Really liked this as an oblique sequel to Before the Storm. Though I can't shake the feeling Steph is like one dude at Deck Nine's pet character. Can I call that Ahsoka syndrome? Pure speculation, sorry.
It's the video game equivalent of a bottle episode - two rooms, almost no other character models, they don't even show you the cat to avoid animating it - but the radio thing makes it work. It's pretty impressive how it can do a lot with so little.
It's the video game equivalent of a bottle episode - two rooms, almost no other character models, they don't even show you the cat to avoid animating it - but the radio thing makes it work. It's pretty impressive how it can do a lot with so little.
A DLC em si é abaixo do jogo base,confesso que fiquei bem decepcionado em descobrir que essa DLC só se passa na loja de discos e não tem a participação fisica de nenhum personagem. Mas ainda há coisas boas de se tirar dessa DLC
I was bored as hell playing this
If you're wondering how deep your Life is Strange knowledge has to be in order to appreciate this, I'd say it'd work eminently well as a standalone. Even though Wavelengths builds on both True Colours and the previous LiS stories, as someone who's only played through TC, and about half of the first LiS, I didn't need any more context for it to become one of my favourite things I've played this year. I loved the way it folds the relative monotony and constraints of its setting and structure into the storytelling. Crucially, it's not one of those things where the developers tries to excuse their choices by mocking and lampshading them, it's more like they actively use their limitations to heighten the immersion, to put the player into the headspace of the character they're playing as.
Like I said, I'm really not familiar enough with the previous games to know exactly how Wavelengths would play to tried and true LiS-heads, but I will say that the parts of this that hit me the hardest emotionally, were the ones that seemed to draw the most on that mostly-unknown-to-me history. Which is a pretty impressive feat on Deck Nine's part.
Oh, and a quick practical note: this is a pretty meaty game for a piece of DLC, so be aware that you're heading into a 3+ hour session if you want to play through it in one sitting.
Like I said, I'm really not familiar enough with the previous games to know exactly how Wavelengths would play to tried and true LiS-heads, but I will say that the parts of this that hit me the hardest emotionally, were the ones that seemed to draw the most on that mostly-unknown-to-me history. Which is a pretty impressive feat on Deck Nine's part.
Oh, and a quick practical note: this is a pretty meaty game for a piece of DLC, so be aware that you're heading into a 3+ hour session if you want to play through it in one sitting.
This review contains spoilers
I have quite a bit to say about this one, so hang in there.
SPOILERS
It was so refreshing to get a look inside Steph's head in Wavelengths. From the moment I first saw her character in Before The Storm I was intrigued by her. She seemed like such a cool character, so I was elated to learn that she would play such a major role in the True Colors base game. Getting to know her not only through Chloe's perspective, but also Alex's was truly awesome, but I had always wished we could see inside her head- know what was going on from her side in both those games. Which is where Wavelengths come in. I loved playing as her, and she is one of my favorite playable characters in the franchise. At first, when I opened Wavelengths and the game asked me if I had saved Arcadia Bay, I was a little confused about where the game was going story-wise, or exactly how relevant my response would be. But, I made my selection honestly anyway (I had chosen to sacrifice Arcadia Bay).
Upon starting the game, the premise seemed exceedingly simple: do these tasks to run both the record store and the radio station, as tasks get checked off the list, new ones get added until the end of the "season" and so on. Even with a relatively simple premise like this, I still found ways to entertain myself, and I was glad for the chance to be able to properly explore Steph's world around her. Uncovering new areas of the store, helping the store and station grow, and watching as Steph's own personal style and spin on the place were developed over time was pretty enthralling, and I cannot wait to be able to come back to both this DLC and True Colors in the future.
Honestly, the only issue that I had with the DLC was how.. short it was, and that there weren't any appearances from characters aside from in voice lines. But honestly, if this is the expansion of the story that the devs set out to develop, then I think I am fine with that, as these are only just minor gripes. I did wish that we got a bit more screentime bonding from Gabe/Charlotte/Ryan, but reading their text messages and responding to their calls was still sweet.
This is where we start getting deeper, so read on if you wish lol. In summer, seeing the store all set up for pride, seeing Steph's memories of her past life with Izzie, getting to glimpse into who she was as a younger lgbtq+ teen, it all made her feel so much more like a real person, and a lot more relatable as a gay/trans-teen-er young adult myself. I am so glad that the devs included this segment. As the game progressed into the fall/Halloween season, Steph's overall mood and feelings changed drastically, as we neared eerily close to the anniversary of Arcadia Bay's destruction. I remember at the ending of the first game, watching Chloe and Max drive off after the storm, wondering "What about everyone else? What about their friends and family who were left behind?" which I feel this DLC (and the comics by extension) did a great job at responding to this question. Seeing how Steph and Mikey's lives turned out after narrowly escaping their deaths during the storm was special. Seeing how haunted Steph still was all those years later - and by the extent of how much it had shaped both their lives. It was nice to see Steph and Mikey's relationship put on the forefront, as some of the only characters who appeared onscreen during this game were not just voiceover lines.
This DLC was truly an amazing addition to the franchise and one that I deeply love. It feels sort of like a love letter to fans of the original game that started this all. I hope we can someday see more of these characters in the future because I don't know if I'm ready to let them all go yet lol.
