Props to Dontnod for accomplishing some solid endings after the absolute disaster that was Episode 5 of the first game.
I'm gonna miss my journey with Sean and all of the characters along the way.
I'm gonna miss my journey with Sean and all of the characters along the way.
Light spoilers ahead...
Well here I am at the border wall, the final destination of a long journey that has had its ups and downs, but over the last two episodes, mostly downs.
Life is Strange 2 is not a good game. It's well produced, well acted, it looks nice, it has a great soundtrack. A lot of heart evidently went into it. But the results speak for themselves. The game suffers from poor writing and planning, and a lack a coherent vision.
I got the sense that the creators of the series poured everything they had into the first game, which is not only a testament to the possibilities of telling stories through games, but also a homage to many coming-of-age works that came before it, stuff like Donnie Dark and Twin Peaks being so fundamental to Max and Chloe's story. But not only that, Life is Strange has a mechanic - time travel - that plays well into the photography theme. One thing that made the original so compelling is just how often we were taken back to the same places, left to explore the drastic changes in perspective and evolution occurring differences in time as great as years or a minuscule as thirty seconds.
Despite being sort of an epic journey, Life is Strange 2 never lets us take in anything of the world's sites and sounds with near the amount of detail. The brothers move from one location to the next, conversing with one character or another, and we never do get to form our own opinions on much that is going on. The game is always chiefly concerned with delivering one heavy-handed edict and forced epiphany after another, in social-media level doses that are concentrated for maximum effect but always feel hollow. There is no gameplay mechanic (occasionally having Daniel float stuff around does not count), there are no choices (real or perceived), there is just heavy handed scenarios that may be coming from the right place, but miss far more often than they hit. It is a shame, because I thought the first episode was really great, and the third episode was a high point for all three series, LiS2 is a pivot from the immersive, mysterious, open-ended world of the first game to a more topical one where choices are obvious and people are predictable.
Well here I am at the border wall, the final destination of a long journey that has had its ups and downs, but over the last two episodes, mostly downs.
Life is Strange 2 is not a good game. It's well produced, well acted, it looks nice, it has a great soundtrack. A lot of heart evidently went into it. But the results speak for themselves. The game suffers from poor writing and planning, and a lack a coherent vision.
I got the sense that the creators of the series poured everything they had into the first game, which is not only a testament to the possibilities of telling stories through games, but also a homage to many coming-of-age works that came before it, stuff like Donnie Dark and Twin Peaks being so fundamental to Max and Chloe's story. But not only that, Life is Strange has a mechanic - time travel - that plays well into the photography theme. One thing that made the original so compelling is just how often we were taken back to the same places, left to explore the drastic changes in perspective and evolution occurring differences in time as great as years or a minuscule as thirty seconds.
Despite being sort of an epic journey, Life is Strange 2 never lets us take in anything of the world's sites and sounds with near the amount of detail. The brothers move from one location to the next, conversing with one character or another, and we never do get to form our own opinions on much that is going on. The game is always chiefly concerned with delivering one heavy-handed edict and forced epiphany after another, in social-media level doses that are concentrated for maximum effect but always feel hollow. There is no gameplay mechanic (occasionally having Daniel float stuff around does not count), there are no choices (real or perceived), there is just heavy handed scenarios that may be coming from the right place, but miss far more often than they hit. It is a shame, because I thought the first episode was really great, and the third episode was a high point for all three series, LiS2 is a pivot from the immersive, mysterious, open-ended world of the first game to a more topical one where choices are obvious and people are predictable.
Life is Strange looks very good in 60fps and 1080p but the writing, politics, and cringy voice acting make we want to scream, cry, and vomit. I will take a remake or remaster of the original 2 games before I take a sequel to whatever this was. I don't trust Dontnod to put out a satisfying 4th entry after this lol
Really atmospheric and cozy, but the last two episodes were kinda lacking
Una secuela valiente que apuesta por algo completamente distinto, contando la dura historia de dos hermanos que se ven forzados a huir a través de EEUU.
Me ha encantado, tiene todo el saber hacer de la primera parte aún siendo algo muy suyo.
Me ha encantado, tiene todo el saber hacer de la primera parte aún siendo algo muy suyo.
No.
I started this when episode 1 came out. Took me until February of '20 to power through the rest of it. What was really awesome was the scene when they're in a motel on the coast of Oregon. I have friends who have a beach house that I swear is less than a mile away from the motel that the one in the game was modeled after.
Better than Life is Strange 1 but they still botched the ending hard
I try so hard to play this game, but I can't ever play for longer than 30 minutes. Also, people who get mad at The Last of Us 2 for making you kill dogs trying to kill you will hate this game.
