Rumination Analysis on Life Is Strange

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[@joetoast1000]

I worry about people judging me all the time. Am I eating too loudly? Am I talking too much? Am I being too loud? Am I being too annoying? I wondered for a long time why I was so focused on what other people thought of me. Then I realised that it was because deep down I really just wanted to be liked.

[@DaTurdburglar]

Loved this man. I interpreted it as more about spreading the message of acceptance and moving on. Its an issue all of the major characters have, like Chloe not being able to move on from her fathers death and accepting her new life with her stepfather. The power to repeat the past and have redos is something the average person as some point in their life has wished for. The game kind of shows that even with those powers, we will still make mistakes and make poor judgement calls. But we have to accept our failures and keep on going.

[@SpiderNightcrawler]

Lore: Chloe wouldn't threaten someone with a gun Chloe: -threatens someone with a gun-

[@Jman3862]

Oh! It's finally here! The life is strange rumination! I was waiting for this for awhile. I haven't watched the video yet but I will definitely get around to it later today. I'm going to assume it's great like your other ruminations. Keep up the great work, Lore! I appreciate the time and thought you put into these videos.

[@Ben-uk5qt]

My issue with the game is that the first half or so of the game is somewhat of a coming of age, “great power, great responsibility” theme, and the second half seemed less coming of age and more alladin style “be careful what you wish for.” The ending seemed to be a choice between those two parts of Max’s life, but the issue comes when one of those endings is CLEARLY the “better” ending, the true ending.

[@Dotoku14]

I'm not sure which is the 'true ending' honestly. I thought the creators never specified. I saved Chloe and headcannoned an evacuation at the last minute. Because screw the sacrifice ending.

[@debott4538]

Although I can agree with your analysis of this game's core theme, I would also like to add that Life is Strange is a genuine story about friendship if not outright true love. Of course Max' and Chloe's relationship is still subject to that overarching theme of yours, however it can also give meaning to everything that happened during the length of the game. So in a way this love could even still somehow be equal to the overall vanity of life. Maybe? I don't know, I just wanted to mention this as an addendum and as fascinating contrast between these two possible themes. But maybe I'm also just too much of an optimist.

[@gingeroverseer9302]

This game is well crafted with an undeniably fascinating premise though I couldn't handle the cringefest that is the portrayal of millennials in a liberal arts degree environment. Not a political comment merely a social comment. I got it free one month on PSN thank you as always for your wonderful rumination I look forward to more in the future : )

[@Dotoku14]

Ill defend it and say that this game came out before things got REALLY bad on the liberal front. I think if the creators were a bit further to the left and it came out this year it'd be just awful.

[@SMGReturns]

Different strokes, but at least it made sense. That kind of environment does exist. If it was just forcing rhetoric down my throat then maybe. I just see it as a consequence of the setting and not a direct flaw. Honestly, I loved the approach. The photography motif was relevant.

[@jebes909090]

@@Dotoku14 life is strange 2 is what it would be. fortunately lis1 came out before sjw content was put above story and gameplay.

[@MistahJay7]

Lol the thing you are talking about hits the hardest when I cross a 4 way busy street. Like all the sudden walking normally feels like an Einstein project

[@RepublicAgent]

Thank you for this and really all your vids. You help me. I so appreciate your thoughts. Thank you for sharing them.

[@1stCainite]

I loved it. Both the game, and the rumination.

[@1stCainite]

the thumbnail is from Before the Storm, though.[EDIT: No longer]

[@joshuaspell8034]

You’re someone whose voice I’ve come to appreciate, and now you’ve examined two of my favorite games: this and Knights of the Old Republic II. So, thank you. What stuck with me wasn’t the big tier stuff (like time travel) but the low tier stuff (ruminating on the past, quiet moments with friends, etc.). Got a little too real for me. As Ross pointed out in his Game Dungeon, it’s not without faults, but it came along at just the right time to hit me in a certain way. I think that’s why it resonates with a lot of twenty-somethings.

[@rmsgrey]

I never passed up an opportunity to sit on a bench (or wherever) in this game...

[@st2rseeker]

Speaking as an introvert who has been pushed into extrovert-friendly ventures for the better part of my life, the game (and your rumination about it) is too relatable. The struggle was (is?) real. Perhaps it is an issue of being able to relate to such characters - and in such a character-driven game, it does make or break the experience (and the opinion of the game).

[@1stCainite]

I completely agree. This game hit me extremely close. I have probably watched 5 complete playthroughs of it and played it once myself, and I am still not done with it.

