Review: Life is Strange – Episode 1: Chrysalis

Life is Strange It's a game I've wanted for a long time. Unfortunately, however, I didn't get the full game, just the Episode 1: Chrysalis. So, join us below on the tour of this first part of Life is Strange.

Introduction

Life is Strange is an interactive graphic adventure developed by Dontnod Entertainment, a company whose first game was just remember me, and published by Square Enix (Sleeping Dogs, Final Fantasy, CoD 4 and so on S2). The game consists of 5 episodes that were released separately last year (2015). Can only be played in mode single player on PC, Playstation 3 and 4, Xbox 360 and One.

“Life is Strange is a game whose story is decided by the player. The consequences of all actions and decisions will have an impact on the past, present and future. Choose carefully…”

History

The game starts intense, literally in the middle of the hurricane.

Maxine Caulfield, our protagonist, is an ordinary 18-year-old girl. She is shy, introverted, geeky, antisocial and loves photographs. she is returning to Arcadia Bay, a city he left behind 5 years ago when he moved to Seattle.

Well… she wakes up in the middle of a forest, under an intense storm. Max just doesn't know how he got there or what's going on. And just when you think all is lost… She just wakes up to the peace and quiet in the class of her favorite teacher, Mark Jefferson.

That's right, you wake up in the middle of a class (which unfortunately is not at Hogwarts) and still breathes a sigh of relief from it. The first part of the Chrysalis episode is entirely within the Blackwell Academy with the right to bullying and everything else that some schools can provide.

At first Max doesn't know what's happening to her, he just knows that it wasn't an ordinary dream about the storm. But as soon as the class ends, she discovers that she has an extraordinary gift: she can go back in time!

In the second part of the episode, you explore Arcadia Bay a little more in the company of Chloe, who by the way, despite not seeming right away, is Max's childhood friend, in fact Chloe considered Max her best friend. Yeah… Max needs some lessons in how to be friends.

Interface / Graphics

The graphic art of the game is very beautiful, well-crafted.

Characters

Victoria Maribeth Chase: is a rich girl, but she definitely doesn't know how to treat others.

Warren Graham: a sensitive boy who loves sensitive vampires and who obviously likes Max, but Max obviously doesn't realize this.

Nathan Prescott: a guy who definitely has trouble controlling his anger and can't stand being told what to do.

Chloe Price: Max's childhood friend, actually considered Max her best friend. She was kind of lost after her father died and Max left for Seattle. She found in Rachel Amber a safe haven.

Mark Jefferson: is Max's favorite teacher. Max wanted to go back to Arcadia to study photography at Blackwell and especially to take classes with this professor who is the face of Iron Man. Mark sucks up to Max a lot.

David Madsen: Chloe's stepfather and campus security. Very crazy. In addition to watching over his stepdaughter and his wife, he still practices bullying at the Academy.

Gameplay/Gameplay/Difficulty

Simple and easy gameplay. The game is basically a drag and drop game.

It does not require any previous knowledge in games or motor coordination. For any beginner in the world of games, play and have fun.

Cost X benefit

When I bought episode 1 it was R$5,24 on Steam. It's free today so honestly what are you still waiting for?

Replayability/Game Duration

The first episode is between 1h to 2h long. It depends on how much you explore the setting or go straight ahead with the main story. As I explored little, I spent just over 1h.

Audio/Soundtrack

The first thing that stands out in the game is the music. You start enjoying the game before the graphics appear on your screen. I really enjoyed the Life is Strange soundtrack.

To All of You – Syd Matters

As soon as she leaves the classroom and puts on her headphones and magic:

Santa Moica Dream - Agnus & Julia Stone

When she is already at Chloe's house and goes to look for the tools:

https://youtu.be/cw_0Bxqpc9o

Piano Fire – Sparklehorse 

In Chloe's room as she dances on the bed.

https://youtu.be/0bbD6FKprjg

Crosses by José Gonzalez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwieXvxkbsM

Syd Matters – Obstacles: Another song in Episode 1

At the end of the episode when she starts telling Chloe about how she can go back in time.

