Playdate: Life is Strange (11/20/2015)

Sadly, that probably won't happen. This week is Thanksgiving holiday with staff going in all directions, and the following week is filming GOTY...or that is what I think they said.

They likely will see Ep 4, but my guess is they will go into deliberations not having seen it all. They will have seen enough though.

@exogen said:

Bad? I think it's great. It can be serious and thoughtful, but it can also be fun and silly. It's one of the many things that makes Life Is Strange such a wonderful and unique experience.

This is series is really the best, GB East are killing it with all the content. Hope they can somehow finish this before GOTY.

Whaaaaaat. Damn, I can't wait for them to play this again. This game is awesome!

I've never met anyone who talks like that, but that's just how these characters speak. In Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons the characters don't even speak English, they speak a language that's native to that game world I think, and that was still a great game. Also later on in the game they speak differently but I can't say more right now.

the way Vinny call out nearly every event that's about to happen,

that man has seen everything.

Man, Alex's Samuel voice is so fucking good. Also, I'm glad that Alex catches on to the all-seeing homeless lady and the cryptic janitor, though sadly those both kinda go nowhere and are just there for atmosphere.

I wish they had set up the "side with David/side with Chloe" choice a little better. Like, siding with David is supposed to be "hey, maybe let's not split up Joyce and David, and also it's the option you pick if you think David is maybe an idiot but not the mastermind", but instead David is so aggro that you'd be crazy to take his side. Also if you side with David then Max says dumb stuff like "we have no proof David is being weird", which the player knows is a completely false thing to say. Also, they really drop no hints to make David seem sympathetic at all (possible PTSD, also in the previous episode he mentioned being tired of fighting people, but I guess David was having a bad morning so he's extra dickish). It's barely a choice, unless you really don't want to split up David and Joyce.

GB East's playthrough of this is great. Seeing them and the chat react to the game has been pretty great. Too bad they won't have finished it by the time they go to San Francisco for GotY talk, but at least they got this far. Also since it sounds like they hope to finish it in early December sometime (or at least play Episode 4), I'll be curious to see whether it makes a big enough impression to make any of their personal GotY lists.

Vinny: "Are we gonna stop the dad from going out?"

Austin: "No, that's too much! That's too fucking much!"

God, this is the best game to watch other people play.

Alex's reaction to the new photo power is just the best. "We can travel back in time and take the cigarette out of skeleton's mouth!"

@likeassur said:

Yeah, that whole scene could've been written better. It almost feels like the devs are tricking the player into siding with Chloe (not that that's the right or wrong choice), but I don't think they are and it's more that they just botched the feel of that scene. It seems like the devs did not even try to make David's side a viable option.

If they had written David to actually chill out halfway through the scene and admit he flies off the handle and goes too far sometimes, then it's Chloe who stays angry and keeps yelling, THEN you have to make a choice, it might've been an interesting choice. Do you side with David because he's being reasonable for once even though you know he has weird surveillance, or do you side with Chloe even though David wants to be nice and Chloe is being way too angry and mean?

Instead, between the surveillance stuff you know about David and him being a huge dick in that scene, it seems preposterous that any player would take his side in that argument.

I think either the scene is poorly written (to make it a meaningful choice between siding with David or Chloe) or the exposition of the choice is what's been botched. I feel that if it was the same scene, but the choice was "Expose David" or "Hide your info on him", the reply from Max would make more sense (specifically her telling Chloe to calm down and trying to down play things if you side with David). And, I did think about siding with David during my play though because I was thinking that backing him would mean that he would have our back later on and that Chloe would be on our side regardless.

Also, vague spoilers for episode 5:

THE END OF THIS BLEW MY MIND

I think what's mostly disappointing is that if the writing and execution were done a bit (lot) better, this would be a good game because the different elements floating around in it are at least uncommon and could go somewhere. It's not like Ride to Hell or something that's largely generic, more like it's falling way short of its potential.

Look at David, for example. Some minor tweaks could have made him a sympathetic or relatable character. Like, they went to the trouble of setting up peripheral details for him that show he genuinely loves his wife, tries to get on well with Chloe, wants to do his job well, and is dealing with some past traumas that keep straining that. But then whenever he's actually in a scene he's overly antagonistic to the point of caricature and makes it look like all those humanizing bits about him are made up. Chloe is almost always the one provoking him, but the game skews it so she's supposed to seem justified or something when it's the complete opposite. It's really weird.