[@Frieza2000XTC]

The extra time you put into this one shows. Clever ending.

[@TheGamingLibrary]

"Sometimes bad things happen, and there's nothing you can do about it."Just the way you said that at the very end i have to admit gave me chills. Well done!

[@holysecret2]

ay still rocking, I check back from time to time to watch what interests me^^ good luck

[@FlagshipFighter]

So cool to see you review this! The sequel is absolutely worth checking out imo

[@MiniBeas]

In my opinion I think this is one of the best Ruminations you have done. This game took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. Rekindling the relationship with Chloe and going through so much drama just to realize that all of it gets taken away was soooo hard for me. Life isn't fair, and I guess the question is, would Max have been better off not rekindling her relationship with Chloe in the very beginning? I just know I was broken for a good while after playing this game, and it hurts to watch that ending.

[@visualeyezdoug8158]

God damn, this is the best channel on KZbin. Lorerunner is a video game guru

[@RainBurner13]

As answer to your question about anxiety and judgement..constantly every day. The challenge is trying to not think about it. And it sure is exhausting.

[@u2Parv]

My take away is that Max stole basically an extra week with Chloe, a person she quite clearly regrets breaking contact and basically reconnecting with her. The storm is the universe being upset not that Chloe has lived, but that the natural order has been disturbed and afterwards it resets, similar to like what you said. This I think allows for both endings to make sense but not without consequence.

[@sandwich1601]

I don't know why her premonition would precede her actively disrupting this natural order then. I mean, if I had a premonition followed by some sick ass time-travel powers (coupled with oddly coincidental ruminations in life about Everyday Heroes) I wouldn't think the universe is asking me to sit on my thumbs.

[@cecasander]

Been waiting for this one for a while, and I'm happy you enjoyed it and its characters. The storm being a natural manifestation to rectify an temporal imbalance makes sense. If it were something truly metaphysical it would make little sense for Arcadia Bay to be destroyed while having Max and Chloe being able to drive away unharmed. But in nature, real storms and earthquakes happen without no rhyme or reason other as a reaction to such an imbalance. I do disagree that it was all for naught though. Max' power might still remain dormant after she didn't use it on saving Chloe. Ofcourse, Max knows not to every use it because of the consequences. But based on the fact that Frank and Kate and Victoria all show up at Chloe's funeral seems to indicate that Max was able to do things based on the knowledge she gained during the game (being a better friend to Kate, finding Rachel, having Jefferson arrested). Spoilers for the sequel (Before The Storm): As for the message being that 'life sucks and then you die', this is even more prominent in BTS. The ending is basically a whole 'they live happily every after' montage followed by a clip Rachel's phone lying on the desk in the dark room, being called by Chloe, as you hear a photocamera clicking. The message being that no matter how 'good' of an ending this game had, Rachel is still going to end up drugged and killed.

[@rmsgrey]

One of the big unexplored mysteries of Max's snapshot power is how her auto-pilot self operates for the time between when she leaves the photo to the time she retakes control with full memories of time-travel. It seems likely that the auto-pilot doesn't have memories from present-day Max's life - otherwise things would have played out differently when she saved William's life... More likely, Chloe's death meant the authorities couldn't ignore Nathan Prescott's behaviour, no matter what Sean Prescott might want, and the ensuing investigation uncovered the Dark Room and Mark Jefferson's unsavoury hobby. Meanwhile, both Victoria and Kate had a shock and a distraction from their in-fighting...

[@Gollvieg]

I admit, I hated this game for it's ending message. No matter what you choose, the time/effort/pain that you go through the story WILL BE WASTED. All the story boiled down to was "nothing you do will ever pay off" since none of your choices matter. Why save Kate to let her die to the storm? Why try to catch Mr. Jefferson when he gets caught if Max does nothing? It feel like the core message of the game is: "don't try because nothing will become of it"

[@sandwich1601]

_So you wanna be an everyday hero? Well f**k you!_

[@RedHeadGuitar]

Some interesting thoughts, thanks for the video! Well...for me this game is not at all about "life sucks and then you die". The ending is a weak point, definitely. It's among the few things that are criticized a lot on the web. But this game is not to be reduced on the ending. It's a game about interpersonal relations, friendship, trust, self-reflection and some highly sensitive topics that are almost never thematized in video games in that extent. And it delivers these topics with some great honesty. This game has some flaws (which one doesn't...and remember this was an indie game), but for me personally it has something that almost no game I've ever played has...a soul. Something that struck my heart, a lot, something that makes me think about this game a long time after playing it. And that's something that has never happened to me before with any game or movie or even books. Oh one side note, not about LiS but about the video: You know how to work with a green-screen, so I'm sure you know how to cut out interruptions. ;-) And as someone who does some music recording as a hobby, I hear some low frequency hum during the whole video through my speakers. Probably picked up by your microphone from AC or computer noise. That can be easily removed with a high pass filter. It might not be audible through laptop speakers. Again, thanks for the video! I enjoyed it.

