Life is Strange, but the video game
Over the past few years since the popularization of licensed game productions by Telltale Games, such as The Walking Dead, or Game of Thrones, choice-based episodic series have become more and more popular. One of the other companies leading the charge has been DONTNOD Entertainment, creator of the award-winning video game from 2015, Life is Strange. Life is Strange won its awards for its raw emotional appeal and brilliant soundtrack at a time when emotional experiences were lacking in games. It's appeal was largely in its story of struggling youth in a private arts school in a lonely Oregon backwater. Many celebrated various story beats which hinted at a deeper relationship between two young women, while others were upset that the game's ending forced their hand in a tough decision. Life is Strange is a narrative experience that did what it set out to do and create a true-to-heart experience for its players, and while its writing got its fair share of heat, the game was "hella" good.
The gameplay in Life is Strange is as simple as any. Players can control the character, a young woman named Max, using a controller on PS4, or on PC using WASD keyboard controls and clicking and dragging on objects in the environment with the mouse. These are pretty typical of this style of game, and its why playing a game like Life is Strange is a good starter kit for getting into these games. The stakes of Life is Strange are mostly minor, so players can primarily expect a relaxing time which occasionally makes deep cuts of tension and emotional depth. What really makes this game shine, however, is its central mechanic, which drives the narrative and allows players to take a more voyeuristic approach that tempts the player to making choices they otherwise wouldn't go for: the power to roll back time. The main character reacts to these choices as well, sometimes with regret and sometimes gaining new knowledge that changes the way they can behave in the world or speak with other people. At one point, the player finds the opportunity to search through a girl's trash can right in front of her to find a pregnancy test, only to rewind time and be able to "guess" that the girl is pregnant and offer support to her. The game occasionally hints at a moral dilemma, and the pain the character goes through at times, as well as the visual distortions onscreen during these time-reversals hints at a deeper effect of these powers.
The choice to offer this mechanic as a narrative tool as well as a gameplay is impressive, and it drives the narrative to great heights. The game simply would not have a story without this interweaving. The plot hook of the game is Max saving the life of a girl in the bathroom who was about to get shot, and from there, the entire five episode series spans out, ending once again around the same set of characters. So many of the games key moments are almost tainted by it, but mostly manage to pull back. The fact that the player almost always has an out is alluring. At least one character in-game knows about the power Max and the player wield, and those emotional moments shared by the characters can be replayed over and over again for the "optimal" interaction. In a way it means that Max can always do it right, but the game comes back more than once to remind the player that not everything is within control, especially playing as a teenage girl at boarding school.
The episodic experience of these games made playing alongside the release a treat. Every other week, I could sit down and play the latest episode of Life is Strange and bury myself in three hours or so of a deep emotional experience. While it requires a bit more self control, that experience is still possible, and even encouraged. The game's episodes have definitive beginnings and endings, and each episode is chunked out in such a way as to be satisfying, even when there are major cliffhangers. For a person without a lot of time on their hands, playing a few hours of Life is Strange, completing an episode every now and then, seems to be a great way to play. My recommendation for this game is just that. With its availability on PS4, Remote Play features mean it can be played on the go either on Vita or a PC with a decent internet connection. It's a good game to pick up and put down when one has the time, and even has a prequel now for those who enjoy it enough to play more.
Title: Life is Strange
Price: $20
Platform: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4
Skills Learned:
Dual-input navigation(keyboard and mouse, dual-stick controller)
Narrative choice systems
The gameplay in Life is Strange is as simple as any. Players can control the character, a young woman named Max, using a controller on PS4, or on PC using WASD keyboard controls and clicking and dragging on objects in the environment with the mouse. These are pretty typical of this style of game, and its why playing a game like Life is Strange is a good starter kit for getting into these games. The stakes of Life is Strange are mostly minor, so players can primarily expect a relaxing time which occasionally makes deep cuts of tension and emotional depth. What really makes this game shine, however, is its central mechanic, which drives the narrative and allows players to take a more voyeuristic approach that tempts the player to making choices they otherwise wouldn't go for: the power to roll back time. The main character reacts to these choices as well, sometimes with regret and sometimes gaining new knowledge that changes the way they can behave in the world or speak with other people. At one point, the player finds the opportunity to search through a girl's trash can right in front of her to find a pregnancy test, only to rewind time and be able to "guess" that the girl is pregnant and offer support to her. The game occasionally hints at a moral dilemma, and the pain the character goes through at times, as well as the visual distortions onscreen during these time-reversals hints at a deeper effect of these powers.
The choice to offer this mechanic as a narrative tool as well as a gameplay is impressive, and it drives the narrative to great heights. The game simply would not have a story without this interweaving. The plot hook of the game is Max saving the life of a girl in the bathroom who was about to get shot, and from there, the entire five episode series spans out, ending once again around the same set of characters. So many of the games key moments are almost tainted by it, but mostly manage to pull back. The fact that the player almost always has an out is alluring. At least one character in-game knows about the power Max and the player wield, and those emotional moments shared by the characters can be replayed over and over again for the "optimal" interaction. In a way it means that Max can always do it right, but the game comes back more than once to remind the player that not everything is within control, especially playing as a teenage girl at boarding school.
The episodic experience of these games made playing alongside the release a treat. Every other week, I could sit down and play the latest episode of Life is Strange and bury myself in three hours or so of a deep emotional experience. While it requires a bit more self control, that experience is still possible, and even encouraged. The game's episodes have definitive beginnings and endings, and each episode is chunked out in such a way as to be satisfying, even when there are major cliffhangers. For a person without a lot of time on their hands, playing a few hours of Life is Strange, completing an episode every now and then, seems to be a great way to play. My recommendation for this game is just that. With its availability on PS4, Remote Play features mean it can be played on the go either on Vita or a PC with a decent internet connection. It's a good game to pick up and put down when one has the time, and even has a prequel now for those who enjoy it enough to play more.
Title: Life is Strange
Price: $20
Platform: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4
Skills Learned:
Dual-input navigation(keyboard and mouse, dual-stick controller)
Narrative choice systems
Comments
Post a Comment