Life Is Strange 2

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JaySevenZero
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Life Is Strange 2

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Life Is Strange 2 for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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jackthebluemage
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Re: 575: Life is Strange 2

Post by jackthebluemage »

Life is Strange 2 taps into some very real anxieties over political and social radicalism, and it's going to be an interesting story to revisit both now, a few years after the release of the first episode, and in the future. I just wish the gameplay was also compelling enough to make it worth the trip. While there is some solid "choices matter" implementation here, leading to four substantially different endings, I never found the gameplay built around Daniel's powers to be particularly interesting. Plus, the tone of the story borders on misery porn, so it's a big ask to go through that again.

I'm looking forward to Leah's thoughts on the game, and I'm guessing Josh won't be on board for this one considering how much he despised the first Life is Strange!
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Squibster9
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Re: 575: Life is Strange 2

Post by Squibster9 »

Really enjoyed this, possibly more than LIS. Deals with big, dramatic life events set across the usual themes of growing up and the gameplay and narrative hook of a kid with supernatural which the choices are often tied to. I loved the setting in NE USA, the feeling of being on the run, finding our way, learn our power, limits and responsibilities. The allegorical story of the wolves helps drive home the emotional truth of the story too. The world felt more adult than LIS 1 even though one of the characters is a pre-teen. Ultimately you need to buy into the characters, themes and dialogue for it to work. For the most part I did, but I can see why it didn't work for everyone - there were some oddly framed moments and awkward dialogue along the way.
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Sage + Onion Knight
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Re: 575: Life is Strange 2

Post by Sage + Onion Knight »

Weirdly, my experience with 'Life is Strange 2' is kind of the inverse of my experience with the original. I can acknowledge that the first game in the series was incredibly flawed and borderline inept in areas, and yet my experience of playing it is still one of my most cherished gaming memories. Its disarming earnestness and themes of corrupted nostalgia just happened to really resonate with me at that specific point in my life.

The second game is objectively better in many ways - for example, characters speak and act in a way that you can consistently identify as representing actual human beings. It also adds a few extra dimensions to the decision-based narrative style that is at the core of this series: having a limited amount of money in the first episode, for example, added a real sense of gravity to every action I took; and throughout all the episodes, I loved the feeling that Daniel's unspoken feelings towards the player character were out of my control.

Unfortunately, my experience of playing the game shattered this illusion of unpredictability that the game strives to build. Anyone who tried to play the episodes as they came out will probably have noticed that Life is Strange 2 was INCREDIBLY buggy - to the point that it just deleted my save after episode 3. As much as I ended up loving the ending, it was definitely tainted by having to inorganically rush through the first three episodes again to get there.
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Girard
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Re: 575: Life is Strange 2

Post by Girard »

My experience with the first Life is Strange game was pretty rocky. The game had to win me over despite the extremely clunky 'American teen girl written by a French guy in his 40s' dialogue, and it ultimately did.

The second game doesn't come with any caveats, and hit for me pretty much straight out of the gate. The two brothers' relationship was compelling and affecting. The story addressed the endemic racism of America, which felt especially necessary during the reign of a President who fomented so much racist hatred. One of the scenes from the denouement I got to prominently featured the image of the border wall, blasted and twisted into wreckage, being traversed by two Latino boys who weren't trying to come into this supposed land of opportunity, but who were striving to escape the racist, cop-ridden cesspit that has killed their father and left them in precarity.
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