[@updogsmusicdump7487]

Great vid man

[@isultansultangaliev5852]

A crossover I somehow did not expect.

[@Dotoku14]

I really like the explanation of a Tale vs a Story in your view. Ya finally did it! xD And I agree with you on the theme of this game. That's why I saved Chloe and came up with my headcanon that the town was eventually evacuated, BECAUSE OF COURSE IT WAS! I wasn't going to let Chloe die and let the entire story be for nothing. And a quick note about Warren. Mr. 'I'm going to hide outside your widow for a few hours to spy on you'. I've known people like him personally. The kind of guy who's always trying to get lucky by being the 'nice guy'. He's 2 steps from being Jefferson imo.

[@PicardRiker08]

You're 100% wrong about Max not using her powers fixing the storm, the "unlock" as you say. The final photograph used to go back to the bathroom scene, was taken during her second time-jump/trip to the bathroom while she was retracing her steps from her previous visit there. In that timeline, she had already used her rewind power to fix her broken camera in class a few minutes prior to the second butterfly photo being taken (she gets sent back in time to class, and tests if she really has powers or not by fixing the camera). Thus in the timeline used to jump back through the final photo, she has already used her powers prior to the moment that photo was taken. Therefore it is impossible to conclude that Max "unlocking" her power for the first time is what causes the storm. Chloe's death or avoidance of death is what causes the timeline fracture.

[@Dotoku14]

I think you're assuming too much mate. The first time she used her power was when Chloe was shot. She jumped back to the moment the picture was taken and did nothing about it in the bullshit ending. Here's the thing though, it's never specified if she jumped back during the first or second picture. It's never specified if you can use a picture of an event to jump back to different timelines that the event occurred on. So she could have easily jumped before the original death. Unless the creators specify, this theory can't be debunked.

[@rmsgrey]

The real problem is Max's vision of the storm - Max has a vision of the town being destroyed by a storm, and is so unsettled by it that she goes to the bathroom to recover, leading to her being there to witness Chloe's death... There are also hints that the storm was foreseen way further back than Max's opening vision - the vortex club, the end of the world party, some of the graffiti at the lighthouse... Of course, we don't know how/if Max's vision fits in with her other powers - we see three or four powers demonstrated during the game: the vision of the oncoming storm; the snapshot/focus power to visit a photograph for a short time; and the frequently used rewind/pause power; and the time-jump after Chloe was shot which may be the same power as her vision of the storm, but doesn't match the snapshot power, nor the rewind. Of course, it's possible that it's the time-jump that broke time - the rewind undoes time, while the snapshot sends you back to the past but only temporarily - you return to the rewritten present. The time jump didn't rewind the present, so time should have been continuing from the time at which Chloe got shot, but time instead continued from when Max woke up in class, meaning "now" wasn't when it should have been...

[@Mrityugata]

Personally, when thinking about the message of _Life is Strange_ I like linking it with one of the most common complaints about the game -- that none of the choices you make (except the final one) matter in the end. Only that I see a positive messsage here: yes, nothing matters in the end, but that doesn't mean that nothing _ever_ matters. Like Kate's suicide attempt -- whether you stop her on not, doesn't matter in the end, but it does matter a lot for quite a long time before the end. But probably that's just because I spent too much time listening to Christian apologists debating morality. Aside from that I suspect that the writers wanted to say something about the importance of memories. Certainly not a coincidence that time travel is linked with photography.

[@ScarlettDaleWoodall]

Great analysis! I see a different message,but still very dark. To all things,a price. And even a good person might pay a terrible price for their dreams. Max can have Chloe. Their romance is not doomed. But Max can't be a hero and have Chloe. The town gets levied as a sacrificial toll. The temptation is the most insidious one possible. It's not money. It's not power. It's not glory. That's basic baseball. Nah,the Fates offer Max the real feelgood. Love. Actual factual love and the deepest, carnal pleasure. But sure,pick hero like a 7 year old.

