Review of Life is Strange Episode 1

Telltale Games has set the bar very high when it comes to interactive actions have consequences style games but now  game developer Dotnod Entertainment  and Square Enix is getting in on the fun with “Life is Strange”. This series will consist of five episodes (the first one released on January 30th).

The story follows a girl named Maxine (Max) Caulifield a photography student who discovers that she posses the new found ability to rewind time at any given moment. This results in every single choice she makes to enact the “butterfly effect”. Every time a player rewinds time you are literally changing the outcomes of conversations and other key things.The game sets up the continuing themes of memory and identity very nicely. Besides the science fiction aspect of this game with time travel it also portrays a real sense of the struggles many of us have faced and continue to face as we grow and change.

It does a fantastic job of including some of today’s trends such as the “selfie”. Be warned this game is not all sunshine and rainbows and you as a player will be exposed to and presented with some very real situations. What really captivated me from the start with this game its’ amazing soundtrack. The trailer theme literally made this game for me (besides its’ awesome story and game play)

I am really looking forward to the next episode which according to their Facebook page is due out before the end of this month. Life is Strange is available on the following platforms ; Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, Playstation 3,Xbox One and Xbox 360 (through digital distribution only)

Apparently while in development Dontnod Entertainment faced heavy pressure from other publishers to make the lead a male instead of a female. I for one am happy to see more female protagonists in video games and glad they ended up partnering with Square Enix.

“Life is Strange” and its’ first episode get a 9/10 of from me and I highly recommend that fans of these types of games give it a chance and check it out!~Tarah Bleier