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You could probably say the same thing about the notes Chloe writes on her hand in this game, which seem to change within seconds with no trace of the original one left behind (even more impressive considering they appear to be written in pen). Probably best to assume it's just there for the sake of the game and not think too much about it. It would be nice if LiS 2 had some clearer indication of new journal entries though (and we know for a fact that aspect will be coming back because the artist from LiS has already been confirmed as returning for the sequel), maybe just flash up a brief notification or something like they do for text messages and whenever you take/draw photos/graffiti. This might be too much work but it could also be cool if the existing character profiles you had actually got updated the more you learn about said character. I like the journals as they give a bit more depth to the player character and the situation but yeah, as you get caught up in the story it can be hard to remember to check it at times (especially the first time through). The first game is a little worse about this actually as some times when you check it the entry for the day it will only be half completed. I'd also like it if they continued to include dream sequences in the next game, if only for the weird journal entries and texts that go along with them. Larryb fucked around with this message at 00:19 on May 18, 2018 |
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May 18, 2018 00:01
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Not sure how true this is since I can't find another source at the moment but according to this list the currently rumored title of the next game is Life is Strange: Storm's Calling. Again, grain of salt but I'm guessing we'll know for sure in another month or so. Personally I hope it does have it's own subtitle if only because searching for Life is Strange 2 mostly just brings up Before the Storm related stuff currently. Larryb fucked around with this message at 23:18 on May 18, 2018 |
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May 18, 2018 23:16
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That fact that it's listed under Sony and not Squeenix makes me lean more toward fake, but you never know with these supposed leaks. And I'd question it for having 'Storm' in the title at all. I kind of assumed that was going to be specific to the Arcadia Bay story. Really don't want another poorly justified big dumb storm demanding that the hero sacrifice their loved ones on the plot altar. Edit: Also has Blizzard ever announced anything at E3? I thought they stuck to Blizzcon. This: quote:- Overwatch: Talon’s Fury [Teaser] BobTheJanitor fucked around with this message at 23:44 on May 18, 2018 |
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May 18, 2018 23:41
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Well if I remember right Before the Storm was officially revealed during Microsoft's E3 conference last year so I suppose anything's possible. But yeah, I'm assuming it's fake for now considering some of the other things on that list but you never know. It'd be kind of weird for them to basically use the same plot twice unless this is still going to wind up still continuing from the story LiS started somehow only with a new cast and setting (in other words, a whole new group of people have to deal with the aftershocks of Max and Chloe's journey). I suppose that could work if done well but I'd personally rather the two games stay as far apart from each other as possible at this point. Like I said, we should probably know for sure before too much longer now. I'm guessing it's still going to be multi-platform though (and maybe they'll even include Nintendo in the mix this time). Larryb fucked around with this message at 05:43 on May 19, 2018 |
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May 19, 2018 00:04
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Did Eliot follow Chloe to the junk yard after she stormed away from her fight with Joyce and David? I ask this because when you fix up the truck, you're given the choice to either draw the Illuminati Eye or write "You are going to die!" behind the seat. If you're curious enough to see what lurks beyond the door of Eliot's inner sanctum while on the mission to retrieve Frank's money from Drew, the search history on his computer and the book of creepy poetry both reveal something which hint that he's been stalking you today. Not only did he look up the meaning of the eye symbol, the phrase "You are going to die." has also been written in the book. My memory may be rusty but...isn't it on the most recent page? If Eliot did read what Chloe scrawled inside the truck, he must have been close enough to look through the window. And if he got that close, he must have done so at a strategic moment when she'd be none the wiser about his presence. Meaning that his best chance would have been...while she lay...asleep inside... Does anyone else feel like somebody just walked over their grave? Eshettar fucked around with this message at 22:49 on May 21, 2018 |
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May 21, 2018 22:44
