Critical Play: Life is Strange
I chose to play Life is Strange for this critical play. In this game, the player plays as Max Caulfield, a high school girl that discovers her power to reverse time. Max comes together with her friend, Chloe Price, to investigate the disappearance of another student, Rachel Amber. As Max uses her powers to change the past, she learns that “fixing” the past doesn’t always result in a better future and can, in fact, make matters worse. Throughout the game, the player performs various actions and makes choices, each advancing the game’s storyline and unraveling the mystery.
Before the game begins, the player is told that all of their actions and choices will influence the past, present, and future. One layer of mystery lies in this fact. As the player goes through the game, they have no idea how their actions and choices are influencing the game. So many questions surround this unknown. How is the player’s next action/choice going to influence the past? The present? The future? Do the bigger/heavier decisions hold the most influence or is each decision weighted equally? Which decisions lead to the ending that the player/Max want?
At the beginning of the game, when we find Max in the middle of her photography class, the player is able to look at different things that are on Max’s desk, such as a polaroid and journal. As the player looks through these items, they begin to gain context and background on Max as well as the present moment. However, the player doesn’t know how to interpret any information they gain from exploring these items. This scene, therefore, not only helps to advance the story but also establishes the presence of mystery. By leaving the story only partially told, this essence of mystery allows for stronger emotional responses when the rest of the story is unfolded through gameplay.
