Life is Strange (New Dontnod/Square Enix Game)

Rogues' Gallery

When a door closes, a window opens…Or, something like that.

Released in Episodic installments (like The Walking Dead), Life is Strange focuses on 18 year-old Maxine "Max" Caulfield, a socially awkward and introverted photography student living in her hometown of Arcadia Bay, Oregon. After witnessing the murder of a fellow student while in the restroom, Max reaches out and discovers that she has the ability to rewind time for short durations.

There's nothing more I can say about the storyline without giving away certain plot points. I will say that I'm in love with how incredibly refreshing this game is to play. There's no AAA action like in the Bioshock series, or Amnesia-esque horror. It's a slice-of-life game (with a pinch of the supernatural element) about choices & consequences, nostalgia & adolescence, memories & identity.

I really enjoy the time rewinding aspect where you can see how a certain choice will affect your relationships with other characters and perhaps change your mind to select a different choice before committing to a decision that permanently changes how the story unfolds. Since the series is told in an episodic format, you truly don't know how the choices you've made (even minor choices like writing "wash me" on a dirty van) will shift and change the story for better or worse. It's very reminiscent of Real Life that way, where we all make choices every day, but never know if the choice we've made is the right choice for us, or a regrettable mistake. And by that time, it's too late to go back and redo that part of your life.

I created this thread because I'm really interested in knowing (if you've played this game) what were the choices you made, and why. Who chose to mock Victoria and Who chose to comfort her instead? Who chose to confide in the Principal and Who didn't? To Help Kate? To befriend Brooke? Or Not? Why?

If you haven't played this game yet, I highly recommend you do so.

Simply put, talk about Life is Strange here.

Foolio

Excited about this game, after the concepts I saw in Remember Me. Not touching it until it's complete though. Fuck episodic games.

SunnyBlue

Saw few walkthrough of it and I like the concept of the rewinding and changing your actions. The art style is also gorgeous.
However, the story just doesn't interest me at all.
The main character is just incredibly dull and act like a 13 years old. She get annoying after a while.
The other characters are stereotypes with the same old cliches.

! You got the popular, rich and bitchy girl and her two lackey. The popular guy whose family is rich and have huge influences which give him the right to be a jerk. The guy friend who have feelings for the MC and also science guy. The quiet and shy girl who get picked on. The punk rebel girl who is kinda an outcast.
I feel like the developer have never actually spend time with real teenagers. The dialogue are awful.
Make them less of a stereotype.
About the choices

! Watering the plant in Max's room has consequences!? Does she get depressed if the plant dies?! XD

Maybe the story gets better by each episode. I will change my opinion regarding it.
I will probably wait until all the episode are out before giving it a try since is cheaper to buy.

Rogues' Gallery

@SunnyBlue:

Saw few walkthrough of it and I like the concept of the rewinding and changing your actions. The art style is also gorgeous.

The rewinding and multiple choice aspect is probably the best part of game-play (and the only part I guess, since it's not action-oriented & there's not much else aside from walking around and talking to others)

@SunnyBlue:

The main character is just incredibly dull and act like a 13 years old. She get annoying after a while.
The other characters are stereotypes with the same old cliches.

! You got the popular, rich and bitchy girl and her two lackey. The popular guy whose family is rich and have huge influences which give him the right to be a jerk. The guy friend who have feelings for the MC and also science guy. The quiet and shy girl who get picked on. The punk rebel girl who is kinda an outcast.I feel like the developer have never actually spend time with real teenagers. The dialogue are awful.
Make them less of a stereotype.

To fair, it's a high school setting. Everyone acts like 13 year old. XD

But No, I don't consider Max an annoying character at all. Oblivious to a certain person's romantic feelings for her, yes, but not dull. Maybe you should play the actual game (have you?) before reaching a judgment about character development?

I do agree that the other characters are a little cliched and stereotypical of a urban high-school setting. Though a better question is what high-school drama doesn't have stereotypical characters?

@SunnyBlue:

About the choices

! Watering the plant in Max's room has consequences!? Does she get depressed if the plant dies?! XD

! The Plant is secretly Audrey II :ninja:

@SunnyBlue:

Maybe the story gets better by each episode. I will change my opinion regarding it.

Well, since this was only the first introductory episode that laid the foundation for the general story and characters involved, I have no doubt that each character will get fleshed out and developed accordingly in following episodes.

