Life is Strange
by: Jenny Stone
Life is Strange is available on many platforms including PS4, Steam, XBOX 1, and it is also in the app store. The game was created using the unreal engine and there are currently two more games in the franchise as well as possibly more in the future. Life is Strange including five episodes that allow for transition from one major scene to the next. The first episode is actually free if so that players can get a feel for the game before they decide to buy it. The game should have around 20–30 hours of play time, but that also depends on the way the player goes throughout the game. Life is Strange is a game published by the company Square Enix and created by Dontnod Entertainment is all about the consequences that you can face for even the smallest action you make.
Every action no matter the reason behind it can end up having astronomical consequences on the world that you live in. So many people think so little about the consequences of their own actions until they end staring them straight in the face. In the game you can choose to face the consequences off all the choices you made whether they were selfish or not or run away from the storm it ends up causing. The consequences in the game reflect the choices we make in our life and how we deal with them in a healthy way or in an equally selfish way. Life is Strange is one of the first games that explores the player having so much control over such a complex world. It is also one of the more emotionally complex games that also has LGBTQ+ representation. The fact that the player can see the consequences of their decision and is able to go back in time and change that decision in the same play through is also something new that this game brings to the table.
The game is in Arcadia Bay, Oregon and the focus of the game is through our main character Max Caulfield as she returns to her hometown. Max is trying to find a good subject for a picture she must take for a project, so she takes a picture of a blue butterfly. She hears loud thuds and screaming so she hides in a bathroom stall and then everything goes south. The game quickly turns dark as our estranged friend Chloe is accidentally shot in a scuffle with Nathan Prescott while we are hiding in a bathroom stall. After Chloe passes Max is pulled back to right before Chloe is shot using the photo of the butterfly and in a life altering moment Max pulls the fire alarm and Chloe ends up surviving the encounter.
Every time a game altering change is made a butterfly appears in the corner of the screen and can be accompanied by a dramatic melody to emphasize the decision’s importance. The ability to have control of the direction the game is moving in the form of Max’s powers is what will draw the player to the game because every player puts themselves in as the main player of any game they play. They want to immerse themselves as deeply as possible in the game they are playing. In any other platform whether it be book or a movie the player is separated from the choices they make because they aren’t able to directly control the character through touch. Games like Life is Strange in any console or format incorporate the use of many of the senses in the form of music, voice acting, physically controlling the character, etc. If it was made in the form of a Choose Your Own Ending movie that have recently started to come out then the player would lose a lot of the control and connection they had to it when they played the game.
Let’s focus on a major part of the game where we would have had to gather information on Kate to prevent her from committing suicide. A compromising video of Kate at a party is released and in response Kate is heavily bullied to the point that she becomes very depressed. As Max you have the choice to be there for your friend as well as erase the URL of the video in several places so the spread is slowed down. If the player had chosen to be nice to Victoria after a previous incident they will have the chance to have the video taken down even though it has already caused a lot of unnecessary damage. If you talk to Kate in her time of need you receive the necessary information to keep her from jumping off the roof of the academy. If this was done through a film or a book the level of connection to the character would not be the same. The player makes the choices and forms their own bonds with the characters so watching it on a screen or in a book cannot compare.
The importance of this game is to show that one choice can ripple out into the universe and affect millions of people. Whether the choice is right or wrong doesn’t matter as the result can still be world ending either way. I don’t think this feeling could be expressed in any other format or at least it wouldn’t be near as strong. Even if Chloe doesn’t deserve to die can the player let thousands of other innocent people die just to save the person they care about. How does the player’s choice in the end to save Chloe reflect on them morally? Saving Chloe is the most popular ending which shows that people tended to focus on the closeness of the relationship as well as their own emotions with the ending. Even Chloe wants the character to let them go so that the town can be saved. However, this ending isn’t near as fulfilling because it feels as if every choice the player made had no impact. Chloe still dies because of Nathan Prescott even if the town is still in one piece. The game wants us to acknowledge that on one end all of our actions have consequences, but even if you end up making all the right decisions it might not be possible to get what you want without dire consequences.
