Tag: chloe price

Life is Strange – 9 out of 10 (sleeper hit)

(Max Caulfield. She will steal your heart with comments like “Are you cereal” like she did with me.)

Life is Strange is one of those surprise games. Before I downloaded episode 1, I had never heard anyone mention the game. It wasn’t one of those games that was hyped like Grand Theft Auto 5 or Red Dead Redemption 2. While the game received mediocre reviews overall, the game has one of the most loyal fanbases I’ve ever seen. You can count me as one of these fans.

I will start this review a little different. I will begin with the bad in the game. The graphics are out of date. A few cut scenes are terrible, as mouths of the characters don’t move while they speak. Some of the script is beyond stupid. I feel the writers were pressured into completion and just threw dialogue in there at times. The plot has more holes it in than a porno script. Normally all of this leads to a game sucking. Not the case with Life is Strange.

Why do we love this game? Max Caulfield and Chloe Price. That’s why. I am near 40 now and I can relate to them growing up. In high school I went through the whole “punk look” like Chloe, wearing leather jackets, gauges in my ears and combat boots. Deep down inside I was a nerd more like Max. Like Chloe, I had a couple of close friends that moved away.

Making decisions in the game actually matter. The first time I played, Frank Bowers hated Max. Second time I played the game, he was mostly nice. All of this was based on things I said and did toward him. During my first ever play through I made some dumb choices. This led to me watching the sweet Kate Marsh commit suicide. That was a shocking moment I did not expect.

(I still hate Mark Jefferson.)

The game had a lot of shocking moments. Nathan Prescott goes from rude prep to a crazed stalker. Frank Bowers, mean drug dealer, becomes a major ally in helping solve the mystery of Rachel Amber. Mr. Wells is shown to have personal issues such as heavy drinking, due to him being a coward and letting the rich elite snobs push him around, such as not punishing Nathan for having a gun. David Madsen, mostly portrayed as mentally unstable due to war, ends up saving Max. Then ole Mr. Jefferson. The beloved teacher who turned out to be the mastermind behind Rachel Amber’s death, the kidnapping of numerous girls and the dick who shot Chloe Price.

Life is Strange was the first game in a longtime to actually make me sad. When I saw Mark Jefferson shoot Chloe, I can recall yelling at my TV because Max was too weak to use her rewind power. Watching Kate die almost made me reset and start over, as I didn’t want to see her commit suicide. Having to pick on sparing Chloe or Arcadia Bay was stressful. My first play through I spared the Bay. Having to watch Chloe get shot again, well, it sucked. Sucked bad. Add a funeral scene with sad music at the end, damn you developers.

(Yeah, let’s just add as many sad scenes as we can toward the end.)

Max and Chloe have both became favorite video game characters of mine. The chemistry between the two was done well. Chloe is rebellious, but deep down inside she strives to be Max. Max on the other hand, learns to be more self-confident through the chapters as she spends more and more time with Chloe. Chloe learns from Max and offers to give her life for the greater good. A first as throughout the game before that point, everything was about Chloe. She was against her mom getting remarried, upset when she found out Rachel was seeing Frank and would go off anytime Max disagreed with her.

Life is Strange is a great video game. It has a very nostalgic feeling to it. People of the same age group of Max and Chloe can easily relate to them. Someone my age can too, as I’ve been through many of the things they have. A great story and great characters can win people of any age group over. Life is Strange does that well. I am happy I discovered this game by pure accident back in 2015.

While the game is far from perfect, the beautiful story and awesome two main characters make up for the bad. I give this game a 9 out of 10. This game was the sleeper success story of 2015.

Life is Strange Before the Storm – 6 out of 10 (a major let down)

(Max Caulfield and Chloe Price. Great chemistry which led to one of the most sad endings in video game history. Taken from Life is Strange.)

I discovered the original Life is Strange by luck. I downloaded episode 1 from the PlayStation store for free, knowing nothing about it. At first all I could think was “Man, this game is geared toward teen girls and dudes who think the Notebook is a good movie.” Lucky for me I kept playing and gave the game a chance. This game became the sleeper hit of 2015. The game even to this day has a radical fanbase and following. I may or may not have a tattoo of Max Caulfield.

