Well I finally finished LiS
TellTalegames...Take note...using the Unreal Engine 3 or 4 would be a better option than continued updating of the TellTale Tool....oh Unreal Engine is there anything you can't do?
Well the engine could not make me give two shits for the characters or "plot" in this game.
The game gets the self absorbed nature of an upscale art academey well. But sadly they decide we have to play as the boring self reflective Max...who I am sure will kill herself before age 30 because she is such an emotionally devoid bag of clinched feels. Her wannabe boyfriend Warren such a wimp, you almost expect Erkle to tell him to man up.
Chloe....wow...just wow. There is not one person in this screwed up game I feel sorry for except the dog...and I am sure it is an asshole too. A HellaAsshole.
The fan base like to point out that in LiS your choices matter...and to a point it is true...until the end.
So Max has the power to go back in time..so she can manipulate situations till the outcome is one that you prefer and then you are usually presented a dialog box that gives you a couple of choices that will change things in the game. This time travel power is cool...too bad it is ripping the local space time continuum apart which will lead to a mini apocalypse that will destroy the town. Oh and the power stops working whenever..."plot" needs it to.
In the end of this cheapest...all the choices and awful..horrible things Chloe did..do not matter because you are left with two choices.
Save Chloe and let every horrible person in Arcadia Bay die...negate every choice you made in the game.
Save a town of assholes and let your girlfriend/monster die at the beginning of the game and negate all your choices.
The fact that this game got so many great reviews sorta makes me suspect that Square-Enix has a form of mind control, because this game is pure shit.
But I only spent 4.99 on it...so not the worst investment I ever did.
Comments
Lets be friends
I pretty much share the same sentiments, where Telltale and the game are both concerned.
You know I read some comments on Steam and the LiS forums and some say that the choices mattered more then any Telltale game. Not true exactly. To me, the choices seemed to have the same weight as any other recent Telltale game there is. LiS is definitely overrated in choices when compared to recent Telltale games.
My thoughts on the game are almost the same... at some point the game got so boring that what interested me the most was the cliched high school drama from episodes 1 and 2, and I usually hate this kind of stuff. And choices really don't matter for the original plot, like at all, I realized it after playing the game twice, the only changes you get are minor like Victoria or Nathan messing up your bedroom.
Yes, the choices were quite good, even the first one (telling the principal about the fella with the gun) but the consequences didn't really exist in the original plot, only minor things
Funny that, TTG always tries to focus on giving us a good narrative with choices being more so a secondary focus, whilst Life is Strange is meant to be about choices and the consequences they behold and yet they're both on equal grounds when it comes to choices.
"The story is tailored by how you play"
"The choices you make affect the past, present and future"
Saving Kate was good too. But the ending where everyone dies ruins the choice. I was also disappointed because I tried so hard to make the right choices and become friends with everyone but both endings destroyed my hope.
Sorry about this. I know this is long but I just feel like letting it out.
The game promised us that choices will affect the past, present, and future. The butterfly effect is completely destroyed. And the story didn't make much sense at the end of it. I mean I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings on LiS and I try to be fair on the game as much. I liked the atmosphere of the game. Here's the thing though. When I first heard about the game I wasn't really interested at all because of it's hipster style and I couldn't really relate. But I got the game when the 3rd episode came out. I didn't like the first episode as much but it got interesting for me at the 2nd to 3rd episode. Episode 4 I liked as well. Before episode 5 came out I tried my best to make sure Max wouldn't fail. I also was happy about how you could become friends with people who hated Max, like Victoria and the drug dealer guy (I forgot his name). But then when episode 5 came out I kinda enjoyed it because of how long it was. Then the last choices came. I was confused on the save Chloe ending because I didn't get the point to it (I'm talking about the butterfly part). Then when I saw the other ending I was like "What the heck? Everyone in Arcadia Bay and the people that Max became friends with are all dead and Max and Chloe are ok with it? I saw a comment on youtube that said the message of LiS was that to not regret the choices you make. Except there's a problem with that. Max did regret the choice she made by going back in time and saving Chloe's dad.
But anyways I was disappointed that my effort put in to the game wasn't worth it in the end. I still had a good ride during some of the episodes but Dontnod let me down. The game for me is still ok. Does this game deserve a TV show? That I'm not sure of but I will still watch it anyway.
I think the TV show could be really interesting, especially since it doesn't have to follow the games (although it might, I'm not up to date on LIS news). While they never explain why Max got her powers that might be a good thing since they can just give them to anyone if they want to, which can set up some much more interesting stories. I think being vague with certain things in your stories is good so you don't tie yourself down to specific rules that you have to adhere to.
That and apparently all the problems you cause by changing time stop after Arcadia bay is destroyed, like chloe living causes tornados but a whole town being wiped out means no change?
I think the only thing that really disappointed me about LIS is that the mystery aspect of it kind of disappeared as the narrative went along until the ending needed the culprit to be revealed since it had already set it up.
Maybe the show will not follow the game directly but maybe add some things to make it better and have more sense, for example like you said explaining why Max got her powers or maybe changing some choices. I won't mind if they change the plot of the show.
Homie I disagree with all of this. It's not pointless as she is destined to die, it's foreshadowing in every episode. You and Max keep all of your memories of the events and her and that one boy can date each other. You and Chloe both took out two bad guys and Max goes on to be an award winning photographer. Chloe is not an a hole or annoying, she's troubled and acting out. The sound design and voice acting were incredible in this game. It's my favorite episodic series of all time. I payed attention to the story entirely and left crying and happy with my choices. I chose the everything in its right place option, saving the town.