[Hide]And the Rachel Amber mystery is intriguing. It's a gut feeling, but my money's on Jefferson being the culprit.[/Hide]

@SunnyBlue:

I will probably wait until all the episode are out before giving it a try since is cheaper to buy.

@Foolio:

Excited about this game, after the concepts I saw in Remember Me. Not touching it until it's complete though. Fuck episodic games.

If you guys want to wait until the complete story is out (which won't be till about August/September, I think??) then that's fair enough. I don't mind playing it episode-by-episode though, since each installment is only like 4 bucks.

SunnyBlue

@Rogues':

To fair, it's a high school setting. Everyone acts like 13 year old. XD

But No, I don't consider Max an annoying character at all. Oblivious to a certain person's romantic feelings for her, yes, but not dull. Maybe you should play the actual game (have you?) before reaching a judgment about character development?

I do agree that the other characters are a little cliched and stereotypical of a urban high-school setting. Though a better question is what high-school drama doesn't have stereotypical characters?

Most of the characters are 18 years old, I thought they would be a bit more mature since they are heading towards adulthood.
If they were 15/16 years old instead, I won't be that bother by their immaturity.
But this is based on my own experiences in high school.

In games like this, the main character always has a tendency to comment on every single object. Nothing out of the ordinary but hearing Max's commentary on everything is kinda grating.

! Max is actually kinda aware of Warren's feeling for her. In one of the walkthrough I watched, Dana commented that Warren has a specific folder for Max in his thumbdrive. Dana not-so-subtly hinted that Warren likes Max. Max has an option to kinda acknowledge it or dodged it by saying warren is a nice guy.
Also, Warren try to hug her and she avoided it by handing over the thumbdrive.

Yes, every high school drama always have stereotypical characters. It's inevitable after a while. However, with good writing, a stereotypical character can become a more fleshed out, 3-dimensional character. Or the writer can do their twist on a certain character type. Play with the audience's expectation of the character type.

To be honest, American high school dramas are not my cup of tea since I get pissed at the characters after 3 episode.XD This game is playing out just like those high school drama with supernatural stuff.

! The Plant is secretly Audrey II :ninja:

Well, since this was only the first introductory episode that laid the foundation for the general story and characters involved, I have no doubt that each character will get fleshed out and developed accordingly in following episodes.

[Hide]And the Rachel Amber mystery is intriguing. It's a gut feeling, but my money's on Jefferson being the culprit.[/Hide]

If you guys want to wait until the complete story is out (which won't be till about August/September, I think??) then that's fair enough. I don't mind playing it episode-by-episode though, since each installment is only like 4 bucks.

I didn't get the reference initially.
I do agree with that.However, just based on the first episode alone, the characters themselves aren't that interesting enough for me to care about their development.

! Rachel is literally the only character that I find kinda interesting even though she fits in "the missing girl that almost everyone loves" type. I'm kinda supporting the theory that she also has supernatural power like Max and her disappearance is not linked to any characters.
Episode 1 alone cost me 15 dollars. So,I prefer to wait to see how the story goes.

Rogues' Gallery

@SunnyBlue:

In games like this, the main character always has a tendency to comment on every single object. Nothing out of the ordinary but hearing Max's commentary on everything is kinda grating.

I never found Max's commentary grating. It was actually kind of interesting to hear her inner opinions/thoughts about people/things.

@SunnyBlue:

To be honest, American high school dramas are not my cup of tea since I get pissed at the characters after 3 episode.XD This game is playing out just like those high school drama with supernatural stuff.

Well, since you've admitted that American high-school dramas are not your cup of tea (which this series unashamedly is even with the supernatural element going for it), then I'm not sure how much mileage or enjoyment you'll get out of this game even if you were to play through all five episodes at once.

@SunnyBlue:

Episode 1 alone cost me 15 dollars. So,I prefer to wait to see how the story goes.

$15 dollars for one episode?! Were the hell did you buy this game, on Steam or something? On my Xbox 360 marketplace, they're bundling the remaining episodes (2 - 5) together for purchase at $16! It was $4.99 for Episode 1 for me.

$15 dollars per episodic installment is outrageously pricey.

SunnyBlue

@Rogues':

I never found Max's commentary grating. It was actually kind of interesting to hear her inner opinions/thoughts about people/things.

Well, since you've admitted that American high-school dramas are not your cup of tea (which this series unashamedly is even with the supernatural element going for it), then I'm not sure how much mileage or enjoyment you'll get out of this game even if you were to play through all five episodes at once.

