March Community Playthrough - Life is Strange

[Fleach]

I'll have to look into the awards this game won to properly comment on that, but I think a lot of Life is Strange's praise comes from it's characters and power to make players empathize with the characters. We were all teenagers at one point, and we've all made choices we wish we didn't, not to mention that it's only human to wonder how things would differ had we done things differently.

In a market full of superhero and bold adventurer protagonists having a regular teen take center stage is a bold move, but I think it paid off for Life is Strange.

[BuriedOnMars]

I finished the game the other day and it is hard for me to remember exactly what happened in each episode, so I won't go into plot details until later in the month.

It seems like what is bothering a few of you (characters, how they're portrayed, the rewind feature) I didn't have a problem with.  The game is kinda cartoony, so I let stuff like Joyce's clichéd southern charm happening in Oregon slide.  As for the rewind feature, for the most part it didn't effect my decisions.  You only got to see so much outcome of each conversation, and you still needed to choose which one you were going to commit to.  Sometimes I wouldn't use it because I wasn't going to change my mind anyway.  So, it was there to use if you wanted and I don't have a problem with a game offering me a choice.

Also, I don't understand why being told an "action will have a consequence" is obnoxious.  Read that comment here a couple of times and I didn't have a problem with it.  You don't water a plant, it's gonna die.  (I feed my rabbit too.)

Anyway,  I'm surprise no one so far has brought up the part that I found obnoxious and almost quit. The bottle collecting in episode two.  I thought it was a low point and was only there to extend the length of that episode.  It was like a battle between pacing vs justifying charging $5 for this episode and the pacing lost.  Plus, the game was chugging along really slow.

Thankfully, I did charge on because it never got close to that amount of suckage again. (Well, gameplay wise anyway) The end of episode 2, where Kate sadly died in my game made my heart stop. (That came out of no where for me!) Then in chapter 3 the puzzles started getting you to think "fourth dimensionally" and I was in it until the end.

[Pam]

Just finished episode 4. Man, things got dark. Didn't really see that coming.

[singlebanana]

I agree Buried, the bottle fetch quest was a bit annoying. It added nothing to the story and it seems that it was simply dropped in there to take up time. I guess it kind of lead you to the hang out room in the junkyard, which gave a little insight into Chloe and Rachel's relationship, but I think that this could have been discovered in the normal course of exploring.

I just finished Chapter 3 last night and I can say that I'm not really enjoying these "4th dimensional" puzzles too much.  Though I never had to consult a walkthrough, I did spend quite a bit of time in the diner (and another scene, which I will leave out for the purpose of spoilers, but you probably know what I am referring to).  As a result, I think the rewind mechanic has become a little of a nuisance for me, and sometimes things that I do and actions that are tracked in the end of episode menu get erased when I rewind....  I didn't get credit for several things I did because I didn't realized I had rewound too far. 

However, I will say that the story is really picking up and is the main reason I am enjoying the game.  If you've finished Chapter 3, you know exactly what I am referring to.

[Crabmaster2000]

I wasn't a fan of Chapter 3 for the most part. Really felt like I didn't have a say in my decisions and the game forced me into what it wanted me to do. Very intrigued by the end of the chapter though and still curious to see how the story plays out. I went from very interested in being a part of Max's story in the first two chapters, to just going through the motions and basically watching a movie now that the game is dictating my decision making though :/

[singlebanana]

I wasn't a fan of Chapter 3 for the most part. Really felt like I didn't have a say in my decisions and the game forced me into what it wanted me to do. Very intrigued by the end of the chapter though and still curious to see how the story plays out. I went from very interested in being a part of Max's story in the first two chapters, to just going through the motions and basically watching a movie now that the game is dictating my decision making though :/

I can see that. I think coming off of Chapter 2 where you have to work toward two possible outcomes and simply being guided to a single ending in Chapter 3 is tough. Still I thought Chapter 3 was pretty good storywise and especially with the big payoff. Perhaps things will go back to that formula in Chapter 4. We shall see.

[Pam]

I didn't like the bottle part much either, but it only took a couple minutes. I had a hard time finding the last one, so I just looked up the location and went on my way.

I did find there were some excessive rewind bits in chapter 4. When talking to Frank? The drug dealer. I had to rewind so many times and didn't like that I had to go through the whole conversation again.

[Fleach]

My opinion lies somewhere between Rich's and BOM's. While I'm not a fan of the rewind I get it's thematic application, but I'm hardly using it unless I have to. Besides, Max often says she can't rely on her power all the time - especially, after she plays God at the end of episode 3.

The bottle fetch quest wasn't too bad, probably because I like the junkyard set piece. But a few of the puzzles in chapter 4 really got under my skin.

I'm now at a point where I don't know how resolving the Rachel mystery and preventing this tornado are related. Hopefully chapter 5 will tie that together.

[MaterialHandlerMike]

Waiting til my next days off (Mon-Thurs) to get this thing done. I really hope some monsters come into the story and start killing off people, but I don't think it will go down like that.

[JRock the GameRocker]

Hey there everybody! Add me up on Xbox Live so we can compare our choices: JROCKGAMEROCKER
I'll admit to being behind. So sorry if gamer tags were exchanged in previous post, I don't want to read any possible spoilers while I catch up.
At first I didn't really care for the character but I'm really getting sucked into the narrative and the ability to change decisions or problem solve situations by messing with he flow of time is truly unique.
Upon purchase of this game I thought it would be like a Telltale Games joint. I was wrong. Quite unique indeed

[Fleach]

Hey there everybody! Add me up on Xbox Live so we can compare our choices: JROCKGAMEROCKER
I'll admit to being behind. So sorry if gamer tags were exchanged in previous post, I don't want to read any possible spoilers while I catch up.
At first I didn't really care for the character but I'm really getting sucked into the narrative and the ability to change decisions or problem solve situations by messing with he flow of time is truly unique.
Upon purchase of this game I thought it would be like a Telltale Games joint. I was wrong. Quite unique indeed

There's still time to finish the game.

Life is Strange is definitely a unique game. Things really improve after the second episode, so keep at it.

Sounds like we're getting lots of interesting opinions on the rewind powers. This should be fun to discuss.

[Pam]

Finished the game this morning! I was happy with the ending, but I'll wait a bit before discussing it in too much detail.

[singlebanana]

Congrats Pam!

[singlebanana]

This has been a tough playthrough for me. Lots of new changes and events in the banana household, and probably one of the first games I can't play around my kids.

[JRock the GameRocker]

So it's super cool to find out that Fleach will be attending the Barrie Game Exchange tomorrow along with myself, Buried On Mars, Will and Pam, as well as a number of other Cartridge Club members. It'll be great to have my 1st meet up with a fellow Rf Generationer! Small world... Life surely is Strange...