Curiosities

Series

The producer legendery entertainment (Warcraft: The First Meeting of Two Worlds, Jurassic World: World of Dinosaurs, Dracula: The Untold Story) and the developer Square Enix made a partnership that promises to make fans of the game very happy. The idea is to create a live action digital series transmitted via streaming. DJ2 Entertainment, which is also producing Sonic the Hedgehog, will participate in the project.

“We are proud and excited to be working alongside Legendary to realize a new version of Arcadia Bay and Blackwell Academy, complete with our rich cast of believable, realistic characters and memorable events.” – said Jon Brooke, Vice President of European Brand and Marketing at Square Enix.

However, we don't have much information about the development of the series.

Actors who voiced the characters in the game:

Awards

Think of a winning game.

Best performance for actress Ashly Burch , the Chloe Price No. Golden Joystick Award in 2015.

Won the best adventure and best original game award with Episode 1: Chrysalis on global game in 2015.

took the The Game Awards in the Impact Games category in 2015.

By the Official Playstation Magazine it won as best moment (episode 2 - conclusion) and best episodic adventure also in 2015.

best game by Vulture's in 2015.

Best New Game and Best Use of Narrative by the Develop Industry Excellence Awards in 2015.

Best game by the New Statesman in 2016.

Won in the category Audience Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2016.

By the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers won in the Original Soundtrack categories, Original or adapted music with To All of You and character design in 2016.

It was named the best story in 2016 by the British Academy Games Awards.

Won in the History, Excellence and Innovation categories by Peabody – Facebook in 2016.

In 2016, the Games for Change Awards received awards in the categories: Game of the Year and Most Significant Impact.

Finally, by the Japan Game Awards he got the award: Game Designers Award. 

References found in Life is Strange

During the game we have several references. We've selected a few to put here.

“Alfred Hitchcock said that movies were little pieces of time.”

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (1899 – 1980): was “just” a film director and producer who produced more than 50 works and won an Oscar in the first film he directed in the United States (Rebecca). Perhaps you know this Englishman as “the master of suspense” or for his most famous film: Psychosis (1960).

Diane Arbus (1923 – 1971): was an American photographer who became known for her black and white photographs with minorities such as dwarfs, marginalized, giants, transsexuals.

Robert Frank (1924-): is an American photographer and film director.

Raymond Douglas Bradbury (1920 – 2012): was an American writer specializing in fantasy, sci-fi, horror, mystery and dystopia. Best known for the book Fahrenheit 451 (1953). The book cited in the game, however, was the The October Country (O País de Outubro) first released in 1955. The work is a collection of 19 horror stories.

Battle Royale: initially it was a book written by the Japanese Koushun Takami published in 1999 (although it was finalized in 1996). The book that can be classified as a thriller, dystopia, science fiction and horror was published in Brazil by the publisher Globe Books in 2014. And the story? Well it's almost a story nothing violent, not even dripping blood: the students of the last year of high school are taken by the totalitarian Japanese government to an island where they receive food, a map and amazingly: several weapons. So far nothing too surprising.
But what are these young people to do? Simple, kill each other. At the end of three days the survivor is the winner of the experiment known as The program which, by the way, is televised throughout the country. An exploding collar ensures the boys don't break the rules of this bloody game.

In 2000 the book was adapted to the manga written by Koushun himself. In Brazil, the manga arrived before the book, in 2006 and were published by Conrad Publisher. Today, obviously, the edition is sold out and if you don't have it, you'll probably be able to buy it at ML. In 2014, publisher NewPOP, released the manga Battle Royale Angels' Border, also written by Takami and which tells details about “the lighthouse girls”.

As might be expected, the book was also adapted for TV. The eponymous feature was directed by Kinji Fukasaku and received a sequel: Battle Royale II: Requiem. If you want to watch it, you'll have to import the movies, or make an appeal to Netflix.