$15 dollars for one episode?! Were the hell did you buy this game, on Steam or something? On my Xbox 360 marketplace, they're bundling the remaining episodes (2 - 5) together for purchase at $16! It was $4.99 for Episode 1 for me.

$15 dollars per episodic installment is outrageously pricey.

Each to his own.

The masochistic side of me like American high-school drama.XD
I also LOVE supernatural stuff and the occasion coming-of-age story.
Even though the story doesn't interest me yet, I'm still kinda curious to see how is goes.
Walkthroughs are free so I can easily check those out if I decide not to buy it.

I haven't bought it yet. I just checked the price on Steam and it is really expensive. I don't live in US hence the price difference. My country currency is MYR. I tend to say "dollar" for my currency even though is inaccurate. Buying games in my country is very expensive. An Xbox game can cost up to 200 ringgit. Even my brother have to wait for a huge sale to actually buy any games. Pirating game is kinda huge in my country… XD

Rogues' Gallery

@SunnyBlue:

The masochistic side of me like American high-school drama.XD
I also LOVE supernatural stuff and the occasion coming-of-age story.
Even though the story doesn't interest me yet, I'm still kinda curious to see how is goes.
Walkthroughs are free so I can easily check those out if I decide not to buy it.

That sounds like a fair plan. Walkthroughs can be very helpful in deciding on whether or not you like a game enough to purchase and play for yourself. It was watching the walkthroughs of Life is Strange that I decided to get it for myself. I also decided on buying Bioshock & Bioshock Infinite because I enjoyed watching Christopher Odd's Let's Play videos on those games. XD

@SunnyBlue:

I haven't bought it yet. I just checked the price on Steam and it is really expensive. I don't live in US hence the price difference. My country currency is MYR. I tend to say "dollar" for my currency even though is inaccurate. Buying games in my country is very expensive. An Xbox game can cost up to 200 ringgit. Even my brother have to wait for a huge sale to actually buy any games. Pirating game is kinda huge in my country… XD

Ah, I see. That makes your situation and comments a lot understandable. Sometimes I forget just how widely International this Forum is. (@_@)

Rogues' Gallery

Life Is Strange Episode II: Out of Time was released today.

Trailer:

very excited, can't wait to play.

Foolio

I guess at this rate the whole game will be done around September or so and I can finally play it.

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Life Is Strange Episode III: Chaos Theory drops on Tuesday

In the next installment of Life is Strange, Max & Chloe ramp up their investigation to find out what exactly is going on at Blackwell Academy and the whereabouts of Rachel Amber. Secrets will be uncovered and Max will find another use for her power!

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Life is Strange Episode 3 Launch Trailer:

HEAVY BREATHING

Shezar

Jesus christ i cant sleep now that ending.
Really good episode .

Also: im sorry lisa i didnt know.

Rogues' Gallery

Episode 4 Release Date confirmed for this upcoming Tuesday, July 28th!

Episode 4 Launch Trailer:

! No reveal of Chloe and what her possible fate is. :sad:

Robby

Heard of the game, wanna play it… waiting till its done.

Or a Steam sale.

MetaMario

I adore this game and its characters, and I've been watching playthroughs….I need to know what happens next! At least episode 4 is coming very soon....:D

~~yes I know Rogues I should play it~~

Zack

@Robby:

Heard of the game, wanna play it… waiting till its done.

Or a Steam sale.

Yeah. You really only get these games on release if you want to discuss it with other people.

Galaxy 9000

Finally, the long wait is over.

Too bad I'll be out of town when it comes out. Can't wait to play when I come back though.

! I wonder how much of the episode will contain the alternate timeline. I'm hoping we get back to the "real" timeline as soon as possible though.

Rogues' Gallery

@Galaxy:

! I wonder how much of the episode will contain the alternate timeline. I'm hoping we get back to the "real" timeline as soon as possible though.

! Since we're now part of the Vortex Club in this new timeline, I wonder if we'll actually meet Rachel (or at least that alternate timeline's version of her). That would be interesting.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

Kinda humourous how we're four episodes deep into the series and yet we're still on the first thread page. But I suppose that's because a lot of the discussion is being saved until after all five episodes can be played through at once.

Sarfallet

So, I'm not the only one not particularly surprised by the twist at the end of episode four, right? :v

Rogues' Gallery

HOLY SHIT that first choice….