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That'd make the most sense, yes. Off the subject but for some reason it just dawned on me that in the first game there was a major hint towards Jefferson (or at least, someone besides Nathan being involved in all this) back in Episode 2. When Kate is explaining what happened to her she mentions that she heard someone talking to her in a soft voice and then she heard Nathan. Which would imply that someone else was in the room with them at the time. On another note, there is a way that LiS 2 (if it's even going to be called that) could continue the story of the original without necessarily having to bring any of the old cast back. What if Max's constant loving around with time had an unexpected ripple effect (no matter which ending you choose) and now some poor sap from another town/state/country/whatever suddenly has to deal with the aftershocks? Either way, I'm curious to see if DontNod decides to stick to their guns on this one or if they decide to tie it back into the first season anyway as we get towards the end. Whatever happens, I hope we can at least finally break the trend of LiS games having somewhat disappointing finales. Also, I'd kind of rather they just set the next one in modern day unless they have a really good reason to put it earlier (which, assuming the game comes out this year, would put it exactly 5 years after the events of the original). The games don't have to be connected beyond similar themes and maybe some easter eggs here and there of course, I'd also be perfectly fine with it just being an anthology series of weird yet poignant stories. Plus, if one of the new characters winds up being particularly noteworthy maybe we can get Deck Nine back to do a game about them one day. I wouldn't mind seeing them take another crack at the franchise at any rate considering how BtS turned out overall. Larryb fucked around with this message at 04:35 on May 22, 2018 |
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May 21, 2018 23:41
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I thought it over some more and it struck me as quite possible that the rabbit hole goes much deeper with Eliot. When he shows up at the hospital, he claims to be visiting one of the North brothers. But when Chloe approaches him, right before he spots her and they have their awkward conversation, he seems to be peeking through the doors of the other rooms. That always seemed kinda off to me. If he has permission to visit, surely the receptionist would have given him the number for the correct room? So why was he dragging his feet like that? Maybe Eliot had no real interest in seeing how the injured boy's doing. Maybe that was just a cover story intended to mask what he was really up to. Looking for Chloe. But how did he even know she'd be at the hospital? Because he followed her there. Which means he saw what happened in the junk yard. Eshettar fucked around with this message at 12:18 on May 22, 2018 |
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May 22, 2018 10:32
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Eliot was a creep who didn't get enough screen time to be impactful. Those subtle things are interesting, but it's just too bad that you can go through the game only actually talking to him once and then have him show up out of nowhere for his 'hello i am an rear end in a top hat' scene. I actually hit all the conversations with him on my first playthrough, and poked around his room and everything. Even with that, when he shows up at the Amber house to get in the way, my reaction was more one of annoyance that he was interrupting the storyline with his bullshit. You could have extracted him from the game entirely without changing anything. He either needed to be more involved in the story, or not there at all. But that whole last episode was a clunky mess anyway. Hope dontnod takes their time with season 2 and manages to deliver a well crafted finale this time, even if they end up delaying the last episode to do it. I'd much rather wait an extra few months than see them stumble and faceplant on the finish line again.
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May 22, 2018 17:07
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You probably could have replaced the whole thing with a dream sequence where her dad, or better yet, a nightmare version of Chloe herself making some of the same points about Rachel, which probably would have made it more impactful as then it would be Chloe voicing (and subsequently fighting against) her own fears and self-doubt (also a Chloe vs Chloe Backtalk could have been cool). Alternatively, you could have had Steph show up instead to check up on Chloe, thereby gaining her a temporary new partner for the last section of the game after everything had been explained. I would imagine saiid Backtalk being set up a little like this: about 5 pips on either side, the other Chloe could be represented by Chloe's normal skull icon without the fire, a raven or, to tie into the first game a little more, a butterfly. The concept behind it would basically be the game judging you for every major action you took thus far and now you have to explain yourself, the catch being that your opponent this time is just as adept at throwing your words back at you as you are for theirs. If you lose, our Chloe manages to get the last word in anyway but is much less confident afterwards, leading her to make more mistakes at the mill and thereby alter the ending a bit. If you win, things proceed as normal. Also while we're dreaming, said Nightmare Chloe would be voiced by Ashly Burch. Another thing I hope for Season 2 is that the main two (or possibly more) characters are on more equal footing this time around so that one character doesn't wind up overshadowing the other. If you think about it, even taking the first game by itself most of the story tends to revolve around Chloe in some way with Max serving as more of a proxy by which to tell her story. Larryb fucked around with this message at 18:17 on May 22, 2018 |
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May 22, 2018 17:25
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BobTheJanitor posted:Even with that, when he shows up at the Amber house to get in the way, my reaction was more one of annoyance that he was interrupting the storyline with his bullshit. You could have extracted him from the game entirely without changing anything. He either needed to be more involved in the story, or not there at all. That was everyone's reaction to the stalker scene with Eliot. "Jesus, get the gently caress out of the way you idiot, I have things to do". Eliot's entire character was pointless and added nothing to the game.
