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In It For The Tank posted:I've been playing through LIS again for the first time since completing BTS and was surprised to find that somewhere along the way I have been transformed from an ardent, unrepentant Bay-er to a tentative Bae-er. I still think choosing to save the Bay is the better choice narratively but as I approach episode 5 I'm beginning to think that I'm gonna have to let Arcadia Bay get obliterated because the idea of letting Chloe die is too distressing. I suppose that's appropriate. I'm actually starting to fall into the opposite camp. As much as I like Chloe (she's not a bad person, just a kid who's been through hell and doesn't really know how to deal with it all) I now think the Bay ending is probably the better choice as far as the overall story goes (and this is coming from someone who hated that ending prior to playing BtS and reading some of the posts in this thread). It basically comes down to a case of Justice vs Revenge. Think of it, if you sacrifice the town Chloe basically loses everything except the one who let it all happen. She has to live with the fact that her life comes at the expense of basically everyone she's ever known and loved, that can't be an easy thing to deal with. Chloe probably wouldn't say anything of course, just continue to bear the burden like she always has and try to be strong for the both of them. Max isn't much better as she's basically given up everything she'd worked for prior to this week and is now little more than a shell of her former self, which is exactly what Chloe was trying to stop from happening. Plus, isn't deciding that the lives of others are worth less than your own selfish desires not much different than the kind of poo poo people like James, Sean and Jefferson did (the road to Hell is paved with good intentions and all that)? While those negative elements might be gone now and Rachel avenged, Chloe and Max are still left empty and broken as a result. Sacrificing Chloe on the other hand, while it's unfair to let her die like that after everything she's been through, does create a domino effect that winds up taking down Nathan, Jefferson and presumably Sean as well. You could probably retroactively lump James in there too as, like another poster pointed out earlier, not only has his family already been torn apart assuming you told Rachel the truth back in BtS but in the end he couldn't even protect his daughter from the people she actually needed protection from. Everything backfired on him and now there's no one left to blame but himself. It doesn't seem fair to condemn an entire town just because of the actions of a few of its shittier inhabitants. Chloe Price is ultimately a true hero, even if nobody else will ever realize that and while Max is no doubt hurting pretty bad from this and can't ever really tell anyone the full truth, she still has people she can lean on for support and another chance to achieve the dreams she gave up on because of her obsession. Despite her pretense, trying to help those she cares about at the expense of herself just seems to be in Chloe's basic nature. For example, intentionally sabotaging herself to help Rachel, risking her life by going after Sera and Damon alone, saving Max in the parking lot without the slightest hesitation, and in the alternate timeline choosing to die rather than let her parents suffer along trying to keep her alive (hell, if you stay with Mikey in BtS Episode 2 and then give Drew the money back afterwards Chloe will write in her journal that she did it because "it was the right thing to do"). Her decision at the lighthouse is just the cumulation of all that. Larryb fucked around with this message at 16:04 on Feb 13, 2018 |
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Feb 11, 2018 13:35
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Has Farewell come out yet
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Feb 11, 2018 23:48
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Milky Moor posted:Has Farewell come out yet March 6th
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Feb 12, 2018 00:18
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Aside from the obvious (this is probably going to be the last we see of these characters for a while if not ever) I'm still curious why the bonus episode is called Farewell when it apparently takes place a year before William died/Max moved. All the same though, it'll be nice to see Chloe actually happy for a change and what young Max is like when her 18 year old self isn't puppetting her body. The return of Ashly Burch and Hannah Telle is a nice bonus as well. Of course this is still Life is Strange, you can't really do an episode of this series without there at least being a bit of misery involved. E: Also here's a small preview for the Limited Edition: https://lifeisstrange-blog.tumblr.com/post/170839302562/heres-a-sneak-peak-at-what-youll-be-getting-in Not sure if it's worth a second purchase if you already own the digital version but the art book looks nice and apparently it's going to include the first episode of the original Life is Strange for some reason as well. Larryb fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Feb 13, 2018 |
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Feb 12, 2018 15:38