I can't even can't right now

#ManlyFeels #Feels, Feels Everywhere

Dumhuvud

Despite the game seeming like an unholy mix of the worst of Tumblr and Instagram culture put together from what little I played of the first episode, I couldn't bring myself to dislike it. The colors, the lighting, the high school setting, it's just really cozy. I will definitely play more of it later

MetaMario

okay, my jaw dropped like 1000 times during seeing this episode.

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Spoilers pertaining to Episode 4. Don't open if you don't want to know.

! So I just got past the first major decision, and man was that heart-wrenching. Dontnod isn't pulling any punches with this episode. I spent a while debating the pros and cons, and ultimately…I had to refuse. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't euthanize my best friend. My reason wasn't just because of the all the time we spent together, the crazy moments we shared, or the powerful bond of friendship (and I suspect growing love) we have with each other, it's because the decision to end Alternate Chloe's life wasn't mine to make.
! From an objective perspective, I disappeared from Chloe's life after the paralyzing accident and recently returned after a five-year absence. During those five excruciatingly long, painful years, it was Joyce and William who did everything they possibly could to take of her. Both William and Joyce were juggling multiple jobs and sank every penny they earned to pay for Chloe's medical treatment to the point where they were literally drowning in debt and on the verge of foreclosing their home. And taking care of a quadriplegic person is a staggering commitment. Lifting her onto the toilet when she needs to use the restroom, pulling her pants down, wiping her afterwards, carrying her into the shower, washing her, brushing her teeth, changing her clothes, hand feeding her every meal, etc. Day in and Day out, for FIVE years. It's not pleasant. At all. It takes a huge amount of patience and time. But throughout the extended conversations I had with both of them, they never once lamented over their financial situation or the difficulty of caring for her, but instead were just so incredibly thankful that their daughter was still alive and truly appreciative of each and every day they shared with her. After sacrificing so much, family was all they had left. Who was I to take their only joy away from them?
! Some would argue that it's incredibly selfish to ignore my best friend's dying request because I want her to live. But to put Chloe to sleep and not even inform her parents (who are both in the house no less), depriving them of the chance to say their goodbyes to their only child? To just waltz into their life after five years and make an end-of-life decision that I have no business being a part of, because I personally don't want to see Chloe suffer miserably in pain anymore? And not consider the ones who have suffered alongside her, right from the very beginning? That would be selfish.
! So I had to refuse, and letting her down still felt absolutely awful. Thank God I returned to the original timeline right after. Poor William, but I'm sure he would've agreed that sacrificing his life in order to let Chloe live out hers would have been the right call.

Geez….for a game to make you contemplate that much really speaks volumes about the level of character development and narrative thought that went into this game.

Rogues' Gallery

More thoughts as I go along:

! There's a line that Max said that's been bothering me. "I can't abuse this level of my rewind power…It's way too dangerous and I need to navigate the present without messing up the past." Like - and this is just a gut feeling - but I get the nagging feeling that we might need to seriously conserve our rewind power for some major event later down the line.
! Maybe something similar to when Kate was on the dorm roof, and because we overused the rewind power, it placed too much of a burden on Max's body and we had to talk Kate down from the ledge on our own. Like, there will be alternative ways to solve puzzles in this episode without having to use our power, therefore Max's stamina won't be drained and we'll be able to use our rewind power at an absolutely critical moment and thus avoid the worst possible outcome? I dunno, something like that? But given that I was able to gain access to David's locker without using the crowbar, so perhaps??
! Next, on to visit Kate at the Hospital! So happy that I get to see her again.

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Went down to my aunt's house for a while, she was feeling ill and needed plenty of assistance with various chores and tasks, so I was without my game console for a week. But I've since returned back home and have played through most of episode 4. In other words, I'm back bitches!

Let's continue where I left off at:

! - Kate! It was so great to see her at the Hospital, once again drawing children's books and as Max would say, "no longer in her H.R. Giger period". Chatting with Kate and her volunteering to help take down Nathan was a nice touch. Also kudos to Victoria for signing that sympathy card. The entire hospital visit was a refreshing breather from the emotional intensity of this episode's earlier parts.
! - Max definitely hesitated when introducing Chloe as her friend. W-w-was she about to say "girlfriend", before quickly shortening that to friend? Chloe saying that Max is her date to the Vortex Club party? Max getting jealous over Chloe flirting with Jefferson? More fuel for my Pricefield ship? yeesssss pleassse
! - Speaking of jealously, Brooke. So jelly. So I can't fly your drone? Fine, then I'll just take your Warren out for a test drive oh sick burnnnnnnn
! - I'm officially ruling out the groundskeeper, Samuel, as a suspect. I never suspected him much to begin with (even though he came off as unsettling in the first episode), and it's clear that he has a sympathetic and compassionate heart. It's highly unlikely that someone so concerned over the well-being of squirrels would be the perpetrator behind Rachel Amber's disappearance. He reminds me a bit of Lennie Small from Of Mice and Men.
! - Nathan's Room is a complete cry for help. Moment I stepped inside, I got déjà vu vibes of Kate's room from Episode 2. Curtains closed, dark, somber, withdrawn, a little eerie. Nathan ~~may be~~ is an entitled prick, but underneath the layers of gun-toting rage and prescription drug-addiction, he has some deep emotional trauma and scars. Regardless, in no way is it justification for drugging Kate, vandalizing my room, or any of his other violent actions. Deep inside he is an emotionally unbalanced teen who desperately craves psychiatric intervention, but the dude is one hair-trigger temper from raging against the school like Columbine.
! - Warren's beatdown on Nathan. Despite being disappointed that I wasn't given the chance to whoop his ass myself, I still made the right judgment call and pulled Warren off him. I know he's an incredibly egotistical asshole and rightly deserves a prolonged ass-beating for all the harm he's caused, but rather than hate him, I just…pity him. I really do. I feel that the reason why he engages in this wildly self-destructive behavior is because he has such insane amounts of self-loathing inside that it's become the only outlet he knows to take the edge off. Maybe because he's under constant pressure from his wealthy family and abusive father that only through a constant loop of raging, drinking, partying, & drugs can he feel at peace.... it's either that or fall into a vortex of depression and misery. He has to listen to calming whale noises in order to sleep. Either way, Nathan is definitely way more tortured inside than Kate was. So I pitied him, broke up the fight, and let him limp away. His vague threats afterward about "telling his dad on us" makes him less of a villian in my eyes, and more of a chump.
! - Max's facepalm when Chloe mentions that Warren is completely in love with her. LOL Confirmed that Max does not reciprocate Warren's feeling for her. Her love is for Chloe, Pricefield all the waaaay
! - The meeting with Frank. When first introduced he was dangerously aggressive and violent (and very much still is if you make the wrong choices), but over time the hidden depths of his character were revealed, such as his relationship with Rachel Amber or his humane rescue of fight dogs. Initially a prime suspect of Rachel's disappearance, we learn that he truly cares about Rachel and is distraught over what might have become of her. All he wants is find Rachel and be with her again. He's similar to David Madsen in that both characters initially had very abrasive personalities, but both were revealed to be deeply loving and protective of the women they care about, and would go to violent lengths if it meant ensuring their safety. I'm relieved that I was able to appeal to this better side of him and convince Frank into becoming a friendly ally of Max and Chloe in the search for Rachel. His text message wishing us luck afterward is weirdly sweet.
! - Putting together the clues on the big board at Chloe's house. That was a really enjoyable set of puzzle pieces to solve with deductive reasoning. I loved that Frank's codename for Chloe was a Bulldog. If Frank was to give a dog-related codename to Max, it would probably be a Corgi. friendly, cute, and initially non-threatening, but highly protective and determined. Not much else to say.
! - The Dark Room. Surprisingly brightly lit and not at all dark, except in it's horrifyingly disturbing content. But at last the mysterious binders from episodes 1 & 2 have come into play, containing photographs of kidnapped girls, heavily drugged and in various stages of undress. I counted 19 binders for 19 different victims. I've also grimly assumed that each victimized girl is likely murdered and disposed of once the photography session is over. As for the Dark Room itself, I can best describe it in three words: Cold. Sterile. Clean. And despite the overabundance of damning Nathan Prescott-related evidence, the vibes I got from this room convinced me of the exact opposite conclusion, that there is no way that Nathan is behind all of this.
! Don't get me wrong, he definitely is an accomplice in whatever depravity has been happening in Arcadia Bay, but the Dark Room is not his room. I was in his room earlier, and the vibes I felt from Nathan's room was in no way even remotely similar to this Evil Photo-Rape Bunker. Nathan's room was somber, dreary, a muffled cry for help. The Dark Room, on the other hand, is completely devoid of any such emotion or personality, and is unnaturally sterile. Judging from the maintenance of the binders and photography equipment, whoever owns the Dark Room is extremely meticulous and methodical, indicating that whatever unspeakable acts have been committed there have been at practice for a long, long time. Nathan Prescott is a drug-addicted teen with an extremely volatile temper, appears to have restless legs syndrome, has perscription pills for Diazepam and Risperidone, and likely has either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. It's ambiguous as to his exact level of involvement, but it's clear that there is no way Nathan is solely responsible for the victimization of 19 different girls. If that is indeed the case, then given the cleanliness and organization of the Dark Room, and the plethora of high-priced photography equipment….well, more on my thoughts about that later.
! - Rachel. Poor, poor Chloe. Four episodes of searching for her, all to have been in vain. Seeing Chloe just emotionally break down after finding Rachel's body was really hard. I could just feel the intense grief and pain overwhelming her. And with the music choice, everything added up to a heart-wrenchingly emotional gut-punch, because I was convinced that Rachel was still alive and held captive somewhere. The spirit doe watching Max & Chloe before slowly fading away....that was breathtakingly sad. Made my eyes sparkle a little bit. So the spirit doe that appeared before Max in Episode 2 was actually Rachel's ghost trying to guide Max to the truth. That was a beautiful touch, Dontnod. Well done.
! That's all I've played through for now, but I feel that I'm rapidly approaching the climax of Episode 4 and that my next post will likely conclude the remainder of what's left. To be continued!
! Here's some bonus fanart of Chloe as a Bulldog!
!

