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Life is Strange | Spoiler Thread

JonathanNemo said:
I don't like going into threads just to say how much I hated a thing, but I don't have anything else to add at the moment. Man, episode 5 just felt like a mess of poorly done, cheaply made weird bullshit for its second half.

Shame that Dontnod went for more of a Telltale choice, two endings that conveniently mostly remove whatever consequences your actions had with the rest of the game. But I guess they didn't have that much of a budget to work with from the beginning so...

...

The nightmare sequence adds nothing, really, just pads out the gameplay a bit and telegraphs the Chloe versus Arcadia Bay choice in a very hammy way.
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The nightmare sequence didn't add nothing, it was the first in-game acknowledgement of all the stuff that Max has been through since the game started. Episode after episode terrible things kept happening and she never seemed really phased by it until she passed out and the nightmare sequence happened, which was basically Max confronting /being confronted by all her insecurities, doubts and fears about everything that has happened to her, dressed up in some fantastic Black Lodge-style shit.

Also can't disagree more that the two endings "conveniently remove whatever consequences your actions had." The whole game respects your decisions up until the very end, but the game has been telegraphing (even over-telegraphing) since the very beginning that there's a good chance your interfering in Chloe's death probably caused the storm, so at the very end it makes complete thematic sense that you either chose to save Chloe (thus causing the storm) or go back and never use your powers at all (avoiding the storm but letting Chloe die.) I'm not saying it's "the journey not the destination" because that's kind of a cop-out, but that the ending makes total sense in the framework of the story and that everything that happened isn't for nothing because those events still happened and you/Max still experienced them even if your final decision "invalidates" your choices by changing the timeline.
 
Anteater said:
post-31566-homer-simp51yc0.gif
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This is so perfect, hahaha
 
AWizardDidIt said:
Hey now. Not everyone in the
Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending probably died.

Just those that, you know, couldn't dodge a tornado. They need to learn to duck and roll.
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I'm pretty sure if one of those people had a gun, they'd survive by shooting the tornado.

Or making a bomb ala Sharknado.
 
wrowa said:
Well, let's be real here: There is only one ending. The other one is just for people who refuse to face reality. As such, I wasn't surprised that it did feel relatively rough. After all, it just goes contrary to the game's morale (and, yes, sacrificing AB was my first choice as well. Because fuck you, I won't let Chloe die after all I've been through, that's why! :P)

As for the smile, it's just there to show that Chloe and Max are happy to have each other, even when everything else is ruined. It's the positive spark in an otherwise completely desolate situation.
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I kinda felt that way too, especially since the sacrifice Chloe ending is longer, more well done , and better at keeping in line with the characters. You can't tell me that the Max that went looking for a dead girl, cared about her depressed friend, and spends most of the game worried over the right consequences/ ragging on two dudes who drug innocent girls and murdered one is going to sacrifice a whole town of people Like the other ending seems like it was just there to make people who really wanted Chloe to live have something.
 
benicillin said:
The nightmare sequence didn't add nothing, it was the first in-game acknowledgement of all the stuff that Max has been through since the game started. Episode after episode terrible things kept happening and she never seemed really phased by it until she passed out and the nightmare sequence happened, which was basically Max confronting /being confronted by all her insecurities, doubts and fears about everything that has happened to her, dressed up in some fantastic Black Lodge-style shit.
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I don't even agree with this take. At best, the nightmare sequence makes the connection that the vortex was caused by Max and not any of the game's other villains. The rest, like the creeper Max doll in Warren's locker and the goofy texts and backwards land, eh, did nothing for me.

I disagree about her feeling unphased, I could point to bits as early as the snowfall, but the cause and effect there wasn't clear at that point. Instead, the best bit was the scene where we save Chloe's dad and what that did in the episode after that; it did YOUR CHOICES WILL HAVE CONSEQUENCES so much better than any single gimmick in the dumb nightmare sequence, and the performances by all the actors were fantastic throughout.

Shout outs to David's VA for this one for channeling some real emotion in every performance in this game, he just made the confrontation scenes and the aftermath work so well in episode 5.

I think the second half of your response, is a we'll have to agree to disagree bit. This game feels to me like it ended with a fart, not a bang.
 
wrowa said:
Well, let's be real here: There is only one ending. The other one is just for people who refuse to face reality. As such, I wasn't surprised that it did feel relatively rough. After all, it just goes contrary to the game's morale (and, yes, sacrificing AB was my first choice as well. Because fuck you, I won't let Chloe die after all I've been through, that's why! :P)
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Yup. This is my interpretation.