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May 22, 2018 20:39
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Orange Sunshine posted:That was everyone's reaction to the stalker scene with Eliot. "Jesus, get the gently caress out of the way you idiot, I have things to do". Yeah, I understand he was basically meant to be "Warren, only worse" and all but at least Warren had something of a presence in the first game and actually contributed to the plot in some ways. You also actually got the sense that, outside of his crush, he and Max were genuinely friends with each other (something I never really got with Chloe and Eliot). With Eliot he's basically some nobody who you only have to talk to like twice in the whole game (there's also the fact that he texts you constantly throughout the first two episodes but you can still just ignore those) that suddenly goes mental towards the end, it just doesn't really fit that well. Honestly I think BtS could have done with one more episode in between 2 and 3 to flesh things out a bit more and therefore make the finale seem a bit less rushed. I also question their decision to not even let Sera speak until the very end of the game. Larryb fucked around with this message at 20:52 on May 22, 2018 |
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May 22, 2018 20:48
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Elliot exists to make Chloe hella bi
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May 22, 2018 20:52
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Everyone shut the gently caress up about Eliot and watch this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3jQYE_LLGo
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May 22, 2018 22:18
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exquisite tea posted:Everyone shut the gently caress up about Eliot and watch this. I'm sad this isn't a game now, that was pretty well done. On another note, it's kind of fitting that Life is Strange, a series where the main gimmick of the first one is having the ability to reverse time, is essentially a story told backwards. Starting with her death and ending on the day her entire world was shattered it basically chronicles 3 of Chloe's most pivotal years: 2008: The worst year of her life. Her cat dies, her dad dies, Max moves away and then a few months later her mom starts seeing David who means well but kind of treats her like crap and her mom just sort of goes along with it for the most part. 2010: She meets Rachel, someone who for the first time in years genuinely seems to care about her as well as making some new friends in Steph and the North brothers. However, in the same year Max has pretty much completely fallen out of contact with her, she gets kicked out of school (temporarily at least as there is a report card from 2011 in her room during LiS), David moves in and eventually gets engaged to her mom, she finds out a guy she's known since kindergarten is a psycho and is almost killed by a drug lord. 2013: Rachel goes missing (and is eventually revealed to be dead, though not before it also comes out that she was seeing Frank behind Chloe's back), Chloe is deep in debt and almost became a victim herself thanks to Nathan and after Max saves her in the bathroom she kind of becomes a bit of a death magnet. But she also reunites with and rekindles her friendship with Max (which can possibly blossom into something more) and at least gets closure about Rachel. This all ends in her either sacrificing herself to save her hometown and living on as the blue butterfly or watching it get flattened by a tornado and then loving off with Max to parts unknown. Then of course we have the upcoming comic series which will apparently deal with the aftermath of the latter choice. DontNod really struck gold with these characters and I hope they manage to get lucky again with the sequel. As others have said though, please take your time with the finale this time even if you have to delay the release. While I don't exactly hate Polarized or Hell is Empty they both could have been handled so much better than they were. For once I'd like to see an LiS game with an ending that's just as good as the rest of the game. Larryb fucked around with this message at 00:12 on May 23, 2018 |
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May 23, 2018 00:05
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exquisite tea posted:Everyone shut the gently caress up about Eliot and watch this. ummm that was terrible? look at those sprites! and the color palettes?? 8-bit my foot! only a total phony would call that 8-bit. Larryb posted:For once I'd like to see an LiS game with an ending that's just as good as the rest of the game. This is part of the reason why I'm hesitant about Vampyr. After Remember Me and LiS I can't say I'm super hyped about it. But then again I'm never satisfied with the endings of story-based games.