[@JadedSpartan719]

I feel that “being judged” feeling everyday. Then again I have social anxiety disorder so take that with whatever grain of salt lol

[@JayTohab]

I find this game fascinating, even though I don't intend on playing it. Thanks for this.

[@BeanoSmokinAce]

Good video I enjoyed it but heads up the thumbnail is from life is strange before the storm with Rachel Amber and Chloe not the original I was actually confused on what game the rumination was on at first lol

[@rockforblu]

You have some nice thoughts. Much better than other 'critique' vids out there. I think the game should be seen as a novel / movie instead, and subsequently it should be analysed as such. What you called 'a tale' is more in line with a literary read. Here are some of my thoughts. The story is heavily influenced by Catcher in the Rye. Max & Chloe are Holden Cauldfield (as if this doesn't give you enough hint already) split into 2 characters. Chloe represents the inner child (innocence) that one is supposed to shed away during adolescence, in order to transform into an adult (hence, why she is a blue butterfly / raven). The two of them should really be seen together as one character. It's the reason why Max seems relatively bland in comparison: Max is the person in the making, whereas Chloe is her youth that is rapidly fading away. All major characters (Victoria, Kate etc.) are what Max could have gotten herself into if she takes on a certain altitude. They show to her what the adult world is like: not a paradise, but full of cruelty, sorrow, and motives that are incomprehensible to a teenager (hence, why 'life is strange'). The reason why Chloe is linked to death is then pretty clear. For most people, innocence dies at some point when they enter into the adult world. Even though for some it appears no big deal at all, the impact is actually very huge. It leaves a scar that never really heals (as shown by Chloe losing her dad). The entire time travel story then is Max trying to come to terms with this seemingly inevitable loss. I disagree that the rewind ability causes the storm. It is Chloe not dying by the hands of Nathan in that bathroom that causes it. It is the refusal to accept innocence lost that causes the storm. The storm is then a symbolic trial (notice the connection to playing pirate back when they were kids): okay you say innocence doesn't have to die, but reality doesn't work the way you want it to (ie. Bay people dying because of the storm). How do you answer this? This is obviously a trolley problem with the entire story as a context. Choosing the Bay ending is then equivalent to acceptance: alright, I can't ignore reality, so I must accept my loss and move on. This of course marks the transition to adulthood. But this is precisely why the Bae ending is so much more impactful and beautiful. Bae ending is the devs response to the question posed by CitR: no, losing your innocence is not the only way forward, to which the storm proceeds to take away all other lives out there. This is the cost of keeping your innocence: you keep to your own path, bow your head to no one, even though reality demands it you still keep strong. It sounds good, but it's extremely difficult. There will be a lot of pain, you will be alone for this (that's why the whole town is killed), and the burden will be on you forever. Yet, it is precisely this willingness to walk your own path, this internalisation of innocence that marks also the transition to adulthood. I was surprised and impressed that some YA looking story actually has such depth. Such a beautiful story.

[@theunknownuser9609]

I love your perspective about the Bae ending and it's similar to how I see it

[@BradleytheDavis]

I really enjoyed the "choose your own adventure" aspect. I find the western take on this genre to be neat. But if i am honest, i have yet to see one the measures up to the visual novels i have played/read and comes out on top. a visual novel like Wonderful Everyday is an incredible masterpiece that changed how I see the world and other people in a big way. tons of hardcore psychology and philosphy and really fascinating characters and an absolutely horrifying yet ultimately hopeful story. And honestly despite stuff like Life is strange and Telltale's games being significantly more interactive and 'cinematic', i still find the japanese version of this genre so much more engaging. And that's not even mentioning Muv-Luv. Good god, someone MADE that, a human being existed that created the Muv-Luv saga, one of the greatest stories ever told. And it does it through such simplistic presentation of 2D images and some text at the bottom of the screen. For all the fancy presentation Life is Strange has, it was ultimately a hollow experience for me.

[@ashnackDEblogspot]

When I played, I could not believe that more time travel (to go back and kill Chloe) would be the solution to the time travel problem. I felt like the kids didn't know enough to make a determination like that and decided that they understood something when they did not. Your analysis gives a far more interesting and credible take on the origin of the storm. Even sparingly, that power could have enormous consequences for humans as a species, a thing those kids are still too young to fully grasp... (Which is why the game fascinated and frustrated me to no end... What to do with a power when you lack the foresight to leverage it, and are just using it as a "parlor trick"...)

