Life needs a little mystery

Let's be honest, what was there left to say about the story of Life is Strange? The original tied as tight of a knot as you could on a narrative. No matter which ending you chose, LiS ended with some strong parting words. Yeah, there were subplots that could have used more development. But enough to make an entirely new game? Surely not.

As you might have guessed, I sided with the folks who didn't think Max and Chloe's story should be continued. I would have rather had it ascend into the realm of classics without disturbing the legacy. You see, LiS is all so easy to mock and you could go on and on listing the things wrong with it. But it's impossible to dispute the effect it had on people and just how much it influenced the genre in large. It was made of components so brittle that getting them wrong was as easy as bursting a bubble. And since Dontnod managed not get them wrong, would you really want to repeat the experiment? I mean, really, would you dare?

Well, seems someone would. Cause here we are two years later, walking out of rehab (also known as the official subreddit), when all of a sudden there's a new Life is Strange game looming over our heads. And let's just completely ignore LiS 2 being developed by Dontnod at the moment.

Oh no, what we're getting is a prequel to Max and Chloe's story and it's not even being developed by the same French bastards who made us feel this miserable in the first place. Instead, we're introduced to a new studio no one's ever heard of - Deck Nine, and are supposed to set our hopes in them like it's no big deal. And the news kept getting worse.

Turned out all the voice actors were replaced and there was even the threat of not having Hannah Telle in the bonus episode. Ashly Burch, where art thou? Also, Chloe was to be the lead this time round, subverting the role we had as her observer in the first game. And there'd be no mysteries surrounding Rachel, heck, there'd be no mysteries at all cause we're playing a prequel. What was there left for us to know?

I can't remember a game I was as wary about. For all the flaws it had, the original Life is Strange left a profound mark on me. It was scary to think that BtS might spoil the fuzzy feelings I harboured for the franchise. And yet I bought it cause crappy prequels are not beneath me. And then I sat down to play it.

Well, there's one thing I can tell you now that I've finished it. It's not just good. It's excellent. Somehow these out-of-the-blue developers managed to pull off the exact same thing the original did two years back. Before the Storm is not some lazy copycat. You start the game up and boom - you're back in Arcadia Bay. Like you never left. Like holding off the plot to listen to some hipster music never stopped being a thing.

I am in awe how seemingly effortlessly Deck Nine managed to recapture the atmosphere of the first game. If I came out of stasis right now and you were to give me this thing without telling me about the developer switch, it would literally never cross my mind. That's how authentic it is. Recapturing how something feels is by far the most elusive thing and yet they did it.

The immersion is only occasional broken with some of the new voice actors just not fitting the roles. And while I'm at it, preparing sacrifices before my altar of Ashly Burch, I must give props to Rhianna DeVries for having the guts to step into this role. Ashly's performance might not just be the strongest of the original, but one of the most memorable in any game I've ever played. It cemented Chloe as a character in the minds of many people. Those are some hella big shoes to fill and yet Rhianna's performance had me convinced I was playing as Chloe and not some imposter.

The voice actor change lends itself to the fact that we are seeing a younger Chloe now. And it's the youth of our main character that I think Deck Nine utilized the most. Cause after you've spent some time with the game, you'll start noticing things that aren't as they were in the original. The most prominent being how the story is presented to the player. Cause unlike LiS, BtS straight up tells you things.

Take a shared topic as an example: Chloe's romantic interests. In LiS, it's never made clear where Chloe's preferences lie. In the very first episode, you can find preservatives in her room, but there are also posters of women on her walls. The game just leaves you with that, without ever bothering to draw a line. BtS, on the other hand, throws coyness out the window. Have you wondering about who Chloe's into? To hell with that, just write who she fantasizes about in her diary. Yeah, that should do the trick.

You could argue the lack of subtlety takes away from the experience. And you'd be right in a fair amount of cases. The game sure likes to hammer its points way more than it ought to. However, it's hard to pick a bone with BtS over this. Cause remember, we're not playing as the shy, withdrawn Max any more.

We’re playing as Chloe and we all know what Chloe's like. She's rash, she's impatient, she won't take no for an answer. She doesn't know when to shut her mouth and will dive into any situation head first. And she's 16 in this game, meaning everything's turned up a notch.

So what better way to present your main character than to have the entire game reflect their personality? It's exactly what LiS did with Max, and when I got over BtS being so up front with me, I started to see the brilliance behind it.

Cause there's one important thing BtS can explore, now that it's not bound by the shackles of ambiguity.

The original Life is Strange was a story about many things: adolescence, learning to take responsibility, rekindling old friendships and making amends. But at its core it was hardly ever a love story. BtS is also a story about many things: grief, broken families, rebelling against society. But unlike LiS, BtS is a love story down to its core.

Yes, I'm finally gonna talk about Rachel now. To be perfectly honest (and I can already feel Pricefield fans sharpening their pitchforks), I found Chloe and Rachel's relationship to be one of the finest pieces of romance I've ever seen in a video game. I'm not gonna deny Max and Chloe's relationship was special. There are many ways to interpret it and I sure as hell am not gonna tell you how to do it. But Chloe and Rachel were just electric. Their chemistry seeps through the screen so much that, despite knowing how the trainwreck ends, I found myself rooting for them.