The story and plot had many loopholes. There is an excellent video on YouTube showing this seen here. With that said, there are so many reasons people like me fell in love with the game. First, look at Max Caulfield and Chloe Price, the main two characters. They are fun. Cute. Funny. They are so different and yet, so very much alike. The game has a very nostalgic feeling to it as you watch Max and Chloe reconnect as friends.  Most of us have lost a close friend due to them moving away. The majority of us can relate to Max and Chloe in one way or another.

(Chloe Price and Rachel Amber from Life is Strange Before the Storm. 90% of the time I am ready for the damn cut-scene to just end!!!)

For those that have never played it, let me sum it up quickly. The game starts with a dream with Max waking up during the worst tornado in history. She then wakes up in class. Goes to the bathroom and witnesses Chloe getting shot. She then discovers she has the power to rewind time and change things. The entire game is based on choices, which all effect the game. Some in minor ways, while others effect the game in major ways. The game is based on the butterfly effect. Got it? Good.

Now, let’s fast forward to Life is Strange before the Storm which plot and story actually takes place before the events of Life is Strange. You play as Chloe and lead her on her journey with another girl named Rachel Amber. No special power. Just you sneaking into concerts, uncovering the truth about Rachel’s parents and fight a few drug dealers along way. Sounds neat, but far from it.

  1. I find way too many loopholes with this game. Many characters that we know from the original Life is Strange are so different in this game, it’s like the writers had no clue about the original story. Frank Bowers is seen as a mean drug dealer in the original. This game shows him as very calm, mainly toward the females. David Madsen, Chloe’s stepfather, is portrayed as mostly easy going and caring. In the original he is very sexist and strict, even smacking Chloe during an argument. Nathan Prescott is seen as shy and timid. He is a bully in the original.
  2. Rachel Amber is a boring side character. When Chloe tagged along, I enjoyed her company in the game. Knowing how the game started, all I could do was think about not letting her die. With Rachel, I could care less if she was in the scenes at all.
  3. In the original, you felt like your choices mattered. You can either save or not save a girl from suicide. You can help people from dangerous situations. In this game you backtalk people which leads to some of the laziest video script writing in history.
  4. The original had a sad ending, no matter what you choose. You can either save Chloe and watch the entire town get wiped out by the tornado or spare the town by sacrificing Chloe. This game, you simply tell Rachel about her dad’s murder plot or not. Sounds cool, but its hella not.
  5. The original has more chapters and takes longer to play. This one is a major letdown.
  6. The game really doesn’t explain anything. What made Rachel save Chloe at the beginning? Why did she all of a sudden want to be best friends with her? In the original, we know that Max and Chloe grew up together and were like family. We know that when Max moved, Chloe went through a downward spiral.

Now for some praise. I lost my father in 2017. He had dementia for the final three years of his life. Unlike Chloe’s father who died young and suddenly, my father lived to be 84 and we watched his decline. I can relate as I have dreams almost weekly of my dad. Most are about him and me watching sports, comedy or fishing. We talk and joke just like we did when he was alive. The Chloe dream scenes with her father hit home with me, as I’m sure they do with a lot of people.  

I did think the downward spiral of Chloe is done well in this game. Early in the game we see that Chloe is still pretty close with her mom. Overtime their relationship falls apart. We know from the original that Chloe hardly even speaks to her mom, as her mom talks to Max about losing her. We also see Chloe slowly become the punk rocker chick that we as fans love. That part was well done.

(Chloe being shot the second time in Life is Strange. One of the saddest moments in video gaming history.)

Overall, this game isn’t terrible. Just a major letdown for me after loving the original. It has some great moments but falls way short of what made Life is Strange awesome. I give this game a 6 out of 10.

(Hey, yo, ya dad plotted to murder your birth mother. Let’s dye my hair. Basically the ending of Life is Strange Before the Storm.)