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I really liked the first episode (second episode did not have enough actual plot to really form an opinion on), but the last episode kind of annoyed me, because so much of it either didn't jive with the events in LIS or was just completely non-sensical. For one thing, Chloe's mom seemed like a total idiot. I liked her in the original LIS, but my God, she just seemed like a terrible parent in this one. Every time Chloe brought up a completely valid complaint about David, her mom just immediately dismissed it and then acted shocked that her dismissive attitude enraged her. For example, the fact that he kept trying to manipulate Chloe through deceit and continually going back on his word, literally seconds after giving it to her, like how is she supposed to trust somebody who she hardly knows, that does that, even if their intentions are good? Also any decent parent would at least stop to consider the possibility of "hmm, maybe there's something wrong with my boyfriend", if the child constantly talks about hating him and literally runs away from home when he moves in. Rather than just mindlessly take his side every time. I thought it was annoying Frank in this game seems like a completely different character than Frank in LIS. For example, he goes from a guy who quite clearly has a conscience and is willing to risk his life to protect innocent girls from his psychopath boss and other gang members to BEING the psychopath in LIS, who is willing to kill (beat up? not too clear what exactly he was about to do) a high school girl in a public restaurant for throwing beans at him). The whole plot of trying to find Rachel's mom was just stupidly executed. "I think we can find your mom by asking my shady drug dealer" *plan fails* "Hey, I bet we can find her by looking through my dad's files (Rachel)" WHY THE HELL WAS THAT NOT PLAN A?! Then you look through mom's email correspondence with the DA.... "gee, we need to find a way to contact her, but how?! it seems impossible! I know, let's go call a ruthless gang leader and ask him for help!" like, her email address was right-loving on the screen and it never occurs to Chloe to try to email her Then Chloe decides to go meet the ruthless gang leader and ask him to release Rachel's mom because..... ??? I don't even know wtf that was. While playing that part I kept thinking "what exactly are we trying to accomplish here? this isn't even a plan... there's literally no reason Chloe should expect this to work" The plan ends up working due to Deux Ex Machina but afterwards, Rachel's mom suddenly decides "eh, I change my mind. I am not going to see my daughter because I don't want her to know what a terrible guy her father is". like what?! And the game doesn't even give you obvious dialogue options to counter mom's arguments such as "your daughter risked her life to try to see you" and "her home life isn't perfect like you thought, she was literally planning on running away from her parents" Also Rachel supposedly wanted to run away from home because she thought her dad was a phony and keeping dark secrets.... then it is confirmed except it's a lot worse than what Rachel originally thought, and yet she changes her mind and decides to NOT run away afterwards because....? Basically the last 2 hours of the game just didn't make any sort of sense at all and was just frustrating. I felt like I was taking crazy pills, watching the decisions that the characters were making. DrunkPanda fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Feb 14, 2018 |
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Feb 14, 2018 13:18
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Joyce was just as dismissive of actual physical abuse in the first game. And I'd say Rachel doesn't change her mind, it's Chloe that cools on the idea and starts putting obstacles in the way of leaving. She's got a working car, but still borrows $5000 to fix it up. Eventually Rachel realises what Chloe's doing, they probably have a fight and she starts trying to get any lift out of Arcadia Bay she can, even asking truckers and eventually ending up with Frank.
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Feb 14, 2018 13:38
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Yeah, Joyce still tries to defend David in the first game even when Max tells her he hit Chloe (though later in the game she will admit she had issues with David's behavior too) so that's about par for the course. I like her too but a good chunk of the reason that Chloe is who she is is basically her fault. I respect that she's trying to move on with her life but she shouldn't expect Chloe to just blindly follow along at the same pace or say crap like Chloe "chose" to stay angry after her dad died. Chloe lost her dad and her best friend in the same year, then not long after that her mom brings home David who basically treats her like crap (I forget, is it ever explicitly stated when Joyce and David started dating?). Chloe barely had any time to recover from one problem before another got immediately dumped into her lap. As for Frank's change in attitude, remember by the first game he had to kill his best friend (Damon), Rachel disappeared on him and Chloe was still giving him poo poo. So it's no wonder why he'd be a little more on edge at that point. Aside from Chloe being in the same class as Victoria, Nathan, etc. I personally think the two games connect together fairly well. Also, remember that this game takes place not only 3 years prior to the original, but the entire story happens over the course of about 3 days. That's plenty of time left over for things to start deteriorating between Chloe and Rachel. Larryb fucked around with this message at 14:40 on Feb 14, 2018 |
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Feb 14, 2018 14:21
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I feel like there could really be a Life is Frank interquel somewhere between these games, but yeah, I imagine having to gut your friend and bury him in a ditch where no one will ever know would sour your disposition.
