Life is Strange: First impressions

Life is Strange plays a lot like an interactive movie set in the real world. The game is based on choice and consequence and follows Max Caulfield, a character not hard to relate to, who is coming back to her hometown after five years to pursue a scholarship in Photography. Here is where things get interesting, Max has the ability to rewind time and using this ability she can change the future by altering events in the past. The game is episodic, like it were a television mini-series with minimal action in a way that it puts more focus on exploration. There is a catch though even though you can reverse time, you can only do it for a short period and you still have to make decisions which will have long term consequences which you cannot change.

The game even without an epic storyline is not any less fun and I played through the entire first episode effortlessly. The game puts you in the center of a teenage world and it really feels like you're a part of it. Max's thoughts truly put you inside the head of an introvert keeping you immersed in her character in a way that makes you feel like you want to see where her life is taking her, something like what you would feel when you would want to see where your thoughts take you in the real world. In spite of the whole time travel thing, the setting still feels very real as nothing around you seems over-the-top.

The art style and the soundtrack of the game are very appropriate for both this kind of game and for the story. If you're a fan of The Walking Dead and Gone Home, Life is Strange puts you right at home in terms of familiar gameplay. The theme of the game where you follow the life of a teenage girl in a small town is familiar because of television shows and film but has rarely been explored in video games before, and this game shows you why that is changing.

The first episode really takes the necessary time to develop the characters and story which will later branch out into different arcs. Life is Strange uses a lot of stereotypes in the first episode, what is yet to be seen is, if the game can deliver the true depth of the personalities of those characters which at first appear to be stereotypical. There is a lot of mystery being created around the disappearance of a student in a slow and steady manner, it is interesting to see how that will play out in the future. Hence, the best part about the first episode of Life is Strange is not the episode itself but the exciting prospects for for future episodes.

Everything being said, I think this game is a great choice for anybody who is looking for a change in terms of the kind of games they are playing. While first person shooters and epic role playing games are a lot of fun, sometimes you just want to immerse yourself in the life of somebody you can truly relate to and Life is Strange gives you that. I enjoyed the experience and so I recommend this game to anybody who would like something of the kind I have described above.