Life is Strange: Before the Storm--Depressingly Fabulous. (And full of spoilers...so, careful!)

It's kind of weird, but I played through Life is Strange:  Before the Storm once and didn't feel particularly satisfied with my first playthrough.  I decided that to get a truly accurate picture of the game that I should go back and play through it in a completely different manner.  Now, after I've played through it twice I feel like I have a better feeling for the game and am ready to sum up my thoughts about the episodic prologue to 2015's Life is Strange.

Before I begin, I wanted to describe exactly how and why I decided that completing it twice was necessary.  I wrote about this last week when I had barely started delving into the first episode, but I found that the way I was playing Chloe was somewhat unsatisfactory.  In my mind I wanted Chloe to start being a respectful, responsible teenager rather than being the selfish, childish, asshat that she is.  And her asshattery isn't for good reason--she's dealing with a lot of tough issues--the death of her father, the departure of her best friend right at a critical moment, and the introduction of a new father figure in the form of David, the stepdouche.  It was morally rough to make many of the decisions that see Chloe being rude to her Mom or to steal, use drugs, and generally just be rebellious.  I also decided that Rachel Amber should be just a friend and nothing more.  In the end, it all felt really wrong.

In my second playthrough I decided that Chloe should be who Chloe really is--a brash, "no f#$@'s given," kind of character who lashes out at everybody and doesn't have much concern about the consequences.  Honestly, it felt so much better to play her this way.  Probably the best choice that I made was the decision that Chloe and Rachel's relationship should be romantic in nature.  The story and consequence felt like it fit so much better in my second playthrough.  I didn't necessarily enjoy the consequences of all the choices that I made.

I'm not going to write this in a pros/cons manner like other games.  I mostly just want to reflect on what I liked about the series, and I did find that I really liked it.  This is where the SPOILERS start, so if you don't want to know about the ending or the consequences of your choices...best to stop.

Let's be honest and say that there were some really irritating aspects of the original Life is Strange.  After playing it I felt like it was an alright episodic game--there were some things that I enjoyed and some things that I absolutely hated.  The good news is that Life is Strange:  Before the Storm took some of those irritating aspects from the first game and fixed them.  One of the most notable fixes is to the character dialogue.  Many people complained that the dialogue in the first game was written so poorly that it was cringeworthy--no, let's just say it, hella cringeworthy.  Before the Storm is completely devoid of the feeling that a bunch of middle aged male writers (who I think were also French and probably didn't have much context into how American teenagers talk) were pretending to know how the typical American teenager talks.  There are even some jokes about the usage of the word "hella" worked into the game in a clever way.  You will love it.

One of the things that I worried about in Before the Storm was that the lack of the supernatural abilities from the original game would leave the story slightly lacking.  It turns out that the story is actually better without all the time rewinding, universe altering aspects.  The many crises and issues that make up the story feel realistic and manage to be entertaining on their own.  Chloe is like a boat slipping from one storm into the next and players get to choose how she deals with each wave.  Should Chloe try to make amends with her Mom?  Or be more accepting of having David around?  Should she do her best to avoid using chemical coping mechanisms? Should she lie to Rachel or tell her the truth?  Each choice has some sort of consequence and they don't always turn out positive.

One of the impactful choices in "Before the Storm."

Unlike Life is Strange, the choices that you make throughout the game have an impact on events that happen in the game.  I was very frustrated with the fact that in the first game it all boiled down to one big decision in the the end--nothing else that you did really mattered.  I enjoyed the fact that when I had Chloe refuse to empty her pockets out for David (she was carrying pot after all) that when she returned to her house, her room had clearly been searched.  The clear consequence of that choice was that David had decided to go through all her stuff on his own--a total invasion of privacy.  Even though it might take awhile to see the consequences of your choices, they are definitely visible throughout the story.

The one thing that I hated the most about Life is Strange was the ending.  I hated it for multiple reasons--firstly, that players were left with one choice that felt completely undesirable (saving Chloe, destroying the town of Arcadia, and having Max declare her previously unrealized romantic feelings for Chloe) and one choice that was clearly the "canon" ending (Chloe dies, Arcadia is saved) and secondly, because the whole "romantic" aspect of Chloe and Max's relationship felt so forced.  I never interpreted Chloe and Max as having anything but friendly feelings toward each other and all of a sudden having Max declare that Chloe is literally "the one" felt wrong.

Before the Storm does a great job of showing how the relationship between Chloe and Rachel Amber develops.  The best part is that it feels believable (in a Hollywood, "love at first sight," universe pulls two people together kind of way...but, still) and genuine.  It's a story that shows two people who grow close very quickly and who clearly have a connection.  I would recommend that everyone who plays opt for the romantic choice because the game does a great job at depicting a mad type of teenage love.

There are lots of small things that also make Before the Storm enjoyable.  Finding all the different locations for Chloe to graffiti was fun and choosing how exactly she left her mark could be hilarious.  I've always enjoyed the quiet introspective moments that are part of the game--you can opt to have Chloe sit on a bench and listen to her internal monologue as she thinks about her current situation.  It's not very often that players are given the ability to connect with the feelings of characters in games.  Those moments are also punctuated extremely well by the soundtrack--the music fits perfectly.