Sure, for some ending felt either rushed, or not well developed, but I was more than fine with it. Definetly in my Top 3 this year, storywise its the best game since TLOU for me.
 
alekth said:
Heh, nightmare can time out. Had collected three bottles, was in the area they are displayed. Phone rings and I just sat her on the coach, and then three minutes later I come in and Max is back in the Dark Room seeing things.
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That's not it timing out, that's you stumbling upon what you're supposed to do next, and then walking away from the game before seeing what happens :) You missed a scene by doing that, BTW...
 
I sacrificed Arcadia Bay. Because when you give a shit about someone, nobody else matters. Zero regrets.
 
Man, the blast off I gave Victoria in the dream sequence was great. Even Mr. Jefferson enjoyed it and that bastard wants me dead!

Anyways, I'm glad I gave this game a go. I went with the "Fuck the world" ending first, but the game obviously sides with the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending. I hate it when games pull that shit so blatantly (when presenting potentially ambiguous choices), but whatever. Fun title.
 
Finished this now and really liked the game overall (though the last episode was probably my least favorite). I was surprised when I saw it was almost a split (58% / 42%) between the two ending choices. I thought it was pretty obvious what the "proper" ending is and the choice wasn't hard for me at all.
(I still teared up a bit during the Sacrifice Cloe ending)

I watched the Sacrifice Arcadia ending on youtube and it doesn't work for me at all. It's absurd to have an almost "happy riding into the sunset" ending when a whole town with all their friends and family just has been destroyed.
 
cyba89 said:
I watched the Sacrifice Arcadia ending on youtube and it doesn't work for me at all. It's absurd to have an almost "happy riding into the sunset" ending when a whole town with all their friends and family just has been destroyed.
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Exactly. Man, I wish everyone died in the storm in that ending, Max & Chloe included. Holding hands and looking at the storm approach together, waiting for it to be over, cliché and dramatic I know but it would have made more sense, at least. :/
 
Seth Balmore said:
Exactly. Man, I wish everyone died in the storm in that ending, Max & Chloe included. Holding hands and looking at the storm approach together, waiting for it to be over, cliché and dramatic I know but it would have made more sense, at least. :/
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I am surprised that they went for "you're gonna sacrifice the whole town? Dweeb." instead of Sacrifice Max. Maybe with the rest of Arcadia Bay, maybe without.

That certainly would solve the time powers problem in another way!
 
cyba89 said:
I watched the Sacrifice Arcadia ending on youtube and it doesn't work for me at all. It's absurd to have an almost "happy riding into the sunset" ending when a whole town with all their friends and family just has been destroyed.
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Yeah the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending was weaker than the Sacrifice Chloe ending in my opinion, but I think it's being overstated that they're both happy and totally unconcerned about everyone who died. They're happy to have each other yeah but it's bittersweet and I think it's heavily implied that they're both burdened by the experience - if the game had mocap and facial animations the caliber of TLOU or something it would probably read a lot better, so I think they just missed the mark on portraying that.
 
Does Max still have her time powers in the sacrifice AB ending? Cause if she does, then all I can think of is Chloe getting killed again and her messing up time again to fix it. Season 2: Max destroys the entire world.
 
Sacrifice Chloe, as much as I hated having to make that choice, was the only real choice for me that made thematic sense. The other one is... oof, that is rough. I can't imagine either of them walking away from that as remotely functional people. Those deaths are directly on their conscience in that other ending.

The sacrifice Chloe ending was heartbreaking, devastating, but it was really well done, and felt like the logical ending of the story to me. Amazing experience.
 
Pffff if the universe suddenly gives me magical time powers just so it can teach me not to use them to help my best friend, then fuck the universe.

If there is a Season 2 they should roll with the AB ending and imply that it wasn't Cloe that needed to die but AB.
 
cyba89 said:
I watched the Sacrifice Arcadia ending on youtube and it doesn't work for me at all. It's absurd to have an almost "happy riding into the sunset" ending when a whole town with all their friends and family just has been destroyed.
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Yup, me either. To me it's like someone else said, not even a choice. I didn't feel like the game channeled TLOU either (TLOU spoilers)
as Joel saving Ellie and Max choosing to sacrifice the town aren't remotely the same things. In Joel's case, he saw the Fireflies and pretty much all of the remaining humans as people who weren't worth saving over Ellie. He saw that they were just going to use Ellie for their own ends rather than for the "good of everyone". And all the monstrous things he'd seen (and done himself) in comparison to the happiness of a girl he considered his daughter made it easy for him.

