Life Is Strange – an adventure worth choosing

A reader examines the secrets behind Life Is Strange’s success and what Telltale Games could learn from its storytelling magic.

Life Is Strange is not a perfect game. It is a little rough around the edges at times and limited in many regards, but the things it does get right it absolutely nails. It has a real beating heart and I believe it will be seen as a seminal game in the future. There’s so much for others to learn from Arcadia Bay and Max Caulfield’s wonderful story…

Lesson 1: A Sense of Place

Arcadia Bay, the town Life Is Strange is set in, is not a big place. Instead of the sprawling expanse of an open world game, it is limited to a handful of select locations. But what the game world lacks in geographical scope it makes up for in detail and beauty. Each location feels rich with life, with real atmosphere and weight. Exploring Max or Chloe’s rooms feels like getting to know a real person. Each poster, diary entry or treasured possession you discover makes you feel more attached to them and their world. The game wisely gives you the space to soak up your surroundings, even allowing you to sit and just take it all in.




Sitting watching the sun set over Arcadia Bay with Max and Chloe will stay with me for a long time. More games need to concentrate on creating a more detailed living, breathing world instead of an ever larger one.

Lesson 2: The Passing of Time

Time is the most neglected theme in all of gaming. Ocarina Of Time and Majora’s Mask were released over 16 years ago and I’ve still not seen a decent use of time in games since. Until Life Is Strange that is. In many ways Life Is Strange is a spiritual successor to Majora’s Mask. Both involve using your time travel powers to fix the problems of the people around you (with an apocalyptic threat at hand). Life Is Strange goes deeper though. It deals with the feelings of regret and uncertainty that go with the passing of time and the decisions of everyday life. We constantly ask ourselves, did I do the right thing and what if I did it differently?

The clever thing in Life Is Strange is we are allowed to turn back time and explore that very question. Time is vital in the game, not just as an interesting gameplay mechanic but as a central theme. In many ways time is the antagonist in Life Is Strange and perhaps even life in general, always racing towards an uncertain future threatening to take away the present.

The sense of nostalgia, of trying to hold on to a moment, is palpable throughout Life Is Strange. Perhaps facing the wrath of time is the greatest challenge for any of us and I wish more games would contemplate that challenge in theme as well as mechanics.

Lesson 3: Use of Music

I’m sure everyone reading this has songs that are a part of their soul, that have formed a soundtrack to their life. My favourite band is Radiohead and hearing any of their songs brings back a tide of memories of a multitude of people, places and times. Life Is Strange captures this feeling of nostalgia perfectly with its amazing selection of indie songs. I don’t think I could ever hear Alt J’s Something Good again without thinking of Max Caulfield’s bedroom or Crosses by Jose Gonzales without thinking of her bus journey.

I wish more games featured this intelligent use of licensed music to supplement the already beautiful soundtrack. Films and television have longed used licensed songs hand-in-hand with their score music, so why do games seem so reluctant to? Life Is Strange shows how much licensed songs can add when used right. Apparently Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead is an Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus fan. Maybe an original Radiohead soundtrack for a game isn’t as impossible as it seems…



Lesson 4: Collectibles You Want To Collect

Too many games assume I’m interested in methodically collecting a myriad array of virtual ornaments, trinkets, and general rubbish which have no real meaning or value outside of the game world. I’m not. I don’t go around the real world picking up all the trash I can find so I can proudly display it in my living room. I have better things to do! If a game wants us to collect something it needs to have an intrinsic value to make it worthwhile.

Usually this is something practical such as items that upgrade or heal your character. What makes Life Is Strange’s collectibles so worthwhile though are their artistic value and meaning. Taking photographs in the game, as in the real world, feels like you are capturing a moment. They really feel special and genuinely remind you of the time you took them. I naturally looked for all the photos in each area of the game in the way I would look for a good shot anywhere.

The photos tie in perfectly with the game’s theme of time and make you think about what makes good photography and art. The scene at the gallery is particularly special as you see one of your photos displayed in what feels like a real collection. You feel like a true artist, not just a rubbish collector.

Lesson 5: Diversity

It is possible to do otherwise but I essentially played Max Caulfield as a lesbian (poor Warren). I genuinely think this is the first time I’ve ever been a gay character in a game. In fact I can’t think of all that many females I’ve played as either, with the most obvious (and of course coolest) being Samus. Now I’m not averse to playing the odd bald space marine but the lack of representation in games does seem pretty crazy even compared to films and television, which hardly have glowing records.


The thing is it’s not even the moral argument that is the most compelling reason for diversity in games; it’s the sheer boredom of playing the same characters over and over again. It was so refreshing playing as Max, a young intelligent woman with a complex and compelling life. Her relationship with Chloe felt so real and I ended up caring about them both in a way I would struggle to with some of the violent sociopaths I usually play as.

The thing is there’s a place for the usual male archetypes; I don’t think anyone is arguing for them to disappear entirely. It’s just there’s a whole other world of characters out there. Surely a little more diversity couldn’t do any harm?

Lesson 6: Making Decisions Matter

As much as I enjoyed The Walking Dead I was ultimately left feeling cheated. During the course of the game it created the illusion that your decisions mattered but then in the final episode each decision was essentially rendered meaningless in non-interactive cut scenes. It promised so much but failed to deliver. Life Is Strange delivers. As a child I used to love reading Choose your Own Adventure books (I even had some Nintendo ones!). I’ve always been a wannabe writer so the idea of controlling a pre-determined story is fascinating to me. Life is Strange is the best Choose Your Own Adventure story ever made.

I’m sure anyone who read those books used to flick between pages to see what the outcome for each decision was. What makes Life Is Strange so clever is it encourages this natural curiosity but knows that this just makes the choice even more harrowing. By rewinding time you can see the immediate outcome of each option but, as is often the case in real life, the more you learn the less you know.


All your decisions feel as though they truly matter, even those you don’t realise do at the time. The end of the second episode was particularly emotional as you battle with your previous choices in a life or death situation that stands for the rest of the game. Luckily I made the right choices. The final decision is the most important and hardest of all, giving meaning to the entire game. I’m still reeling.

By reader Ryan O’D

The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

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