Probably one of the most difficult parts of the game is the dark cloud that looms over the entire thing.  If you've played Life is Strange before Before the Storm you know exactly how the story ends--and it's not happy.  Before the Storm has some dark moments, but on the whole, it has a very positive, happy vibe.  I have read that some people were upset by the fact that after the credits rolled for the last episode that they included the brief nod to the demise of Rachel Amber.  It's definitely a punch in the gut, but one that I felt was needed.  I don't think they should have completely ignored the fact that things were doomed and it makes the relationship between Chloe and Rachel all the more tragic.

Overall, I really enjoyed Before the Storm.  It felt like they really paid attention to many of the shortcomings of the original game and worked to correct them.  They story was great even without the science fiction aspects and captured the life of a dysfunctional teenager in an engaging way.  The love story between Chloe Price and Rachel Amber is one that I think played out in a very sweet and believable way and that will appeal to many different types of gamers.

One question you might be asking yourself is "should I upgrade to the deluxe version for the bonus episode?"  If you're a fan of the series, I would say yes.  The Farewell episode adds another layer of depth to the relationship between Chloe and Max and fans will enjoy getting to see Chloe before she was shattered.  It's also heartbreaking, so bust out the tissues.  You also get a few bonus outfits for Chloe and "mixtape" mode which allows you to move the soundtrack from the game around to best fit your preferences (this is something that I didn't mess with, but seems kind of cool).

Being Chloe Price

Just last week Steam featured a sale on Square Enix titles (some of them are still on sale) and I decided to take advantage of the sweet, low prices.  One of those games that I snatched up was the prologue to the 2015 episodic game Life is Strange; Life is Strange:  Before the Storm.  I enjoyed playing Life is Strange, it had some really great moments and themes, but it also had some flaws.  My general opinion about episodic story games is that they are best when purchased for under $10.  It's not that they don't have something to offer, it's just that what they have to offer is really only good for 2 and possibly 3 playthroughs before you've seen everything there is to see.

Chloe hasn't quite reached the blue hair phase in "Before the Storm."

Life is Strange:  Before the Storm tells the story of Chloe Price before the return of her childhood best friend, Max Caulfield.  In Life is Strange, players were introduced the the blue-haired teenage rebel, and she was one of my favorite characters.  I am relishing the chance to learn more about Chloe, but I'm finding that her personality is so completely different and rebellious that it feels really weird.

I suppose that part of the problem comes from the way that players choose to play a character in a game that is based on player choice.  Do you play the character based on how you would want them to act?  Or do you play the character based on how you think they would act?  I tend to lean more toward the first option and it's causing me more mental grief than I've had in almost any other game that I've ever played.

Chloe has a very brash, "f*^% off" kind of attitude toward life.  She's going to do what she wants to do and damn the consequences.  There's something to be admired in that stance, but it's also off-putting for someone like me who likes to follow the rules.  I've only played through the first episode and there have been several interactions that have made me uncomfortable.  Chloe and her mom struggle to get along, but I can't bring myself to tell poor Joyce to just back off.  I couldn't bring myself to have Chloe enter into the verbal sparring mini-game with her principal--it just felt so wrong.

Much of the first episode attempts to explain how Chloe and Rachel Amber's relationship started.  There are parts of this aspect that also bothered me.  It doesn't bother me from the perspective of them having a relationship, but in a way that other video game relationships sometimes bother me.  Chloe and Rachel basically JUST meet and all of a sudden they are at a stage where they are almost declaring their undying love for each other.  It feels so forced, and when given the choice for Chloe to declare how she feels about Rachel, I had her opt for the friend zone.  It's pretty obvious that it's meant to be more, but it just feels weird to happen so suddenly.

I feel like I'm doing a disservice to the character that Chloe price is supposed to be.  My moral compass is making her into the law abiding, good kid who I want her to be and it just feels wrong.  Maybe in the next playthrough I will play Chloe how I think she would really act.

Besides my difficulty staying true to Chloe's attitude, I am enjoying learning more about Chloe as a character.  The loss of her dad in a car accident has completely shaken her and really torn her family apart.  Her mom has started dating again and Chloe is none too happy about having David in the picture.  It was really sad to search through Chloe's house and see that her mom had started to take down the old pictures that had Chloe's dad in them.  Joyce is trying to move on and Chloe just isn't ready to accept it.  They both struggle to communicate and it's easy to understand why Chloe is so rebellious and torn up--she lost her dad and then she lost her best friend when Max moved away.  To cope with those major changes, she has turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain.

In real life I am a teacher and sometimes it's hard to understand exactly what makes kids act out.  Rarely do I know much about what goes on in their lives outside of school.  Oddly, I've felt like playing as Chloe Price has given me a unique insight into behavior.  It makes me want to be more patient and try to understand all the challenges and struggles that students go through on a daily basis.