Well...that's nice...but for me...meh...the hype is unjustified...except for the music..also the engine...TellTalegames would be better off using Unreal Engine 3 or 4.
The engine wasn't that special really. Its better than the current telltale one, but not noteworthy
I never really thought about it that way but I am still interested in the series and hope for a sequel not sure how it would take off with that final choice but it would hopefully be better.
Well..my point was that the issues TellTalegames is having would be solved by just licensing the Unreal engine...Damn thing runs on almost everything...I bet my toaster could run it...ok maybe not..but the fact is that the TellTale Tool is holding them back...mobile gadgets that would easily run unreal engine seem to choke and die with the upgraded TellTalegames engine...that is a lot of lost sales.
I don't really want to comment on anything else here since most of the qualities of the characters and their personalities (along with the story) are subjective to the player and their emotional attachment to those situations/people and it's your opinion and personality on whether you relate to any of that or not so I can't exactly argue, but this right here:
This entire paragraph got me to laugh hysterically, and I'm someone who really likes the game.
To be fair, Warren did fight Nathan and won the fight against him during the second fight. Warren is not used to fighting and I honestly felt bad for him when he got beaten up the first time.
Have you played their previous game Remember Me? They were using a similar gameplay mechanic, called 'memory remix', where you "hacked" into someones brain to change a specific part of their memory. First you watched a short cut scene, then you could alter some sequences in it, and puzzle together different changes so the persons memory would be different, all for your benefit of course. Those were really great segments in an otherwise average game.
Telltale are so stuck with that engine, I really hope it won't be their downfall and they can figure something out to keep their style, but create a less buggy game. If the unreal engine can accomplish that, please go for it. If they don't change or truely update, they'll continue to be a joke in the general gaming community (when it comes to their engine!).
I also did not like LIS. Was not the game for me, sadly.
Yeah, to be honest, I was loving the game until the fifth episode... at the end it made me feel like Max's choices had no real effect, that she was only given the power to save people just so she can learn a harsh lesson about consequences that she never wanted nor deserved. Other than that it was the long puzzle sequence that made me sigh![:\](https://community.telltalegames.com/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
overall still a good game in my opinion but I don't think it's as great as some people are saying it is but that is also purely my own opinion.
Yeah, plus being vague gives them time to come up with actual explanations xD
Are they actually making a Life Is Strange show?
That sounds quite interesting, Ekelund! I'll look into it.
There's only a few of them in the entire game, but I think that only makes it more fun when you get to do it.
Yeah they are.
I actually didn't agree with what they said, I just thought they worded it so fantastic and hilariously that I laughed quite a bit.
I can agree on the engine part
I mean, the Telltale Tool gets the job done, but they're kidding themselves if they think it isn't at the end of it's rope
The problem with creating a modular engine that you can update over time is that eventually, it just becomes a giant tower of duct tape; a bunch of new features tacked on over a bunch of old code. And after long enough, it becomes a hell to navigate all the spaghetti code, broken features, elements that are obsolete because of a recently added feature, and so forth. Their attempt to push the envelope with Batman kind of proves that their engine is getting pushed to it's absolute limits. It can't keep sustaining all of the updates and 'improvements' being added to it.
Their engine might have worked for their older games, and it might have even worked for TWD, but it's obvious that it's simply not built for the stuff they're doing now.
Maybe there's some sentimental value in it, and I can understand why it might be hard to let go of something you're so used to, but if you ask me, that's something you just need to learn sooner or later in life-- not everything lasts, and sometimes you need to to let go of the past.
And yeah, moving to another engine would definitely hamper their work output, but I'd consider that a worthwhile trade-- switch to a new engine, stop making games for a year or so to get acquainted with it, then come back in explosive style.
As for LiS-- I don't necessarily dislike it, but it's definitely not for me. I simply couldn't get invested in it; the world, the characters, everything. I can understand why other people could, but I just couldn't. That being said, there are some redeeming qualities here and there, and hell, some stuff I'd argue they do a little bit better than Telltale (in the sense of refining various stuff Telltale attempted, not just choices; for example, the emphasis on exploration and interaction with the environment), and I'll give Dontnod credit for that, but on a more subjective scale, I couldn't get into it. Wish I could... but what are you gonna do, you know? I don't like bacon, but I ain't gonna try to force myself to like it, or to learn to love it. I'll just accept it's not something for me, and hopefully find something that is.
You are so right...I remember watching an episode of MadMen...I could tell that there was quality story and acting going on...but it was not my thing. I could see how people would enjoy it.
Sad.
I failed to save her..I actually felt sorry for her
I get you.
My toaster runs on the unreal engine.
That is an emotion, yes.
What ruined Life is Strange for me was the terrible second half of the finale (a 40 minute nightmare sequence...REALLY?!), also all the potential died with episode 4. The series would have been SO much better if they only stuck with the Rachel Amber plotline, but no they had to shove in a stupid tornado that was made cause Chloe's not dead. Remember all that symbolism with the messages on the tower? fuck that it's cause Chloe dude!!! I loved episode 4 so much and had so much hope going into the finale, but what we got was 50% of a okay episode with a 40 minute drawn out dream sequence, 1 really shitty ending, and one actual well made conclusion. I still classify life is strange as a decent game, but what a mess.
I honestly thought both endings were a mess. I think LiS would have been better if they ditched the time-reversal element in the story.
Telltale Games
Yes, despite my hate on this game, it had graphics that contained NO glitches and bugs. Other than that, I hate everything about this game.
...ok
I don't know about glitches or bugs but if one can ignore the awful lip sync then one is almost blind imo, now TT isn't the best at it too but it feels okay and pretty reasonable but Lis is just the worst. ( in terms of everything except the music)
I am with you on that one buddy.