So this is a longer thought of how my time with Life is strange has affected me for the past 3 years. I'm not sure where to begin, so i'll start at the beginning. In 2015 I was a Sophomore in high school, staying in the house because I had no car/license to go anywhere. My dad was usually out trying to find something to do, because he was in the wake of his second divorce. A divorce that had my brother leave to live with our mom(biological no the second wife), and I don't blame either of them due to the circumstances. This divorce left me in a new neighborhood, and a new town knowing no one. All I had was my xbox, and time to kill.
One fateful day I went onto the Microsoft store to see what was available. I scrolled through and found Life is Strange, a random game that had the "Telltale" episodic style. I read a review and decided I should go for it. The opening scene was the first hook that reeled me in. When I saw Chloe get shot I felt for her. Then moving back to the classroom showed me that this was no ordinary game. I a little ashamed to admit it but I was going in a little closed minded. I was raised like most boys to reject feminine ideals. But by the end of the first episode of Life is Strange I was moved to accept other parts of life I never experienced.
Then came Episode 2, for those of you who have also played this episode you know where this is going. After months of waiting for the new episode to come out I finally got a chance to live in the life is strange world once again. But to my surprise it was much darker. Going through I had no concept of mental health, and how it affected people. Then when I got to the end, I was hit hard by the fact that I could not save Kate. A video game never got this reaction of sadness out of me. This was eventually what lead to me getting professional help later in life.
The rest of the season was amazing, in my opinion. The highs and lows were great, and I fell in love with the game so much my friends also played it. I even bought a copy for my friends birthday, and she loved it as well. In the end of the season I chose to let Chloe die, and it left me in tears. Probably for more reasons than just seeing the funeral sequence. But I was happy with it. I was ready to work hard for the next couple of years.
Between LiS season 1 and BTS I changed course in life to become a game developer. Life is Strange may not be the whole reason I did this, but it sure as hell helped. I built a computer, Got into my dream school (SCAD), and had made games with the Unreal engine. When I heard BTS was releasing during my freshman year, I was sad I might not finish past the first episode. Which let me tell you episode 1 hit me like a brick. The situation Chloe was in where she had to live with David was very close to what happened to me my senior year. I was lucky enough to have alternative ways of escaping, but I still felt her pain. Living with someone you're forced to care about is the worst thing in the world. I was always told "What are you going to do when you have roommates you don't like". Essentially it's a way for the parent to make a selfish decision, and not factor in their child. Particularly when I played the scene where it gives you the option between "Restart" or "Hold grudge" it put me back in my dads house.
For people who think Chloe is acting irrationally, you really don't understand. The pressure of trying to be constantly interacting with this stranger who you'd never talk anyways, every single day. It's too much, and for those who believe there is no consequence I have been told that the other person actively hates me for not putting up good conversation. I admittedly wasn't perfect, but I was trying to get prepared for college. I was pretty busy.
Needless to say Chloe's arc hit me a bit harder than the other story lines. Beyond that personal anecdote I enjoyed a particular scene in episode 2 that I think was really inventive. The performance scene. When I realized I actually had to remember all the lines I was studying extremely hard to make sure I got everything right. Sure enough I did, and the framing, style, dialogue, everything about that scene showed me the potential for games as a medium. If you knew nothing you could study, if you already knew the play you could go up and nail it. Also going to throw this in here Rachel Amber is from my hometown of Long Beach, CA so I geeked out a bit.
The last episode was an especially interesting play through. I went to my best-friends house and played through the ENTIRE season. Then we made choices based on what we wanted collectively. It was a great time, and the ending was quite the choice because we HEAVILY differed on what we should do. Eventually my friend hit the button for her choice. I later watched the other ending, and found out that they are very similar. But the mere fact that we shared such a fierce debate I felt the developers at DeckNine did a good job picking up the mantle.
This brings me to LiS season 2, i'm now at a very weird stage in my life. I wasn't able to afford to go back to my college for the fall quarter. So I am working a full time job to make money to go back, and I am working on a side game project that I hope will earn scholarships. It's a scary place. I may not be able to go back, I may be stuck. All I know is that I have to keep pushing forward. I was accomplished at my school, and I hope they see that. But for now I am trying to figure out the best way to get back. Because I may still be making games but I was much better in that community environment.
I almost forgot why I want to even make games. Long hours, little pay, less job security than a fax repair technician. So why do it? Well I sat down and instead of seeing another game that looks prettier than the first I saw experience. The graphics are pretty yes. But when it comes to adding a narrative device like Daniel, that takes a lot of work. Not to mention how smooth they fit in the choices you make. Like where you stay for the night is literally a branching path. The level design centers around the concept of acting like a real environment. Everything felt seamless, and the only time I noticed the forced sections was when my game crashed and I had to restart the gas station entering scene.
When they presented me with the options to purchase my first thought was "OK, there is no way in hell that someone is paying 3.50 for a 2-liter in murica". But my second thought was that it felt like when I would get to the end of my college quarter and needed to ration my money. It was very realistic in the way it feels to buy necessities. I won't get into the old racist guy because it's been talked about a lot in this subreddit and I feel like it's a bigger discussion.
But overall DontNod showed that they understand more about how to make these games. It's not about always going into a cutscene to have a discussion. It's about experiencing a story with little nuances. They even start the game with Lyla joking about how "She will remember that later". I feel like nobody has talked about the importance of that line. It's DontNod saying to the players that they trust the design and players enough to not remind them how these games are played. It's not going to handhold your decisions, they want your choices to feel natural and carry the weight of a conversation.
The "Weight of a conversation" Is kind of a big deal. It's why some of us are shy and want to avoid social interaction. It's hard to know what to say. I think here using the fact that Sean and Daniel are on the run is the perfect way to make you uneasy, and second guess all of your decisions. I love this game so much. It's been around 3 years. I went from Lonely Highschool student to what's kind of an indie game developer trying to find his way in life. In each stage of my life I found new things to enjoy in Life is Strange. I don't know what's going to happen to me by the end of season 2, but I know that I'll be in a better place than I was before.
Literally this past summer I was working on the floor of my room, I now have a desk. I had a concept for a game, now all I need to do is implement art assets and polish. I've learned entirely new skills. Only thing i'm guaranteeing is that I get TF out of the state I moved to 11 years ago.
Anyways I hoped you all enjoyed this long post if you made it to the end. After finishing S2E1 all these thoughts rushed through my head. I'd love to hear other peoples stories if possible. Even if you think it's not important you never know who might get something out of it, after all Life is Strange.
Submitted October 01, 2018 at 11:30PM by tacoaboutet https://ift.tt/2Ni5PW6
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