In a lot of wats Life is Strange 2 is an improvement over the original game. The writing clearly matured a lot, and is way more confident in its social commentary. Still, it didn't hit for me as hard as the original did--definitely a time/place thing (I was in the middle of experiencing something very similar to Max when the game came out). LiS 2 is still really emotionally resonant, all the big character beats work and it sticks the landing brilliantly. Also somehow makes its time skips really work, which is often a tough line to walk. Like when I finished the original LiS it made me really look forward to the studio's next project and like LiS 2 I'm taking my sweet time getting around to Tell Me Why!
eu queria TANTO ter gostado de vc :(
It feels like Life is Strange 2 has been releasing slowly over the course of, excuse the pun, a lifetime. The first installment debuted in September 2018 and each progressive episode has trickled out many months after, killing the pacing and failing to spark a conversation along the way; two key failings of an episodic game. But now the full season is out and while that inherently solves some of the pacing issues, it hasn’t magically fixed the problems baked into the core experience.
Read the full review here:
https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/625234-life-is-strange-2-review
Read the full review here:
https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/625234-life-is-strange-2-review
~4/5.~
Really Good. It follows a really different formula compared to the original LiS games, but it works pretty well and I'm glad they changed the main perspective of the previous ones. I like how, in LiS 2, you aren't the one who haves the control of a super power as Max had, but still you're the one who haves to control the situation, just as an older brother would do. Sean and Daniel are a really good duo, I like how the super power feature isn't a mechanic and instead becames a narrative plot-ploint and how the ending you get is based on how you educate Daniel. Still, I think it could have a larger variety of endings, but pretty good.
Really Good. It follows a really different formula compared to the original LiS games, but it works pretty well and I'm glad they changed the main perspective of the previous ones. I like how, in LiS 2, you aren't the one who haves the control of a super power as Max had, but still you're the one who haves to control the situation, just as an older brother would do. Sean and Daniel are a really good duo, I like how the super power feature isn't a mechanic and instead becames a narrative plot-ploint and how the ending you get is based on how you educate Daniel. Still, I think it could have a larger variety of endings, but pretty good.
Cringe.
This review contains spoilers
I absolutely love this game and the protagonists, as well, Sean and Daniel are such a likeable duo and their relationship is really well written and a much better relationship than Max and Chloe's, sorry, not sorry.
I like that we get to see David Madsen in the final episode, and depending on whether or not you sacrificed Arcadia Bay, his dialogue changes, and I also really like that the ending to the game is dependent on your relationship with Daniel, like if you were a good brother to Daniel, he will be more willing to surrender and will be less willing to hurt people, and if you were a bad brother, he will be more willing to hurt people and less willing to surrender, the surrender one is really bad and the other one is pretty okay since the brothers do achieve their dream of making it to Porto Lobos, but if I were to say, the ending where Sean chooses to surrender and Daniel agrees to do so is the best one, because I do think that the game was building up to Sean doing that since David told him that if it came to that, that's what he would have to do for Daniel, not to mention, the cop said that if he turns himself in, his brother will be fine and will just be sent to live with his grandparents, though it's sad to see the brothers separated, at least the both of them are fine, but that's just me.
Either way, the game is okay, I sure hope the next one will be a bit better.
I like that we get to see David Madsen in the final episode, and depending on whether or not you sacrificed Arcadia Bay, his dialogue changes, and I also really like that the ending to the game is dependent on your relationship with Daniel, like if you were a good brother to Daniel, he will be more willing to surrender and will be less willing to hurt people, and if you were a bad brother, he will be more willing to hurt people and less willing to surrender, the surrender one is really bad and the other one is pretty okay since the brothers do achieve their dream of making it to Porto Lobos, but if I were to say, the ending where Sean chooses to surrender and Daniel agrees to do so is the best one, because I do think that the game was building up to Sean doing that since David told him that if it came to that, that's what he would have to do for Daniel, not to mention, the cop said that if he turns himself in, his brother will be fine and will just be sent to live with his grandparents, though it's sad to see the brothers separated, at least the both of them are fine, but that's just me.
Either way, the game is okay, I sure hope the next one will be a bit better.
Racism! Am i right boys and girls?
sean is a pan furry thats hella relatable
Life is Strange 2 is a game of choices and every choice you make will have an effect on the larger story and the smaller moments therein. As such, not everyone will have the same experience playing this game. Personally, I’m satisfied with the choices I made and the ending I got, but I felt by the end I’d probably put the characters through the wringer a little more than was necessary. The allure of these games remains strong, and Life is Strange 2 is another great entry in this dramatic and charming series. The slow pace and story-driven nature will not be for everyone, but for those willing to give it a chance, you’ll find an excellent story with likeable characters and some beautiful artistic visuals. I eagerly await to see where they take this series next, but hope that they can improve on the character animations before Life is Strange 3 sees the light of day.
