Life is Strange: Before the Storm

- Reviewed on PS4 -

Life is Strange: Before the Storm released on August 31st, 2017. 

Life is Strange has quickly become one of my favorite video game series of all time. 

Both the first Life is Strange and the prequel Life is Strange: Before the Storm capture a perfect story, character development, cause and effect, etc. 

Life is Strange: Before the Storm takes place three years before the events of the first game, in the same location of Arcadia Bay. 

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

In the first game, we all got to explore the world in Max Caulfield's point of view. 

We got to see what Max became during the horrific events of the storm, drama, deaths, etc. 

Now, in Life is Strange: Before the Storm, we get to go back in time (three years) and see how Chloe Price views the world (if not already obvious enough in the first title). 

Story telling was / is the main game mechanic focused on during the development of both Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm, unfortunately Dontnod Entertainment was not in charge of creating the prequel, however, Deck Nine Games did not disappoint (in my opinion) in creating / showing the backstory of Chloe Price and Rachel Amber. 

When you play the very dynamic story of Chloe Price, you find out that due to her father's death (car accident), her mom finding a new guy (David), Max leaving for Seattle, and drugs being a permanent stay in her life, Chloe was very depressed. 

Chloe however doesn't like to show that side of her to others, and you quickly find out that in Episode 1 (titled Awake) she is a very punk rock type of girl. 

Max being Chloe's best friend as kids and her leaving for Seattle immediately after Chloe's father passed really hurt Chloe, luckily for Chloe we find the right person to help her see the light in Arcadia Bay. 

Rachel Amber plays the role of that stereotype of a very popular school student who participates in everything.

However, even with Rachel in a drama club (plays), Rachel has her own punk rock side and at the Firewalk performance (Chloe's favorite band) at the old mill, Chloe meets Rachel for the first time after a scary encounter with your typical drug dealers. 

This encounter kick starts the whole tone of the story. Chloe and Rachel, two polar opposite personalities, becoming best friends and eventual lovers as well. 

Gameplay wise, this Life is Strange installment plays similar to the first game. 

You get multiple choices of dialogue and every decision you make has an impact in later episodes. 

All these endless possibilities result in this game being replayable for a long time, which I appreciate a lot by Deck Nine Games to continue that trend / game mechanic. 

In the first Life is Strange game, Max has the ability to rewind time and you then get the opportunity to change what you say, do, interact with, etc. 

Chloe does not have that rewind power, nor does she ever acquire that. Instead, following with her personality, Chloe has a backtalk ability in which she can verbally bully a person into submission and get whatever information you need at the time. 

This is a very fun / interesting game mechanic I never thought of and this mechanic really does impact your playthrough substantially. 

If you succeed in backtalk, your story can have easier problems to solve but each positive always has a negative! 

Backtalk can be / is summed up basically as a risk / reward mechanic. 

Collectible wise, Max in the first game collected optional photos for trophies, achievements, etc. but in Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Chloe does optional graffiti in which you as the player have to find the locations and draw whatever choice you want to get the trophy, achievement, etc. 

As the story progresses in Life is Strange: Before the Storm you eventually realize that the perfect girl, Rachel Amber, is not actually as perfect as the school makes her out to be. 

While (SPOILER) adventuring out with Rachel by train, you both end up on a mountain with the view finder binoculars available to you.

After solving a quick and easy puzzle, you eventually see a man kiss a tattooed woman and that man was Rachel's dad. 

Assuming Rachel doesn't already know the truth (found out in the later episodes), Rachel storms in a fit of rage as she witnessed her dad secretly "cheat" on her mother. 

With Chloe having father issues (step father specifically), and Rachel having mother issues (not knowing that tattooed woman was her actual mom after all), the two main characters of this story are now more connected and attached than ever. 

Character development and story progression is something Life is Strange has on point!

I was very nervous Deck Nine Games might screw up a series I absolutely love to death, but thankfully I can say they delivered an amazing prequel to the first game. 

Talking more about behind the scene information, Ashly Burch (the original Chloe Price voice actor) was not the voice actor for Chloe in the prequel but instead replaced by Rhianna DeVries. 

Lots of people have their stance on this decision for a new voice actor / actress but to me personally I believe Rhianna did a perfect job resembling a younger version of Chloe Price and she did not disappoint in any way, shape, or form. 

Life is Strange: Before the Storm has three main episodes and a bonus episode for deluxe edition players called Farewell. 

The list of Episodes and their release date are below...

    - Episode 1 "Awake" August 31st, 2017
    - Episode 2 "Brave New World" October 19th, 2017
    - Episode 3 "Hell is Empty" December 20th, 2017
    - Bonus Episode "Farewell" March 5th, 2018

Life is Strange: Before the Storm was one of those games I kept looking at and always wanted to buy, and after a while I finally decided to go ahead and buy the prequel to one of my favorite games of all time.

You will not be disappointed in this game at all besides the few cheesy dialogue options / jokes and the ending scene (SPOILER) of either lying to Rachel in the hospital bed or telling the truth about Rachel's dad and his bad drug history. 

Pros: 

    - Great Character Development
    - Amazing Sound / Music
    - Emotional Moments
    - Life Lessons
    - Nice Looking Graphics
    - Sticks to Life is Strange Formula
    - Sticks with Original Lore
    - Great Voice Acting
    - Amazing / Emotional Plot 
    - Hard Decisions with Great Result

Cons:

    - Cheesy Dialogue 
    - Uninteresting Final Decisions / Setting

My Rating for Life is Strange: Before the Storm (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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