The Paper Pilot

Life is Strange ​

733 words, ~4 minute read. Planted . Last tended to .

A series of narrative driven video games with a focus on player choices

I really enjoyed the first game and engaged with the community a lot. I would get very emotional playing through the later chapters, and it became one of my favorite games.

Playthroughs I enjoyed:

Around the start of Haley and I's relationship, we'd play through LiS1 on projectors in our's classrooms

The ending ​

I was not a huge fan of the ending of Life is Strange. Of the two endings, one very clearly got a lot more resources spent on it, but I think Max's story has a better conclusion under the other.

In my mind, Max's arc (and major themes of the last chapter) was about learning not to rely on her powers, and to learn to live with the consequences of her actions. To that end, having the game end with her taking responsibility and living with the consequences of such a major event is a fitting thematic conclusion to the game and her character arc. In contrast, the other ending shows Max relying on her powers once again and, in my opinion, portrays Max as having not grown nor learned any lessons throughout the entire series. I think its a disservice this ending got so much more attention, with unique outfits and a song dedicated to it.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm ​

I really enjoyed this story. I didn't get quite as invested, perhaps due to it being a condensed 3 chapters rather than 5, but the characters will still just as amazing, which is what makes LiS so good. The ending didn't have as much of a punch as LiS1 - in fact, the entire back half of episode 3 didn't quite meet the bar in my eyes. At the time, I enjoyed these threads discussing criticisms levied at that part of the game:

Deadbones played through the game here

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit ​

I enjoyed the demo, and it certainly got me hyped for LiS2 (although I would've been regardless). Switching to UE seemed like a really good move, and the comic theme fits the aesthetic of the series well.

Life is Strange 2 ​

Unfortunately, I've only played the first chapter of this game. I wanted to play through it with Haley, but we haven't found time to do so.

LATER Skip the rest of LiS1 and play LiS2 with Haley

Life is Strange: True Colors ​

This game seems interesting, although the power does seem a little funnily close to "has empathy". I haven't had time to play it, but would like to.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure ​

I'm very excited for this game! Returning to Max's story sounds awesome. Although I will say, from the trailer alone it's incredibly obvious what one of the story beats will be: Revealing that the two timelines follow the two disparate endings from LiS1.

This game was announced to come with premium editions that get access to the game earlier

  • I think this is a horrible anti-consumer practice
  • Since this game is narratively driven, it is prone to spoilers
  • They're getting more money from their biggest fans without providing any tangible value to them, other than making the experience worse for everyone who plays but doesn't cough up that money
  • I hope other narratively driven games find other ways to do Video Game Monetization
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