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Feb 14, 2018 14:37
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Joyce and David have been seeing each other since the 27th November 2008 according to David's password in LiS, which is a day short of two months after William dies according to Joyce's texts during the first dream in BtS. Frank's also using drugs by LiS whereas it's not shown he is during BtS.
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Feb 14, 2018 15:13
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WhiskeyWhiskers posted:Joyce and David have been seeing each other since the 27th November 2008 according to David's password in LiS, which is a day short of two months after William dies according to Joyce's texts during the first dream in BtS. Wow, that kind of makes it even worse then as Chloe had basically no time to grieve before some other change was forced onto her life. But yeah, like I said, a lot of the blame for Chloe falling as far as she did can be placed directly on Joyce. Hell, judging by the last journal entry in BtS Chloe was actually starting to get better thanks to Rachel but then 3 years later she disappears right after sending Chloe a letter saying she met someone who changed her life (I assume that was meant to be referring to Jefferson) and then Chloe is back at square one (not even counting all the poo poo that winds up happening to her in the first game). Why does the universe seem to hate this poor girl so much?
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Feb 14, 2018 15:39
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The universe of course being all of those bad players who saved a corrupt town over her 
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Feb 14, 2018 16:00
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I read an interview with Ashley Burch and the game director for BtS, and in talking about trying to write major decisions to get them as close to 50/50 as possible they mentioned how surprised they were that so many people were open with Joyce and tried to have a good relationship with David. I like to think that's the way it actually goes down, but Joyce and David just treat her as the black sheep and load Chloe with so much of the family's baggage that she eventually has to conform to their constructed view of her to survive.
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Feb 14, 2018 16:01
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DeathChicken posted:The universe of course being all of those bad players who saved a corrupt town over her I dunno, sacrificing yourself to save a town that either doesn't care about or on some level actively hates you just for the sake of the people you love seems like a pretty noble (if slightly crazy) act to me even if some of them don't deserve it. Also, as I've said before, isn't Max deciding her own desires are more important than the lives of others pretty much exactly what James and Jefferson (and Sean to an extent) did ? The difference of course being that Max actually feels remorse for said actions and isn't a terrible person. Plus, in the Bae ending Chloe basically has to live with the fact that her life came at the cost of countless others and the only one she has left is the girl who let it happen. Not saying she deserved to have her life stolen from her by a psychopath in the bathroom but at the very least her death lead to a domino effect where the guilty were quickly discovered and punished. I will admit there are pros and cons to both endings though, in the first game anyway as I still haven't heard a good argument for protecting Rachel from the truth in BtS. Her dad is a criminal and her "happy" family is an illusion, by hiding the truth you are essentially letting the bad guy get away with everything and condemning both Rachel and Chloe into living a lie. Though the interesting thing about Chloe is, despite her reputation and being a bit rough around the edges, nearly everyone who interacts with her without criticizing/blaming her eventually becomes her friend (off the subject, but you could probably say the same thing about Mae from Night in the Woods actually). She's also rather fiercely loyal to said friends even when some of them wind up stabbing her in the back. In fact, I think the only one who ever fully broke that trust was Eliot. Though I question whether or not they were ever really "friends" per se. Larryb fucked around with this message at 16:59 on Feb 14, 2018 |
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Feb 14, 2018 16:39
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Viridiant posted:I think the conversation with Sera at the end of Before the Storm is another expression of the whole "Chloe paying for the misdeeds of others" thing. All of these things have already been done to Rachel's life, yet the simple act of Chloe being honest with Rachel, something that Rachel has said she values highly, is framed by the adult talking to Chloe as CHLOE doing something awful to Rachel. Chloe is the one who will ruin Rachel's life. Not Sera, who let drugs take over her life. And not James, who broke the law to keep Rachel from learning the truth. Chloe, a teenage girl, one of the most powerless individuals in society. Agreed, I really didn't like Sera. And a small part of the reason I decided to tell Rachel about James was as a "FU" to Sera... her arguments made no sense at all and were just stupid. Maybe that was the point, though? Maybe the drugs addled her brain so much that she just didn't know how to think properly anymore
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Feb 17, 2018 07:09
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Macaluso posted:The part where Chloe gets pissed at Max for taking Kate's phone call ends up feeling way less one sided after playing BtS. The first time around you're like "holy poo poo Chloe stop being an rear end in a top hat, Kate is going through some poo poo" but after playing BtS I can't help but feel really sympathetic to Chloe getting angry there. She still obviously overreacts but it makes sense why she does. There's situations like that throughout the entire game. Max does just straight up stop responding to her after a while when she moves and just completely abandons her, and then when she's back doesn't at all try to reconnect with her like, first thing. She waits like a month and really only when Chloe stumbles upon her in the parking lot Ya, when I first played LIS, I thought Chloe was annoyingly needy and irrational. But after playing BTS, I am totally on her side. Also, if my BFF did what Max did to Chloe, I would never have reconciled with them. Max was a straight up bitch for how she treated Chloe (your best friend's dad just died and you ghost on them?! And then never try to get in contact with them after moving back to the same town? That would be the final straw for me)
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Feb 17, 2018 07:32
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To be fair, we know that Max carried some pretty heavy emotional baggage herself in the aftermath of William's death that profoundly affected her formative years. After all, in the timeline where William lives (where William's survival is the only difference between Max Prime and Earth 2 Max), Max is popular and extroverted instead of borderline autistic. It's heartbreaking for Chloe to be ghosted like that by her best friend for sure (the 2am text of just "max" that you can read in BTS is a real gut punch), but Max seems to have been suffering in her own way during those years as well. Enough to leave her with severe anxiety issues at least.
