrassed about it.

You could make a case for it being more of a goodbye kiss than any romantic demonstration, but then why would you say goodbye to your best friend you love so dearly with something they were uncomfortable with? I don't buy it.

Not to say I disliked it, Dana is best girl forever, but I'm more than fine with some Chloe action, I just don't think it was properly done.

Maybe if there was another previous kiss like when they're at the pool? The tension was through the roof in that scene, and yet they did their best to show it was nothing.

I spent like ten minutes thinking about it.

But I'm kind of ashamed to admit that most of those 10 minutes were me trying to figure out how the system was gaming me with those two choices.

I spent quite some time too, but couldn't reach an answer when trying to put myself in her place. So I had to take a step back and just mechanically choose the ending I thought would be more interesting to close the story.

I chose wrong though, the other ending was much better

 

[neogaffer1]

Ok, that seems dumber. Though I also do have some issues with the kiss that I haven't been able to figure out yet.

Quoting myself:



Not to say I disliked it, Dana is best girl forever, but I'm more than fine with some Chloe action, I just don't think it was properly done.

Maybe if there was another pervious kiss like when they're at the pool? The tension was through the roof in that scene, and yet they did their best to show it was nothing.

he didn't have legitimate complaints about them kissing but more mimicking two dogs kissing when they did it, if you get what i'm trying to describe.

 

[Anko]

I'm part of the 7% (as of writing).

Sorry Warren. Max's heart belongs to Chloe.

Spoiler

I rejected Warren alllllll the way. *trollface*

I sacrificed Chloe though. Kiss and all.
Edit: As for the kiss.. I felt them building up to it since the nightmare. Maybe it's my yuri goggles but there was one section in the flashback where it was just the two of them flirting and flirting and flirting...
Then of course, there's the Chloe kissing nightmares.

 

[Corpekata]

Ok, that seems dumber. Though I also do have some issues with the kiss that I haven't been able to figure out yet.

Quoting myself:



Not to say I disliked it, Dana is best girl forever, but I'm more than fine with some Chloe action, I just don't think it was properly done.

Maybe if there was another pervious kiss like when they're at the pool? The tension was through the roof in that scene, and yet they did their best to show it was nothing.

Well, when she dared her Chloe was clearly still in love with Rachel, so it makes a bit more sense that she'd be taken aback. I didn't really see it as not feeling that way as much as not being ready to move on.

Granted by the end of episode 5 it's only been like a day since she really gets to grieve for Rachel, but I'll chock that up to the maybe ill advised choice to have the game happen over the course of 5 days. That really should make most of the character developments seem a little implausible, but only a minor issue for me.

 

[matrixman92]

damn... I definitely missed hearing this line in my playthrough.

This is disturbing. Its from the nightmare sequence

https://instaud.io/dsj

 

[Kadayi]

Episode 5 got a 6.5 from Polygon.

You could say Polarized has been... polarizing.

Spoiler

I'll show myself out.

The makers of this game seem to be guilty of the same crime as Mark Jefferson. They put these young women in a box and point cameras at them and have them make out with each other

I must of missed the Mark Jefferson lesbian photo sessions. Oh no that's right...that never happens in the game. Colin Campbell failing once more.

 

[A-V-B]

Well, when she dared her Chloe was clearly still in love with Rachel, so it makes a bit more sense that she'd be taken aback. I didn't really see it as not feeling that way as much as not being ready to move on.

Granted by the end of episode 5 it's only been like a day since she really gets to grieve for Rachel, but I'll chock that up to the maybe ill advised choice to have the game happen over the course of a week only that really should make most of the character developments seem a little implausible.

Also kind of the downside to having so much plot take place in between the changing photo realities. It could be a budget thing, and considering what the dev said it probably was a budget thing, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it

 

[Corpekata]

I must of missed the Mark Jefferson lesbian photo sessions. Oh no that's right...that never happens in the game. Colin Campbell failing once more.

He's not being literal. He's accusing the developers of being voyeuristic. Can disagree with that without picking apart things that aren't meant to be taken literally.

 

[13randO]

*wakes up*

"yep, still depressed"

This is my life from now on

I feel that..

 

[Gbraga]

he didn't have legitimate complaints about them kissing but more mimicking two dogs kissing when they did it, if you get what i'm trying to describe.

I see, I know exactly what kind of thing you're talking about...

Yeah, it's annoying.

Well, when she dared her Chloe was clearly still in love with Rachel, so it makes a bit more sense that she'd be taken aback. I didn't really see it as not feeling that way as much as not being ready to move on.

Granted by the end of episode 5 it's only been like a day since she really gets to grieve for Rachel, but I'll chock that up to the maybe ill advised choice to have the game happen over the course of 5 days. That really should make most of the character developments seem a little implausible, but only a minor issue for me.

