Updated on March 8th, 2024
About 5 years ago, I played The Walking Dead, and the ending left me heartbroken. Since then I have not played such an emotional game until Life is Strange, which I wanted to talk about here.
In Life is Strange, you play as Max, who is a photography senior. Max soon discovers she has the ability to rewind time and save her best friend Chloe. Even though you take on the perspective of a high school student, and I graduated from high school years ago, I was immediately drawn in and felt connected to Max. The other characters were also easy to relate to, each with their own personality.
In pretty much all games, you are given choices to make, but most of the time, your choices do not have a direct impact on the story, or there will only be a few choices in the whole game that actually matter. In this game, all of your choices matter, even the smallest choices, like watering your plant. Watering your plant does not have the biggest impact on the story, but the game makes you feel like it matters. Also, your choices can have consequences that can last through multiple episodes, so the bigger choices make you stop and think. The last choice, however, is the most soul-crushing decision I had to make in the whole game. I had to pause the game and think for a while because I kept flipping back and forth between the 2 choices until I finally decided on one, and I was devasted.
The game itself is separated into 5 episodes, and there was a huge twist that I was not expecting at all. The music fits the game beautifully, and I loved the graphics. I want to replay the game to get the different endings, but I need time to process everything that happened. If you have not played Life is Strange before, I highly recommend it, and you can play the first episode for free on Steam! However, you should be aware of the list of content warnings for the game.
Game Brainer says
Love your thoughts on Life is Strange and definitely agree that it’s one of the most emotional game experiences out there. Check out our take on Life is Strange and its prequel, Before the Storm!
talesofbelle says
Thank you and I will definitely have to give a look!
I love this game!! It’s in my top five all-time favorite games. I have never played a game with so much personal detail. It has a genuine feel to it. Thanks for posting on it 😀
I love this game too! Have you played Before the Storm? I just started playing it & it’s so fun playing as Chloe!
Loved this game, despite all its flaws, and Before the Storm even more so 🙂 .
You’ve played Before the Storm too? I’ve been wanting to play it since I finished Life is Strange!
It’s really good, I feel it’s better than Life is Strange, actually. It also deals with more “everyday problems” than LiS, and I like that, too. It feels a little more like Night in the Woods, actually.
You convinced me to buy it now (it was 42% off too) so I’ll start playing it this playing week 😄
I am going to play the game again too because I know I rushed through the first episode because I didn’t know I could to talk to everybody. I also want to see what will happen with the different choices, and I missed a lot of the photos too. Since you already played the game, I would suggest using a walkthrough the next time you play to get the best outcome.
I prefer Life is Strange too! I’ve played a few Telltale Games & it seems like most choices don’t really matter. Like in The Wolf Among Us it seems like the only real choice you make is if you want to play as a good guy or bad guy. I still liked playing the game, but Life is Strange handles the choices much better. The prequel is called Before the Storm, and I want to play it too! I’m just waiting for the next sale to buy it.
For the plot, I would suggest saying something along the lines of what is on the Steam store page about the game: “Follow the story of Max Caulfield, a photography senior who discovers she can rewind time while saving her best friend Chloe Price.
The pair soon find themselves investigating the mysterious disappearance of fellow student Rachel Amber, uncovering a dark side to life in Arcadia Bay. Meanwhile, Max must quickly learn that changing the past can sometimes lead to a devastating future.”
If you say something like that, you won’t spoil anything!
You can say the game has some strong/heavy themes, so you don’t recommend people who are sensitive to play it, but you would still recommend it because it was a rewarding experience for you and you could relate to the characters and help them.
I am near the end (just had to make the biggest emotional choice of the game) and now waiting to see how it will end. This was probably the most emotional game I ever played on any console, PC, phone etc. I agree with you. But it also quickly became one of my favorites. Some of it is kinda messed up too. Really messed up. I am like yes life is strange, I get that is the title but this is really messed up shit. Heartbreaking at times really. I don’t suggest it to really sensitive people or people who may have been affected by similiar scenarios in their past. I will probably play this game over a few times seeing how different choices affect the outcome etc, especially the huge one at the end. I also found out I had played some scenes wrong and the scenario could have been better if I had picked better choices. I would share examples and like your input etc, but it’s hard not to spoil it for those who may want to play the game so I will leave it at that. I am excited to play it over again even if some of the scenes and gameplay will remain the same.
I prefer it to the teltale games I have played thus far because I think it gives you more control over your character, the outcomes, more choices, longer time to make choices etc. I am still waiting to purchase more of the Walking Dead episodes on xbox. But I was way more impressed with Life Is Strange as a whole. I may buy the other episodes they have as well (the one with Rachel I forget the name of the game. The pre sequel kinda thing)
I want to write a review of the game myself soon on my blog, but I am unsure how to go about the plot. I have it almost entirely written out, the background, who made the game, my rating, my thoughts etc except for the plot. I am stumped in trying to find a way to summarize it without spoiling it. I also wonder if I should give the warning that there are some very emotional scenes and messed up scenes that can cause issues for some people. But then I am like no that will give it away. I may just say don’t play it if you are a highly sensitive person. xD However it is just a game and people are becoming way too sensitive in our generation imo. It is not meant to offend, and you feel like if you make the right choices you can help do something to help the people and that is rewarding imo if you relate to characters the way I do.
I wish I had time to play games. LOL
Games are a nice way to relax every now & then, but my free time is always split b/w blogging, Netflix, video games & reading
Always busy during the day, and then Len and I stream English programs, etc. in the evening.
That sounds nice though!
It’s quality time, as we never know how much time we have together.
Even though I don’t really play computergames anymore, I have to admit this kinds really great. I did play the Walking Dead and you are so right: that really was an emotional roller coaster. Hmm..I might be tempted to check this out, even though I said the world of gaming farewell. Great post! 😊
If you liked the Walking Dead, I would definitely recommend Life is Strange b/c it does the choices better & it is an emotional roller coaster too. You should at least play the first episode to see what you think! It took me 15 hours to complete all the episodes & it was so worth it!
I loved this game, I waited for each episode and played it the day it came out. It’s pretty dark actually but I enjoyed it. There’s a Prequel out right now about Chloe!
I only started playing it after the first episode was released for free, but then I NEEDED to play the rest of the game so I bought it during the winter sale!
Have you played the prequel?
haha me too, after episode 4 I was dying inside I needed to know what happened next so bad!
I haven’t played the prequel yet but it’s on my list!
The prequel is on my list too & it will be interesting to play as Chloe!