Life Is Strange Review (Spoiler Free)

Life can be very strange, indeed.

Introduction:

Life Is Strange is about a student named Max Caulfield, whom recently has moved back to Oregon to a private High School for her final year, known as Blackwell Academy. The premise of the game is focused on the second week of October, 2013. The town that you will become familiar with - Arcadia Bay, a quiet and small but year beautiful and charming in it’s own way. The game will quickly give you a sense of just what exactly is happening in this small town closely related to Max’s journey.

Atmosphere and Charm:

As soon as I started initially, I was ready to bash the game for it’s graphics. I held my reservations and trotted forward, soon to begin and realize that the game contained more of a “style” that I needed to get used to. Granted playing on the PS4 I always expect better, I quickly overcame the concept.

Now? I couldn’t get enough.

Arcadia Bay truly has something captivating about it, that almost makes me want to hop through my TV and partake in all the beautiful mystery that is the enigma of the game. You get the greatest sensation that there is something big going on in this small town. As the citizens begin to notice, you will too. Atmosphere is tied in with a “bittersweet” feeling of harmony and impending disaster as you see in-explainable actions in nature itself. Max's story provides a fantastic sense of nostalgia adding just that much more depth to the overall feeling of Blackwell academy and Arcadia Bay, at some point I felt like I was more than an observer. The game does a fantastic job of delivering a beauty in cosmetic once you get passed the graphics, a feeling I’ve had unlike any other when describing this game.  The best part of this game is that the townsfolk make you feel like discovering the incidents together as they talk to Max about it, again creating a deeper sense of immersion you may not want to want to walk away from.

Gameplay:

Without diving too much into spoiler territory for that is easy to do in this game, I’ll lightly touch up on what creates this game into a one and unique experience. Maxine is what she considers an “artist” but more of a photographer if anything. She is a reserved character by nature and this plays a key role in involving you - the player. You’ll soon realize during intro that the game is going to be relying on you to make key choices, and some of the first few game choices are actually quite difficult, getting you accustomed to the gameplay quickly. Choices are often followed with drastic changes in story that could change many events in string. This is where a unique feature comes in that we will only lightly touch up on since it is discovered early in game - Max controls time. She can rewind to a certain but limited point of the past, allowing her to fix any current “mistakes” or regrets she may of made while you are playing as her. Time control can be an iffy subject especially in gaming, but the way Life Is Strange delivers, you will be completely satisfied with the involvement you as a player have with the time control.

Involvement:

Since this game is not your run-of-the-mill type of gaming, I chose to give this section “Involvement” meaning - what keeps you going on this game?

As you continue through the story, characters you run into may come off a certain way, and then as you develop a relationship, not just Max will feel indifferent but you as the player yourself will begin to feel toward this fictional characters. I felt myself truly invested in some of the characters I did not like initially, hell at one point of the game I was holding out for one particular character trying to guarantee their safety my personal feelings were on the line. The choices you make will continue to unfold into more strings of new happenings, so no two stories should be alike granted all the choices you get, which gives you an overwhelming amount of replayability, especially if you fell in love with the game like I did.

The friendships you gain with Max almost feel like your very own. I felt so incredibly involved with every character knowing how I can change so much in their lives or how I could leave things as is, really made me feel endeavored to do the best I could. In the weird town of Arcadia Bay where unnatural changes are occurring you realize - you’re all in this together.

BGM/Music:

This game deserves a category in it’s own right for the amazing sound effects, voice work, and stellar soundtrack. While roaming through Arcadia Bay, you’ll be treated to a cotangent and beautiful soundtrack vibing off of light and sweet indie pop lyrics that will keep you constantly enticed with the world around you. The consistency of keeping the overall “sound” adds so much depth to this game as you hear alternate quartets of some of the songs as the story plays out, these tracks matching the pace of what’s happening. We’ve seen this done before but so rarely, and delivered as it is in this game really brings the game to life. As you can tell, I am completely enamored by the beauty of the soundtrack and any music junkie of some sort will feel at home listening to it. Beautifully sung “To All Of You by Syd Matters” as you begin your game tells you that you are immediately in for a treat. Enjoy the music, take your time, really get a vibe for this game. The soundtrack gives Arcadia Bay and the school Blackwell - a truly unique vibe that “Something is happening, and you are going to be a huge part of this stage. We don’t know what is happening, but it’s happening.” Hell, even if you DON’T play this game, GO listen to this soundtrack!

Drawbacks:

Very slight, but it happened - twice where I had to shut down the game because the frame rates would get stuck and begin “jotting” around in a weird fashion. Another incident is when Max’s mouth completely stopped moving but dialogue continued. The graphics could of been better, but somehow the face of every character has been captured well otherwise. If you can get past a few little mishaps, this game hardly breaks immersion.

OVERALL:

Life Is Strange is truly an overall amazing game that has changed even my perspective on life. It’s truly made me appreciate more around me - essentially “warming” this cold heart a little bit, giving a sliver of hope for friendships. All kinds of scenarios involved from drugs, parties, friendship struggles, suicide, and more are pressed hard in this game, truly tugging at your heartstrings. The impact this game had on me was to a personal level, truly remembering my old friendships from high school, throwing in a feelings of nostalgia, innocence, beauty, and change. I never played a game that captured darkness and light so perfectly as this one. Truly being reminded of family and friendship like this game made me instantly grateful for what I do have. Life Is Strange gave me feelings that I never knew I had at some points, truly revitalizing that story can be way more emphasized than gameplay. I almost wished I could of been in Arcadia Bay, this weird town with so many mysterious happenings that bring people together in the face of tragedy. Life Is Strange will forever be a must-buy for me, especially for the price it is at. I can see a bit of a difficulty buying the game at $59.99 but this game can be found online for $40.00 or less. So that being said, what are you waiting for? Go play this game!

FINAL SCORE: 9/10