"Strange Life Before the Storm" review: excellent but not as good as the previous game

introduction

Movies and games are the eighth and ninth art forms in the history of human art, respectively, and if so defined, interactive movie games may be the "eighth and fifth art" between the two. Excellent interactive film games should reach a high level in the expressiveness of the film art, such as the shot and plot, as well as the interactive design and gameplay of the game art, and finally move the audience. Player.

There is no doubt that 2015's Life Is Strange from Dontnod Entertainment is an excellent and highly acclaimed interactive movie game. While winning numerous game awards and nominations (including the TGA2015 Best Game of the Year Award), it is also loved by the player community.

(Life Is Strange)

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, as the first sequel to the hugely successful Life Is Strange, faced with high expectations from fans of the previous game, there is naturally no small pressure on the shoulders of new developer Deck Nine Games.

Finally, with the release of the third and final chapter, Hell Is Empty, on December 20, 2017, the story of Life Is Strange: Before the Storm came to an end. In this article, I will share with you some of my comments and feelings about this game.

(Life Is Strange: Before the Storm Chapter 3: Hell is Empty)

The story of rebellious teenager Chloe and school girl Rachel

The timeline is set three years before Life is Strange's main character, Max, and two years after Chloe's father died in a car accident and Max moved away from Arcadia Bay.

What happened all this time? What exactly caused Chloe to leave Blackwell High School, how Chloe became the blue haired "bad" teenager when she met Max again, Chloe's relationship with the missing girl Rachel, how the stepfather David entered Chloe's family, and so on, in Life Is Strange: Prior to The Storm, the player only had a limited understanding of the character's dialogue from a few words, or from the details found during exploration. The mysteries left behind by the previous Life Is Strange have been the subject of player discussion, speculation, and fan creation, but in this game, most of the past will become clear with the story, or rather, with the player's choices.

(Chloe)

Of course, there's nothing more straightforward about learning about Chloe's past than having the player experience this story as Chloe himself. In Life Is Strange: The Eve of the Storm, players will play the rebellious and deeply miserable and lonely 16-year-old girl, with the school heartthrob Rachel to experience an unforgettable adventure, with this past to fill the gap left by the previous game.

Linear narrative + fragmented narrative

Following the main story and talking to all the dialoguable characters, it would be a shame if the player simply finished the story of Life Is Strange: Before the Storm in this way.

Like its predecessor, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm will use diaries and text messages to support a linear narrative.

Using a letter to her estranged friend Max as a medium, Chloe presents her experiences and feelings to the player through text, cut and paste or stick figure. The characters related to the story are also recorded here for the player to read.

(Chloe's notes)

Mobile phone text messages can more intuitively show the rebellious girl's past and present relationships.

(Worried mother)

(Through the text message content and date, you can understand the process of Max gradually snubbing Chloe)

What's more interesting is that whether it is notes or mobile phone messages, they will be updated at any time as the plot moves forward. Through these notes, the player can even find out what Chloe thinks about the choices she made for her.

In addition, most scenes have plenty to explore, and players can read interesting details from their computer's social media logs, browser logs, and photos, letters, notes, and documents left all over the scene. For example, the valuation certificate of mother Joyce's wedding ring, the winning photo of Chloe's science competition, the family photo that was put in the closet, and so on.

(Some details to explore)

For the more observant, the game also has some deeper details, often without any direct interaction, but closely related to the player's choices and the development of the story. For example, the junkyard radio can hear campus police officer Skip's interview on the local music station, and a few words about Jefferson in the previous game Life Is Strange. To dig out these details, you even need to have a strong level of English listening.

In terms of game mechanics, exploration can unlock some additional dialogue options, or be used in subsequent arguments. On the narrative side, these fragmented details give the player more information and perspective to understand the people and events around them.

The linear narrative in Life Is Strange: Before the Storm is only a small part of the iceberg, and these require the player to actively read, to dig out the details, is the key to the complete plot and character relationships.

Delicate, multi-level character image creation

(Important note, this chapter involves serious plot disclosure, please choose carefully whether to read it)

Almost every character in Life Is Strange: Before the Storm looks real and impressive. Even with interactive movie games that are good at storytelling, not all works can do this.

The reason for this is that, in addition to the role of ubiquitous details and fragmented narratives on the portrayal of characters mentioned in the previous part, players will discover the unknown side of these characters one by one in the well-designed story, reflecting the complexity of humanity.

(Top student Rachel is as wild at heart as Chloe)

(Frank, a drug dealer, is also a devoted dog owner)

(Drew, the bully, is also a sweet little brother)

(Rachel's father figure remains undecided until the end. Cheating on a womanizing man? A good father who hides the truth for his daughter? A corrupt prosecutor with ties to the underworld? Poor man in all his helplessness? He is probably the most changed character in the series.)

I think that "big looming city" school dormitory warden uncle. Samuel, the philosopher, illustrates this perfectly in his brilliant words in this work

(Samuel, who has long seen through the world, said)

What can the player's choices change?

(Important note, this chapter involves revealing the plot, please choose carefully whether to read it or not)

As the most core gameplay of interactive movies, what the player's choice can change, this seems to be the most concerned question.

At the beginning of the second chapter, the player can understand what is "not not reported, the time is not yet", the principal Wills will "settle the account" of Chloe's different behavior choices in the first chapter, and finally decide the punishment level of Chloe according to some reactions of the players.

