Life is Strange review

Life is Strange is a narrative game that follows Max Caulfield, a high school senior at the prestigious Blackwell Academy. She leads a normal life until she discovers that she has the ability to rewind time, which leads to one crazy week. In the game, you get to play through this strange week and make decisions that change the story.

The game starts in Max's photography class, where everything seems to be normal. It isn't until after class, however, where strange things start to happen. Max goes to the bathroom to wash her face and then takes a picture of a butterfly. While inside the bathroom, two other students walk in, a boy and a girl. The boy is arguing with the girl, and then he pulls a gun on her. The girl gets shot, and then, all of a sudden, Max is back in class, listening to the same lecture as before from the teacher as if nothing happened. She is then able to go back to the bathroom to save the girl from being shot. From this point onward, Max has the power to rewind time. 

The name of the girl Max saved is Chloe. She was one of Max's friends when she was younger, and makes another appearance later in the first episode. When Chloe takes Max back to her house, we can see the characters bonding and reconnecting. Chloe ends up becoming Max's best friend through the events of the story, especially when she finds out that Max has the ability to rewind time. They join forces to investigate the disappearance of Rachel Amber, who used to go to Blackwell Academy. Chloe is an essential character to the story because of how much she means to Max.

Max's ability to rewind time adds to the gameplay in a good way. There are certain puzzles that require the use of the rewind power in order to solve, such as when you need to do something with perfect timing. Additionally, you can get more dialogue options by talking to someone once and then rewinding once you know certain information. This is used a lot to get the answers you need when talking to people. However, one of the most useful applications of Max's rewind power is when making decisions. When making a decision that will change the story, the action will stop and you will be given at least two choices to choose from. Once you choose one option, you can rewind time to before you picked that option to see how the other outcome plays out. Then from there, you can choose which one you like better. There are some choices that you can't do this with, however, including the very last choice you make in the game. Max's rewind power helps the gameplay stand out from other narrative games.

The story in Life is Strange gets really intense the more you play through it, and because of this, I was on the edge of my seat during the last few episodes of the game. I found myself getting attached to the main protagonists and becoming immersed in the game's world. The game focuses on a lot of the themes of being a teenager and what they have to deal with, such as bullies, dealing with drama, and school relationships. Although these are sometimes exaggerated, I can relate to them since I am also a teenager. The game has a sad ending, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. For me, the game was a wild ride, with lots of unexpected twists and turns in the story. I had a lot of fun playing this game, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a game with a great story. Life is Strange is available on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, iOS, Android, and PC. You can download the first episode for free, and if you get hooked on the story like I did, buy the other four episodes. (price varies by platform)