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Feb 17, 2018 09:51
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That's a pretty good point. I've never thought much about how William's death effected Max, she probably knew him for years beforehand. I wonder if she felt guilty for leaving Chloe and found it hard to talk to her because of that, or she didn't want to confront all the memories and feelings that would come with keeping in touch with Chloe. Really there could be any number of reasons, so I'm glad Chloe chose not to hang on to that anger at Max too tightly once she returned.
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Feb 17, 2018 10:40
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DeathChicken posted:The universe of course being all of those bad players who saved a corrupt town over her I really think Arcadia Bay being rotten to the core is ridiculously exaggerated. Sure you meet a whole bunch of assholes (and a couple of monsters) in the game, but the town is still presumably full of normal people going about their lives. Do the unemployed fisherman deserve to die too?
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Feb 17, 2018 11:10
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Mr. Flunchy posted:I really think Arcadia Bay being rotten to the core is ridiculously exaggerated. Sure you meet a whole bunch of assholes (and a couple of monsters) in the game, but the town is still presumably full of normal people going about their lives. Do the unemployed fisherman deserve to die too? YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL
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Feb 17, 2018 11:21
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Viridiant posted:That's a pretty good point. I've never thought much about how William's death effected Max, she probably knew him for years beforehand. I wonder if she felt guilty for leaving Chloe and found it hard to talk to her because of that, or she didn't want to confront all the memories and feelings that would come with keeping in touch with Chloe. Really there could be any number of reasons, so I'm glad Chloe chose not to hang on to that anger at Max too tightly once she returned. If you've ever been with someone on the day their lives turned around, it can be a traumatic experience for everyone. You share a part of that memory with them, and your relationship is forever changed. I think Max being with Chloe on the day William died forever put this 800 ton elephant in the room, and their friendship never really recovered even before she moved to Seattle.
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Feb 17, 2018 12:37
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While moving away wasn't technically Max's fault (just poor timing on the part of her parents) dropping out of contact not long afterwards completely was and I don't think we ever get a good explanation for it (I'm guessing it was more fear on Max's part given what we know about her character at the start of LiS). Maybe Farewell will shed a bit more light on that assuming it goes that far. I don't think Chloe ever really gave up on Max despite her best efforts (she never once says "gently caress Max" during her meltdown in the junkyard and she immediately steps in to save her from Nathan when she sees what's going on) nor did she ever give up on Rachel even after her own family did and she found out about her and Frank. She's just so terrified of being alone again that she's willing to quickly forgive her and latch on for dear life. It's also probably why in retrospect she was so adamant about keeping David's gun and partially why she chose to sacrifice herself at the end, she ultimately failed to protect Rachel (the damage James did was already done, she couldn't stop Damon and by the time she knew about Nathan and Jefferson it was already too late) and wasn't about to let Max get hurt the same way. It says a lot about her character how that despite the immense burdens constantly being placed on her that Chloe is as well adjusted as she is. I mean think about it, her dad dies, Max leaves, her mom forces David onto her life (all in the same year mind you), then she fails Rachel more than once, Sera tries to convince her to keep James' actions a secret (one Chloe presumably takes to her grave), in the alternate timeline she's paralyzed and keeping her alive is bankrupting her parents, keeping her alive is destroying Max from within and if you choose to sacrifice the Bay she has to live with the fact that her best friend just let a whole town full of people (several of whom they both know and love) die all for her sake. A lesser person probably would have jumped off a cliff or put a bullet in their skull at that point. But despite ultimately getting burned by her as William said, meeting Rachel was probably the best thing to happen to Chloe as it gave her an inner strength that she would later pass on to Max. Larryb fucked around with this message at 14:42 on Feb 17, 2018 |
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Feb 17, 2018 13:53
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Milky Moor posted:YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL Sacrificing the Bay is a lot easier when you remember they're mostly white settlers and Max is helping to fulfil a prophecy that will see the decolonisation of the US.
