Life Is Strange Full Game Review

There is a certain joy in playing point and click adventure games because they don’t require a lot of finesse. The one major element that keeps a gamer engrossed in a point and click adventure is a fun and entertaining storyline. Gamers need a plot to keep the game going. That’s where Square Enix new digital game, Life is Strange, comes into the mix.

Life is Strange comes into its own fruition with an intense and interesting twist that provides mixed feelings when it comes to completing the 5 part episodic adventure. Life is Strange centers on Max Caulfield, a student at Blackwell Academy who possesses the ability to travel back in time. Max somehow stumbles across this ability when she tries to protect her friend, Chloe, from getting shot. Max’s interference in her friend’s death spirals into new and unforeseen events that can make a gamer want to proceed through the game’s plot. In an attempt to make things right, Max has one week to use her new ability to fix social events at Blackwell Academy, find Chloe’s missing friend, Rachel, and prevent Max’s vision of a tornado from devastating the town of Arcadia Bay.
The control scheme for Max is very simple. The game allows Max to walk around certain areas where Max can look at people and objects, interact with objects, take photos of the unique and intriguing environments, and make dialogue decisions that affect future interactions and events for Max.

While the control scheme is easy to use, the game truly shines through Max’s interactions and dialogue with the citizens of Arcadia Bay. The character in the series is impressive and left me wanting to know more about every person Max comes across. Your choice in dialogue can affect how one character reacts or thinks throughout the entire game and may set you down a certain path in the game. The different interactions can change the plot and tone of the entire game. Of course, the gamer an reverse time to choose t different dialogue before progressing through the story. I often replayed chapters to see how the different dialogues and interactions affect the characters and plot.

While the character interactions and story shine through the game, they also provide a very dark and intense storyline that will make you reluctant in your decision to proceed through the story. The game centers on the theme of the Butterfly Effect where Max’s attempt to change time creates alternate realities that will shock and scare you. Saving a character’s life in one part of the game creates a different timeline that can leave another character in a devastating predicament. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone reading this article, but there was one particular episode where a character asked me to make a decision so horrid and frightful, I had to walk away from my gaming console in tears.

The dark plot and themes involved in Life is Strange may not be for everyone. In fact, there is a message at the game’s menu screen that links to a crisis and suicide hotline for anyone to call if they were deeply troubled or burdened by the plotline. I will post the link at the end of this article as a safety for any reader who is worried about what they will see.

Life is Strange may be tough to play, but those that can work though it are rewarding with a rich and engrossing plot. If you are into plot driven video games and can work through the tough choices one teenage student can make in one week. You might want to prepare yourself and bring tissues.

LIFE IS STRANGE Talk website link: http://www.lifeisstrange.com/talk/