Life is Strange: Episode 1 - Chrysalis Reviews
Life is Strange is full of so much squandered potential. What could have been a great coming-of-age tale is hindered by bad writing, characters, set pieces, and gameplay. Those willing to give it a shot are better off playing better-executed cinematic titles like The Walking Dead or Heavy Rain.
The first episode of Life Is Strange is a mixed bag – the dialogue grates and inspecting items is a bore, but there is promise elsewhere. With the story's foundations laid down, the next episode could be a standout.
Life Is Strange: Episode 1 - Chrysalis certainly is strange, but perhaps not in the way that DONTNOD intended. There's enough ground work laid here to pave the way for future instalments, but a lot of the good is undone by lip sync issues and some of the most mind-bogglingly bad dialogue that we've heard in recent memory. While some of this is inadvertently hilarious, it does end up hurting the product at points. There's definitely still hope for this season, but the jury's out right now.
Life is Strange is an episodic adventure in the Telltale-style, placing you in the shoes of 18 year old Max Caulfield. Max can rewind time at will and has prophetic dreams of the future. Episode 1 is all intro, giving you a look at Max's powers and her supporting cast, but not much else. There's hints of bigger things on the horizon, but neither issue is immediate within Episode 1. I'm intrigued, but Episode 2 needs to give me a stronger reason to finish all five episodes.
As the series' opening gambit, it did its job. It didn't do much more than that, but it was a decent enough opener.
Life is Strange starts out with a problematic first episode, but there's a lot of potential in this young-adult drama.
The script has its moments, but I was more interested in 'Life Is Strange's approach to decisions than I was in its dialogue. The seed is there for many of the characters though, and I think with the right narrative they can grow into something much more complex. The second episode ought to be here soon, and I am looking forward to finding out. [OpenCritic note: Mild spoilers for the first episode are contained in this review.]
Summary: An interesting opening to what will hopefully grow to be something quite special.
Life is Strange gives us a unique inside look at solving the mystery of Arcadia Bay through the eyes of a teenage girl.
Life is Strange Episode 1: Chrysalis is a good introduction to the game world and story. There's a clear direction, setting, and tone Dontnod is going for, but splitting the game into episodes means a lot of waiting to see if it can carry it through to the end. There's a lot of potential here, both for success and failure, but at the very least Episode 1 provides a great experience full of exploration and intrigue. The cliff-hanger ending serves the episodic nature well enough, but separating chapters by several weeks could prove to be the game's downfall.
All in all, Life Is Strange was well... strange. While I found myself nitpicking characters and plot development, I still was drawn into what would happen next, what all my decisions would effect in the future, and just what in the world is happening in this town? Life is Strange is the kind of game where you don't have to fear imminent death or sweat the danger and fear of the world around you. Instead, it's a very humane take on the episodic genre, with some supernatural tendencies sprinkled in. I honestly am very interested to see where this strange journey ends up in the next episode, releasing March 2015.
A compelling and worthy Telltale alternative
This opening to Life is Strange is flawed but shows serious potential for the series.
There is a certain air of quality about the current product, but it is not enough. However, as more episodes come, I feel (and I hope) it will evolve and get better. Lets hope Max does not have to grow a beard for that to happen though,
After quite a bit of meandering, Life is Strange offers revelations, along with dialogue that isn't trying to ape how a teenager might sound. Or maybe the awkwardness is just drowned out by Chloe and Max's sincerity. And, in the tradition of all good TV pilots - it owes as much to TV and cinema as it does to other games - there's a cliffhanger that's going to force me to come back.
A solid opening to what could be a genuinely interesting episodic adventure. The mystery seems compelling, the characters are largely likeable, and the presentation is impeccable - but the emphasis is on "could" and "seems". It's still just episode one.
The opening episode of Dontnod's time-bending adventure is uneven but intriguing, earnest and full of potential.
The episodic Life is Strange is off to a good start, featuring sympathetic characters and tense social situations.
Chapter 1 of this five-part series is off to a promising, if timid, start. It presents a lot of ideas and mechanics just to show you what you'll be doing later, but it's pretty clear that the really interesting bits are yet to come. Still, this is a game worth checking out if you can handle the unavoidable alerts and iffy art choices.
I'm sure that once all five episodes are out, the game will be a great one, deserving of the highest scores. But right now the generic, unlikeable characters mar what could have been pretty perfect.