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Feb 17, 2018 15:22
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Speaking of which, another way of looking at Sacrifice the Bay is that Arcadia Bay was, from a universal perspective, simply a blight on the face of the earth and nature itself wanted the town gone. The Fire of 2010 might even have been the first attempt but it was contained before it could spread that far (and extinguished itself not long after Rachel got stabbed in the junkyard). When that failed, the universe passed things on to Max and upped the ante a bit (or alternatively, Rachel was responsible for both and Max was just a means to speed things along). Chloe's job was to bear the sins of the town and be the spark that kicked off said destruction (both Rachel and Max first used their powers while in Chloe's presence during a traumatic moment in their lives). But she also wound up being the one who threw a wrench into the works at the very end. There are pros and cons to both endings and I honestly don't really mind either to be honest, I just think Sacrifice Chloe works better from a narrative standpoint. It's about Max and Chloe fixing the mistakes they helped cause and giving those who matter another chance (as well as saving their own souls in the process). In a sense they both could be considered the "greater beauty" William spoke of, two people both willing to give up everything for the sake of those they love. With the other ending, while she has a conscience and clearly feels guilt for her actions afterwards, Max deciding to choose Chloe over a town full of people (some of them innocent) isn't much different than the actions of some of the other scum we've seen in this series. While it might have been out of love for his daughter, James still collaborated with a known criminal and tried to ruin Sera's life just to keep her away (and let me remind you that she was also someone he once claimed to love), Jefferson played with the lives of others just to fulfill his twisted desires, not really caring what happened to his subjects afterwards. Sean cared more about his reputation and influence than his own son and willfully ignored Nathan's obvious mental issues, instead choosing to browbeat him into complacency. Finally, despite being a principal and responsible for the well being of his students, Wells was more than willing to throw some of the under-privileged ones like Chloe under a bus in order to protect the more prestigious students (even when said students were actually the ones at fault). While Max's motivations were probably a bit more genuine than theirs (and is still ultimately a better person than all of them put together), they were none the less still a bit morally shaky. Larryb fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Feb 17, 2018 |
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Feb 17, 2018 15:54
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Larryb posted:Speaking of which, another way of looking at Sacrifice the Bay is that Arcadia Bay was, from a universal perspective, simply a blight on the face of the earth and nature itself wanted the town gone. The Fire of 2010 might even have been the first attempt but it was contained before it could spread that far (and extinguished itself not long after Rachel got stabbed in the junkyard). If we go with this interpretation, it leaves us with the question of whether Max's choice to sacrifice Chloe really did save Arcadia Bay from nature's wrath. For all we know, some other teenage girl will wake up and discover that she has super powers in the near future...
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Feb 18, 2018 10:08
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Eshettar posted:If we go with this interpretation, it leaves us with the question of whether Max's choice to sacrifice Chloe really did save Arcadia Bay from nature's wrath. For all we know, some other teenage girl will wake up and discover that she has super powers in the near future... True, who's to say a few years down the line something even worse will happen to the town and someone else will be offered up in tribute. It basically could go on forever. Speaking of which, while we know we're getting a brand new cast and setting in Season 2 I'm curious how much if any connection it will have to the previous game (there will probably be a Hawt Dawg Man cameo at the very least as he's become something of a mascot for this series). Hell, it might be cool if they let us play that game Max mentioned as sort of an optional minigame ala Demontower from Night in the Woods. As I've mentioned before, there is a way for them to acknowledge both endings: hide it behind a choice. For example, you could include an older Max as a side character. At one point your character notices a picture of Chloe or hears Max make some vague statement that could apply to both and asks one of two questions. One of which causes her to react as if she let Chloe die while the other canonizes her sacrificing the Bay. Larryb fucked around with this message at 00:10 on Feb 19, 2018 |
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Feb 18, 2018 11:33
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I hope LiS2 breaks entirely from LiS. It'd make a good series as just an anthology of stories of young women's romantic friendship.