Max is completely different. She saw that in nearly everyone she met in Arcadia Bay since coming back, even the people she initially thought to be assholes, there was decency and good. She made connections and friends. She saved people. And even though she also wanted to save Chloe, she wouldn't have Joel's mindset at all. To her these would be people worth keeping. Chloe knows it too.

Obviously people will have their own opinion but I believe the same thing someone earlier in the thread stated; there's only one real ending and it's the one where Chloe's gotta go.
 
aly said:
Does Max still have her time powers in the sacrifice AB ending? Cause if she does, then all I can think of is Chloe getting killed again and her messing up time again to fix it. Season 2: Max destroys the entire world.
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Should've ended with the two of them driving right into something and crash as the game cuts to black.
 
Re-reading Max's journal now because I completely forgot it was a thing during my playthrough of ep. 5. There's a nice all caps "FUCK YOU, ARCADIA BAY." on page 63.

Sacrifice AB ending totally canon you guys.
 
Chariot said:
Should've ended with the two of them driving right into something and crash as the game cuts to black.
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I would've accepted that. It would've been a huge and hilarious gotcha from the Universe to Max for thinking some teenage girls were gonna beat it.
 
AlphaDragoon said:
Obviously people will have their own opinion but I believe the same thing someone earlier in the thread stated; there's only one real ending and it's the one where Chloe's gotta go.
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Yeah the other ending makes no sense thematically or for the characters. I believe it's only there because otherwise people would complain that there is no choice. That's why I think they heavily try to steer you towards the Sacrifice Chloe ending in the Nightmare stuff.
 
Dreamwriter said:
That's not it timing out, that's you stumbling upon what you're supposed to do next, and then walking away from the game before seeing what happens :) You missed a scene by doing that, BTW...
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Yeah, guess it's fine though since I'll still have to go through it for some photos.

BTW, Steam achievements didn't unlock for me at all, is it just something with my install (restart steam etc, maybe)?
 
Roussow said:
There's spoilers for The last of Us in this post, so I've tagged it.

This might be a stretch, but I just finished The Last of Us: Remastered after wrapping up The Nathan Drake Collection, and there are a few parallels between the sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending and the ending of The Last of Us, it's core tenant is simple, it's a selfish choice to save the person you (potentially) care about most (Chloe/Ellie), instead of sacrificing them to potentially save many people. Not stopping the tornado is comparable thematically to not letting a cure be developed from Ellie's brain.
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I kind of see your point, but I disagree a bit. I don't think the choices are just "Sacrifice Chloe" or "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay". To me, they felt more going back one last time to fix one more thing (as awful as it can be) or finally decide to live with the consequences of your choices. While, in The Last of Us,
Joel just wants Ellie to be alive and it's not a matter of deciding to live with the consequences. He's being selfish without even telling Ellie what happened. Both Chloe and Max understand the consequences of either choice in Life Is Strange.

JonathanNemo said:
I don't like going into threads just to say how much I hated a thing, but I don't have anything else to add at the moment. Man, episode 5 just felt like a mess of poorly done, cheaply made weird bullshit for its second half.

Shame that Dontnod went for more of a Telltale choice, two endings that conveniently mostly remove whatever consequences your actions had with the rest of the game. But I guess they didn't have that much of a budget to work with from the beginning so...

...

I feel I would be less disappointed if the games I played between this and ep 4 were not OFF (second time through), Undertale, and Mizzurna Falls. The first two do a great job of breaking the player's expectations and stitching things back up into something more than the sum of its parts for some really neat revelations in the last phases of the game. Mizzurna Falls is an incredibly janky, open world game with Twin Peaks influence and a remarkably well done script, its true ending is so well done and ties up nearly every loose end in the game, going in a tragic direction that made me like the game so much more.

The nightmare sequence adds nothing, really, just pads out the gameplay a bit and telegraphs the Chloe versus Arcadia Bay choice in a very hammy way. And most of the cast just kind of... disappears, really. Victoria's practically a non entity, after a big deal is made in the last episode about warning her

I really liked the writing for the first four episodes. This, eh, lost steam.

I'll probably like it more if I came back to it in a few months. Right now, I'm just pissed that I stayed up super late for an ending that leaves me with nothing.

I'll get over it!
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Indeed they had budget limitations, but I believe that they did the best with what they could do. For instance, the entire nightmare sequence is to help you relive some of your choices throughout the game, acknowledging them, which makes for a more powerful ending. Who do you choose? Your best friend (or lover) or everyone else you might have helped boost their confidence throughout the story? And who are you, as a character? Do you want to live with the consequences of your choices or fix just one mistake, but being the only one in the whole world to know what could have happened?

