LIFE IS STRANGE
LIFE IS STRANGE
Are you sitting comfortably ? For all the cliffhangers and surprises that saw this tale of time travel and teen drama grow into one of 2015's most talked about games, perhaps its most quietly revelatory moment is the first time it asks you to take a load off. Games rarely invite you to take stock - for the player, it's valuable time to reflect: to consider choices made (and occasionally unmade) and to wonder what might come next.
Whatever your guess, it's probably wrong. While on the surface Life Is Strange seems simply a take on Telltale's episodic adventure game format, it delights in confounding expectations and blending disparate genres. It offers resounding, occasionally unsettling shocks, but it's equally if not more affecting in its quieter moments. And thereís something rare and precious in the way Life Is Strange represents the highs and lows of adolescence, particularly in the way it portrays a friendship between two young women - protagonist Max, and her best friend Chloe. This shouldnít be a novelty, and yet it undoubtedly is in the interactive space. Spiky and obstinate, Chloe is a realistically flawed creation, and a terrific foil to more hesitant, diffident Max. Their relationship is one subtly shaped by your choices.
And if at time Dontnod tilts close to melodrama, that's only fitting given the heightened emotions we all feel as teens. Life Is Strange manages to evoke an identifiable sense of adolescent yearning, Such that it generates a kind of vicarious nostalgia; the feelings that bubble to the surface seem raw and real.
Are you sitting comfortably ? For all the cliffhangers and surprises that saw this tale of time travel and teen drama grow into one of 2015's most talked about games, perhaps its most quietly revelatory moment is the first time it asks you to take a load off. Games rarely invite you to take stock - for the player, it's valuable time to reflect: to consider choices made (and occasionally unmade) and to wonder what might come next.
Whatever your guess, it's probably wrong. While on the surface Life Is Strange seems simply a take on Telltale's episodic adventure game format, it delights in confounding expectations and blending disparate genres. It offers resounding, occasionally unsettling shocks, but it's equally if not more affecting in its quieter moments. And thereís something rare and precious in the way Life Is Strange represents the highs and lows of adolescence, particularly in the way it portrays a friendship between two young women - protagonist Max, and her best friend Chloe. This shouldnít be a novelty, and yet it undoubtedly is in the interactive space. Spiky and obstinate, Chloe is a realistically flawed creation, and a terrific foil to more hesitant, diffident Max. Their relationship is one subtly shaped by your choices.
And if at time Dontnod tilts close to melodrama, that's only fitting given the heightened emotions we all feel as teens. Life Is Strange manages to evoke an identifiable sense of adolescent yearning, Such that it generates a kind of vicarious nostalgia; the feelings that bubble to the surface seem raw and real.
STRANGE TIME
Whether we're making use of Max's time-bending abilities to convince a friend we can see the future, or finding an inventive way past a locked door, Dontnod makes a familiar idea feel novel again Meanwhile, on the occasion the power's used for a simple do-over, the context keeps you engaged perhaps you're boosting the self-esteem of a classmate, or punishing a bully. The supporting cast at first seem like archetypes, but over five episode they're afforded depth, and soon earn your sympathies. Life Is Strange may take an episode or two to really finds its way into your heart, but once it's there, you'll never forget it.Labels: 360, Dontnod, Entertainment, PC, PS3, PS4, Square Enix, Xbox 360 games, XO
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