Adventure Gamers - Forums

Advie - 05 June 2018 09:46 AM

...intense too a good degree…

So… chapter 1.

Firstly, I completely agree with chrissie and Mikekelly, the game looks wonderful and the VA is really good too.

I love the way the quality is apparent right from the very first landing screen. A view of a coastal town (Arcadia Bay) with some stand out buildings. The trees sway and leaves flutter in a breeze. Sunlight plays on the sea as waves break on the shore. It feels peaceful and relaxing, but the more you watch you see that the breeze isn’t gentle. It’s definitely not blowing a gale, but it’s whole trees that are swaying, not just branches. Beautiful, but not boring!

The intro is great. First that lighthouse bit where we establish we’re in 3D (hope the motion sickness is OK chrissie!) and can enjoy the AAA feel of the game. The way Max reacts to the rain around her really makes it feel wet and windy, much more so than in lower budget games for my money.

I love the way that, when we get to the classroom, a lesson is going on but there is plenty to do and interact with. Then the scene in the bathroom where we learn the time travel mechanic and the opportunity to practise it again afterwards in the classroom. It is a tutorial but a really engaging one as we are dealing with a literally life or death situation.

Got to mention the soundtrack too, I think it’s great. That bit when max puts in her earphones walking down the corridor outside the classroom almost seems iconic to me, really showing the timid nervous perspective of Max leaving the comparative safety of the classroom and the ‘scary’ goings on of the other students. Any concerns I might have had that a man in his late 30’s will have difficulty getting into the mindset of a girl in her late teens vanish and I am 100% with her as a quiet nerdy person watching all the ‘cool’ people do their things.

One of the things I find so rewarding about the game is the amount of background information around you, things and people to look at and talk to. For a first playthrough you can skip as much of it as you want and still get on fine, on a replay for someone who really wants to sink deep into the gameworld it gives so, so much!

Where characters are just standing or lying around on grass or wherever there are always interesting interactions and maybe a time travel trick or two. The place just feels so alive, but at the same time so calm. The sun shines and my Max just potters around the lawn trying to negotiate the intricate social struggle that is being a teenager.

In terms of minus points, I suppose you might say there is very little in the way of puzzles (in the sense of traditional adventure game puzzles) with only a couple of inventory style puzzles and nothing really approaching a difficult puzzle. It’s not a complete breeze through though, getting past Victoria and into the dorms took some exploration and thinking about for me first time through. Nice environmental puzzle.

I’m going far too long already, but just want to say about choices. The game lists four major choices in this episode (and many more minor) - which did you pick? Here are my major ones: (no spoilers below if you have finished episode 1). Also just because I’ve played before doesn’t mean that the answers below are “correct” or “better” than any other responses just in case you’re worried. Max in my game is My version of Max and I know how she acts, not how your Max does!

Report Nathan or not? - Yep
Make fun or comfort Victoria - Comfort
Intervene between David and Kate or Hold back - Intervene
Take blame for Chloe/stay in the closet/etc. - came out and took the blame

Thanks for the report! I enjoyed reading it.

It is good we have hit adventure games like this one. Detroit: Become Human is also a big hit - with actual commercials on TV!

So, let’s try to get episode 2 done by June 16th, that gives time for those still playing episode 1 time to catch up.

Advie - please stay with us, if all you can do is post some opinions about what others are posting I would be quite happy with that - I know you have opinions and you can also just watch the game on YouTube.

Better that than nothing.

To me, episode 2 I saw where this adventure really gets going - so I am looking forward to reading all the comments on it.

I gotta wait, but it will be worth it.

MogChothra - 06 June 2018 01:46 PM

I will say that I made the exact same set of choices that you did, Intense Degree. 

Cool, I wonder if we’ll keep making the same choices?!

chrissie, Mikekelly, how about you guys?

The fun of this game is trying out different choices to get different outcomes. The game actually has different endings depending on what you have chosen.

Yes, I did get a different outcome myself. I won’t say anymore. I also got the same outcome as intense degree as I made the same choices on one playthrough of the game - I have played the game several times.

I am really sorry Mike but there were suddenly a burst of great new games; one after the other and another…etc, that i cant or could not catch my breath to join here as i said. and as much as i hate it to acknowledge this, but all i can say is i am sorry* i couldn’t do what i said i would.

