I will start of by mentioning that you should take this review as my own personal experience, and an episodic story-driven game such as Life is Strange can only be fully reviewed once the whole experience is released.
That being said, this is the first of five planned chapters for Life Is Strange. The game tries to stand out in an increasingly competitive adventure genre by allowing the player to ‘rewind time’ and affect the past, present and future. Now at first glance you may think, what’s the point of having a choice/consequence driven story if you can simply manipulate time and un-do those potentially bad decisions? We’ll get to that in a moment.
After a lecture by her photography professor, Max walks through the school’s halls to the bathroom. She’s not feeling great, owing to what seemed to be a vivid waking-nightmare in class. The vision shows a dark and stormy night scenario, mirroring the intro to the game – which shows a tornado roaring towards the picturesque Oregon town which makes up the game’s setting.
Dotnod’s episodic story throws you into the life of Max Caulfield. A seemingly ordinary, introverted retro camera enthusiast. You have started a new year at a prestigious (if not oddly pretentious) school – Blackwell Academy – complete with an array of stereotypical characters, many of which border on the cliché . This doesn’t take away the enjoyment from the experience however. The game employs a unique ‘indie’ vibe… staying just shy of being full blown hipster, but everything from the soundtrack to the location and art style screams of stylistic cohesion.
Max Caulfield – despite being fairly average in almost every way, is actually a very likeable character. The approach taken makes her very relatable, and emphasises plot points as very grounded and plausible. Throughout Episode 1 (titled Chrysalis) Max becomes a strong, capable, and smart person who defies her awkward stereotype. The story tests these qualities by presenting an ordinary teenager with challenging situations, which she can alter, by rewinding and re-treading time.
The gravity of certain situations are not immediately apparent throughout the episode, but they appear to have a ripple effect. For instance, intervening in a situation may help you achieve something in the short term, but may compromise your ability to make a convincing argument later. So with this in mind you feel like you are torn between the ‘greater good’ or covering your own back with selfish gains. The choices you make can be lived through for a little while and reversed, which offers the player a glimpse of what will unravel as a result.
DotNod Entertainment have been careful to prevent the ability from being too powerful. It appears as though you can only revert back to a few key moments. This forces the player to think carefully about their choices, as you cannot please everyone.
Not every little interaction hinges on a big choice, though. Many conversations give context to the world that Max lives in. Notable stories include that of Rachel Amber, a missing student with connections to many of the people Max encounter; the irresponsible principle, a student bringing a gun to school; the ex-military, tough guy of a security guard will come into play later in the series, so far in episode one you catch a glimpse of what he is up to (spoilers: NO GOOD).
Why she can rewind time isn’t obvious, however it allows you to explore a believable setting in interesting ways. Later, you find out that by rewinding time you are technically ‘teleporting’ as you stay untouched while the world unravels around you. I hope to see Max’s gift evolve and develop as the episodes unlock. Thus far, her gifts of time manipulation are restricted to teenage drama scenarios – if Max upsets someone, she can go back, impress them, and feel better about herself at the same time. This is very simplistic, but resonates that fantasy of being able to rectify simple social faux pas – it can also be very satisfying to use people against themselves.
Throughout the story Max only tries to help people and do right by her friends, never hurting them – which is a very humble approach to the use of her powers. However, I personally hope to explore much more of the world with this gift, luckily the ending does give a glimpse of this sort of gameplay in Episode Two. So I can say with confidence that the story will at least evolve beyond the confinements of bedroom and classroom walls.
The game overall is a really enjoyable experience, one that I’m excited to find more about. The more you delve into characters backgrounds and look at the hand drawn art style, the more you get lost in the world of Life is Strange. I’m really intrigued to see how the story progresses and Episode One is a great start and has so much potential for a truly unforgettable experience. Although Life is Strange’s first episode ‘Chrysalis’ will only take up around 2-3 hours of your time, its affordably priced at just £3.99.
^Jack @Jack_XboxMAD
Jack contributed 16 articles to ICXM between 2014–2015, covering game reviews, and Xbox news with a focus on hands-on impressions and verified-source reporting. Their bylines on the site span the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming. They post on X as @Jack_XboxMAD.