LiS 2 has one enormous problem, and that's the illusion of choice. To some extent, all of these games suffer from the same affliction. It isn't really possible for a smallish, episodic story driven game made on a modest budget to have wildly different story branches. There can really only be one scenario for each episode. In the original Life is Strange, this wasn't so much of an issue, because the plot is mostly advanced by the adults around our protagonists, and the game is bound to a small, specific setting.
In LiS 2, our protagonists are the active force throughout the whole narrative. Max was given very few opportunities to drastically change the narrative due to her status as a student, as well as her lack of knowledge about other forces in play. In LiS 2 the entire story is driven by Sean's decisions... except if those decisions don't align with what the writers need the story to be. The times when the game railroads the player onto the one true path are EXTREMELY noticeable, and break immersion in a very serious way.
In LiS 2, our protagonists are the active force throughout the whole narrative. Max was given very few opportunities to drastically change the narrative due to her status as a student, as well as her lack of knowledge about other forces in play. In LiS 2 the entire story is driven by Sean's decisions... except if those decisions don't align with what the writers need the story to be. The times when the game railroads the player onto the one true path are EXTREMELY noticeable, and break immersion in a very serious way.
never played episode 4 so i can't rate but i liked it! even though, i'm sorry, the little brother gets on my nerves so bad
Okay deep breaths
I finished this game earlier today, and while I usually don’t write reviews, I really wanted to with this one. Ever since the first LIS game came out, I’ve paid close attention to everything DONTNOD’s been dropping, as I thoroughly enjoyed the first game. I played LIS: Before the Storm as well, but I have to be honest and say that it wasn’t very memorable, as I can’t tell you what it was about without looking it up.
I don’t know what I expected from this game going in, but I didn’t expect to be on such a rollercoaster ride of emotions throughout it. Apart from the, at times, “hella awkward” dialogue (it wouldn’t be a LIS game without it, let’s be real), this was really good. It had a good soundtrack, it was beautiful to look at, and the story was well-written in my opinion. But what really drew me in, was the relationship between the Diaz brothers.
The older, protective brother Sean and the younger, adoring brother Daniel really managed to pull at all of my heart strings. I don’t want to go into much detail because I want you to experience it all for yourself with little to no spoilers, but this game will make you smile, cry, gasp, get mad – name an emotion and you’ll probably experience it. Every scene between the brothers made me love them even more – they’re beautiful, painful, raw, funny… They have conflicts, deep-running ones at that, but there’s so much love there, and it’s so evident.
Listen, maybe I’m biased. I’m a sucker for brothers in general. There’s something about how media portrays brothers a lot of the time that just gets to me. I kept seeing similarities between the Diaz brothers and the Winchester brothers from Supernatural (which is my favorite show, and Sam and Dean are my favorite brothers), and that made me love the game even more, even if there’s also (obviously) clear distinctions between them and their stories.
In my opinion, this is the best LIS game to date. I hope you’ll check it out and maybe play it yourself. If you’re anything like me, you won’t regret it.
I finished this game earlier today, and while I usually don’t write reviews, I really wanted to with this one. Ever since the first LIS game came out, I’ve paid close attention to everything DONTNOD’s been dropping, as I thoroughly enjoyed the first game. I played LIS: Before the Storm as well, but I have to be honest and say that it wasn’t very memorable, as I can’t tell you what it was about without looking it up.
I don’t know what I expected from this game going in, but I didn’t expect to be on such a rollercoaster ride of emotions throughout it. Apart from the, at times, “hella awkward” dialogue (it wouldn’t be a LIS game without it, let’s be real), this was really good. It had a good soundtrack, it was beautiful to look at, and the story was well-written in my opinion. But what really drew me in, was the relationship between the Diaz brothers.
The older, protective brother Sean and the younger, adoring brother Daniel really managed to pull at all of my heart strings. I don’t want to go into much detail because I want you to experience it all for yourself with little to no spoilers, but this game will make you smile, cry, gasp, get mad – name an emotion and you’ll probably experience it. Every scene between the brothers made me love them even more – they’re beautiful, painful, raw, funny… They have conflicts, deep-running ones at that, but there’s so much love there, and it’s so evident.
Listen, maybe I’m biased. I’m a sucker for brothers in general. There’s something about how media portrays brothers a lot of the time that just gets to me. I kept seeing similarities between the Diaz brothers and the Winchester brothers from Supernatural (which is my favorite show, and Sam and Dean are my favorite brothers), and that made me love the game even more, even if there’s also (obviously) clear distinctions between them and their stories.
