Play it or Skip it? "Life is Strange" Thoughts

After playing through the sometimes monotonous finale of the episodic story game Life is Strange, I've done some thinking about whether the $20 I spent on the series was worth it.  Spending our hard-earned money on games can require some research before laying down those simoleons (if you're a Sim anyway).  I've cobbled together some final opinions that might be beneficial to someone (I hope!).

Let me preface my thoughts by saying that I enjoy episodic story games but don't think they're for everyone.  If you enjoy the story-based aspects of games more than having engaging gameplay mechanics (pew-pew!) then you will probably enjoy them.  I also believe that how you purchase and play these games could influence your enjoyment.  I have purchased them before the initial release and then played each episode as it has been released (roughly every 1-3 months).  There's the whole aspect of waiting for the next episode that makes it feel exciting.  I don't know if it's the same if you buy the whole series and then play through it in a shorter timespan (I need to try it and see).  The $20 price tag makes these games affordable but the downside is that there's not a ton of replayability factor.

When Life is Strange was initially released I was very excited.  TellTale Games had sort of pioneered the episodic story genre (I'm probably way wrong on this) with it's amazing but dark series The Walking Dead.  Since then they've released numerous other games in the genre and really seem to be the dominant force.  Seeing a new face in the fray is and was great.  More diversity in the genre offers players a chance to have different experiences.  I hope to see the genre expand even more and we see more great stories!  But that's really a side note...back to Life is Strange.

Let's look at Life is Strange from a strengths and weaknesses standpoint.  I'm going to do this backwards and start with the weaknesses.  There could be possible spoilers.  Read with caution!

Weaknesses
1.) Goofy dialogue.  It's pretty clear that the writers for this game are not teenage girls.  There were cringeworthy moments of awkwardness scattered throughout the game.  It's nice that they tried to come up with some teenage lingo for those of us who are no longer of that persuasion.  I can live with this one and it didn't ruin the game for me.

2.) Bad lip-syncing.  I actually made it a point to not look at the mouth region of the characters who were talking because it just distracted me too much.  A word of advice:  read the subtitles.  The voice acting is great so just reading and listening to the dialogue is best.  I read in some recent patch notes that they were working to address this issue but didn't see much of a change in the final episode.

3.) Repetitious moments.  The story revolves around Max's ability to rewind time and use photographs to jump into different moments throughout her life.  There were times when the rewind mechanic became very tedious.  Rewinding through some conversations multiple times became tiring and got annoying after awhile.  Certain episodes involved more of this than others.  Even though it could get tiring it did add a fun aspect into other parts of the game.

Strengths

Max and Chloe.

1.) The "Core" Story.  I found it really interesting that Dontnod chose to make a game with two female protagonists and that the story is more female oriented.  At the core of this game is the story of two best friends who grow apart simply through tiny changes in their lives and then find themselves back together.  It's a story about friendship standing the test of time.  That's a really powerful concept and not your typical gaming material.  This emotional core is what made the relationship between Max and Chloe so great (but completely ruined it in one of the possible endings).

The more "detective" side of the story wasn't anything fresh or engaging.  It provided action to keep the story interesting but didn't stand out to me as much as what I am calling the "core."

2.)  Lots of cliffhangers and plot twists.  I was absolutely floored for each episode to be released.  Every episode ended with some serious drama that was going to unfold in the next episode.  I think a great episodic story game has to keep players on the edge of their seat and willing to wait for that next installment.  The major plot twist in episode four (revealing who was kidnapping students) caught me completely by surprise and made me look forward to the finale that much more (which turned out to be sort of disappointing).

 3.) The ending.  I have read so many differing opinions about the ending of the game--some people loved it and some people hated it.  I think it's a win if a game can spur debate.  (Note:  I have only experienced one of the possible endings and will say that I completely hate the concept of a Max/Chloe romantic relationship that was presented in one of the other endings.  I still don't really understand the point of adding in the possibility of a romantic relationship between the characters--political statement?  Attention grabber for the male audience?)  The ending I witnessed was so emotionally charged that it was depressing.

4.) The sci-fi aspect of the game.  The idea of Max having rewinding powers isn't anything new or fresh but the ability to hop between timeframes kept the story zigging and zagging.  When not being used to re-live the same conversations over and over the rewind power is pretty cool.  I liked seeing the multiple realities (which never worked out) and that the story wove those realities together so well.

Life is Strange is definitely worth playing.  I think the "core" story is powerful and deserves the bulk of the attention.  I'm excited for where episodic story games are going and like that these games are willing to address deeper topics.  The strengths of the series far outweigh the weaknesses.  I hope Dontnod keeps developing games and we see even more developers jumping into the episodic story genre.