Life is Strange

- Reviewed on PS4 -

Life is Strange released on January 30th, 2015. 

Easily one of my favorite games of all time, Life is Strange is / was an episodic, graphic adventure video game with no horror, no shooting, no insane video game tactics, instead it is / was all about the story element, and what an emotional roller coaster this game turned out to be!

This review WILL have Major Spoilers so keep that in mind before continuing...

Life is Strange takes place in a fictional town called Arcadia Bay and is in the state of Oregon. We follow the main protagonist Max Caulfield and her time in Arcadia Bay, specifically the senior high school named Blackwell Academy. 

Max Caulfield is attending Blackwell Academy for photography and soon she realizes that (SPOILER) she has powers to reverse / alter time! 

Max has a bad dream about a huge storm destroying all of Arcadia Bay on Friday (in-game days) and Max fully embraces her time altering powers to not only try to stop the storm but save her best friend Chloe Price from dying of a shot wound, in the bathroom, by Nathan Prescott. 

Nathan Prescott plays the main Antagonist of Life is Strange up until the end of Episode 4 ("Dark Room") where it turns out (SPOILER) that Mr. Jefferson (Max's Photography Teacher at Blackwell) was the actual killer and Nathan was just a side hustle for Jefferson's dirty work. 

Life is Strange in my eyes has three different main plots. One plot being the friendship of Max and Chloe reigniting and slowly being built up again. 

The next plot being the disappearance of Rachel Amber. 

Rachel Amber being Chloe's best friend when Max went to live in Seattle. 

Then finally, the last plot point is Max's time powers and how she must live with them and explain these powers to Chloe and others when needed. 

Like mentioned earlier, Life is Strange is / was an episodic adventure game, which meant that back in 2015, you only were able to play one episode at a time. The first episode was released with the game and then the rest of the episodes were released afterwards. 

I personally played Life is Strange, beginning to end, years after the release of all the episodes. However, down below is the complete list of episodes and their names, along with their release date back then...

    - Episode 1 "Chrysalis" January 30th, 2015
    - Episode 2 "Out of Time" March 24th, 2015
    - Episode 3 "Chaos Theory" May 19th, 2015
    - Episode 4 "Dark Room" July 28th, 2015
    - Episode 5 "Polarized" October 20th, 2015

Story is so important in a video game, movie, tv show, pretty much every form of entertainment out there. 

I bring this up because this game has one of the best stories in a video game I have ever played! 

This is another game I wish I could wipe away my memory of and restart as a fresh player because not only is this game a tearjerker, but also this game left me so shocked and my jaw dropped at the end of Episode 3 and 4! 

You really do get attached to these characters in Life is Strange and you really do care for these characters as you progress. 

Dontnod Entertainment really made a masterpiece in storytelling and the awards they received because of this title is well deserved in my opinion! 

Music is so emotional and actually sitting down throughout the game, you get these special musical moments where the camera will eventually pan out and surround Max as she talks to herself about the current events you are in within the game. 

You get to decide what to say to NPCs and you can reverse time to see what each outcome is for saying a specific statement, which I found very thoughtful and creative of Dontnod Entertainment. 

This aspect gives the game a lot of longevity because it will take you a while to play through the game with each individual action per game. 

I don't have much negative things to say about this game to be completely honest but if I had to say one Con, it would probably be the cheesy dialogue this game tends to throw at you. 

This never bothers me, but I could see it bothering someone else in the future so that's why I will add this. 

Besides that, Life is Strange is a masterpiece that everyone should definitely consider playing through at least once!

Pros: 

    - Outstanding Story / Story Telling
    - Amazing Music 
    - Loveable Characters
    - Shocking / Emotional Moments 
    - Longevity 

Cons:

    - Cheesy Dialogue 

My Rating for Life is Strange (on PS4):

5 / 5


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All Reviews, Ratings, Pros, Cons, and Opinions Shared on this Blog (Press A Reviews) are my (Connor Butler) own Thoughts and Feelings.



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