In my opinion, this is the best LIS game to date. I hope you’ll check it out and maybe play it yourself. If you’re anything like me, you won’t regret it.
Playing this game was strange (no pun intended). There were highs and lows throughout this 15-20 hour journey, but by the end I was almost struggling to say goodbye to the two Diaz brothers. Their relationship was strong and carried most of the game, especially since a lot of the side characters were pretty weak. Overall, I had a mostly good time with this one. The choices really felt like they mattered, which is more than can be said for other games like it.
I thought I was doing an amazing job at raising my psychic brother but then I got one of the bad endings
This was a tough one for me to rate. One one hand I really do love the varied outdoor aesthetics of each chapter, and I did find myself invested in the Diaz brothers' journey together. In particular, I think the first and third episodes of Life Is Strange 2 are some of the strongest that Dontnod has produced.
However, as much as I loved certain aspects of Life Is Strange 2, others really rubbed me the wrong way. The entire time, as I navigated a world where those in power were consistently harsh and cruel to Sean and Daniel, the game seemed to chastise me every time I stood up to them. The last episode is particularly bad about this.
And what was up with that last episode anyway? Most of it was spent wandering around a town having supposedly heartfelt interactions with characters I have never met, before rushing me along to the brisk ending. And worst of all, no licensed tracks! Did Dontnod run out of money or something?
All in all, I think the good slightly outweighs the bad here. Still, I can't help but feel like we missed out on something that could have been even greater.
However, as much as I loved certain aspects of Life Is Strange 2, others really rubbed me the wrong way. The entire time, as I navigated a world where those in power were consistently harsh and cruel to Sean and Daniel, the game seemed to chastise me every time I stood up to them. The last episode is particularly bad about this.
And what was up with that last episode anyway? Most of it was spent wandering around a town having supposedly heartfelt interactions with characters I have never met, before rushing me along to the brisk ending. And worst of all, no licensed tracks! Did Dontnod run out of money or something?
All in all, I think the good slightly outweighs the bad here. Still, I can't help but feel like we missed out on something that could have been even greater.
Beautiful game...but hard to get through. I did love it, but be ready to get emotional.
Played Episode 1, it's great, just way too fucking sad for me to finish.
legitimately some of the worst shit I've ever "played". Unbelievably boring even with a bunch of people around to laugh at it. Soulless, listlessly woke nonsense from French weirdos intent to preach with a child's understanding of US sociopolitical discourse.
First game was in all truth trash, but it was compelling trash with a functional hook of time rewinding hijinks and tons of weird, constantly evolving character relationships that the player could affect. Trade time travel for 'o my telekinetic little brother' and the character drama for snail paced lifetime schlock and you have this piece of shit.
First game was in all truth trash, but it was compelling trash with a functional hook of time rewinding hijinks and tons of weird, constantly evolving character relationships that the player could affect. Trade time travel for 'o my telekinetic little brother' and the character drama for snail paced lifetime schlock and you have this piece of shit.
why this is so much better than the first one:
- you will not want to gouge your eyes out after every line of dialogue
- choices actually matter (even little tiny things, relationships are very important to the ending), tangible sacrifices are made
- not nearly as predictable
- it just... looks better (mouth mapping still sucks though)
- script is SO MUCH BETTER, characters actually make sense and talk like human beings, voice acting is really good
- characters were much easier to empathize with while having flaws, threats in the story much more tangible than time travel being able to fix every possible issue
- lovely relationships, family/love/friendships all feel very real
- the aspect of moving all over the place brought lots of new environments, beautiful scenes in nature
my main gripe:
- most villains very one-sided, face value (except Lisbeth and her group were more interesting)
if this is propaganda what is COD doing with reagan's penis in their mouth?
- you will not want to gouge your eyes out after every line of dialogue
- choices actually matter (even little tiny things, relationships are very important to the ending), tangible sacrifices are made
- not nearly as predictable
- it just... looks better (mouth mapping still sucks though)
- script is SO MUCH BETTER, characters actually make sense and talk like human beings, voice acting is really good
- characters were much easier to empathize with while having flaws, threats in the story much more tangible than time travel being able to fix every possible issue
- lovely relationships, family/love/friendships all feel very real
- the aspect of moving all over the place brought lots of new environments, beautiful scenes in nature
my main gripe:
- most villains very one-sided, face value (except Lisbeth and her group were more interesting)
if this is propaganda what is COD doing with reagan's penis in their mouth?
The story stumbles and some of the social commentary can be ham fisted but by the time you reach the credits you will have hopefully been enriched with this cool coming of age road trip story of two brothers on the run. Fans of the series will also get some cool fan service moments if you have invested in previous games in the series.
Life is unjust.