Life Is Strange - PS4 - Game Review

Granted, the first couple of episodes are a little slow, but that’s understandable seeing as there are plenty of notable names and faces to remember, including the missing student, Rachel Amber. We later learn that the girl whose face is plastered all over town was Chloe’s friend before her hiatus. And as the childhood best friends catch up, players learn more about this disappearance and eventually seek out clues to find the missing girl in a teen detective adventure.

This is how the game takes a sharp, but pleasant, turn from the exploration of an already existing teenage drama to the creation of a crime-thriller where players make the story. The choices made throughout the game impact the course of events, but not so much the final ending. Impressively, despite the myriad subplots, characters, and interconnected side stories, the main plot stays grounded, where the Max-Chloe-Rachel triad remains the focal point of the story. 

However, despite the complex characters and moving scenes, the game leaves little for the player to do other than a few clicks here and there. Crime-solving puzzles are quite simplistic, and many of the mini-games that players are forced to process seem to be fillers to the plot, stalling the ending not so much with suspense, but with mundane connect-the-dots kinds of challenges. At times, the mechanics of Max’s movements feel a little slow, and whether or not this is intentionally done to lengthen episodes can be left to conjecture. 

But aside from the limited controls, the attention to detail leaves players distracted enough not to notice these otherwise irritating flaws. Flipping through Max’s journal, reading the notes on the walls, and exploring through the personalized spaces in a junkyard gives players the chance to relate to the characters and form an emotional bond with them.

Despite Chloe’s badass façade, we’re able to see her soft side and the damage that her step father’s abuse and the loss of Rachel’s friendship have inflicted on her. At some point, one may even feel more emotionally connected to Chloe than the protagonist. And that’s probably exactly how writer and director, Jean-Luc Cano, aimed for. 

Aside from the plot, the gameplay, and how well-developed the characters in this game are, the soundtracks make it easy for players to well up with overwhelming emotions. Coming across the dead body of a friend is more moving with Message to Bears’ Mountains playing in the background, while the heart-wrenching ending is almost scarring with Foal’s Spanish Sahara making the cathartic experience more memorable.

Other than offering an unforgettable, almost tangible, experience, Life Is Strange is also a gateway for tens of beautiful soundtracks that are hard to listen to without remembering the pivotal cut-scenes in the video game.  

Although there are many choices to choose from during the game, only one impacts the ending of the story, and this is where the most disappointing flaw of the game surfaces. Players have two endings to choose from, one of which is an elaborate and beautifully directed conclusion to the plot, while the other is a half-assed cut-scene that almost punishes players for making the choice that led to it. 

Life Is Strange is a video game that leaves players thinking about how it ended days after they beat the game, despite technically having only one end and another that forces players to go back and make the other “right” choice.