I never got the impression she had a romantic relationship with Rachel. Platonic, maybe, but not directly. Did I miss something?

I'm part of the 7% (as of writing).

Sorry Warren. Max's heart belongs to Chloe.

Spoiler

I rejected Warren alllllll the way. *trollface*

I sacrificed Chloe though. Kiss and all.

Didn't have to think twice about Warren. Never really had a real connection with him. I jumped on the hate bandwagon because it was a fun joke, but I was more indifferent torwards him.

 

[LUXURY]

Well, I choose to sacrifice Arcadia Bay. When I was presented with that choice I immediately thought about all I (Max) had been through. To save Chloe. Over and over. Sure, there was a bigger issue here trying to be uncovered, but most of the time it came down to doing what was needed to reverse the fate of her life, and I understood why Max did it. She loved her best friend. It's that unconditional feeling you get for someone you care so deeply for. Nothing else mattered in the grand scheme to her but Chloe. That is exactly what I would do in that scenario. When I care for someone, they get my all. Everything I have. I do anything for people I love. It's a problem sometimes, just like it is for Max. Standing there I felt like if I choose to sacrifice the person I'd worked so hard to save over and over and protect from multiple histories that I couldn't allow myself to kill her in the end. That simply was not an option for me. To me, it meant sacrificing the population of a town for one person and I was okay with it for some reason. That's how deep it goes. What's scary is if someone cared enough for me to do the same. That's all I thought about when the episode came to a close, and when I was staring at Max in the end, I couldn't help but wonder if she sat in the truck thinking the same thing.

 

[Corpekata]

I see, I know exactly what kind of thing you're talking about...

Yeah, it's annoying.


I never got the impression she had a romantic relationship with Rachel. Platonic, maybe, but not directly. Did I miss something?



Didn't have to think twice about Warren. Never really had a real connection with him. I jumped on the hate bandwagon because it was a fun joke, but I was more indifferent torwards him.

Well I mean when she finds out Rachel slept with Frank she breaks down and says something like "I can't believe Rachel would betray me like that" which isn't something you say about a friend just making a questionable hookup. There's a load of dialogue that pretty heavily implies it.

 

[Kadayi]

He's not being literal. He's accusing the developers of being voyeuristic. Can disagree with that without picking apart things that aren't meant to be taken literally.

Fuck that bullshit. It's a visual game. I don't think a couple of staid kisses qualifies as voyeuristic. If there was some sexual relationship going on and they exploited that then I could perhaps get behind it, but the words and the reality of the experience don't align. Sorry.

 

[Gbraga]

Well I mean when she finds out Rachel slept with Frank she breaks down and says something like "I can't believe Rachel would betray me like that" which isn't something you say about a friend just making a questionable hookup. There's a load of dialogue that pretty heavily implies it.

I took it as a platonic thing from Chloe. She felt betrayed because Rachel was making out with Frank, but Rachel didn't actually cheat on her because they were never really a couple to begin with.

BUT, when I consider your interpretation, the kiss makes a lot more sense. So I guess you're right. Thanks.

Well, I choose to sacrifice Arcadia Bay. When I was presented with that choice I immediately thought about all I (Max) had been through. To save Chloe. Over and over. Sure, there was a bigger issue here trying to be uncovered, but most of the time it came down to doing what was needed to reverse the fate of her life, and I understood why Max did it. She loved her best friend. It's that unconditional feeling you get for someone you care so deeply for. Nothing else mattered in the grand scheme to her but Chloe. That is exactly what I would do in that scenario. When I care for someone, they get my all. Everything I have. I do anything for people I love. It's a problem sometimes, just like it is for Max. Standing there I felt like if I choose to sacrifice the person I'd worked so hard to save over and over and protect from multiple histories that I couldn't allow myself to kill her in the end. That simply was not an option for me. To me, it meant sacrificing the population of a town for one person and I was okay with it for some reason. That's how deep it goes. What's scary is if someone cared enough for me to do the same. That's all I thought about when the episode came to a close, and when I was staring at Max in the end, I couldn't help but wonder if she sat in the truck thinking the same thing.

It really surprised me that Chloe didn't resent Max in the end, even if not in a "we'll go our separate ways and never talk to each other" way, it could be more subtle, but I was really surprised that she was ok with it. Max didn't just choose her over the city and some of its citizens (incluing Chloe's own mother), she was the one that caused the storm that killed them in the first place. It wasn't some mystical bullshit that Chloe was cursed to have her life linked to the storm, the reason the storm is happening is because Chloe was already dead and was brought back to life by Max. I was sure that would be a big deal and it's a big reason why I went for that ending. I felt like it would be even more of a tragedy and would offer me an interesting way of closing things up that I wouldn't have thought of, unlike the Chloe Must Die ending, so it was very disappointed to me that not only it was treated as the usual superhero dilemma of "the life of a person you love vs the life of many" by both the characters and the ending.

