Week 1 Homework: Playing “Life is Strange — Episode 1”

“Life is Strange” was the first graphic adventure video game I played and I was recommended by a friend to try it out. The game started off up on a hill where Max Caulfield, the protagonist, was seen trying to get to the lighthouse during a storm. Then the controls quickly switched over to me and I had to navigate the character to the desired destination. As soon as I reached the lighthouse, Max woke up in the middle of photography class confused about the “dream” she just had. I was then positioned into a narrative where Max had to figure out what was happening to her. I was given access to look through the different objects on Max’s desk - including a journal, camera, and pencil case. Towards the end of class, Max was called by her teacher to talk. After the brief conversation, Max needed to go to the bathroom where the major plot of the story started taking place. When Max was in the bathroom, she noticed a blue butterfly entering the window. Acknowledging the fact that she needed to come up with an original piece for her photography class, I decided to take a snapshot of the moment. Just then, a boy entered the bathroom who seemed to be distressed. A girl with blue hair and a punk-ish attire quickly followed suit and the pair had an argument regarding money and drugs. Max was listening closely to the pair’s conversation when the boy took out a gun and shot the girl. During the split second the boy shot the girl, Max reacted strongly, which shot her back to photography class. It was here she realized that she possessed the ability to turn back time. With this knowledge, I was able to go through the scenes again knowing what was expected to happen. I was able to go back into the bathroom and save the girl from getting shot by reversing time and setting off the fire alarm just before the boy tried to attack her. Soon after, Max went about her day, having to meet her friend in the parking lot and give him a flash drive. When this happened, the same boy from the bathroom confronted Max and tried to attack her. Then, the same girl from the bathroom came over in her car and picked Max up. It was during this drive Max realized that the girl was Chloe, a childhood friend. The story continued with Max trying to figure out what the vision she had in class meant, the suspicious people in her town, and her newly discovered powers. Now for the gameplay aspect, I was so mesmerized by the storyline because I’ve always had an interest in fantasy related genres for games or movies. The characters all behaved like typical students, teachers, and parents in teen movies I’d seen growing up. Having played games by Square Enix before, the character design and background all seemed familiar to me. The music and background noises also worked really well to bring in suspense and relatability to all the scenes. Especially when Max was walking through the stormy scene, I felt my heart race trying to avoid the obstacles and falling debris which made extremely loud noises. While the storyline was solid and the game play engaging, I did find myself in situations that seemed a bit off or awkward. This was especially so when Max just willingly accepted that she had powers from the get go. Also, the way the game was structured was a bit limited in that I didn’t really have the freedom to explore areas apart from the places relevant to the storyline(which makes sense). Having mobility only in school, dorms, and Chloe’s house did seem a bit restricting. But this didn’t really hinder the experience I had while playing the game. The game developers did an amazing job with the ending scene which was extremely compelling. Max and Chloe reconvened at a location that seemed familiar to Max(because it was the same location where she encountered the big storm). Max had the vision once again, but this time found out that the huge storm she saw will occur 5 days after. The final moments of the episode had Max explaining what was really going on to Chloe and the other characters in the games going on about their day with some sort of shared struggle. This major plot reveal made me want to play more(even though the rest of the episodes have to be paid for). Overall, playing “Life is Strange” was an amazing experience that allowed me to be immersed in a world and experience the unfolding of a very bizarre story.