1 person found this review helpful
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 16.6 hrs on record
Posted: 23 Oct, 2015 @ 10:20am

Dynamic and stylistic with a blend of different moods, Life is Strange is a case of success in bursts that manages to endure against a plethora of lingering issues. As a story driven game barren of almost any gameplay elements, the narrative to Life is Strange needs to be strong to be worth the time. For the most part it is, though having time travel as a crucial element lends itself to the audience asking many questions that the writers never intended. Plot holes aside, the story of Max Caufield manipulating time and space in an effort to save the people most important to her while she tries to solve a harrowing mystery has a lot of interesting beats that make for a memorable story.

The writing isn’t flawless. Many times these teenagers are obviously parroting dialog written for them by authors probably twice their age, and the cast is a mix of frustrating jerks, hipsters, and pricks that can be infuriating to follow at points (though that makes them feel much more like human teenagers than any meme slang dialog will). But, that said, the true strength is in making the cast truly complex as layers are slowly revealed to show these seemingly irredeemable antagonists (and heroes) aren’t all that they appear.

At points, the themes of the game can become brutally real and tragic, sometimes clashing with the almost comical silliness of the story’s slower moments. But it’s in these moment that the game rarely ever missteps, creating a journey that may leave you emotionally drained by the time the final credits roll. The choices you make do have some dire consequences (although a few do feel like irrelevant morality hypotheticals), and there’s enough ambiguity to some of the biggest decisions that your outcome will not completely mirror everyone else’s. It should be noted though, that the ultimate ending is only determined by a single choice, and everything else will merely add variations to your story along the way.

While far from perfect, Life is Strange succeeds in enough ways that it’s easier to look back on the game fondly than it is to complain about its occasional missteps. If you enjoy adventure titles, and you can endure hipster millennial lingo, you will likely get your money’s worth in Life is Strange.
Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny Award