[@yoinky463]

For another game within this type of really niche genre (That being the oh-so-prevalent "Slice-of-life Supernatural Comedy-Action-Drama Partially in Telltale Style" brand of game), I'd check out Night in the Woods. What it lacks in human characters it makes up for with characters that feel more human than anything else I've seen. I'm not a fan of Life is Strange myself, but I do love the small-town aesthetic and NitW nails a lot of what I personally thought this game got wrong. My only warning would be that it's a slow burn, but I'm pretty sure you're the type to enjoy that sort of start.

[@vesuvanprincess]

One of your best ruminations. I chose to save Chloe, I refused to sacrifice her based on an unproven hypothesis which could be confusing cause and effect (or even effect and cause)... My head Cannon is that after we leave town I switch career paths to be a theoretical physicist specializing in time- because how could your life not become consumed by a desire to understand such a thing?

[@Lorerunner]

I like that idea. And I agree, if you legitimately had such abilities, once you get past the 'playing with them' phase you'd just have to study them.

[@rmsgrey]

There are two things about the ending: 1) It's clear that the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending had more resources put into it (though I think there should have been an opportunity to sit and check Max's diary before heading to the funeral rather than being cutscened throughout) giving the impression that it's the "right" ending. 2) As players, it's clear that we're supposed to believe that sacrificing Chloe will, indeed, prevent the storm, while sacrificing Arcadia Bay will result in the inevitable death of everyone we've met during the game (don't think too hard about where David would be, whether Kate's hospital is in the danger zone, or the number of intact houses in the ending cutscene...), but it's not clear if/why Max would believe that the solution to "every time I use my power to try to fix things, it only breaks time more" is "I should use my power to try to fix things"...

[@olivierbassin286]

I know this is going to sound weird but this game changed my life. Can't say if it's for the better or not yet though. I've been waiting for your thoughts on it for the longest time!

[@mjmr914]

Good video most of yours are though intersing points about the ending kinda dark conclusion

[@holysecret2]

25:50 - Groundhog Day? :)

[@BradleytheDavis]

Also, i think a lot of those broader ideas like the time travel stuff in this game have far better handled versions in Stein's;Gate. So to me, i was seeing it as "oh this was done better in this other story". Stein's;Gate probably had some of the best time travel in fiction in my opinion. But i felt like the power in life is strange wasn't good time travel stuff, she can literally teleport, but the narrative ignores she can do that. really what i was engaged with was actually Max's character and their relationship with Chloe (even though i'm not a fan of Chloe lol) And i like her for much the same reason as you!

[@sandwich1601]

Steins;Gate also handles futility a lot better imo.

[@jani11]

wow! didn't expect that! tnx man, I completely love this game, a bit less Before the Storm, even less that "demo" Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, but I am totally hyped for LiS 2 which comes out in September - since it's going to be a whole universe (they can afford that now that they are basically rich)

[@mapleicecream4819]

This video is proof that the Lorerunner is getting better and better at this as time goes on. Seriously, Lore, I love content like this. It's amazing to me that something as unscripted as one of your Ruminations can really make me think and reconsider my view on so many topics. The combination of all of your personal interests and experiences and your point of view, distilled into videos like this, is actually very valuable, in my opinion. I went from: "Ugh, I hated Life is Strange, what a cringe-fest!" to: "Oh... well... actually... hmm, very interesting!" and now: "Huh." So thank you for recording this and frying my brain. Now I'm going to go and try and form a coherent opinion of this game again.

[@Dr.Harvey]

I found rewind time travel really disturbing. Look, if this is a multiple histories, then Max merely travels across them. She cann't save anyone, because she only leaves behind one world and choose to live in another. By picking to save Arcadia Bay she moved herself into another branch of history leaving Chloe alone to watch destruction of town. But story hints this was a truly single timeline, which makes stuff even worse, because from non-traveller perspective like Chloe, when Max rewinds time, the entire world suddenly stops to exist and replaces with its other version. It's like in teleporation copy problem, will you be fine knowing that your version appeared on Mars continue to live but your original self should be eliminated just in a moment?

[@notloopy8204]

Good video

[@BloodwolfAssassin]

I'm actually very curious what it was she wanted you to eat

[@zimethzimethovsky4132]

But in the "Broken Chloe" variation of the timeline Max did't unlocked her time powers, cause she (non time traveling version of Max) did't even contacted Chloe untill the "arrival" of Max the Protagonist... But the anomalies (whales on the beach, and, maybe, the others) were still there... So in my opinion the Storm was inevitable, no matter what.