Finally, some fans pointed out the similarity between the Japanese book and the story of American Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games. Battle Royale has been on my reading list for a long time, I plan to read it in 2017. And have you read it?

Jean Maurice Eugene Clement Cocteau (1889-1963): “was a French writer, draughtsman, playwright, artist and filmmaker. Especially known for its romance Les Parents Terribles and by the movies Blood of a Poet (1930) Les Parents Terribles (1948) Beauty and the Beast (1946) and Orpheus (1949).

Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre: was a French painter, set designer, physicist and inventor and as we found out at the beginning of the game: the creator of the photographic process known as the daguerreotype, Max at least will never forget that.

Robert Cornelius (1809-1893): known as the author of the first Selfie in 1939.

Butterfly Effect & Chaos Theory: 

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004): was a French photographer and draughtsman. Some books with his works have been published and the most important of them is the The Decisive Moment, which was published in 1952.

Anna Lou (Annie) Leibovitz (1949-): is an American photographer known particularly for her portraits. She worked for a long time at Rolling Stone magazine.

William Eugene Smith (1918-1978): American photographer.

Richard Avedon (1923 – 2004): was an American photographer.

“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”

John Lennon (1940-1980): well he certainly needs no introduction, but to maintain the standard of this list: he was just a British musician, guitarist, singer, songwriter and writer. He was one of the founders of a band unknown: The Beatles.

“Maybe I should sneak in to see 'Final Fantasy: Spirits Within'… I don't care what anyone says, this is one of the best sci-fi movies ever made.”

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001): is a science fiction film and inspired by the role-playing game Final Fantasy.

"I have to protect my precious so Max doesn't go after him again."

Lord of the Rings: well if you're reading this post on Showmetech you probably know the trilogy The Lord of the Rings  from the master of fantasy JRR Tolkien. When Max is in Dana's room to get Warren's flash drive we hear an imitation of Smeagol's voice saying: I have to protect my precious so Max doesn't go after him again. In Tolkien's saga the precious is a Ring of Power, the One Ring. 

Be sure to watch the movie “Cannibal Holocaust”

cannibal holocaust: is a 1980 film directed by Roger Deodatus. A professor sets out on a rescue mission in the Amazon rainforest in search of young documentary filmmakers who disappeared during filming. The professor discovers that the youths were killed by cannibals and retrieves the footage.

"I was more annoyed by those emotional vampire movies."

Twilight: I imagine that when Max talks about emotional vampires she is referring to the American's Twilight trilogy Stephenie Meyer. Stephenie released the first book in the trilogy in 2005 and the entire saga has sold over 5 million copies, in addition to having been adapted for film. The vampire trilogy was heavily criticized, particularly I watched all the movies and I found the idea of ​​vampires shining in the sun interesting, but this generated a lot of memes and criticism of the franchise.

Super Mario: who has never heard of Mario? That plumber who literally goes down the drain to save Princess Peach. Mario who is one of the most loved characters by gamers is also the mascot of Nintendo and protagonist of some of the most famous and beloved games of the Japanese company.

"You can't go home."

Thomas Clayton Wolfe (1900-1938): American novelist. This writer influenced guys like Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451).

“Well… we've all seen Kerouac's iconic balcony photograph – and who hasn't…. shame shame…”

Trailers

Conclusion

When episode 1 ends you're left with that taste of wanting more. What happened to Rachel Amber? And what else will happen to Max, Chloe, Warren, Nathan, Victoria and co? Why did it look so suspicious when Chloe took the picture of the blue butterfly? And Chloe's crazy stepdad, Mr. David Madsen? And will the tornado destroy the city?

Episode one was good for relaxing. It starts out tense with the storm, but then it picks up a slow pace.

For those who like interactive games #LifeIsStrange is a mandatory stop. We recommend. And I particularly desperately wish the other episodes to have my answers uu

Storm is coming...

And you, have you played? Will play? I'll tell you below in the comments 😉