The major plot points of LiS disappear into thin air the moment Rachel walks in. Before you know it, she'll have you and Chloe wrapped around her finger. I was so frightened of BtS shattering the mystery that shaped her persona that I totally was blown away by how well they managed to paint her as a character. The girl from the posters suddenly comes to life and it all starts to make sense. The way everyone was so caught up with her - you finally get it, and somehow nothing's lost in the transition from the mystical figure to the real-life girl and vice versa.

This here is the bread and butter of Before the Storm and you'll be craving more of it with each episode.

Sadly, it's not utilized enough.

Besides the dynamic between the main duo, BtS tries to have a plot. It barely strikes any nerves. I wish Deck Nine decided to bite the bullet and give us a game that was focused solely on Chloe and Rachel's relationship. Instead, someone decided introducing new characters to the series and pushing their agendas to the front of the stage was a good way to go. To add insult to injury, those elements weren't even properly fleshed out. The game remembers it has plot points to resolve towards the end, robbing you of much needed time with Rachel.

BtS also leaves you scratching your head at the way it ties into the story of the original. I think Deck Nine did the best they could to stay consistent while giving you new grounds to explore. However, not all pieces fit so nicely into the overarching puzzle. Yes, there's the three year gap between the stories of BtS and LiS to take into account. But the way the games set up some of the characters' actions and motivations makes them dots hard to connect. Not to mention how it justifies Victoria being present at Blackwell at this point, or why Elliot was so sloppily handled.

What I felt the story desperately needed was the full five episode run. This way, the main plot wouldn't have been so rushed and we would have had more time to spend with Rachel. I don't know if Square Enix estimated less revenue than what would justify a longer and more costly development. If pouring more money into future installments would mean more polished experiences, I wish they'd loosen their pockets already. LiS has established itself as a well loved franchise and fearing a lack of interest is silly at this point.

As for the gameplay, one thing that didn't make such an easy crossover from the original are the time travel powers. I mean the lack of them. Don't get me wrong, I think Deck Nine's decision to not have any supernatural elements in BtS is by far the best they made. Unfortunately, time travel played such an integral part of the original that it's hard not to feel it's absence. It served not only as a mechanic and plot device, but also as a reflection of our main character's personality and growth.

BtS sadly cannot have any of that and shaming it for doing so is plainly wrong. Instead, it introduces the backtalk mechanic. They are presented in form of a timed challenge you have to get right, but are terribly corny even for LiS standards. They are much like talking Kate out of jumping in episode 2 of the original. The idea of a nerve-racking conversation is there, but the underlying game mechanics show their ugly face through the dialogue choices, breaking you out of the immersion.

But what I really have against backtalks is how little they affected the story. Failing a backtalk (or completing it for that matter) does not result in branching of the plot. Once you realize that, the tension dispels even more. Their absence is also noticeable towards the end where they could have given the plot the edge it needed.

One the bright side of things, the soundtrack goes straight into the LiS hall of fame. Daughter doing the official OST were the only good news about the game pre-release and they deserve all the credit they can get. Some of the tracks, like Voices and Glass, can hold their own against Morali's Max and Chloe. Not only does Daughter's soundtrack recapture the feeling Morali setup in the original, but also provides it with sort of a spin-off. While having some mellow tracks, the soundtrack of BtS is much more punky. It does a great job of portraying Chloe as a character - all those bullet necklaces and blue hair streaks.

Deck Nine also made a bunch of small improvements, like with the animations. In the original, the character's emotions were depicted by the voice acting and the voice acting alone. Not any more as of BtS. There are a lot of subtle facial expressions and small movements that can easily go unnoticed. There's nothing like that look on Rachel's face or Chloe eye-rolling at the prospects of authority. The improved lip sync is also a much welcome addition.

As for the bonus episode, well, it has Hannah Telle and Ashly Burch in it. I'll leave it at that.

It's hard to imagine where the franchise might go from here. Dontnod seems firm in their intentions to continue with new stories and characters. Yet Max and Chloe have become such a trademark of Life is Strange that it's easier to imagine the game without its music and visuals than without its main duo. I don't have a clue how Dontnod plans to make us care about new characters.

On the other hand, Deck Nine suggested more than once that they'd be happy to continue making stories with the old cast. And Squire Enix is very likely to allow it if we keep giving them money for it. Which we will. Lots and lots of it. And that is a scary thing to think about. Franchises have been run into the dirt this way before. Overdo any idea and it will inevitably turn stale. That would be a bitter ending to a game that came to be from a small budget and a small team pouring every bit of their hearts into it.

Though I might be wary of the future, it's hard to forget that a year ago the idea of a prequel would have given me shivers. And yet here I am today loving every bit of BtS. It's not a perfect game by any means, but the core ideas that made Life is Strange what it is are present here strong as ever. Everyone involved in making this game understood exactly what feelings the original evoked. I can't deny the achievements and all the hard work Deck Nine put in. Well done, guys!

So maybe this is not the time to worry of what's to come. Cause we have a bunch of talented people making these games who proved what they can do and how much they care. And who knows, maybe we'll get a dozen more Life is Strange games in the future and they'll all be great. Rachel said it best: Life needs a little mystery.

Rating: 7

Product Release: Life is Strange: Before the Storm (EU, 03/09/18)