[@ChocolatierRob]

Hmm, I don't see the difference in Max going back at the end of the game to _not_ save Chloe and when at the start of the game she saved Chloe by setting off the fire alarm. In both versions she jumped to an earlier point in time based on what she had experienced and did two separate things. Why would the end-game-jump cause her to not then get her powers (preventing the storm) where the start-game-jump still left her with (getting) powers. Once she sounds the fire alarm she no longer needs to get powers right after (by your logic) but she _does_ still have them. The way I see it - just because Chloe is alive in the choose Chloe ending does not mean she will stay that way, maybe there is another final destination moment to come up. My head canon has always been that Max's powers we given to her to save _herself,_ not Chloe. I've no idea what power or force _wants_ her protected but that is just how it looks to me. The reason I say it is to protect her (not Chloe) is that in the original timeline after Chloe is shot Max jumps out of her hiding place revealing herself to Nathan. In his state I don't doubt for a second that she would have then been shot too. Max therefore assumes the power is to help her save Chloe and the more she uses it the worse things get. Fate or whatever force is at work keeps trying to get Chloe out of the way as she keeps endangering Max. When Max goes back at the end of the game this time she stays hidden away when Chloe is shot and therefore does not get killed herself. PS. Despite how bad you are with names you did not seem to struggle with any of the ones you wanted (apart from one minor slip). You said Max, Chloe, Victoria, Mr Jefferson, Warren and Kate quite easily. So well done with this one.

[@rmsgrey]

I've always assumed that the time-storm resets the imbalance, so time can continue from there. If you say that Chloe is still doomed even after lots of people get killed by the storm, then you are saying that their lives don't matter compared to Chloe's.

[@JanetDax]

Well, I am Max to some extent. No powers of course, but someone who could want a Chloe for a friend, or more. I'll tell you a secret about introverts. Some of us would very much like to act or just interact with others. Its like we just do not have the skill to create the opportunities. So Max gets the rewind powers and we see her using it fit in a little better. I like your final analysis. The idea that the universe has some bogus need to target Chloe is stupid. What it seems to be is there are realities in life you cannot change. Can you make a case for saving Chloe? Of course you can. An introvert like Max would see her love for Chloe as having more meaning than the people she doesn't know. I wrote a fanfic so Max gets to have some closure.

[@megamike15]

life is strange was a one and done game for me. i played it once enjoyed it but never touched it again since. a game that came out a year after it oxenfree i think did a better job with trying to have teenagers sound like teenagers then life is strange did. i take that as more lis being a french developed game while oxenfree was an american made production.

[@jani11]

Yes she has the power when you click "sacrifice Chloe" and she goes back to toilet. No she does not need to use (unlock) it, she arrives early enough to save her again without rewinding. Yes guilty I saved Chloe, one strong connection means so much more than a lot of weak ones. The question who are nightmare Max and Chloe freaked me out, some serious Twilight Zoney stuff. P.S. Seriously you need to watch Life is Tumblr on yt, they explain her rewing powers are also teleport powers, etc.

[@N0RulezX]

Your sorrow will turn to joy. You cant avoid the bad in life, you numb the bad and you take away any good as well. I think thats what they were going for.

[@reasonablechristianity]

Water isn't wet. Water is water a liquid. If something touches water or falls into water it gets wet however the water itself is not wet.

[@Infernal460]

An unexpected excellent game.

[@jebes909090]

arcadia bay gave max her powers. the 'other' max was the spirit entity that gave max her powers to solve the imballence itself. PS: they mass effect 3'd the ending. they ran out of time. i remember.

[@Yura-Sensei]

Ye, I agree with central theme, that's why it's hard for me to replay or rewatch such games. Too real

[@SexycuteStudios]

The mic hum is still present.....

[@Lorerunner]

And will be for the foreseeable future. There's more or less literally nothing I can do about it.

[@nepu47]

I agree with your opinion "nothing you can do about it", but different way. I don`t think this game is about life, it is about death. It`s "a tale" about death. When we think about the dead people, many of us can`t deny the possibility "If i did something different". We want to remove that part of "the life", the ending of it, the farewell to others, the eternal loss. But no, Biologically, We always dies a little bit everyday. Your cells literally dies and being replaced by new cells. hairs, skins, neurons. Death is not just end or stop but it goes along with life, It is a essencial process to "living things". Because of this, if you want to respect the life, then you also have to respect the death. Don`t deny it or pretend you didn`t see anything. Nothing you can do about it. You have to embrace and accept it. You will die. Your freinds will die, Your enemies will die, It is sorrowful and tragedic, but this is the life and the death. But, If you want to respect the death, you know how it is hard to accept it. Like the courage, it is not knowing about panelties but accepting them and go beyond them. So, life is not so strange. The death is so strange.