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May 23, 2018 04:10
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I find it interesting how the game presents Eliot to us, the people who are playing as Chloe. He looks so clean-cut when you first meet him. He could be taken for the perfect guy. He takes care of himself and his family could not be prouder about how he's getting on at school...making him the polar opposite of Chloe who shows up to school with a black eye and whose downward spiral causes her mom to fear for her. But all those things are just what's visible to us on the surface. Chloe and Eliot ARE like night and day but not in a way that's immediately apparent. Even though she cultivates the reputation of a person who's best avoided, Chloe has a big heart and depending on how she's played, can open it up to Samantha and the North Brothers, people who would never expect this rebel-without-a-cause to give a drat about their troubles. And though she acts like she doesn't care, she can have a great time playing D&D with Steph and Mikey as well as become swept up in the magic of theater when Rachel ropes her into the school play. Others have pointed out that Eliot barely shows up in the game and while that's true, he does show us his true colors in subtle ways. He sneers at the school play, writing it off as pretentious crap even though Chloe comes to see how much heart the theater kids have put into bringing the story of The Tempest to life. It never seems to cross his mind for one moment that she might have enjoyed taking part. And even though he claims to care about Chloe, he's quick to turn on her when she doesn't do what he expects of her. Chloe's rough around the edges and that's putting it mildly. But she has a heart of gold behind that rough exterior of hers. No matter how hard she tries to lock it away from the world, it will always fight its way back to the surface. At the end of Life Is Strange, it's what saves the town from destruction. As for Eliot...someone on Youtube pointed out that he looks like a Ken Doll and the more I think about that, the more fitting it seems. Everything about him is so fake. Plastic even. All surface and no substance. LoseHound posted:But then again I'm never satisfied with the endings of story-based games. Such as? Eshettar fucked around with this message at 10:39 on May 23, 2018 |
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May 23, 2018 10:32
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If anything, Chloe was almost too good for Rachel (and Max in a sense) as she's one of the only ones who actually treated her like a human being instead of some porcelain doll and was about the only one who never stopped looking for even after her own parents had given up and chose to live in denial instead (and remember, this is the same girl who's dad once hired a drug lord to keep Rachel's mother away after simply just paying her off stopped working, not to mention hid her very existence from his daughter for most of her life), though knowing what we do now my guess is that James just kind of gave up on Rachel after he realized that she wasn't the perfect daughter he'd envisioned and could no longer control her, Rose probably just went along with it like she usually does. While I don't think she was being intentionally malicious, Rachel did kind of respond to that overwhelming trust and honesty by basically stabbing Chloe in the back. While there is a bit of genuine punk to her, most of Chloe's behavior is an act as otherwise the world probably would have crushed the life out of her years ago. The mask is paper thin of course but the problem is a lot people don't even try to look past it. This unfortunately includes her mother who at times comes off like she cares more about David than she does about her own daughter, rarely can have a conversation with Chloe without blaming her for something and insists to Max that Chloe "chose" to stay angry after her father's death, this is made even worse when at the end of the first game she can also admit that she had a lot of the same doubts about David that Chloe did, she just chose to ignore them for the sake of her own personal happiness. Not that I think Joyce is a bad person or anything (I actually kind of like her aside from the stuff I mentioned) but she did hurt Chloe in a big way and I think is one of the major reasons why she ended up the way she did. She's not perfect of course and has made her share of stupid mistakes but despite that and the front she tries to put up Chloe is a genuinely good person at heart who is fiercely loyal to her friends and at times will almost instinctively go out of her way to protect them, even if it winds up causing trouble for her personally. Hell, she's pretty much stated flat out in both the alternate universe and the real world that she would rather die than watch the people she loves continue to suffer. There's plenty of evidence in both games that the old Chloe we see in the flashbacks/Farewell never fully died, just got buried a bit below the surface. Even at her lowest moments the world never succeeds at fully breaking her, she always manages to pull herself back from the brink (even when she was ready to outright murder Nathan in cold blood after finding out what happened to Rachel). This is pretty much why I still think the "greater beauty yet to come" line in BtS was actually referring to Chloe herself, as she's the one most responsible for saving herself and everyone else at the very end. Max played a significant role of course but she's also responsible for burning Chloe in the past just like Rachel did. It's kind of a pity too as, when she applies herself, Chloe is actually kind of brilliant and probably could have gone on to be something great had the universe not suddenly decided to take a massive dump on her one day. Larryb fucked around with this message at 16:33 on May 23, 2018 |
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May 23, 2018 13:42
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exquisite tea posted:Everyone shut the gently caress up about Eliot and watch this. Needs more bottle collecting.