Oscar - 09 June 2018 10:19 AM

Advie - 09 June 2018 09:33 AM

I am really sorry Mike but there were suddenly a burst of great new games; one after the other and another

Such as? I have played most of the new releases and the only game which could come close to being called “great” was Unforeseen Incidents.

Earthworms was followed by Unforeseen Incidents and Dick.Gallo, then Detroit and The dark inside.
i know what you are meaning, as they are all not as good as UI, but they are all my type; Dark*, 3rd person adventures. add their releases back to back in a short period of time is something i have not witnessed for a while.

Mikekelly - 08 June 2018 09:44 AM

The fun of this game is trying out different choices to get different outcomes. The game actually has different endings depending on what you have chosen.

From a personal perspective, I don’t think that’s quite the same for me. Although I have gone back and tried out different choices, there are some choices that feel ‘right’ or which I am invested in emotionally which mean that the alternatives feel ‘wrong’ or unsatisfying. I won’t name names or spoil anything here but maybe as we get to them…

chrissie - 09 June 2018 01:46 PM

To answer your question Intense Degree…

Cool, some similarities, some differences, looking forward to seeing how we all match up!

I really liked the way that hiding in Chloe’s cupboard and her step-dad comes in did actually make me feel a bit like a sheepish teenager who was about to be caught doing something he shouldn’t be! That mix of wanting to stand up for your friend and not wanting to get in trouble… I think that’s one of the ways this game captures the feelings and experience of the protagonist really well.

It is fun in this game to go back and try for the best outcome when you feel you didn’t make the right one the first time.

However, when you play the game several times its fun to see if you made bad choices what can happen to you.

Ok, how is episode 2 going? Well, I hope. Let’s shoot for finishing episode 3 by June 27th.

This gives those playing episodes 1 and 2 plenty of time to catch up.

Episode 3 is one of my fovorites, several great puzzles I enjoyed solving and lots of story development too.

This great game only gets better and better.

First Apologies. I have far too much to say about this episode in far too much detail, so please feel free to ignore the next posts!

Chapter 2

So we’re back at the Title Screen and it’s not sunny anymore. Although the town stands out more, it looks a bit drab and practical rather than the calming summery haze of the day before.

We have the t.v. like ‘Previously on Life is Strange’ section, useful when you’ve had to wait for the episode to come out!

Scene 1

Staying in bed and ‘snoozing’ that alarm, is there anything more teenagery?! I love the fact that the game has moments like this one. Get up when you’re ready, just enjoy being in the game world and in the sleepy head of the protagonist for a while! If you do wait a while you get a nice little line of internal monologue to further ‘plug you in’ to Max.

OK, so, make the bed or don’t, have a poke round the room or not, go and have a shower… WAIT A MINUTE, did David Cage sneak into the production studio at some point?! Seriously though, I wish he had, because for me, this is the everyday, mundane things of life done right in a game. In heavy rain, the boring everyday things really did feel pretty boring and every time someone gets into a shower in a David Cage game it feels gratuitous. He could learn a lot here.

Somehow, in this game, the making of the bed and the picking up of shower essentials gives me a warm glow. I am participating in Max’s day to day life in this world and I love it. Somehow it is intimate without being creepy or sordid. Similarly, in the showers it doesn’t feel gratuitous. Max is getting clean and that’s it.

I like the texts Max receives too. Some gardening advice from Mum, some re-ordering of the food chain from Victoria, some arrangements to meet from Chloe. Here I am, living alongside Max.

Kate’s Video

Boy am I glad that the internet and social media wasn’t a thing when I was a teenager with everyone carrying around filming equipment. I can’t imagine having every detail of my teenage life preserved electronically for everyone to see in perpetuity.

Given that they are all teenagers, I don’t suppose Victoria understands the extent of how nasty what she is doing is but I’m not making excuses for her. Publicly humiliating someone is not OK. I suppose this is the reality of what teenagers live with today and it’s horrible.

It’s clear from her room that Kate’s family are a long way from a Christian family, whatever they might profess. There is no love there, only judgement which is the last thing she needs right now. With all the high drama of being a teen, her room has turned into a gloomy depression hole, and turned inward upon herself, she sees only darkness and closed doors and windows around her.

Outside, Warren is still trying his luck with Max, but my Max is having none of it. Don’t misunderstand me, Warren is a nice guy but firstly, she doesn’t like him that way and secondly she just isn’t interested in any romantic/sexual relationship with anyone at the moment.