Nathan is absolutely just a caricature of shitty high school rich guy. They don't even try to make him a person.

A lot of the how the sequence of events actually play out bug me too, but I could forgive those if so many of the characters weren't so badly done.

@bocckob: I'm assuming you haven't played, (or watched) the other episodes yet. Many of the reservations you mentioned are addressed. This is why I hope they continue the series, especially before GOTY. So stay tuned man! Or buy and play it yourself, I highly recommend it.

Should I buy this game even though I already watch it played all the way through?

I'm don't know what to do.

Yeah, if they had framed the binary choice better in a way that was like "Dawg, if you turn against David here, you are really burning some bridges", but they didn't. Or like you said, if there was some indication that David was sympathetic or would be your bro if you'd give him a chance, but instead he doesn't appear in the episode in a speaking role until just this moment and is IMMEDIATELY an asshole to everybody, even kind of Joyce. He's a dick in episode 1, then softens a little in episode 2, but then they give you no incentive in episode 3 to think he has any kind of nice side whatsoever or that there would be any benefit, practically or personally, to taking his side.

And episode 5 spoilers:

Honestly, episode 3 (or maybe 5) might be the worst offender of nonchoices, where the 5-6 "big" story choices for the episode either don't really matter, or are so lopsided that it's barely a choice. As we've discussed, the argument scene is super lopsided and most people side with Chloe. Later, even if you think Frank is a dirtbag, the idea that "throw the dog bone out into traffic" is a viable choice is laughable. Like, whyyyyyy would the dog deserve that. Or one of the choices is "do you steal the gun from the RV", except if you kept the gun in the first place then you literally bypass that choice entirely in episode 3 because Chloe definitely still has the gun.

Speaking of the gun, whether you have the gun or not is honestly a pretty minor issue, because you'd have to be a psychopath to actually stick with the version of the scene where Chloe shoots and kills Frank. I'm sorta surprised that the game spends 2 major "decision" points in 2 different episodes on gaining or losing the gun, but I guess the tension it creates is interesting. I wasn't nearly as concerned as Vinny about Chloe having a gun, because, I dunno, worst case scenario I thought it might lead to a standoff with Nathan or something.

So Episode 3 has some of the least memorable choices outside of the kiss, but has some of the best fixed story moments, between the bonding moments with Chloe and then the big twist at the end which the previous moments set up nicely. So excited to see the GB East reaction to episode 4.

Then you're going to want to see the end of episode 4. Just try and make sure you got a new mind before you go in.

I really want to see the next one of these soon, HOWEVER, I would rather wait if it means there won't be Alex doing it soon. Having Alex there is one of my favorite parts of these videos. Wouldn't be the same without him.

@shaunk: "Alexis Alexander Navarro"

Wow, that's... Yeah, that's a name. Alex and I have the same middle name though so that's cool to find out.

Also @austin_walker, Walker comes from a old Scottish military role where a soldier would walk and inspect the land, kind of as a mix of recon and patrolling. The video game analogy I've heard is that it's what the protagonist in Spec Ops: The Line (Martin Walker) was supposed to be doing.

Also, scrubjay again! I like scrubjays they're evil little birds.

I love how everybody has memorized Rachel Amber's clothes. Is that a thing?

@alavapenguin: Yeah Alex seemed to have reacted the same way I did when I saw the ending back when Ep 3 came out. Obviously I wasn't talking out loud to myself but he was relaying the same thoughts I was having.

Not everybody just the ones close to her like Chloe's mum, Nathan and Frank.

I thought this game was generally "meh" but DAMN that ending! When she said "no i would never do that to chloe" i legit though they would have had her be rachel or something and i honestly got chills..damn. Not sure if having her dad survive is actually a better outcome though

edit after credits : hang on this isnt even the end??? fucking hell this just became my favorite thing since contradiction

I'm not sure why people like this game enough to think it deserves a spot on a GOTY list. I finished it and thought it was enjoyable but also that there were far too many flaws (e.g. with its main draw, the storytelling, among other things). Also, far too many better games this year.

This game is much more than it looks like. My "Best New IP" contender of the year, at least.

Glad it's getting some kudos on GB, it gives right what the guys keep saying they want: something different, some new ideas on the bag. Tops off to SquareEnix for publishing this.

