Life is Strange

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BleuPanda
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Life is Strange

Post by BleuPanda »

Here I am to recommend another little known video game. Life is Strange is a game from this year that starts with 18-year-old Max witnessing a girl get shot in the school bathroom. In this moment she unlocks the power to jump back in time, allowing her to save the girl. The victim is soon revealed to be Chloe, Max's childhood best friend, and the two go on a journey to find a missing girl named Rachel. The story is essentially Twin Peaks meets Donnie Darko.

Life is Strange is similar to Telltale Games' style (which includes the awesome The Walking Dead video game). There are five episodes and a large theme of the game is choice. The time travel power allows the player to see the immediate outcomes of each choice.

At the heart of all this is a powerful tale of friendship, and some of the decisions hurt. It also features a wonderful licensed soundtrack. It still has problems, but it feels like the best example of the Telltale style (while not actually being developed by Telltale). It has weak writing at times, but it makes up for it with a lot of heart.
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Pierre
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Re: Life is Strange

Post by Pierre »

I've finished this game. So strong was the resonance of my soul with the story that I actually felt extremely moved by the ending (both of them), much more than I should have, and I've been thinking about my final choice for days afterwards. It's probably not a satisfying experience for veteran players gameplay-wise, but the story more than makes up for it. If I was to make a list of games that everyone should play even if they're not gamers, it would place very high. Recommended.

And Dontnod Entertainment's other game so far, Remember Me, also has a fantastic story and world-building, even though the gaming experience, once again, might not be totally satisfying. I would recommend it as well for people who like well-written stories.
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BleuPanda
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Re: Life is Strange

Post by BleuPanda »

Dontnod is a French company, right?

I think people have brought up translation issues with the game. A few of the characters have really flat dialogue in English.
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Pierre
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Re: Life is Strange

Post by Pierre »

Indeed, it's a French company. The fact that there's translation issues from French to English is something I didn't know, and actually somewhat funny in a bittersweet way - actually, the translations from English to French in video gaming from the 1990s are still a running gag among the translators community to this day.

Anyway, as for flat dialogs, I actually felt the issue more in Remember Me than in Life Is Strange, for which I felt the writing had actually improved, but perhaps the translation did hurt. Interestingly, there is no French dub for the game; even we have to listen to dialogs in English (with French subtitles), and I actually felt like the actors were pretty involved in their roles. Therefore, my perception wasn't that the English dialogs were flat or anything. Granted, I didn't analyze the issue deeply, and of course, as a non-native, my own experience can't be a template. The only thing I know is that the game was written well-enough to involve me emotionally in the fate of Max and Chloe, and that's the achievement I will judge it by.
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BleuPanda
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Re: Life is Strange

Post by BleuPanda »

I have been thinking about this game a lot recently (4 months after playing), and I've decided that this is my new favorite video game, replacing Persona 4 after a 7 year reign.
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