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I'm wondering if the storm is specifically because of Rachel's death somehow.
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Sep 10, 2017 20:57
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Also, teenagers are dramatic and dumb and every crush is MY ONE TRUE LOVE!
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Sep 10, 2017 21:41
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Larryb posted:Which also means that by virtue of this being a prequel the only ones allowed to get any lasting character development are Rachel and the new characters created for this game (speaking of which, I'm kind of hoping there will be at least some half-assed explanation as to where all these other Blackwell students suddenly disappeared to by the time Max started there). Everybody else pretty much needs to stay exactly where they are. I don't blame anyone for deciding nope, we are leaving town, this place is messed up.
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Sep 15, 2017 03:07
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exquisite tea posted:If there ends up being a more supernatural explanation for Rachel then they'd have to find some plausible way of concealing it since it would be weird that Max shows up in Life is Strange and Chloe doesn't immediately say "oh hm superpowers, just like my last BFF." I'm not convinced there's not something unnatural about Chloe herself.
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Sep 17, 2017 21:22
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Larryb posted:If I remember right, didn't the developers outright state that there wouldn't be any Magic Teens this time around (there still will be a few supernatural elements obviously)? I'm starting to think there's something wrong with the town rather than specific teens, perhaps. precision posted:It's true, the Chloe/Max gayness really reminded me of all the awkward same-sex hookups by newly minted bisexuals and gays in my own highschool drama club days (myself included) Agreed. Life is Strange has felt pretty realistic for portraying a bunch of teenagers hitting that awkward phase of trying to figure out their sexuality.
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Sep 18, 2017 13:21
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precision posted:Do you think "childhood sweethearts" don't exist in the real world? It's also not uncommon for BFFs to suddenly get a lot more confused as they hit puberty if one or both is queer.
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Sep 18, 2017 14:47
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Larryb posted:She could be bisexual though Chloe seems to be the only girl she seemed to have any romantic interest in (and even then there's only two scenes that paint them as anything more than very close friends and they're both optional). Given their ages, I personally consider both their orientations TBD.
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Sep 18, 2017 15:43
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Another theory that's occurred to me regarding Rachel and Max's seemingly supernatural powers is that whatever's going on is about Chloe herself. Perhaps it's Chloe who has a way of attracting people with unusual gifts, or she directly creates such things in those close to her.
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Sep 23, 2017 22:32
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Much as I was tempted to take the Bae ending for how rare happy LGBT relationships are in fiction, to me it felt like the selfish choice. Even if the town was lovely to Max, saving the town felt like choosing to be the bigger [wo]man, not because of the town but in spite of it even as no one will ever know but Max.
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Oct 6, 2017 19:22
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I see it as being more a choice about who matters more in your eyes: one of the few people who's been truly nice to Max and might be the love of her life, or an entire town admittedly filled to the brim with assholes? Which is worth saving?
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Oct 6, 2017 20:15
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esperterra posted:Yeah, true. It works well thematically either way, and whether you romanced Chloe or saw them as soulbound bffs. I saw it as a romance, but romances at that age rarely last. I rationalized it as Max taking a step back and realizing that the temptation to save Chloe is being blinded by the passions of the moment. Can you imagine the survivor's guilt?
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Oct 6, 2017 20:33
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Larryb posted:Sacrificing the town does clearly take a bit of a toll on Max's psyche though (look at her face towards the start of the ending, she's basically a shell at that point). I'm not just talking about Max's survivor's guilt. The toll it would take on Chloe seeing all those funerals and disasters and know that Max let it happen for her.
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Oct 6, 2017 21:01
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I figured Chloe was still figuring things out, same as most people that age.
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Oct 8, 2017 00:44
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Larryb posted:If Rachel does have some kind of power then Chloe can never know for sure about it or else she'd have probably mentioned something to Max. I'm still thinking something is wrong with the town itself. The world literally does hate Chloe and want her to suffer.
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Oct 12, 2017 02:49
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skooma512 posted:Plus a spirit like that may not even perceive time linearly. Chloe had that week as far as it's concerned even if she is sacrificed. Max: Then why do you exist here?