(See Principal)

All the choices the player makes in all three chapters, as well as some of the battles, affect the flow of the story to a greater or lesser extent, but often the branches that change the course of the story "wrap up" the storyline before the end of the scene. For example, taking full responsibility for Rachel when confronted by the principal, or not doing so, could result in the principal banning Rachel from tonight's play, leading to a very different scenario from that of the understudy Victoria. However, in the end Rachel will be performing anyway.

The player's ability to change more is reflected in some side stories and choices. Did Drew get injured and end his career, or did he get an athletic scholarship? Will Nathan and Samantha ever get together? Who will Damon think is a couple? Will Elliot get caught by the police and expelled from school? ... Needless to say, the fates of most of the characters around you are almost always changed by the player's choices.

However, the final outcome of Chloe and Rachel, which the player cares about most, will be determined by the final "one or the other" choice. As anyone who has played the previous Life Is Strange knows, this doesn't change anything.

Excellent official Chinese translation

The localization of the official Chinese translation of this book is excellent. The translation of puns, slang and metaphors is particularly impressive.

(Evan Ige. Dassabi, the guy who asked Chloe for an autograph is Evan.)

(Bitch Meeting)

Thanks to the excellent quality of this title, Chinese players are fortunate enough to experience the original story of Life Is Strange: The Eve of the Storm with a smile.

Game within a game

After Quint card 3, picking up garbage 4, alloy human peddler 5, the game industry "not doing business" party has a new member: good bestie has just woken up from serious injuries, and the girl is addicted to Dungeons and Dragons.

Players can choose to play a short section of the board game Dungeons & Dragons with their friends when they first arrive at the Blackwell campus and later in the hospital setting. The player will play as an "elf barbarian" and make choices to complete various adventures together with Mickey's "Archmage Ellemand" to defeat the boss. Of course, this is all based on conversations between Chloe and the students who participated in the game. There are many critical decisions that directly affect whether Chloe's character can continue in the Dungeons and Dragons game, as well as the survival of her character and her companions.

(Life Is Strange: Dungeons and Dragons)

Interested players can see that Chloe's optional self-sacrifice in the second Dungeons and Dragons game in exchange for the survival of Mickey's character is similar to one of the endings of the previous game Life Is Strange.

From "going back in time" to "arguing" : less puzzle solving, loss of playfulness

In any case, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm is still a game at heart, and there's no doubt about that. So the last thing I want to talk about is gameplay.

To say "Life is strange" the most highlight of the gameplay, is undoubtedly throughout the game process of the "time back system". Max's powers allow her to go back in time for a short period of time in order to make new choices and try to change the "future" that should have been "done". The system itself is a perfect fit for Life Is Strange's themes of destiny, chaos theory, and the basic gameplay of all interactive cinematic games -- choices affect the plot. And by changing the past at any time, players can instantly realize the consequences of their actions.

Max's ability to go back in time in Life Is Strange

However, the sequel, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, unexpectedly and voluntarily abandoned the core mechanic (and perhaps the biggest selling point) of the previous game, "time back". In its place is a new system of "argumentation" : Chloe persuades the target to get her way on something through sophistry and venom, or by talking hard.

(argument system)

However, only a few keywords are presented in the argument options, which obviously does not allow the player to intuitively realize the counterargument logic and irony, and even without considering the semantic loss caused by translation, players who are not native English speakers or unfamiliar with the American speaking culture will not be able to Get the meaning of these options in the short keywords. Even if you happen to choose the right choice, you may not understand the beauty of such a response after listening to the dialogue.

In addition, the puzzle content contained in all three chapters is far less than that of the previous game, and its difficulty and design sophistication are dwarfed by that of the previous game. Those using tools to repair the car, looking for batteries and so on the bridge is to give the author a feeling of forcing the player to increase the game time.

In contrast, the previous game based on "time back" a series of time-space puzzles, as well as the players to marvel at the mirror password, endless dormitory corridor and other puzzle bridge, than this game does not know how high.

(A wonderful puzzle in a strange life)

Conclusion

In fact, when I first learned that the main character would be Chloe, who had already determined that she could not master the ability to travel back in time, I could not help but feel a little disappointed, fearing that Life Is Strange: Before the Storm would be a mediocre work.

However, my fears proved unfounded. This bold attempt to prove to all players that without the science fiction cloak of "going back in time", "Life is Strange: The Eve of the Storm" has the advantages of narrative, atmosphere rendering, and character image shaping, and a lot of interesting new content has been enough to make it stand out from similar works.

However, the gameplay void created by the removal of this highly playable gameplay was not adequately filled by the new "debate" mechanics and other game content. Therefore, the author believes that "Strange Life: The Eve of the Storm" is difficult to reach the height of the previous work.

P.S. About the Easter egg at the end, the author was once the continuous shutter sound and 17 missed calls from Chloe evoked the unpleasant memory of the previous play. However, after the end of the game, the scriptwriter again reminds the player that the tragic ending has been doomed, and the current happiness will eventually pass away, which makes it clear that fans send blades to the behavior, what is the figure? I'm speculating about the possibility that Chloe and Rachel's fates still have room to change, or that in the next game, Max will return as the main character and work with the player to make things right in some way. Perhaps we'll learn more about it in the upcoming extra chapter Goodbye, which will meet players.