That was a heck of a ride. I easily put a 100 hours into this game, so that's way more than I expected before I started on this journey. I might still do some of the last minigames stuff, to get my 100% completion, before I even consider getting Yakuza Kiwami. At least I heard that one is a bit shorter.
@Th3solution Loved reading your thoughts regarding Before the Storm. I agree with many of your points, in both criticism and praise. I don't think it suffered from different developers, writers, actors, etc. in the way others do, but I do think it's one of those rare instances whereby being a prequel harmed it. There are rules to prequels and you know them going in, but I always felt like there was an undercurrent of having no choice (in a game all about choice). Whether that's a problem with the chicken or the egg, I can't say, and you highlighted some of the choices as a positive, so that's perhaps one small area in which we disagree.
Having said that, my memories of the second episode are so incredibly positive, they always seem to compensate for the general "yeah, it was okay, I guess" feeling I had after the first, or the somewhat larger plot and presentation problems I had with the third. In fact, I think the second episode of Before the Storm is my favourite episode of any Life is Strange game; it's the standard the sequel has to beat, for me at least.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
(Alert - Life is Strange: Before the Storm and Life is Strange spoilers ahead and tagged) @RogerRoger Yes, the overall narrative end point of where Rachel is and where Chloe’s mind is at the beginning of LiS is set, so you’re right that as a prequel, you’re painted into a corner as to where you can go with things. But I can say I agree that the whole part involving her starting the fire after confessing to Chloe what they saw when they happen to see her dad having the secret trist with Sera was very poignant and symbolic of Rachel’s entire life being up in flames and largely from her own doing. Then having pulled that sucker punch to our emotions, finding out Rachel’s birth mother is Sera was somewhere I didn’t expect things to go. Despite the pacing issues with the 3rd episode and the seemingly unnatural jumps in logic (breaking into the house and burning evidence ... boy the DA would be locked up for eternity in prison if all that was discovered. Also the rather abrupt end where Sera all of a sudden doesn’t want to meet Rachel after writing those letters and demanding to see her for a year ... the sudden change of heart felt forced, etc, etc) yet I still enjoyed watching the story unfold
But as far as the decisions you make having an impact, nothing large was decided but for example even though it is a small thing, the fact that depending how you approached the attack on Drew (stay in the room or go out to lend aid) made a difference, at least cosmetically, on who was injured and hospitalized. Other small choices did result in little changes but the end choice of telling the truth to Rachel about her dad or hiding it from her at her mother’s request did actually feel impactful, not so much because it changed Rachel’s ultimate destiny to end up dead at the hands of the creepy photographer teacher, but it carried forth Chloe’s very broken conscious and inner struggle that translated into her state of mind you come upon at the beginning of LiS.
As for how I approached things personally, I chose to adhere to Sera’s request to withhold the information of James’s true nature. Part of this made sense to me to do because I knew where Rachel was headed and her days were numbered before she is killed and so I wanted her final months to be happy ones. It also was helpful that Sera herself was requesting that Chloe stay silent and lie to Rachel for the greater good. Despite my choice, I struggled with lying to her and felt bad about that. It was worse when I went back and watched the alternate ending by choosing to tell Rachel the truth and got to see her and her mom meet and share an embrace. I still stand my my original choice however
I apologize for the long comment and large spoilers but I’ve been wanting to talk about it.
It's interesting on how much we agree, and yet you chose to withhold the truth at the end; I didn't, and not just because I'm an overgrown boy scout. With all the secrets and lies that had been building atop one another for Rachel's entire life (and, as you say, knowing full well what final horrors are about to bury her... literally) I thought she deserved some shred of truth to her existence, and some choice of her own, however short-lived. Again, as was often the case with every decision except "kill thousands to save Chloe" at the end of the first season, I could totally see both sides and wasn't surprised to see such a close percentage during the final tally. It's always less about the choice itself, and more about the struggle to decide. That's where the game is played.
I get that it's formative for Chloe, but I think part of my problem is that the roles have reversed; Rachel is the prequel's Chloe, we observe her and interact with her, rather than on her behalf as we do with Max (hope this is making sense?!). Chloe was such a big deal for the first season because she was a fixed point around which our choices constructed a narrative; she's therefore more understandable, and more quantifiable, than Max, who you can randomly swing between two, three or more choices, paths and personalities (and breakfast choices). Whenever I think of Before the Storm, I think of Rachel and the impact I had on her, through my choices and input via Chloe. Your point is very well-made, however, and I often forget that perspective when linking the two games. And you're right, a lot of the smaller choices do have nice impacts later on, but they're all quite self-contained... which, actually, might not be the worst thing.