You even have people begging you not to kill them in the Nightmare, so it's not like I'm misinterpreting, the game is straight up telling you that you're the one to blame. It's not a natural disaster.

Edit: As for the kiss.. I felt them building up to it since the nightmare. Maybe it's my yuri goggles but there was one section in the flashback where it was just the two of them flirting and flirting and flirting...
Then of course, there's the Chloe kissing nightmares.

Well, sure, but it's not Chloe's nightmare. As I said, I completely understand it coming from Max, but I didn't get the same impression from Chloe, you know?

What happens in that scene if you kiss Warren?

 

[AgeEighty]

I chose to save the town the first time, then went back and had a look at the other ending. Of the two, I'd say the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending rings more false. It's hard to imagine Chloe being content with Max's decision in that scenario, not harboring some sort of resentment for both Max and herself over having been chosen to survive in place of her mother and all their other friends. A lot of people died for her; how would she just drive to California with Max and live with that?

Also, in both endings: Do we think Max still has her powers and just can't ever use them? Or did the act of not using them the first time cancel them out?

Also also: Where'd the power come from, and what kind of sick universe gives Max a supernatural power strictly for the purpose of teaching her it's wrong to use that power she wouldn't have ever had otherwise?

 

[Steamlord]

Ok, that seems dumber. Though I also do have some issues with the kiss that I haven't been able to figure out yet.

Quoting myself:



Not to say I disliked it, Dana is best girl forever, but I'm more than fine with some Chloe action, I just don't think it was properly done.

Maybe if there was another previous kiss like when they're at the pool? The tension was through the roof in that scene, and yet they did their best to show it was nothing.

I was kind of taken aback by the kiss as well. I kissed her when she dared me, but I took that as more of a joke than anything else. Outside of that, nothing really seemed to point to Max having feelings for Chloe until that final kiss, so it really just kind of came out of nowhere. I'm absolutely fine with homosexual relationships, of course, but I felt they could have built that aspect up a little more beforehand, depending on your choices and all. If anything that would have given it more impact instead of just feeling vaguely out of place. Just a minor nitpick though, really.

 

[dragonbane]

Life Is Strange is already considered a success in terms of sales

Someone from SE or DontNod directly said that? Very glad if so, considering DontNod were on the verge of going under.

 

[Gbraga]

I chose to save the town the first time, then went back and had a look at the other ending. Of the two, I'd say the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending rings more false. It's hard to imagine Chloe being content with Max's decision in that scenario, not harboring some sort of resentment for both Max and herself over having been chosen to survive in place of her mother and all their other friends. A lot of people died for her; how would she just drive to California with Max and live with that?

Also, in both endings: Do we think Max still has her powers and just can't ever use them? Or did the act of not using them the first time cancel them out?

Also also: Where'd the power come from, and what kind of sick universe gives Max a supernatural power strictly for the purpose of teaching her it's wrong to use that power she wouldn't have ever had otherwise?

I thought she kept her powers, but it's a good point about not using them the first time cancelling them. She did get it when trying to reach for Chloe, after all. Not sure now.

About the power's origin, I don't like thinking about it too much, I don't think it has a purpose, it just happened. It doesn't need a reason, she doesn't have to be the chosen one, it just happened. Sometimes, there can be no explanation, and there shouldn't be one. The unanswered mystery is what stays with us the longest, and it's what we'll remember in the end. I don't think the universe was trying to teach her anything, it is what it is, she's the one who had to learn the way things work. I don't think the universe cares.

I was kind of taken aback by the kiss as well. I kissed her when she dared me, but I took that as more of a joke than anything else. Outside of that, nothing really seemed to point to Max having feelings for Chloe until that final kiss, so it really just kind of came out of nowhere. I'm absolutely fine with homosexual relationships, of course, but I felt they could have built that aspect up a little more beforehand, depending on your choices and all. If anything that would have given it more impact instead of just feeling vaguely out of place. Just a minor nitpick though, really.

Oh yeah, it's definitely minor, it's just fun to talk about it.

About Max having feelings, it's made pretty explicit when Chloe making out with both Warren and Victoria is a nightmare for Max. She hates that idea. It could be seen as ambiguous when it's just Chloe and Warren, since Warren is another love interest, but Victoria was never a possibility. It's more about Chloe.