[@signaltome]

I have a feeling you want to like this game but are frustrated with something Lore. By all means tell me if I am wrong. ;-) Although I played this (multiple times) it WOULD had been game of the year for me if I did not play it over a year after the last episode came out. So what, it was.... previous game of the year material? Past tense of the year award? I dunno. Even though I am a heterosexual male I have a tendency to play female characters if I can in video games in any case (yes, I am strange too) but I could associate myself with Max almost at once. I would not say she was EXACTLY like me at that age and of course coming from Norway which has a whole other system of education than in the states I still felt I knew her. It was very easy to play her. (Sounds pervy but you know what I mean! :-) ) As for where Max got her powers, well... Mutation , godly intervention, a curse? I am not sure if it did her any favors in the end. Especially since, just as you get the hang of it, like a crutch it is take away from you JUST at the crucial moment trying to talk Kate down. I failed the first time, efen though I did all the kind things that could be done to get less choices and all that. Not for game reasons, it is usually how I play things because I fell that is what I am. I knew who the bad guy was from the first chapter finale, just because that person was one of the choices to blame for Kate. I actually played hte first chapter from scratch to save her and blamed someone else but I was 99% certain about who was ultimately the person behind the obduction/killings plot. And I was right. Other than that I fell in love with the town and most of the people, I tried not to be a bitch to V (which makes things worse if you can actually convince her when you "think" that it is only whatshisface, guy that shot Chloe). I loved the place and mostly anyone in it, even Chloe's step-dad (man he has it rough on top of his own problems). There was just one person I cared more about through the whole strange experience, Max' true best friend (and possible love interest or was that just me projecting) Chloe herself. So now you can guess what my final choice was (or as a shameless plug watch my LP :-P) but of course by now it should be obvious because... you know, life is strange sometimes.

[@user-ly3cr4bt7b]

Personally, I think the core message is 'heroes aren't a thing'

[@bwcbiz]

Power enables...but it also makes your compromises and poor decisions have more severe consequences. Compromise is unavoidable in politics, but if each compromise is a step on a road to corruption or other evil, it doesn't reflect your nature before you came into power. It reflects your devolution wielding power.

[@gilgamesh310]

I don’t like how this game handled time travel. It seemed overly convenient to me that they could go back and change things so often, even if there was some limitations on it. I don’t think time travel needs to always involve paradoxes. The best way to go about it in my opinion, is to create closed loops. This way when a character goes back in time, whatever they do just leads to the events that have already happened. This is what the Legacy of Kain series does. There are paradoxes that occur in it, but only when events involving Raziel and the reavers occur. I’d also very strongly recommend the show 12 Monkeys. You probably already know of the film, which handles time travel very well in the same way regarding loops, but the series takes things much further. Paradoxes become an element of the plot.

[@adthomp]

Surprised you didn't touch on the relationship between Max and Chloe. I take it that you chose to sacrifice Chloe?? I didn't at all. as you pointed out the point of the was that 'life sucks and you die anyway' I think because of that feeling I chose to not have Chloe Die because I went through all that crap and hell with her and to Simpy just have her die would have meant all for nothing. so then Life actually then meant something. that is also a selfish act I would do in real life too, my freinds and family would always be chosen first even if it meant millions of lives lost and destruction

[@jrrthompson1996]

6:30 "Chloe wouldn't threaten someone with a gun" Doesn't she do EXACTLY THAT to the drug dealer guy? Google "Life Is Strange Episode 4 Chloe Kills Frank and Pompidou" and you'll see. It may be in "self defense" but she's the one who instigated Frank and put herself squarely in that situation. Chloe is a much shittier person than you're giving her credit for.

[@tomshore3788]

Just when I thought your voice couldn't be any sexier... Joking aside, I hope you feel a lot better. As for Life Is Strange, when I first played it I enjoyed it despite it's copious amounts of what I called "indy movie cliches." The premise was enough to keep me interested and I was deeply moved by the end of it. And then I began to think about the game and yeah, I noticed more flaws, more things that kinda nagged at me. It's not as great as those who praise it say it is, and it's not as bad as those who bash it say it is. It's okay.

[@ultimateshadeofwar]

34:02 *MUST.RESIST.MAKING.KNUCKLES.IS.CONFUSE.JOKE*

[@Springsong5]

Bae/Bay!!!!!