Lastly, I mentioned this on the iirc chat, but Life is Strange is now the #1 video game fandom on Tumblr!

Sarfallet

@Rogues':

But I've since returned back home and have played through most of episode 4. In other words, I'm back bitches!

Are you super meticulous when you're playing it or something, like getting all the photos and such? I mean, it's not that long of a game. :s
Hm, I need to replay it though and get all the photos and stuff. I already did it for episode one… But forgot to talk to drone-girl outside the school so now I'm contemplating replaying the whole thing. Ugggh, don't wanna. ._.

Rogues' Gallery

@Sarfallet:

Are you super meticulous when you're playing it or something, like getting all the photos and such? I mean, it's not that long of a game. :s

I'm not crazy meticulous, but I do like to explore open areas and try to be as complete and thorough as I can. But it has less to do with being meticulous and more with having the ability to stretch out a game as long as I can to prolong my enjoyment and money's worth out of games.

Yes, I could blaze through Life in Strange in a couple of hours and complete most games over a single week, but once it's over, it's over. Where's the fun in that?

Sarfallet

@Rogues':

I'm not crazy meticulous, but I do like to explore open areas and try to be as complete and thorough as I can. But it has less to do with being meticulous and more with having the ability to stretch out a game as long as I can to prolong my enjoyment and money's worth out of games.

Yes, I could blaze through Life in Strange in a couple of hours and complete most games over a single week, but once it's over, it's over. Where's the fun in that?

Wh-why would I know anything about the fun of blazing?! I don't do that stuff! nervously looking around for coppers
No, but, really though, I guess I don't have enough self-restraint to drag out a game like that. I did episode four in like a few hours when it came out. .. On the plus side, my memory is so bad that I'll forget the plot and thus can do frequent replays! Yay! Wait. ..

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Done with Episode 4. And well…..

! @Myself:
! > It's a gut feeling, but my money's on Jefferson being the culprit.
!

! yup, can't say I didn't see it coming, because, well, I did. In hindsight, Jefferson's comments in the first episode about "framing any one of us in a dark corner and capturing us in a moment of desperation" now take on a far more ominous and sinister tone than originally thought, but back then I based all of my speculation from the old trope "Never meet your Heroes".
! Throughout the First episode, everyone I spoke to had nothing but praise and admiration for Jefferson. Max herself greatly idolized him and mentioned to Chloe that taking his class was the number one reason she returned to Arcadia Bay. Meanwhile, David Madsen was vilified as an overly-paranoid douchebag, Samuel was pegged as a soft-spoken creep, and Nathan was an entitled-punk with a violently lethal temper. But Jefferson? To Max and Victoria, he was the perfect mentor, always encouraging his class in hip ways to bring out their full artistic potential. The fact that everyone had so much positive admiration for him is what tripped off alarm bells in my head. In a game like this, nobody is that clean without hiding a few dirty skeletons in their closet. The corresponding page on TV Tropes summed up exactly what I felt back then:
! @From:
! > There are people who we idolize, and who change us forever. These mentors and idols teach us to use our full potential and do great things, and we love them for this.

And if you're a TV or Game character, chances are high that they are the scum of the earth, or at least have come to be by the time you meet them.