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Oct 24, 2017 00:32
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I saved the Bay. Max became a good person in spite of the place, not because of it.
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Nov 3, 2017 13:59
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Canemacar posted:I don't really agree. After going through all of that, and choosing to deliberately kill her best friend (twice), Max would be a shellshocked wreck. And there's literally no one left she can talk to or get real support from. Not to get super dark, but I can easily see a Bay ending Max killing herself. I can easily see the Bae ending leading to Chloe killing herself, then Max. Chloe knows that Max let the entire town die for her sake. That cannot possibly end well.
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Nov 3, 2017 14:24
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Canemacar posted:I think it also reflects on how you as the player deal with those lessons in real life. Like most people I had my passionate "got to save the world" phase and learned that's not how life works. I learned that you can't put your faith in things like government, churches, leaders, or employers. The only meaningful things you can rely on and are worth sacrificing for are close friends and family. Saving Chloe was the only real choice for me. I personally take it as the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few, or the one. No matter how much I cared about one person, I can't see myself letting an entire town full of people die for her sake. Even if I hated the town and everyone in it, I don't think I'd ever be able to look myself in the mirror again for letting so many people die for the sake of one person and my own selfish desires.
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Nov 3, 2017 15:37
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Canemacar posted:But then Chloe may never have had her Lesbian Awakening. This game's never had the guts to commit to actual lesbian characters. Just varying flavors of bisexual you can skip over.
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Nov 3, 2017 20:22
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exquisite tea posted:I think the end choice to the original Life is Strange is brilliant because it is 100% utterly connected to its central theme: "How far would you go to save the life of a best friend?" Ultimately the final decision casts the character arcs of both Max and Chloe in direction opposition: In order for Max to achieve what she's set off to do and complete her transformation, she needs to let the storm hit. In order for Chloe to live for something other than herself and complete her own arc, she has to be euthanized via time travel and reverse everything Max has done. To me Bay vs. Bae comes down to what kind of story Life is Strange was to you, and who it was more about. To me, both games come down to the question of what's more important: your own personal happiness, or facing reality head on with open eyes. I chose the Bay ending, and chose to tell the truth here for much the same reasons. Both times, the seemingly happy ending sours in my mind when I think about what the likely consequences for everyone involved are going to be even if it seems happy in the short run. But in the longer view, doing the thing that sucks now may ultimately be for the best. May.
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Dec 20, 2017 16:58
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exquisite tea posted:Saving Chloe has nothing to do with Max's own happiness. By the end of Episode 5, Max has thrown absolutely everything away in order to rescue Chloe's life. She rejected her perfect 100% S-Rank ending in San Francisco, went back to the Dark Room on the off-chance that maybe she could find ANOTHER photo to resurrect a still very-much dead Chloe, and by that point had totally broken down her own body and mind. It's single-minded obsession, the one and only thing she has attempted to do over and over again since the story began, and is what inspires Chloe to offer herself after seeing all she's put her through. Max's personal happiness was a total non-factor at that stage, ethos of the player notwithstanding. And yet, choosing to walk away might be the healthiest choice Max can make, sitting down and asking herself if this is really worth it, if Chloe is really worth killing everyone else in the town.
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Dec 20, 2017 17:21
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exquisite tea posted:I've gone back and forth on this a few times but I believe the end choice to Life is Strange depends on what kind of story the game was to you. If you think it's a game about Max, then you must choose Bae to successfully complete her character arc. If you think it's really more about Chloe, then you must choose Bay. I see it as a game about Max, and her ultimately choosing to reject an obsession and a relationship that while passionate was ultimately unhealthy.
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Dec 20, 2017 17:30
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| # ¿ Dec 12, 2025 12:50 |
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exquisite tea posted:
Honestly, I want lesbian-focused games that aren't godawful depressing like this and Gone Home. Anime games don't count.
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Dec 21, 2017 15:10
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because can you imagine anything more boring than hetero romance in a video game.