It struck me as I was replaying a second play through of the game that Max is a very flawed person. If you remove all the small choices you can make for her within that game she is on balance decent person. Yet... she has one defining past action that is REALLY regrettable that reveal what I think is her deepest character flaw.

When she moves away she never contacts Chloe. This was her best friend. She hung ot at Chloe's house. She was a familiar face to her mother and father. Moreover, Chloe's father seems to be one of the adults in Max's life that stood out.

In that game narrative, correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears Max knew Chloe's father had passed away too. That fact about Chloe was not a surprise to Max at all. So it appears Max never contacted Chloe and possibly even when she knew Chloe's father had passed she didn't even contact her then. Max is not evil or even bad, but I would have to say that sort of behavior is cruel. Its cruelty through cowardice because there seems to be no real reason to ditch Chloe, and when give opportunity to contact she does not, she chooses not to do that.

- I think if I were Chloe I would be far more angry, and while I think Chloe is angry, I think the reality would be to REALLY hate Max.

Notes On the game:

I really think this game is use the concept of misdirection with characters. Kate Marsh, Warren Graham, and Stella Hill are not as clean and nice as they seem. In fat a lot of those students give me a bad vibe.

Bottomline: I think there are at least six or seven student characters who KNOW what happened to Rachel Amber and/or are responsible (in full or in part) for her disappearance. I think the paranoid angry stepfather/security guard is probably that one who gives a damn about stopping whatever nefarious bullshit those students are pulling.

Teenagers/young adults are assholes

Is anyone? Especially in their teenage years?

She's a teenager. She does teenage stuff, most of it stupid and hurtful to both herself and others. She's a very passive person, it's in her body language, but also in how she behaves before she gets her powers or even later, before she gets the opportunity to utilize it to fix her mistakes. Which, by the way, is why the time travel mechanics make perfect sense for her character - she's allowed, consequence-free, to learn how to be active about her life. I mean, it's obvious that the game is driving towards an aesop about responsibility, like every coming-of-age story.

That's actually something that mesmerized me about that first episode: they show teenagers as teenagers. There's some dorky stuff with the dialogue, but I really like the fact that they don't try to portray them as Juno-level stand-up comedians who have all this quirky nonsense around them. Max is an anxiety-ridden kid who enumerates famous authors that she most likely only knows half of, Warren is the definition of a guy who is simply incapable of being more awkward around girls (that Cannibal Holocaust recommendation killed me), Chloe is a "rebel" who has "deep" thoughts when smoking pot, etc.

Sure, there's a fat mystery beneath all that, but I don't mind. I loved Joan of Arcadia, Tru Calling and Veronica Mars, but if they can combine that atmosphere with the maturity of writing of something the like of My So-Called Life, they have me by the nuts.

Character flaws are the groundwork upon which development is based. Hopefully, future episodes will have her "make up" for being what is admittedly a kind of shitty friend. Still, that aspect of her adds to the overall somber tone of the game, which is something I'm really digging.

Alternatively, I have a similar problem wherein I haven't kept in touch with any friends whom I don't hang out with regularly. I think it comes from something Jeff mentioned on Danswers about your own self worth. I feel like I'd be imposing upon them by calling, e-mailing them etc.

Now, by all accounts, Chloe and Max seemed like inseperable friends, so I don't think this already-stretching-it explanation covers that. But I do think it ironically makes Max MORE likeable to me because it's relatable. I don't like calling long-since-parted friends, not because I don't like them, but because it's a pale imitation of actually being with them and is thus depressing. And the aforementioned insecurity issue.

I know it's entirely likely that this much thought was NOT put into her character design and her seemingly dickish behaviour was just an oversight made by the devs, but I think maybe something like this might get touched on later. For many introverts, being reminded of your departed friend hurts more than letting the silence linger.

I get the impression that Max is a shy and anxious person, which kind of explains that behavior. It's good to have flawed characters. They're much more interesting than perfect ones.

All good points by everyone. I think what I'm saying is, despite being far more realistic than most games, I think Chloe would not be done raging at Max. Maybe, this just hits too close to home for me. :- |

And, maybe that, Chloe being mad some more; will be put into episode 2 through 5.

Truthfully, for all the snarkiness reviewers have said about saying, "hella", I think they captured teenagers talking and hanging out pretty well. At the very least they captured "Private Day School" students....I know a lot of those good and bad. If this game finishes at least as strongly as it starts I think this game will be on a few Top 10 Lists. BTW: Dontnod said in a EGX Q&A (03/14/15) that the story writer and dialogue was written by an American living in San Francisco.