@marblez3: I didnt know what to even think when she said that.... wow

Loving this almost as much as Contradiction. Can't wait for the next episode :)

@paulunga: different people, different opinions? not to be argumentative. games are big enough for people to have big differences in tastes.

I'm glad they are continuing this. I hope they finish it before the end of the year so it ends up on someone's list.

Boooo, where's Toonstruck

I think all the Max internal dialogue like 'release the kra-can' is fantastic.

The writing in this game continues to be charming, in a sort of cringe-inducing way. There's a very real earnestness to everything that's presented, even when it's clearly derivative of other fiction, that makes this super interesting to watch. That goes doubly when the GBeast crew is reacting to everything that's going on.

That said, I'm not sure I agree with the people who think this is GOTY material or anything, but maybe there will be something in those last two episodes that will resonate for me. Otherwise, this is just a weirder, more deliberately mundane take on the Telltale style of episodic adventure game.

Absolutely. I'm not saying their opinion isn't valid, just that I don't get it in this case. There are plenty of games that aren't my cup of tea (DOTA 2, Destiny, anything by Blizzard except Hearthstone) but I understand the decision to make them your personal GOTY. This game is theoretically exactly what I'm into, I just don't think it's very good.

But sure, everyone's free to enjoy whatever they like. ;)

what a neat game

This is great. Thanks duders.

I just did and it was completely worth it.

I'm still a slight emotional mess since finishing the game. What a send-off.

@bisonhero: Not quoting to prevent from having a wall of text for a post, but I think that episode 3 takes the cake for non-choice (spoilers coming up) since episode 5 never uses the "consequences butterfly" for your actions, so they're admitting that, ultimately, your choices don't have much of an impact. Episode 3's choices can have some light consequences (looking at that 4% of monsters throwing the bone into the street and the money stealers) that give a different twist to the story, but those are more about forming "your" Max than changing the plot.

General story spoilers:

And, yeah, can't wait to see how they react to episode 4 with all the powerful moments in that episode.

I just marathon'd this whole game in less than a day. The ending of this episode and what it sets up for episode four made the fourth episode by far the most emotionally distressful for me. I can't wait to see how they react to what happens because it is heavy.

Love the ending of episode 3, such a world expanding moment. They also do a pretty good job following through with this momentum in the remaining episodes.

this game is growing on me

Finally finished playing this so I could come back and watch them play it... I really really hope they get to do a second season.

It was so worth it. I finished it as well and... yeah. I dunno. This might just end up being my game of the year.

Yeah, I can't wait to see how they tackle 4 & 5. For me, the end of Episode 3 was where the plot hit its pace and didn't let up again.

David may be paranoid, blunt and intrusive but hes not false or evil (at least not so far i dunno where the series will take him) and he truly loves Joice and tries to love Chloe. I dont get all the hate towards him, give him some love hes had it hard.

So glad someone there is playing this...I need someone fighting for this game on the GOTY podcasts, or I'd just spend 3 hours yelling at my phone. Easily my favorite game of the year, just adored it.

All 3 of you thought the Lupin reference was an anime thing. It's a reference to Arsene Lupin, a famous fictional thief from some French 19th century stories.

So watching the crew play this far into the game made me decide to pick up the game and play through it myself. I now understand why it seems that quite a number of people want the crew to finish this game before GOTY discussions. I'm not too sure in what categories it'd fit into, but I do think it would be fun and interesting to hear them bring this game up and talk about it. It's not perfect, but I thought the game as a whole was a very enjoyable experience!

@geralt: Yes. It's great fun to replay on your own. And at the very least you're assisting a very hard working developer in potentially making a second season.

Is anyone else having problems with the giant bomb videos not on youtube? Both this one and the previous life is strange video have been fucked for me, they randomly stop halfway through and I can never skip forward in the video so I have to wait a literal hour and a half to get to the point I was at previously and then it randomly stops again at some point, so I haven't been able to finish the videos. I've tried with chrome and firefox and neither work. I haven't seen anyone else comment about this and it's only on giant bomb it happens, but it's really weird.

I was pretty unimpressed with this game until the cliffhanger came in this video. That takes a lot of guts to just decide to go fucking crazy with your story. Kudos, maybe I'll pick it up and try to get through it now before these videos show the rest of the game.