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Feb 18, 2018 12:03
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WhiskeyWhiskers posted:I hope LiS2 breaks entirely from LiS. It'd make a good series as just an anthology of stories of young women's romantic friendship. For all we know we might not be playing as a teenager or even a girl in the next one. Agreed though, the series just being a collection of weird yet poignant stories with little to no connection to each other could work as well. And if fans want more of said characters then Deck Nine can also make more side games like this one. Though as has been said, LiS 2 is probably what's going to either make or break this series' future seeing as it'd be the first game to make a complete departure from what we know. All the same, I'm actually looking forward to this more than Farewell at this point. Unless they're more focused on promoting Vampyr at this point I wouldn't be surprised if we hear something at E3. Larryb fucked around with this message at 17:31 on Feb 18, 2018 |
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Feb 18, 2018 12:14
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I finished the first episode today and while I enjoyed it I miss the original voice actor for Chloe. She was amazing.
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Feb 19, 2018 03:39
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Dick Trauma posted:I finished the first episode today and while I enjoyed it I miss the original voice actor for Chloe. She was amazing. Good news, she'll be back for the bonus episode next month alongside Hannah Telle (Max). The new girl does get better though and while she's never quite as good as Burch was I think she makes a decent substitute (in fact I think the only voices in this game I didn't care for as much were David and Samuel). For a bunch of non-union actors there's some genuinely talented people in BtS' cast, Kylie Brown as Rachel for example. The voices for Joyce and Nathan (and to a lesser extent Victoria and William) are almost indistinguishable from the originals. Larryb fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Feb 19, 2018 |
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Feb 19, 2018 04:28
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Losing out on Ashley Burch for Chloe was kind of evened out by Rachel's voice actress who totally killed it. Now Samuel, they dropped the ball pretty hard there 
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Feb 19, 2018 04:44
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Macaluso posted:Losing out on Ashley Burch for Chloe was kind of evened out by Rachel's voice actress who totally killed it. Yeah, I have no idea what they were going for there but at least he only really appears for one scene. David was at least kind of close though he was way too soft-spoken for my tastes. Speaking of which, I think someone mentioned a while back that Rhianna DeVries (BtS Chloe) also did mo-cap work for the character in Life is Strange, however I do not recall seeing her name in the original game's credits. Did she use a pseudonym or something or am I just misremembering? Larryb fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Feb 19, 2018 |
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Feb 19, 2018 04:47
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I actually kind of like BtS David's VA more, he fits the role of terrible step-dad rather than 'scary school cop' more. LiS David was a bit too gruff. Like that, 'Yeah, a real hero...' line at the end of episode 2 is loving galling. I guess it's partly due to direction and needing to make him menacing enough to be a credible suspect though. e:And I really think this is really the only truly terrible line from Chloe's BtS VA. And I laugh every time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oztzIu8pDU&t=1150s WhiskeyWhiskers fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Feb 19, 2018 |
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Feb 19, 2018 05:04
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Figured I'd post this in the dedicated thread instead of the Steam thread. How does Before the Storm compare to Life is Strange overall? I really enjoyed Life is Strange outside of some really cringy dialogue. I'm just not sure a prequel without any supernatural elements and re-using game assets is really gonna do it for me. I skimmed the thread for comparisons and didn't see any, but I'm also trying to not get spoiled on the story.
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Feb 19, 2018 05:42
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Not sure if this was intentional or not (it probably was) but I like how she would occasionally stutter or trip over her words while speaking even if the text displays the line normally, it just adds to the awkwardness of Chloe's character. There are some VAs in BtS I actually like better than the originals though (like Hayden for example, who in the original sounded like a middle-aged man trying to imitate a teenager). It's kind of funny in retrospect how much of a shoe-string budget the original game had in terms of voice acting, with several cast members having to double or even triple up on characters (though some were better at disguising their voices than others). Off the top of my head, Max was Courtney, Chloe was Taylor, Stella, and the girl at the party who wouldn't let Max into the VIP room, Joyce was the homeless woman, Jefferson was Samuel, Nathan was Daniel, Victoria was Brooke, Warren was Justin (probably the most obvious one), and Kate was Alyssa.