I love her tats too, Victoria, I know how you feel. :')

 

[Smiley90]

I think you shouldnt look at the sacrifice arcadia bay endig in terms of what the game showed and then conclude that it's the "wrong" ending. The devs have said they had budget constraints and that ending wasnt fleshed out, so you kind of have to pick your own ending and imagine it there. In my case that's, as I said before

- they go looking for joyce and warren, find them dead
- david&chloe reunite at Joyce's funeral
- Max and Chloe move to Seattle to live with Max's parents

The ending was illustrated/shown very... Empty, which is sad, as it makes it look like it's not a "real" alternative. I saw it as the powers being given TO save Chloe, so it's a real ending to me.

 

[Rats Off To Ya]

I was kind of taken aback by the kiss as well. I kissed her when she dared me, but I took that as more of a joke than anything else. Outside of that, nothing really seemed to point to Max having feelings for Chloe until that final kiss, so it really just kind of came out of nowhere. I'm absolutely fine with homosexual relationships, of course, but I felt they could have built that aspect up a little more beforehand, depending on your choices and all. If anything that would have given it more impact instead of just feeling vaguely out of place. Just a minor nitpick though, really.

It didn't feel out of place to me at all. It felt like the natural culmination of the story. Episode 3 in particular was, like, 100% romantic subtext IMO. That's just how I was reading it, though.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

The kiss kind of came out of nowhere for me, too. I never saw Chloe and Max's relationship as romantic.

I chose to save the town the first time, then went back and had a look at the other ending. Of the two, I'd say the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending rings more false. It's hard to imagine Chloe being content with Max's decision in that scenario, not harboring some sort of resentment for both Max and herself over having been chosen to survive in place of her mother and all their other friends. A lot of people died for her; how would she just drive to California with Max and live with that?

Also, in both endings: Do we think Max still has her powers and just can't ever use them? Or did the act of not using them the first time cancel them out?

Also also: Where'd the power come from, and what kind of sick universe gives Max a supernatural power strictly for the purpose of teaching her it's wrong to use that power she wouldn't have ever had otherwise?

The 'save Chloe' ending had to be lessened in scope because of budget issues, which is why it was less built up. Also, a common theory is that because of the snow that appears in the scene as well as other hints throughout the game, the ending could be seen as a "false" one because it signifies that Chloe isn't out of the woods and she'll continue to die, with Max having to continue saving her using her powers. It's up to individual interpretation, though.

But yeah, I think most assume that Max still has her powers in both endings. There isn't anything that indicates that she'd lose them in either scenario.

And, well, this is another major point of discussion. A possibility I brought up is that it doesn't have to be the same "ethereal identity" which gives Max her powers and which also wants to teach Max a lesson, or have Chloe die.

 

[Purkake4]

I loved everything except the "nightmare down memory lane" it really hit you over the head with the "metaphors" and felt like a bad TV show. I'm not really mad about the two choice ending thing, I feel that the rest of the game prepared you (and Max) for that point and it didn't just come out of the blue like those DX: HR endings. Would have liked a little more expanded ending though, even just an extended slideshow.

I sacrificed

Spoiler

Chloe. I couldn't let them live with all those deaths. I does make for a nice journey, since I refused to euthanize Chloe in the alt timeline.

EDIT: Those nightmare world texts were the bomb though.

 

[Reedirect]

The more I think about Save Chloe as it's presented in the game, the more nonsensical and out of character for Max I find it to be. I'm not opposed to the idea of the ending itself, just the way it's handled completely buries it.

At least the "snow theory" (or whatever it's called) makes it a little more interesting for sure.

 

[Gbraga]

I loved everything except the "nightmare down memory lane" it really hit you over the head with the "metaphors" and felt like a bad TV show. I'm not really mad about the two choice ending thing, I feel that the rest of the game prepared you (and Max) for that point and it didn't just come out of the blue like those DX: HR endings. Would have liked a little more expanded ending though, even just an extended slideshow.

I sacrificed

Spoiler

Chloe. I couldn't let them live with all those deaths. I does make for a nice journey, since I refused to euthanize Chloe in the alt timeline.

EDIT: Those nightmare world texts were the bomb though.

That's an awesome parallel I didn't even think of at the time. Damn.

Now I feel stupid.

 

[AngryMoth]

I don't really get the complaint about choices not mattering in the endings. The way it played out felt natural to me and was appropriate for the story, not like they were trying to write themselves out of having to account for your choices.

But mostly and what I think is more important than having 100 ending permutations is that I felt they did a great job reflecting your choices and their consequences throughout the course of the whole game. I was pleasantly surprised by how often dialogue and plot elements would account for decisions I'd made. It still felt like I had my own experience.