Most of the time, this disillusionment is the result of the idols taking great pains to hide their dark secrets.
! The Second episode only increased my suspicions further. Towards the games' end, after overhearing the conversation between Jefferson and Kate, he rebuffs your inquiry and sends you to join the class as he takes a phone call. If don't leave and stick around to eavesdrop on the call (like I did),
. I thought back then that it couldn't possibly be Nathan, because Nathan is chilling inside the classroom with Victoria. Therefore, it must be his partner in crime, that Jefferson was working together with whoever he was speaking to and that both were responsible for Rachel's disappearance. Jefferson was absent from Episode 3 so I had nothing to speculate there.
! By the time I walked around the Dark Room and got a feel for the place, It was all but confirmed that Jefferson would be the true villain. A great many players were fooled by the abundance of incriminating Nathan evidence scattered around, as well as the extremely pricey photography equipment, which Nathan could easily afford due to his family's wealth (he had a $6,000 camera in his room). However, I remembered an observation made by Max back in Episode 1, about Jefferson owning a pristine $20,000 camera, meaning that Jefferson's budget could easily afford all the high-class photography equipment in the Dark Room. After all, Jefferson is a world-renown professional. Furthermore, the entire set-up of the Dark Room just screamed "meticulous professionalism", which didn't fit Nathan's high-strung and tweaked-out personality.
! Nathan never really fit the bill to be the main villain in my opinion, he just seemed way too petty and pathetic. He talks a violent game, yet after receiving a beatdown from Warren, he limped away yelling about how he's going to "tell his dad on us and we're gonna be sorry!" That's quite a bitch move from someone supposedly behind the kidnapping and murder of over a dozen girls. And how would Nathan even have the time to drug and kidnap 19 different girls with such an active social life at the Vortex Club? From a web page we browsed during episode 3, Rachel Amber was the first person to be reported missing in Arcadia Bay since the 1970's. Nathan is only 18 or 19, tops. The rest of the photography victims must have been committed out of state. And I remembered that Jefferson recently came to Arcadia Bay from New York….likely moving from the east coast to the west when people began to take notice of the disappearances and he transferred to Blackwell to avoid suspicion. Really, everything clicked into place for me at that moment. Nathan always seemed more like the flunky-type anyway.
! How Jefferson's role and eventual fate will play out in Episode 5 is anyone's guess, but I highly doubt he'll live to see the end credits roll. I suspect that either
! A.) Frank busts a cap in his ass for murdering Rachel
B.) David busts a cap in his ass for murdering Chloe
C.) Max busts a cap in his ass for murdering Rachel and Chloe
! I can see Max either outright killing him or leaving him to die (like in the path of the tornado or something). Either way, somebody is going to shove their vengeance foot up his faux-hipster ass.
! phew That took longer to type out than I thought, but there you go, my thoughts and reasoning on why I always suspected that Jefferson was a Dick.
! –----- Other thoughts on Episode 4 -------
! - The Vortex Club Party. I liked the first song they played, the one when you first walk in through the curtain. The rest were garbage. I saved Alyssa again. Man, that girl cannot catch a break. Also glad that Brooke and I are friends again. And Warren? I'm sorry dude, but you're stuck in the friendzone. You just don't have the awesome adventures that Chloe and Max share.
! - Victoria. Not only did she believe my warning about being the next Dark Room victim, she admitted that she's jealous of my don't-give-a-fuck-about-what-everyone-says attitude, and actually thinks that I'm one of the coolest students at Blackwell! Victoria said! How Awesome is that!! I'm sooo relieved that we were able to bury the Bitchery Hatchet between us. I used to have a different opinion of her, but this conversation changed that. I like her. Hope she has an expanded role to play in the series finale and helps bring Jefferson down.
! - Chloe's "Death". True to form, it was emotionally shocking and something that I'll admit I couldn't have predicted. My mouth was actually agape when it happened. In no way can I predict the emotional curve balls that Dontnod will throw at us for the Grand Finale, but I highly doubt that Chloe will stay permanently dead. That would just be too much of a downer ending. This episode introduced Max's ability to focus on photographs and enter the location and time period when that particular photo was taken with all the knowledge of her current self (provided of course that she is pictured in the photo). It was the power she used to initially save William's life then later allowed him to die again earlier in the episode, and I'm convinced - if it wasn't outright obvious - that the brief selfie she took with Warren outside the Vortex party will definitely play a huge role in reversing Chloe's death. However, the photo is in Warren's possession, not Max's...who is currently underground, heavily drugged, and bound with duct-tape in Jefferson's Evil Photo-Rape Bunker. How Max will escape from Jefferson and get her hands on that photograph I HAVE NO IDEA.
! The only real criticism/complaint that sticks out for me is why, after finding the Bunker and Rachel's murdered remains, did Max and Chloe Not contact the police? Max actually ask this to Chloe, and she brushes off the question with "Fuck the police, I'm going to avenge Rachel myself". I suppose that Chloe was too blinded with grief and rage to think rationally. If you didn't want to contact the police, then at least contact Frank Bowers. He was in love with Rachel and deserved to know what happened to her. He even aided the investigation to find her! Besides, having Frank and his dog as back-up when going to visit the Junkyard that night would've spared Chloe a bullet to the head and Max being kidnapped. But Alas.
! Aside from that, I'm so pumped up for Episode 5 that I'm not even going to watch the trailer when it debuts. I want to go in Blind, so that way EVERYTHING surprises me.