The whole third episode didn't sit right with me. There was a lot to love; the hospital scenes, some of the other interactions, etc. were all great, and the final decision did feel weighty, but the whole break-in sequence was just bizarre, as was the sudden out-of-nowhere contrived "threat" from Elliot and, as you say, the somewhat-rushed ending with Sera. It all felt as though they were happily constructing a whole season and then somebody stuck their head around the door and yelled "Remember, guys, we've only got three episodes!" and the writers went "Ah, nuts! Quick! Scribble something down!" Which is a shame, given how well everything had been constructed up until that point, especially with the near-perfect second episode.
Given that we know Life is Strange 2 will continue elsewhere, with new characters, I feel there was plenty to give context and close a few loops, but beyond meeting and understanding why Rachel is such a big deal in the first season I felt like they didn't have much to really elaborate upon or explain. Maybe it's just me, and I'd still strongly recommend Before the Storm to anybody who loved Life is Strange, because it's more from the characters and world and none of it does any damage.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger Here, here! Thanks for your thoughts and I can definitely see your perspective. If nothing else, the game makes one think and re-evaluate life and the choices we make, and the effects we have on those around us. I like it when games stilulate me to ponder the content and I like it when a game, book, or movie won’t shy away from ethical dilemmas to foster some thoughts and discussion. And in the end, we all learn from one another’s point of view. I really believe in that — maintaining an open mind is important to discovery. I love it when games and movies keep me thinking about the narrative for days afterward. That’s why some 7/10 games like this are actually more enjoyable to me sometimes than 9/10 games that are just polished superficial unadulterated fun.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Oh, I agree. Whilst I'll always save some time for basic, primal nonsense (something like an Uncharted, a Just Cause or a Bond game) the rise of the choice-based narrative, whether in smaller indie games like Life is Strange or in larger Triple-A releases like Mass Effect, has done nothing but improve gaming and, with a little luck, improve gamers. Certainly many of the folks around here are not what I'd have once called "stereotypical gamers" and it's funny how a lot of the conversations come around to similarly thought-provoking games, or the quieter, more meaningful moments peppered throughout larger, overall-mainstream games.
It's given me many examples to use when people pre-judge me as a "gamer" and therefore think that it automatically means I'm some kind of man-child with anger management issues; describing some of the choices or issues to them and then asking "What would you do?" and they genuinely have no idea, can be a pretty effective tool in raising awareness.
The best books, movies and television shows have always asked questions of the audience, and it's great to see gaming doing the same. With any luck, we'll live to see it recognised as an equal.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@KratosMD I meant to ask u this the other day when u mentioned it but forgot. Is hollow knight as good as everyone says? I'm definitely getting it when I releases on ps4. Next spring?
I beat Dragons Dogma. I surprised by the post-game because it wasn't post-game, the game just wasn't over. It was a really fun game. I feel like it had a really interesting story that just needed to be told better. The ending threw me for a loop. The darkness and big hole after you defeat the Dragon were surprises. Then I did not expect you to become God. I didn't expect that at all. I'm not sure how it all connected or was foreshadowed, but if anyone can explain that would be helpful. I thought the part where you were a god before you stabbed yourself was some good storytelling though as you just wait for something to happen going mad and becoming lonely. It took be a bit to figure out that you had to stab yourself. I also liked the themes of choice rather than destiny, I really liked that idea. Dragon ended up being a interesting villain once he started talking a lot. Then once you woke up on the beach it felt a little inconclusive, like they needed a little bit of an epilogue after that. Overall nuts ending. They should also give you an idea of why you want to collect 20 wakestones as I was just confused when that happened.
All in all here's to an expanded sequel that puts more choice in the story as I liked the bits where you had choice.
@Jaz007 Will you be doing the dlc, Dark Arisen I think it is called? The difficulty does ramp up quite a bit I thought, and I gave up a couple of hours after starting it.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@JohnnyShoulder No, I just skipped it. I really liked the game, but didn’t want to start doing extra dungeons and stuff. I wanted to finish it so it didn’t lost among my unbeat games. Almost 40 hours was enough for me with it. I wasn’t in the mood for the extra difficulty either.
Last week I beat Mass Effect 2, however, I've spent a lot of time trying to get my thoughts on it. This is the best I can manage.
