Life is Strange, Episode 5: Conclusion! Demiboy vs. Backlog, Game #5

Before I wrap up my thoughts on Life is Strange having completed Episode 5, I'd like to invite you all to try a little linguistic exercise. I want you to read the following sentence, aloud or in head-voice:

"I don't want to go there."

Now, there are various ways that might have sounded to you, read out in an absence of context. For my part, I tend to read such a bland statement without much emphasis--maybe a tiny bit of stress on "go there" at the end. "Idunwanna go there." Now, what if the sentence took place as part of a dialogue that went like this?

"You should go there sometime."
"I don't want to go there."

Does that change the inflection of the sentence as you read it? When I read it now, as a protestation or rebuttal to a piece of advice instead of a statement floating free in space, a heavy emphasis lands on "want." "I don't want to go there," with a sort of understood "But" leading the sentence. Maybe I'm unusual, but I don't think so: I think that's the way most fluent English readers and speakers would scan it.

For some reason, the voice acting in Life is Strange frequently doesn't make this sort of adjustment. Characters lob statements back and forth at each other without the cadence of their sentences taking into account the preceding line of the conversation. It's disconcerting, because the voice acting is otherwise superb! The actors convey intensity and emotion, varying their pace and tone based on the needs of the scene. And yet many of those lines hang out there like disconnected Lego bricks, disrupting the flow. It's a sort of conversational uncanny valley, topped in the game only by a bug I ran into where Max delivered several out-loud lines without her lips moving at all. My guess? The actors didn't get to record in the studio together (not an uncommon situation, I suspect), and the director didn't sufficiently emphasize preceding lines when coaching delivery.

Vague spoilers ahead, all. Beware!

 
It's disruptive little oddments like that which keep me from awarding Life is Strange five stars. The tension between roleplay impetus and ludic impetus I described in my first post about the game grew only more pronounced as the game continued, and it started to feel uncomfortable in ways that didn't, from what I could tell, comprise any coherent meta-commentary. What's the purpose of being encouraged, via context buttons and voice lines, to stop and examine bric-a-brac in the holding cell from which you've just managed a traumatic escape? When trapped in a nightmare born of excessive timeline tampering, why does the game want me to delay my freedom to figure out optional puzzles for collectible photos? The only answer I can come up with is "because it's a game," and games need these things. I passed up most of these distractions, because I was concerned primarily with the storyline, but it gave me an occasional feeling that the creators shoved these elements in to the detriment of their overall vision.

With those gripes out of the way, let me make clear that they were minor in the grand scheme. I loved this game, and I'm glad I didn't put off playing it any longer! So LiS gets four stars from me, no question. It's really only the forward motion of this blog that's keeping me from bouncing right back to the start of the game and doing another playthrough, collecting photos I missed and trying other major decisions! I'd go so far as to say this is the quintessential "choices matter" game. Life is Strange successfully toes the delicate line between allowing the player's decisions to shape the story, and presenting a coherent, consistent, emotionally powerful narrative arc. On that count, it leaves even my other favorites in the category, like Dragon Age Origins and Undertale, in the dust. I've never before had a game cause me to agonize over so many difficult choices, or revisit a dialogue tree so many times trying to get the ideal outcome.

It's going to be a long time before I encounter another game that hits this hard, I suspect. And I'm going to remember this one for a long time. Thank you, Square Enix, Dontnod, Chloe, Max, and Arcadia Bay: you've done something spectacular.

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Next in the queue is The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on Wii. It's a 40+ hour monster, and not generally considered the best version of the game. Will I make it to the end? What will it inspire me to write? Check in during the coming days to find out!

"Demiboy vs. Backlog" is a blog series where I play each game from my considerable backlog until I finish it or at least a week passes, writing here along the way! I typically grab games at random, but you can instead advise me on what to tackle next. Life is Strange was selected by @curubethion, and Twilight Princess came up on random shuffle. Check out the play queue and leave a comment here if you want to nudge it in a new direction! Think my backlog still isn't large enough or is missing some must-play title? I accept gift games via Steam, and will slot any game thus received into the queue at the nearest opportunity!