To be opened and read by Foolio in 4-6 months

Sarfallet

@Rogues':

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back then I based all of my speculation from the old trope "Never meet your Heroes".
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I think I mostly suspected him because he seemed like a typical fictional serial killer. And by the method of elimination I didn't like anyone else for the Rachel disappearance either. Well, Nathan a bit. Still kinda do, thinking he might be like Jefferson's Protégé or such.
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Rogues' Gallery

[Hide]One thing that interests me is the missing tablet with cat pictures. It's been brought up or referenced in every episode. I'll bet you 10 bucks that it'll be solved and returned to it's rightful owner before the final episode is over.[/Hide]

Rogues' Gallery

According to Geeks & Sundry, Life is Strange is the Most Important Game of the Year. It also ranked #2 in YouTube Top 10 Trending Games for July:

http://geekandsundry.com/life-is-strange-is-the-most-important-game-of-the-year-so-far/

Sarfallet

Have they managed to use Max power in our reality or something? e_________e

Rogues' Gallery

Accurate depiction of Tumblr right now:

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–- Update From New Post Merge ---

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lolllllllllllllllllll

Sarfallet

@Rogues':

[Hide]http://oi57.tinypic.com/2qizgk3.jpg[/Hide]

lolllllllllllllllllll

! Quick, remix it! Change the first four panels to the scene when Chloe dared Max to kiss her!

EDIT: Spoiler tags.

Rogues' Gallery

@Sarfallet:

Quick, remix it! Change the first four panels to the scene when

! Chloe dared Max to kiss her!

That should be hidden behind spoiler tags (like so), as there are those who don't wish to know anything about what happens in-game until they can play through all 5 episodes at once.

Please be respectful and considerate to those who haven't yet played as far as we have.

Sarfallet

@Rogues':

Please be respectful and considerate to those who haven't yet played as far as we have.

You're entirely correct good sir/madam! We must think of those reprobates among us who refuse to play until all episodes have come out! :silly:

Rogues' Gallery

!
uncontrollable giggling

Rogues' Gallery

Heya, I'm back with a vengeance and have something awesome that I want to share with all of you:

I made my own Life is Strange Soundtrack!

Admittedly, it took a while to download the individual songs, test the music for quality, burn the playlist to a disc, and it took even longer to print out & cut the designs for the exterior/interior CD Case, but I'm quite pleased and impressed with the end result. Definitely worth the effort.

Here's the Front Cover Design:

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Back cover Design:

[Hide][/Hide]

Interior Case Design & CD Disc:

[Hide][/Hide]

Lastly, here's the Soundtrack Listing:

[Hide][/Hide]

Can't wait to load the disc into my car, it's going to make for some great melodies during all the driving that I have to do.

Corson D. Burley

Just gonna leave this here…

Rogues' Gallery

!
!

LOL, this is adorably cute~

Rogues' Gallery

Ladies and Gentlemen of the forum, as the user who created this thread, it is my humble privilege to announce to you

What you've all been waiting for,

The light at the end of the tunnel,

The whirlwind conclusion to the most emotionally driven and innovative Game of the Year!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

on October 20th,

Prepare to Weather the Storm,

AND GET POLARIZED.

DarthAsthma

Nice hope there are some people like me that just waited for the whole thing to release.

Foolio

@DarthAsthma:

Nice hope there are some people like me that just waited for the whole thing to release.

You mean people like me? Yup! Same thing I'm STILL doing with Dreamfall Chapters. Such a long wait.