What We Know from the Previous Report:
Max (the Leading Female Protagonist)
Announced on August 11th, 2014, the developer of Remember Me (Dontnod Entertainment) and the publisher of the Final Fantasy series (Square Enix) are collaborating to produce a new episodic project called Life is Strange. Similar to TellTale’s Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us series, this narrative story will be digitally released and distributed into different episodes; in each episode, the player’s actions will later on determine and impact future events based on previous decisions.
These decisions will commence at Arcadia Bay, Oregon where Max Caulfield, the main protagonist, used to live fives years ago before her absence. Upon her return, she discovers that her fellow senior at her school has mysteriously disappeared. This event prompt Max to reunite with an old friend named Chloe in an attempt to investigate the reason behind the sudden disappearance. Eventually, this detective work leads to a memorable scene when Max discovers her ability to rewind time.
What We Didn’t Mention:
Max and Chloe’s Step-Dad
Prior to the main plot, Max left at the time when Chloe’s father passed away. With both her best friend and her father gone, Chloe became that an angst rebellious teenager who fought with her step-father, trashed her room, and plastered her wall with numerous posters that displayed handwritten cuss words (notably the flag). While IGN writer Brian Albert associated the smoking a joint and dying her hair blue part of this rebel stage, he also provided some very important details.
For starters, the fellow student who has gone missing is Rachel; this other girl is Chloe’s substitute and replacement for Max who “abandoned” her when she needed someone. Meaning, Rachel was Chloe’s new confining friend for five years. Because of Chloe’s frictional attitude toward Max, their interactions at the beginning will be quite a strain because they’ll be more like distant acquaintances that once shared some history together.
Yet, two high-lighting moments exist during the demo. When the player (controlling Max) accidentally breaks a treasured item that devastates the blue-haired friend, he or she can rewind the scene to prevent Chloe’s disappointment. In another memorable scene, Chloe’s father catches Chloe smoking, which can easily be dismissed with the time ability to pin the blame on the protagonist.
What We Didn’t Show:
In an interview/preview video entitled “Life is Strange Gameplay Preview Interview”, audiences can watch the scenes taken directly from this innovative project that focuses on memory and identity themes. Although the “memory and identity” notion is not taken from this video, the Dontnod Entertainment creative director, Jean-Maxime Moris, has mentioned these abstract but rhetorical themes to the IGN writer, mentioned earlier. While interested spectators can grasp what the developers are striving to achieve through these two difficult concepts by reading the reviews, the video revealed more interesting things about the company, character concepts (such as the reoccurring theme of having strong female leads), etc.
What We Didn’t Share:
Since the big announcement, Life is Strange has started a twitter account that has shared multiple updates with visually appealing screenshots.
Did we mention we are on Instagram? Follow LifeIsStrangeGame pic.twitter.com/MB8bYoCdNG
— Life is Strange (@LifeIsStrange) August 29, 2014
In the midst of these tweets, one post contains Toby Palm’s article, which has a unique twist. Instead of nip-picking into details about this entry, this Square Enix blogger has read some reviews and feedback from popular gaming communities and posted each review into one ultimate post that generated the best lines of who said “what the best” about this upcoming project.
While this rhetorical writing move capitalizes only upon what each writer associates as the strength of this video game (i.e. Joystiq writer pointed how “Life is Strange is so much more than ‘a game with a girl in it’ and provided why), each writer touches upon some elements more so then others, which gives audiences a clue to what this person considers most significant. If readers have checkout out previous works from that same author, they can eventually understand what fascinates that author the most (and what subjects could be potentially missing or not addressed). As such, glancing at other written works does create a larger picture that interested fans can appreciate.
The Confrontation Scene
What Readers Haven’t Stated:
After reading their reviews and receiving the latest update, what components or features within Life is Strange strikes you as the best selling point? Does the lighting particles from the sun’s orange glares set a unique mood? Does placing two-opposite characters with history add enough friction to eventually create dynamic characters? What are your personal thoughts toward a rebellious teenager who smokes? Do you believe that the authors will execute their ideas about memory or identity in a clear or muddled fashion?
In my personal opinion, I believe this innovative project will be a great case study because it will focus on capturing and projecting an American environment (specifically the Oregon landscape, speech mannerism, etc.). While this video game is not aimed to embrace or fix Oregon’s problems, I do find the color setting (by describing a vivid scene in great details that’s specifically found in one distinct location: Redwood Trees, Spanish Mosses, Grits, etc.) that’s been applied to be quite interesting because foreigners, who has never seen this place, may want to travel to this location to see the town one day or even believe that this fictional setting is possibly real. While folks might find this study absurd, books used to be the mediums that readers once trust to channel their thoughts into an imagination that’s filled with the details that describe these strange but distant lands. Now, video games are the current medium to younger generations to acquire enough details (maybe not always accurate at times) to do research after peaking their interest in the subject.
What Everyone Knows:
Life is Strange will release for the personal computer, PlayStation 3, PS4, XBox 360, and XBox One. However, the release date has not been confirmed. As such, this writer suggests checking periodically for more updates!
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