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May 23, 2018 17:15
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Eshettar posted:
Life is Strange, Oxenfree, Remember Me, The Sexy Brutale, and Firewatch are the most prominent disappoints in my mind. If I went into detail this post would look like a CIA document and be a chore to read. People say "oh it's the journey not the destination" but bad endings leave a sour taste in my mouth that gets brought up again whenever I revisit a game. They just spoil my fun, like a turd axe hanging over my head through the playtime. Remember Me and Oxenfree weren't that bad, so I could play through them a couple time for collectibles and such. I replayed LiS for BtS, but had to duck out near the end of Episode 4. But Sexy Brutale and Firewatch were just gone not long after finishing them.
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May 23, 2018 22:26
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To be fair, my feelings on the ending of LiS have improved slightly thanks to the added context from BtS (it also helps a bit if you consider the series as more Chloe's story than Max's). But I won't argue that the entire last episode of the original game could have been done better. For example, the nightmare could have been trimmed down significantly (and there's already a bunch of existing cut content for it like William showing up in the stealth sequence and Chloe calling out to you throughout the dream instead of just showing up at the very end), the endless hallway and stealth segments could have been dropped entirely for example. The scene near the end where Max is in the Dark Room watching Chloe mack on everybody as also kind of pointless, though it was at least kind of funny (probably not what the devs intended but that's how it came off to me at least). While it's flawed in it's own way, if I had to choose the better of the two finales I'd probably have to give it to BtS. At the very least it's a lot more coherent in theme and doesn't really muddle what came before as much as the first game did. Putting Rachel out of commission for the last act of the game was also a bit of a mistake in my opinion given what the plot thus far had been about. Also since she apparently knew the code to her dad's office couldn't she have just discovered the truth on her own at any time? There was no need to even follow him to the overlook to begin with. Granted, Chloe is also absent for a large chunk of Episode 5 of the original but that at least made a bit more sense in context. Larryb fucked around with this message at 00:25 on May 24, 2018 |
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May 24, 2018 00:03
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LoseHound posted:But then again I'm never satisfied with the endings of story-based games. Hey, have you played Tacoma? Because I too am frequently let down by the ending of a lot of story heavy games like this (you mention Firewatch in another post and that's a perfect example of a game that I felt just completely dive bombed at the very end). They often feels like they stumble at the finish line, but I felt like Tacoma totally nailed the ending. Give that game a shot! Larryb posted:Putting Rachel out of commission for the last act of the game was also a bit of a mistake in my opinion given what the plot thus far had been about. I think that was THE biggest mistake the third act did. Rachel and Chloe's relationship is the best part of the prequel as well as Rachel just being a good character and taking Rachel away took a LOT away from the episode. It would've also made the weird breaking and entering into her dad's office feel way less weird. It still is really dumb that Rachel apparently knew the combination to get into his office but never once went snooping around herself. Macaluso fucked around with this message at 07:01 on May 24, 2018 |
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May 24, 2018 06:58
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Maybe she did? All the important stuff is in a locked drawer and the only reason Chloe finds the key is that she has dad issues and thought picking up a dad of the year award was a good use of her time?
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May 24, 2018 07:31
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Just finished the game (don't have access to the bonus episode) and I was surprised by how many players didn't tell Rachel the truth.
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May 24, 2018 10:19
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What's the percentage at now?
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May 24, 2018 10:57
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Dick Trauma posted:Just finished the game (don't have access to the bonus episode) and I was surprised by how many players didn't tell Rachel the truth. The bonus episode is probably the shortest LiS chapter to date (aside from maybe Episode 1 of the original) but it's worth playing in my opinion. Just update to the Deluxe version if you haven't already (it's just an add-on so you don't need to rebuy the entire game or anything) and then download the episode separately from Steam/PSN. But yeah, telling Rachel the truth feels like the only moral choice in my opinion (as well as what I think Chloe would naturally choose in that situation). Even if it was out of love, what James did was inexcusable and Rachel herself never got a say in any of this. Plus, if lies were the only thing keeping the Amber family together maybe it's for the best that it got broken up anyway. While Chloe was ultimately helpless against Damon, at least this way she can stop James from hurting Rachel any more than he already has (especially if you also manage to convince Sera to reunite with her). WhiskeyWhiskers posted:Maybe she did? All the important stuff is in a locked drawer and the only reason Chloe finds the key is that she has dad issues and thought picking up a dad of the year award was a good use of her time? Even without that I would think the email from Sera on his computer would at least raise an eyebrow or two.
