Life is Strange - Review

This action will have consequences – A review of Life is Strange. 

I love a good, story driven narrative. An emotional journey. Flawed characters. Messing around with the space – time continuum. I mean, who doesn’t? Life is Strange gives you all of this and more, although it’s not without its flaws.

Max is a young, photography obsessed teenager returning to her hometown after time away at college. She’s shy, nervous, and I imagine pretty active on Tumblr, but she seems pretty ordinary – until she doesn’t. In her high school bathroom, Max witnesses a terrible crime when she sees a girl get shot and killed. Desperate to do something, she discovers that she can rewind time and try again, so she sets off to save the girl, who turns out to be her childhood best friend Chloe.

For me, one of the joys of this game is the characters flaws. Max went away to college and stopped responding to Chloe, losing contact despite Chloe’s repeated attempts to contact her. Despite this, it is clear Max deeply cares for Chloe and desperately want to help her. Chloe, who has been dealing with the death of her father, a new stepdad she hates and the disappearance of her friend Rachel Amber, is full of teen angst and rebellion, often doing whatever she can to cause trouble and feel alive. Despite Max making no effort to stay in touch, Chloe forgives Max and the pair work together to try to discover the truth of Rachel’s disappearance.

There’s something about their friendship that seems so easy and natural. Whilst it’s clear that Max hurt Chloe by not staying in touch, the pair have a bond that you would literally sacrifice the world (or at least, Arcadia Bay) to preserve. It’s not just Max and Chloe who are interesting though – almost every character you can interact with has something to share and more depth than you’d realise at first glance. Sure, there are stereotypes to be found, but they can and should be challenged. Are the popular kids mean? Maybe. But you won’t know for sure unless you make the effort to get to know them.

One of the things that Life is Strange is known for is the ability to rewind time. You didn’t like how that interaction went? Did something unexpected happen? Have your actions caused unimaginable consequences? That’s okay, just rewind and do it again. Who hasn’t wanted to do this at some time in their life? In my opinion though, this isn’t the games main strength, although it is a really enjoyable element. For me, the people you meet, the normal, everyday locations you visit and the relationships you form are what make this an emotional must play.

You can’t be overly reliant on your powers, often finding yourself unable to rely on them. This forces you to consider your actions and make some incredibly difficult choices, with the game reminding you with its iconic “this action will have consequences” messaging throughout. There are puzzles, multiple dialogue options, and it feels like there are a thousand ways you could play it. At times, your previous choices feel irrelevant or like they didn’t really matter, with the ending seeing you make a huge decision which is arguably more important than anything you’ve done up until that stage, but that isn’t really the point of the game. It really is more about the journey than the destination.

Is Life is Strange perfect? Absolutely not. At times, the dialogue feels a bit “how’s it going, fellow kids” with the writers not quite getting the speech and mannerisms of the teenagers right. The lip syncing doesn’t always match up, and more than once I found myself wanting to scream “MAX WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS” at my monitor. That being said though, I love an emotional story, and boy was this one. I won’t pretend that this is the only game I’ve ever cried at – but I’m not sure if there are any others that have made me cry quite as much as this did, both out of sorrow and out of joy.

Overall, much like the characters, Life is Strange is an interesting, emotional and flawed game, but one which left me with that wonderful feeling you get after you play something truly special, that “the world looks slightly different now”, bittersweet feeling you get when you finish something you really loved. Imperfect? Yes, absolutely - but still well worth playing.

Written by Tam Page

Posted by Mr. Tomney

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