P.S.: Hopefully a few people got out of the city!
 
Noray said:
Yeah the other ending makes no sense thematically or for the characters. I believe it's only there because otherwise people would complain that there is no choice. That's why I think they heavily try to steer you towards the Sacrifice Chloe ending in the Nightmare stuff.
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I disagree with that.
The game starts with a vision of the tornado, then Max suddenly gets time power JUST IN TIME to save Chloe, yet the moral is not using time powers?
 
RobertoSAGuedes said:
P.S.: Hopefully a few people got out of the city!
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No they are all dead you monster. Poor Joyce? Dead. The best character Kate? Dead( or was already dead). Also awesome Dana? Dead. The schmuck Alyssa? Dead. Wonderful Warren? Dead. Awesome science teacher? Dead.

All for muh girlfriend or friend depending on choices Chloe. Should've had a TellTale " You conscious will remember that"
 in black at the end.

Fantastapotamus said:
I disagree with that.
The game starts with a vision of the tornado, then Max suddenly gets time power JUST IN TIME to save Chloe, yet the moral is not using time powers?
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Well yeah. Probably also about accepting that there are things you can't change. Only learn from them and grow into a better person. People who don't learn that in life usually have a pretty hard time.
 
Fantastapotamus said:
I disagree with that.
The game starts with a vision of the tornado, then Max suddenly gets time power JUST IN TIME to save Chloe, yet the moral is not using time powers?
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The moral isn't that you shouldn't use time powers, just that using time powers comes with a cost. You can totally save Chloe but it's going to set off a series of events that are beyond your control. Because of the nature of time travel it's also extremely difficult to figure out why the game starts with a vision of the tornado so I'm kind of okay that they didn't bother explaining it in too many specifics (did Max already save Chloe in another timeline and now the Max we're playing is getting a flash forward from THAT timeline? Is it just a plot hook?)
 
aly said:
No they are all dead you monster. Poor Joyce? Dead. The best character Kate? Dead( or was already dead). Also awesome Dana? Dead. The schmuck Alyssa? Dead. Wonderful Warren? Dead. Awesome science teacher? Dead.
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Good. Never cared about any of them.

benicillin said:
The moral isn't that you shouldn't use time powers, just that using time powers comes with a cost. You can totally save Chloe but it's going to set off a series of events that are beyond your control. Because of the nature of time travel it's also extremely difficult to figure out why the game starts with a vision of the tornado so I'm kind of okay that they didn't bother explaining it in too many specifics (did Max already save Chloe in another timeline and now the Max we're playing is getting a flash forward from THAT timeline? Is it just a plot hook?)
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Not saving her also sets of events beyond my control. :P
Anyway, it's clear from watching the endings which ending Dontnod wants players to choose. I just didn't. Fuck the "now everything is fine and everybody is happy" ending.
 
They really should have presented a more severe consequence for taking the selfish choice and saving Chloe. Chloe's mom's dead. All those people that Max spent the entire game saving just died... But Max and Chloe got to ride off happily into the sunset so whatevs. They made it too easy.

Killing Chloe gives a much better emotional punctuation to the game but the game gave me no incentive to do it. Also they kind of ruined that final scene by making the priest look exactly like Larry David. I actually burst out laughing in the middle of an otherwise somber moment.

edit: Oh and by the way, Warren SUCKED. I didn't even give that creepy puke a hug at the end, even tho the game tried really hard to redeem him. I ain't buying it.
 
Fantastapotamus said:
I disagree with that.
The game starts with a vision of the tornado, then Max suddenly gets time power JUST IN TIME to save Chloe, yet the moral is not using time powers?
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The moral is whatever you wanted to be. The journey and Max's/Your experiences are what matter, you can take away whatever you want from them.

Fantastapotamus said:
Fuck the "now everything is fine and everybody is happy" ending.
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Rachel is still dead. Nathan and Jefferson are going to jail. Kate was drugged and tortured. The school principal will probably drink even harder after realizing how fucked up his school is. Joyce's daughter is dead, her last piece of her family. Nope it is most definitely quiet a lot of people are not happy ending.
 
LiQuid! said:
Oh and by the way, Warren SUCKED. I didn't even give that creepy puke a hug at the end, even tho the game tried really hard to redeem him. I ain't buying it.
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I was surprised that only 10% were with me in showing him no affection when I'd finished the game.

TheBlackMarvel said:
Screw Arcadia Bay.
It didn't even take me a second to doom that place.
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Same, not even a moment's hesitation to choose to save Chloe.
 
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