The story immediately makes it clear that bad stuff is gonna happen, and the Commander has to Shepard some fresh meat for a dangerous mission. It gives a sense of urgency that I appreciate, and there's an interesting grey shade as well, since Shepard has to work with Cerberus (a not nice organization from the first game) in order to have the resources for the mission. Plenty of people tend to call you out on it, even though your crew don't seem to be terrible. Speaking of crew, hoo boy, Shepard has some real basket cases with him this time. Two squadmates from Mass Effect return, but we also have Cerberus operatives Miranda and Jacob, Assassin Thane, kinda shady doctor Mordin, Justicar Samara (think über powerful space cop), Krogan Grunt (Yes, that is his name), Convict Jack, and with DLC, Thief Kasumi and former gang leader Zaeed. Grey indeed.
Thing about the story, is that most of it is prepping and recruiting all these whackjobs for your suicide mission, while getting the occasional tidbit about the newest threat. It feels like there's less than Mass Effect 1, and it's...odd. To it's credit, the setup is great and I like the Loyalty Missions, kinda sidequests where you explore the character of your squadmates, and these are well done, giving some more layers to your team. This is what your doing away from all the prep work though, so it's strange as an overall story.
The gameplay is another dividing line for many. It feels more shooter than RPG here this time. Guns no longer have infinite ammo and heat chambers, or mods. The special ammo now count as powers, and inventory is limited to one gun of each type. Battles, due to this streamlining feel even easier than before, since I mostly relied on my guns and still got through fine. Again, it's strange. I enjoyed playing it, but the gameplay feels like it's lost fluff but lost challenge to get that playability.
And finally, graphics. They look better than before, but there's still an occasion where the framerate gets junky (mostly during cutscenes) and texture pop-in is still a thing. Though thankfully there's no Untextured Saren Face staring into your soul.
Again, I feel strange on this. I enjoyed the game, but I'm not sure if it lives up to the hype. Still good, maybe not GOAT.
"We don't get to choose how we start in this life. Real 'greatness' is what you do with the hand you're dealt." -Victor Sullivan "Building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same thing." -Solid Snake
@DerMeister I think when it released it was really genre defying (wow, shooter and RPG in one, OMG!), but it's maybe less impressive in hindsight gameplay wise.
I remember loving the powers, but thinking back about it, I was constantly doing the exact same thing against the same enemies. Duck behind cover, float the enemies in the air, attack them with some sound barrier breaking attack, repeat. It's a lot less engaging compared to what you do in Horizon. At the time this still felt kind of fresh, though, and surely there are ways to play that are more fun than others.
The characters are strong, though, and hold up against most games released since. I can still remember all of the team members and most other important characters, which is a rare feet for any RPG. I think that's this game's strong suit.
@Kidfried I barely used any powers, aside from the occasional Overload or Warp from a teammate. I had the basic soldier build (which I did by accident in the first game, but kept here for consistency), so there wasn't too much aside from Adrenaline Rush and spraying with the machine gun. It feels like a step down to me, since you needed to be tactical before, at least until the end. And here's me shooting everything in Mass Effect 2.
I agree that the cast are the highlight. I think BioWare make their money on the strength of their writing, and this was when they had their A-game.
@KratosMD Funnily enough, I'm the opposite. I've already made two $100+ purchases this month, so I'm just clearing games out. I've also never played Dead Space. Not much of a horror guy I am.
"We don't get to choose how we start in this life. Real 'greatness' is what you do with the hand you're dealt." -Victor Sullivan "Building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same thing." -Solid Snake
Mass Effect 2 is bloody brilliant. I think I completed it three times (initial play, paragon with everyone surviving, and a renegade femshep game). The Shadow Broker DLC is excellent and Arrival links into ME3 brilliantly.
@DerMeister I nodded along to your Mass Effect 2 thoughts, thanks for sharing them. It's one of those games where, when you're caught up in it, everything makes sense and feels great but then you pause for a moment after the credits roll and go "Hang on a second... that was insane, half of it didn't make any sense and did I even enjoy some of those levels?" Maybe that's the key to a good experience, I don't know, but I certainly don't agree with those who say ME2 is the high-point of the franchise. There's a more consistent tone, narrative and experience to be had in others. Like you, I simply agree that it's good, very good in parts.
Also, as somebody who never uses "magic powers" and always just goes for stealth and pistols, I found the tweaked combat much more accessible in ME2 because of that focus on straightforward cover-based gunplay. That's both a great thing (because it made large parts of it a breeze; in fact, I don't think I ever died during my first playthrough, whereas I died a lot... like, a lot-lot, in the first game) and a criticism (because I recognise that I play games in quite a limited, straightforward way, and in a franchise all about choice it'd be nice if the wider options were there for others).
I agree with @Thrillho in that the Shadow Broker DLC is excellent, though. Arrival was okay, but I much preferred Shadow Broker. Overlord is also phenomenal.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
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