Life is Strange--Episode 2

Max and Chloe rekindle their friendship.

The second episode of Square Enix/Dontnod's episodic story game Life is Strange was released two days ago and I've finally completed it.  I gotta say, for a game that I picked up on a lark I'm really enjoying it.  There are some great plot elements--a missing student, a long-lost friendship that is revived, weird supernatural phenomenons, and modern teenage angst.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the whole thing actually plays out.  They are definitely giving TellTale a run for their money in the episodic story genre.  (Spoilers ahead.  If you haven't played it, don't read.)

But back to episode two of Life is Strange.  If you remember back to the ending of episode one (which, unlike Tales from the Borderlands, wasn't delayed for months so is much easier to remember) there were a bunch of weird things that were happening in the fictional town of Arcadia Bay.  Max, a high school student at a prestigious school, discovered that she possessed the ability to rewind time.  At the end of episode one Max and Chloe are hanging out at a lighthouse and discussing Max's new ability.  It's then that Max blacks out and has a vision of a huge tornado coming to destroy the town.  When she wakes up she makes the decision to inform her friend Chloe about her powers.  Then it starts to snow....when it definitely shouldn't be.

There's something strange going on in Arcadia Bay and unfortunately episode two doesn't really delve very deeply into those things.  The beginning of the episode sees Max back in her dorm room sleeping.  A voiceover reveals that she stayed up almost all-night reading books about quantum physics in an attempt to understand her powers.  She still doesn't really understand where they come from and much of this episode deals with Max learning more about them.  Max then receives a text from Chloe asking her to meet up at the local diner.  You navigate the dormitories at Blackwell academy and learn that Kate Marsh, the quiet religious girl from episode one, is being relentlessly bullied.  Rumors are swirling of a video featuring Kate at a party looking very drunk and making out with a bunch of random people.  These rumors are being circulated by Victoria and her posse of mean girls.  Throughout this episode Max can choose to support Kate or to leave her hanging.  I opted to help her and made sure to choose every option that involved trying to prevent people from watching the video or sharing the link.  Kate also reveals to Max that she thinks she was drugged at the party and that Nathan Prescott, the rich kid/drug dealer from episode one, might have taken her somewhere and assaulted her.  Kate asks Max what she should do and you are forced to choose between informing Kate that she should go to the police or that she should try to find evidence first.  This is a tough decision because Nathan Prescott appears to be threatening Max over the bathroom gun incident that happened the day before.  You want to support your friend, but you also don't want Nathan to harm anyone.

After Max leaves the dorm she heads out to meet Chloe at the Two Whale's diner.  Chloe finally shows up and that's when things get interesting.  Chloe is very interested in testing Max's rewind ability an formulates a series of tests.  One test involves guessing exactly what is in Chloe's pockets.  Another test involves Max predicting a series of events that take place inside the diner within a short time period.  You pass the tests and Chloe is very impressed with Max's superpower.  She decides that they should take a trip to one of her "secret lairs" and really get a sense of what Max can do.  Before you leave the diner, Kate calls Max.  Players are given the choice of answering the call, much to Chloe's dislike, or ignoring the call.  It's obvious that Kate is having a really hard time and that Max is a source of support.

Chloe takes Max to her "secret lair" which is actually a junkyard filled with rusted out old cars and signs of Arcadia Bay's decay--broken signs from closed businesses.  At the junkyard Chloe decides that she wants to do some target practice and sends Max searching for beer bottles to use as targets.  Max wanders through the junkyard finding bottles and also finding more evidence that this was a place where Chloe and Rachel Amber, the missing girl from episode one, had hung out.  Max manages to find the bottles and returns them to Chloe.  Chloe sets them up and whips out the pistol she stole from her stepfather, the Blackwell security guard David Madsen.  She asks Max to use her powers to help her aim.  Chloe shoots and then Max rewinds time to tell her how to alter her aim.  It's here that Max starts to feel her nose bleed and realizes that using her powers all the time may not be a good idea.  She still doesn't understand how they work but it's obvious that she can only use them so much before she starts to have problems.

As Max and Chloe are leaving the junkyard they are confronted by a strange man.  It turns out that this man is the person who Chloe owes money.  At this point Chloe has handed the gun to Max in an effort to get her to try shooting.  Chloe and the man, named Frank (owner of the weird RV from episode one), get into an argument and Frank pulls out a knife and threatens Chloe.  Max holds up the pistol and tells him to step back.  Here players also have a tough choice--you can opt to have Max shoot Frank or to have her hold off.  I chose to have her hold off and the result was that Frank took the gun.  So now Frank is armed with a gun and is clearly out to get Chloe.

There are some really nice moments as Chloe and Max balance on the railroad tracks and talk like old friends.  Their friendship seems to be slowly getting repaired and you are given a sense of the unbreakable bond between them.  It's here that things start to go wrong.  As Chloe and Max are laying on the tracks and reminiscing, Chloe realizes that her foot is stuck under the tracks.  Max has to figure out a way to help Chloe avoid getting squashed by a train.  Fortunately there is a shed with tools nearby and players are able to rewind time in an effort to figure out how to free Chloe.

After Chloe is freed, Max decides it is time to return to school to attend class.  Chloe drives Max back to school and continues to expound on Max's new powers.  Max then enters the school and heads off to class.  On her way to class she witnesses Kate talking to the photography teacher, Mr. Jefferson, and telling him about the video.  Mr. Jefferson informs Kate that there is nothing she can do about the video and Kate runs off, clearly very upset.  Max tries to talk to Mr. Jefferson, but their conversation is interrupted by a phone call.  Max enters class and is forced to face off against Victoria and Nathan who have taken over her desk.  The bell rings and Mr. Jefferson enters the room.  He starts teaching the class but is interrupted by another student who runs into the room announcing that there is something going on at the girls dorm.  The students run out of class and toward the dorm.

Once Max arrives at the dorm she sees what is going on.  Kate is standing on the roof and she looks like she is going to jump.  Max tries to rewind time and realizes that she has nearly spent all of her ability while messing around with Chloe.  With great effort she manages to stop time and reach the roof.  On the roof Max realizes that she can't rewind any more and that she has to talk Kate down without making any mistakes.  Fortunately I had paid close attention earlier in the episode and knew what to say to convince Kate to back down.

The next scene opens with Max in the principal's office being interrogated about Kate.  Max explains what is happening but is forced to pin the events on someone.  You are again forced to choose who should take the blame--David Madsen, the security guard who seems to be stalking Kate, Mr. Jefferson, the teacher who did little to help her, or Nathan Prescott, the devious rich kid who may have raped Kate.  I desperately wanted to pin it on Nathan Prescott but instead opted for David Madsen.  This is one decision that I am regretting.

The episode ends with Max and Warren sitting in front of the school discussing the events of the day.  As they are talking they notice that there is a solar eclipse happening.  Warren remarks that it is unscheduled.  Are Max's powers changing the entire universe?  The game closes with a montage of events--the principal talking to Mr. Jefferson in his car, Kate lying in a hospital bed, Chloe sitting by the lighthouse smoking a cigarette and texting Max to ask her if she's alright.

I enjoyed this episode and thought that the most significant part of it was the exploration into Max's powers.  It's very apparent that Max needs to use them sparingly as they are limited and can cause her to have severe pain or to even black out if she overuses them.  I'm not so sure that David Madsen is the jerk that he appears to be.  As a middle episode it left plenty of room for the story to grow more.  The very brief preview of episode three looks to have Max and Chloe investigating the school directly.  It appears that they have broken in at night and are looking for clues...and that they are being pursued.  Can't wait to see what the rest of the story brings!