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Feb 19, 2018 05:46
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YOURFRIEND posted:Figured I'd post this in the dedicated thread instead of the Steam thread. How does Before the Storm compare to Life is Strange overall? I really enjoyed Life is Strange outside of some really cringy dialogue. I'm just not sure a prequel without any supernatural elements and re-using game assets is really gonna do it for me. I skimmed the thread for comparisons and didn't see any, but I'm also trying to not get spoiled on the story. Life is Strange has the better overall story with Jefferson and that whole thing. Before the Storm's overall story isn't nearly as strong, but what I think they do BETTER than the first one, is I think the relationship between Rachel and Chloe is so much more interesting than Chloe and Max. A lot of that is because Max is such a blank slate for you to put yourself into, where as Chloe isn't really. So instead of YOU and one interesting character, you have two interesting characters that you're playing out their story. I've said how much I love the train sequence in Before the Storm (I won't say anymore than that for you), and I think that particular one on one scene is just better than any scene between Chloe and Max. Also if it matters at all, the facial expression and overall animations of the characters are SO much better in BtS. The characters actually emote and their mouths move to the words they are speaking. So like storywise, there really isn't a big "holy poo poo" moment like when you see Jefferson standing over you at the end of episode 4 or when you look around the dark room the fist time. BUT the smaller moments with Rachel and Chloe are fantastic. Also to say there's no supernatural elements isn't TOTALLY accurate but obviously nothing to the extent of "you gain the power to control time"
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Feb 19, 2018 05:52
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I really liked BtS. To directly compare the two, the first two episodes of BtS are better than most of LiS (not quite as good as episode 4), but the third is a bit worse than most of LiS (barring Max's dream sequence). Don't worry too much about it being a prequel, it's relevance to the plot of the first is more in revealing character motivation than setting up specific plot points. The supernatural elements are still there, but a lot more sidelined. More 1st season Twin Peaks.
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Feb 19, 2018 06:39
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BtS is like 3/4 really good and 1/4 steaming garbage. But the parts of it that are good genuinely elevate the original story and for that reason it is worth playing.
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Feb 19, 2018 07:45
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YOURFRIEND posted:Figured I'd post this in the dedicated thread instead of the Steam thread. How does Before the Storm compare to Life is Strange overall? I really enjoyed Life is Strange outside of some really cringy dialogue. I'm just not sure a prequel without any supernatural elements and re-using game assets is really gonna do it for me. I skimmed the thread for comparisons and didn't see any, but I'm also trying to not get spoiled on the story. I don't think Before the Storm is as good as Life is Strange, but Life is Strange is pretty much the greatest video game ever made so what can ya do. Despite being a prequel developed by a totally different studio it manages to get a lot of things right in matching the emotional intensity and strong characterization from the original. It's not a necessary game but I'm glad it exists, it doesn't retroactively ruin the first season or anything like that, and complements its themes in some novel ways.
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Feb 19, 2018 07:52
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While not quite as good as the original, I liked BtS overall and while it was a story that never really needed to be told I still felt it did a good job of enhancing the plot of the original. Chloe is a far more interesting protagonist than Max (who, as mentioned, felt more like an avatar for the player and is probably one of the few characters we learn the least about overall) and a lot of the more irritating bits from the first game are gone (though there are still a few things that would be nearly impossible for someone to figure out on the first try, getting Rachel to meet Sera for example). The smaller length and downplaying the supernatural aspect also results in a much more personal, tighter-knit story. It's not without its own issues though, the game feels a lot smaller and more barren than LiS for example (the areas are much shorter and there aren't really that many NPCs to interact with). To compensate for the lack of a rewind function the game also seems to hold your hand a bit too much (it's basically impossible to fail as even if you don't succeed in a Backtalk your objective is usually still completed some other way). Despite being 3 episodes long the plot doesn't really start to kick in until towards the very end of the first one and is kind of hamstrung by the fact that it's a prequel and you already know these characters are doomed no matter what you do. But ultimately I'm glad it exists and wouldn't mind seeing Deck Nine take another crack at the franchise one day. Larryb fucked around with this message at 11:08 on Feb 19, 2018 |
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Feb 19, 2018 11:03
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As long as there aren't any stealth sequences I'll be okay. 
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Feb 19, 2018 11:07
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