[@AkosKovacs.Author.Musician]

1:30 So wait, you want a... *H E A V Y G A S P* SAVE SYSTEM?! Wow!

[@yodamcyoda]

I disagree with you on many points, first of all I think the game is a tale. Specifically a tale about growin up and learning be responsible and think of how your actions affect others. Chloe is an intergral part of the central metaphor of the game. Chloe is always rebelling and blaming others for the problems in her life, she considers her dad dying as him betraying her despite the fact that he could never have known that he was going to die in a car crash. Chloe is immature and a representation of Max's immature and irresponsible side. Chloe constantly makes Max do things she otherwise wouldn't like breaking in to the school and Chloe is always against the idea that they call the police. Their investigation is an adventure to her just like when they used to play pirates when they were kids. There are lots of examples of Chloe being immature but episode two is one of the most obvious cases of Chloe's irresponsibility, and to me seems like the point where the developers tries to make the player understand what Chloe represents. Max and Chloe go to the junkyard and use Max's power for trivial things like shooting bottles which is the reason she can't use her powers when she needs them the most: when Kate is on the roof. The storm is a representation of what happens if Max doesn't grow up. If Max chooses Chloe, the storm hurts everyone in the town except for Max and Chloe, Max is fine because she doesn't realise what her actions do to those around her and Chloe is fine because she represents Max's immature side. Max's powers are the only way for Max to not have to face being an adult which is why the powers cause the storm and in Chloe's final moments before Max's final choice she finally acts genuinely selfless in that she asks Max to save others instead of her.

[@Charlessthill]

"life sucks and then you die" is also the idea spread around by capitalists , to give people an excuse to accept greed destroying peoples' lives day in and day out , and never complaining about it. it could also be 1 of those uncomfortable facts of life peoples' human nature doesn"t allow them to understand.

[@bluespectre0]

If I were to say there was a theme for this game it would be accepting loss, and getting to the point to accept whats happened and move on. Its a story where if nothing happened and she never awakened to her power, things would still end as they did in what i regard as the true ending. Its as if, the nightmare didn't begin in chapter 5, it began in chapter 1. This can be seen as her mind bringing her to the point where she can accept what happened/will happen and live her life. Realizing its the journey that matters and those memories will always be there with you.

[@pkr5968]

First comment! Woooooooo! Also I kind of liked it the first time I played it. For some reason it was only retrospect when I realized just how abjectly stupid it was.

[@Stevey2578]

Even in the comments, Life is Strange is arguably one of the most divisive games ever.

[@debott4538]

That's because it is art. ;)

[@3crowsinatrenchcoat]

As someone who loves the game I fully acknowledge it has a lot of flaws

[@isultansultangaliev5852]

No redo? We got blue balled XD. I enjoy life is strange but I agree, the message is not very good.

[@Infernal460]

iSultan Sultangaliev Life is pain, is a great realistic message.

[@sarafandumah4572]

Oh man. I had that: "They are laughing at you!" thing bad for a while. Still pops in once and a while I think it's more friends are important. You have to care. You need to take time and make time because time wont wait. Life wont wait you need to take the hit and keep rolling. Man you seem to be going more dark lately. Alicia Keys' song; "like you'll never see me again" Comes to mind.

[@SaberRexZealot]

This is the funniest game I’ve ever played. It’s awesome. The cringe is on another level. Tidus’ laugh has got nothing on this game.

[@matijerzykom]

I don't really agree with your conclusion. I think the game's theme is maturity. Max faces realisation, that she can't have everything, that she can't really cheat indefiniately. It's a bittersweet though, since she got her last moments with Chloe. So, I think your conclusion is incomplete. It's not "Like sucks", and the end. It's "Like can suck, but it also has great amount of value in it".

[@sandwich1601]

_"Max faces realisation, that she can't have everything"_ This doesn't make sense to me. If this was the case: - Why are you never forced to come to terms with Kate or Chloe's death? - Why make the Everyday Hero contest such a prevalent plot point if they want futile passivity? - Why opt for a main character as modest, middling and introspective as Max instead of one whom this lesson could actually resonate with...like Victoria. In the same way the seams start to show once you look too closely at the laws of its time travel, I don't think the game works with any unifying theme...beyond its own pure indecisiveness.

[@asiermaster]

Get better Lore!

[@troys4099]

I liked the game but voice acting was awful Just awful!

[@dzikripratama3776]

The one who voiced Chloe is quite good imo..