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May 24, 2018 12:54
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Dick Trauma posted:Just finished the game (don't have access to the bonus episode) and I was surprised by how many players didn't tell Rachel the truth. I was far more surprised by how many people complied with David to empty their pockets. The reasoning being they wanted to shove it in his face that they didn't have any pot on them or whatever is equally insane to me. Fuuuuuck that!!
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May 24, 2018 13:20
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Macaluso posted:Hey, have you played Tacoma? Because I too am frequently let down by the ending of a lot of story heavy games like this (you mention Firewatch in another post and that's a perfect example of a game that I felt just completely dive bombed at the very end). They often feels like they stumble at the finish line, but I felt like Tacoma totally nailed the ending. Give that game a shot! If we're recommending story games, What Remains of Edith Finch is my personal favourite.
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May 24, 2018 13:24
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What Remains if Edith Fitch is probably the best story game, imo. The further and further I get away from LiS:BtS the more disappointing I think I am by it. Outside of DnD and the play scene, absolutely nothing has really stuck with me, with the exception of how terrible most of episode 3 was handled.
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May 24, 2018 13:41
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What Remains was kind of disappointing to me. I thought it was abjectly worse in its storytelling and narrative impact than Tacoma this year, which was disheartening because Tacoma got absolutely zero attention.
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May 24, 2018 13:45
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See, I am the complete opposite (mind you I have not played Tacoma, but I have watched it). Tacoma was a complete snoozefest that id put about on the same level as "every bodies gone to the Rapture" in terms of resonance and impact.
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May 24, 2018 13:53
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Both of those are good IMO
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May 24, 2018 13:57
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Paul Zuvella posted:What Remains if Edith Fitch is probably the best story game, imo. Eh, I enjoyed BtS for what it was. It provided some nice extra context for the original, they did some creative things with the choice mechanic like D&D and the play, the new voice cast did a pretty good job for the most part (Kylie Brown (Rachel) in particular is a fantastic actress and I hope she keeps at it), I really liked Steph even if she was kind of underutilized (and most likely will never be seen again at this point), the Backtalk challenges were fun even if they were kind of pointless, it felt a bit more like your choices actually mattered this time around (right down to altering the final ending depending on certain decisions), and Farewell was a nice way to cap off and bring things full circle. There were of course some problems however such as once again tripping at the finish line (though not to the extent the first game did in my opinion), the story not really getting started until the end of the first episode (compared to the first game which pretty much threw you into the deep end within the first minute), and the game as a whole feeling a lot emptier than the first one (the areas are more compact and there are very few NPCs to interact with). Despite all that it was a decent effort and I wouldn't mind seeing Deck Nine take another crack at this franchise again one day. Hopefully DontNod takes careful note of what worked and what didn't from this and the original and uses that knowledge to give us something amazing for Season 2. Larryb fucked around with this message at 14:16 on May 24, 2018 |
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May 24, 2018 14:10
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Larryb posted:-words- If the original tripped, I would say BtS crashed, burned, and then tripped while walking away from the wreckage.
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May 24, 2018 14:16
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Granted, taking Rachel out of the equation in a game explicitly about the beginning of her and Chloe's relationship and leaving Chloe alone to deal with a situation that's more Rachel's personal business than anything (seriously, it shocks me just how little agency this girl has within her own family) was really dumb and the whole Eliot thing probably could have been dropped entirely. Also, outside of the first episode the raven ended up being kind of pointless in the long run (and it still weirds me out that Chloe never once makes any mention of it). As others have said, the stinger at the end was also blatantly unnecessary and kind of in bad taste (though to be fair, devastation is one of the major themes of BtS so I guess this is sort of in keeping with that in a way). But all the same, I still somehow found it more coherent than "I caused an apocalyptic storm based almost entirely on the fact that some geeky kid who likes me told me I did". Also, like with the original, the rest of the game is good enough that the ending didn't really sour me on the experience all that much. Larryb fucked around with this message at 15:05 on May 24, 2018 |
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May 24, 2018 15:02
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Larryb posted:-snip- Don't forget about the entire final confrontation being solved completely off camera without any player input!