SPOILERS
It was so refreshing to get a look inside Steph's head in Wavelengths. From the moment I first saw her character in Before The Storm I was intrigued by her. She seemed like such a cool character, so I was elated to learn that she would play such a major role in the True Colors base game. Getting to know her not only through Chloe's perspective, but also Alex's was truly awesome, but I had always wished we could see inside her head- know what was going on from her side in both those games. Which is where Wavelengths come in. I loved playing as her, and she is one of my favorite playable characters in the franchise. At first, when I opened Wavelengths and the game asked me if I had saved Arcadia Bay, I was a little confused about where the game was going story-wise, or exactly how relevant my response would be. But, I made my selection honestly anyway (I had chosen to sacrifice Arcadia Bay).
Upon starting the game, the premise seemed exceedingly simple: do these tasks to run both the record store and the radio station, as tasks get checked off the list, new ones get added until the end of the "season" and so on. Even with a relatively simple premise like this, I still found ways to entertain myself, and I was glad for the chance to be able to properly explore Steph's world around her. Uncovering new areas of the store, helping the store and station grow, and watching as Steph's own personal style and spin on the place were developed over time was pretty enthralling, and I cannot wait to be able to come back to both this DLC and True Colors in the future.
Honestly, the only issue that I had with the DLC was how.. short it was, and that there weren't any appearances from characters aside from in voice lines. But honestly, if this is the expansion of the story that the devs set out to develop, then I think I am fine with that, as these are only just minor gripes. I did wish that we got a bit more screentime bonding from Gabe/Charlotte/Ryan, but reading their text messages and responding to their calls was still sweet.
This is where we start getting deeper, so read on if you wish lol. In summer, seeing the store all set up for pride, seeing Steph's memories of her past life with Izzie, getting to glimpse into who she was as a younger lgbtq+ teen, it all made her feel so much more like a real person, and a lot more relatable as a gay/trans-teen-er young adult myself. I am so glad that the devs included this segment. As the game progressed into the fall/Halloween season, Steph's overall mood and feelings changed drastically, as we neared eerily close to the anniversary of Arcadia Bay's destruction. I remember at the ending of the first game, watching Chloe and Max drive off after the storm, wondering "What about everyone else? What about their friends and family who were left behind?" which I feel this DLC (and the comics by extension) did a great job at responding to this question. Seeing how Steph and Mikey's lives turned out after narrowly escaping their deaths during the storm was special. Seeing how haunted Steph still was all those years later - and by the extent of how much it had shaped both their lives. It was nice to see Steph and Mikey's relationship put on the forefront, as some of the only characters who appeared onscreen during this game were not just voiceover lines.
This DLC was truly an amazing addition to the franchise and one that I deeply love. It feels sort of like a love letter to fans of the original game that started this all. I hope we can someday see more of these characters in the future because I don't know if I'm ready to let them all go yet lol.
Uma DLC igual a essa deveria ser grátis. Não agrega nada a história, tanto no passado quanto no futuro da série.
I got bugged 90% of the way through my playthrough and was unable to finish the dlc, it was fine other than that tho ig
I love Steph as a character, so being able to play as her was so much fun. I enjoyed getting a deeper look into her character and doing some mundane, low-stakes tasks as a break from the high tension of the main story.
Una lesbiana y buena música 👍
Eh, it was fine. The majority of it was really confusing since I haven’t played before the storm yet so I didn’t know how Steph got to know Chloe and Racheal, but it was still good and interesting seeing her process her grief from after I saved Arcadia bay in the first game. I’m just glad I didn’t spend $30 just for this DLC and got a fantastic main game along side it.
nice prequel to true colors that utilizes a slice of life approach to story telling to give way more insight about steph.
It could've been a total failure considering the restrains and limitations of the DLC, but somehow they made it work. The amount of tasks they give you is refreshing and satisfying to tick off, the song selection is on point, and if you're invested in Steph as a character you'll love reading her messages, exploring her trauma (in relation of your choice for Arcadia Bay in the first game) and trying to find her a partner on dating apps. Played the base game on Game Pass and I used Reward points to pay the DLC, so not necessarily the ideal person to talk about value, but I'd wait for a sale. $12 for a 3/4-hour experience that takes place in the same place and has off-screen VO for almost all of it seems pretty steep.
As a (former) radio host myself, playing as a character from that perspective was really fun. Wavelengths is my favourite kind of DLC - pretty much its own little game with a side character as a protagonist, and Steph is probably my favourite protagonist alongside Chloe.
I enjoyed this DLC more than True Colors which is not a hard thing to do. Mind you, you will be stuck in a recording studio for most of the time and there's not a whole lot of interaction with other characters. There's also this like dating app minigame which is kind of fun but it never leads to anything so yeah. It has some good moments, there are some callbacks to Life Is Strange 1 which made me really wanna play those games again.
Simples
A DLC é divertida, ver o lado da Steph em sua jornada de Haven é bem interessante, porém por se passar toda na Rádio e ter um duração curta deveria ser um DLC gratuita como outras da série
A DLC é divertida, ver o lado da Steph em sua jornada de Haven é bem interessante, porém por se passar toda na Rádio e ter um duração curta deveria ser um DLC gratuita como outras da série
Maybe is the RPG reference but I love this
Essa DLC você só vai gostar se você conheceu a Steph no Before the Storm. Curti jogar.