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May 24, 2018 15:14
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Paul Zuvella posted:Don't forget about the entire final confrontation being solved completely off camera without any player input! Yeah, while the problem in the first game is technically solved by somebody else too at least you actually got to see the confrontation and play a role in bringing Jefferson down. To be fair, like Nathan was for Jefferson in LiS (who was also killed off-screen now that I think about it), Damon was really more of a proxy for BtS' real villain James Amber, who Chloe technically does manage to defeat on her own assuming you tell Rachel the truth at the end. It's still a complete mess and I can't call it good by any stretch but it still doesn't leave quite as bad a taste in my mouth as Polarized did. Like I said, I really hope DontNod takes their time on the next one and gives us a game that's good from start to finish as I really don't want to see this trend pop up a third time. Larryb fucked around with this message at 15:37 on May 24, 2018 |
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May 24, 2018 15:35
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In terms of other narrative-focused games, I'm in agreement that a lot of them are just underwhelming at the end. I'm not quite sure why, but there seems to be a trend of downer endings. Not that you can't have a downer ending if the story calls for it, but most of the time it just feels forced. It feels like they're trying to win points for being mature, but a forced bleak conclusion usually ends up feeling immature, to me at least. Oxenfree earned a few points in my estimation when a later patch added an option for a (slightly) more hopeful ending. Gone Home and Tacoma are both great, because they do end on hopeful notes. Not 'rainbows and roses forever', but you end up feeling that the characters still have a shot in life, which is all you can really ask for. I hope the Fullbright team continues that trend with their future games. Firewatch did the downer ending, and that disappointed me. Edith Finch is the stories of a bunch of people dying, so that was going to be depressing regardless. But it still manages to have an unsatisfying ending by cutting off the final interesting story right in the middle and never revisiting it. And while I understand why they did it from a narrative standpoint, that didn't make it feel like any less of a tease. I'd highly recommend Night in the Woods to anyone who hasn't tried it. While the side-scrolling platformer format and cartoon animal characters may seem weird at first, it is absolutely a narrative-focused game that mines the same vein as LiS. Make the world 3D and the characters people instead of cats and wolves and crocodiles and you probably could have slapped 'Life is Strange 2' on the box. And it manages to have its characters deal with some hard things without nosediving into a bleak downer ending.
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May 24, 2018 16:07
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Yeah, I sort of consider Night in the Woods to be kind of an unofficial entry in the LiS franchise in some ways (they share some similar themes, there's a supernatural element present in both, they're both unique takes on the Telltale-style choice based gameplay and if you think about it Mae is basically Chloe only with a few extra mental problems and minus the daddy issues). I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to that game one day either (or at the very least, a similar game by the same developers). For all it's faults, there were some parts of Hell is Empty that I liked: -The way Sera's backstory was presented to us at the beginning was a nice touch -The scene in Rachel's room afterwards -The final dream sequence -Playing D&D again in the hospital (ending on a rather blatant sendup of the final scene from LiS) -The conversation between William and Chloe towards the very end -Chloe's final journal entry Larryb fucked around with this message at 16:35 on May 24, 2018 |
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May 24, 2018 16:18
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Night in the Woods was so loving good. gently caress!!!!!
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May 24, 2018 16:22
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 13:33 |
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BobTheJanitor posted:I'd highly recommend Night in the Woods to anyone who hasn't tried it. While the side-scrolling platformer format and cartoon animal characters may seem weird at first, it is absolutely a narrative-focused game that mines the same vein as LiS. Make the world 3D and the characters people instead of cats and wolves and crocodiles and you probably could have slapped 'Life is Strange 2' on the box. And it manages to have its characters deal with some hard things without nosediving into a bleak downer ending. Are you kidding? The ending to NITW is maybe the most depressing finale I've ever seen. Nothing has gotten better and nobody is closer to solving any of their problems. Great game though!
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May 24, 2018 16:25
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