LIFE IS STRANGE: TRUE COLORS IS A "MINER" (GET IT?) COURSE CORRECTION
I'm finally caught up on all of the Life is Strange games. I was not feeling burnt out in the least when playing this title directly after all of the others, so there is still a lot of clarity in my analysis of this game.
Deck Nine definitely gets what a "franchise" of Life is Strange "should be" more than Don't Nod at this point. The problem is that they still have difficulty reaching the depth and mechanical novelty of the first.
Characters: Alex Chen is a great protagonist. She has a backstory that is cathartic for people who have slipped through the cracks in society due to the catastrophic failure that is the American foster care system. But she has a couple issues: 1) She has a lot of inconsistencies in how she reacts to situations. There is a particular inciting incident that she just kind of did not have much of an emotional reaction to in proportion to...how devastating it was. Just as well...she oscillates between being a quippy trickster to a meek loner often. She is definitely more compelling when being the former. I realize it can be obviously stated that, "Dude. That's called character depth". Well, the problem is that it's a binary for her. She is EITHER one or the other in most scenes, which can make role-playing as her slightly unsatisfying . By comparison, Steph, Gabe, and Ryan have much more truly dynamic interactions. Just as well, Erika Mori (her VA) has the same inconsistency in her performance. Sometimes she's fuckin' killing it, and others there is a lot to be desired.
Otherwise, I really liked the cast. Ryan is a really good boy going through an existential crisis. Steph is Steph, she has always ruled. Gabe is endearing and layered. And the rest of the peoples of Haven Springs are equally charming (love Charlotte and Eleanor).
Gameplay: While Alex's powers are an excellent idea that create really memorable visual and emotional moments, they aren't mechanically engaging (outside of a couple specific interactions). It is "press button near person to feel their feelings". The times when it shines most are when you're navigating dialogue options to get people to overcome the hardships they're going through. But at that point, it's basically just "can you talk to a person good". It doesn't have the same puzzle-solving potential as, say...time reversal...
Story: All over the place. The setting is great. Haven Springs and the art direction are gorgeous. But, unlike Life is Strange 2, the game is way too damn short to tell the story it wants to tell. But it does do a decent amount even within this hastened plot.
The real problems are the themes and pacing. It takes an entire episode to get to the inciting incident. And the investigation in general needed a lot more micro conflicts. There's more fucking around and talking to people than there is uncovering secrets and intrigue. The absolute most MAJORLY missed opportunity was not giving the Scooby gang of Alex, Ryan, and Steph more "big time missions" together.
I am still trying to wrap my head around what the game was trying to convey in terms of its main themes. We've got Persona 5-esque "making bad people realize their horrific mistakes and getting them to be better". We've got Persona 4-esque "finding the truth is the only way to get justice". We've got...empathizing with people is good. We've got "you have to be strong in order to overcome your past". We've got familial trauma. And then we have the pain of being a foster kid stuff. Ultimately, while it was good representation, the foster care/family themes came to a conclusion that I thought was a massive cop-out. It basically boiled down to "hey, you just gotta be strong". That's some Kingdom Hearts shit man. What a huge missed opportunity to critique the system and how our country defaults to tearing families apart rather than assisting them.
The above elements ended up creating a Life is Strange game that felt a little plastic, rushed, and confused about its identity.
Also worth noting: Deck Nine has some major issues with several technical things. The audio compression on the voiced lines is unfathomably bad. I'm not sure I've EVER heard characters sound more like they were doing a horribly mixed podcast. When the characters "smile", it looks more like a grimace and is visually upsetting. And Deck Nine STILL (since Before the Storm) have not figured out how to make a natural-looking walking cycle for the protagonist. Alex and Steph have a lock in their shoulder joints that disallow them from swinging their arms further back than their waist. Their torsos protrude too far forward while their heads tilt slightly behind the nape of the neck...it just doesn't feel or look good to walk as these characters, which is a fairly big flaw in a game where you are primarily walking around.
I know I've had a lot of criticisms of the game so I'll finish up by saying this: Life is Strange True Colors is still a fun and worthwhile experience. The story and characters are compelling. The "majority of the episode segment" in chapter 3 is one of the best chapters of any Life is Strange game. And the finale, while a watered down version of The Wolf Among Us' finale, is definitely the most satisfying in the series (the final confrontation is genuinely beautiful and made me cry).
But actually as my final words: Both of Deck Nine's "side story DLC's" are stronger than the base game. The Farewell in Before the Storm is tight and even more emotional than Before the Storm itself. And this might be an unpopular opinion, but I think the same of Wavelengths.
I think the writers on this team really bring it home when they have severe limitations. Wavelengths is very efficient with its storytelling. Steph is a consistent but still complex character (thus making roleplaying as her more engaging). The themes are rock solid--loneliness and new beginnings: full stop. And the final thing I'd like to mention: SPOILERS FOR LIFE IS STRANGE 1 AND 2
Deck Nine wants to address the consequences of the "save Chloe" ending in Life is Strange 1 in a way that makes it a more meaningful and satisfying choice. In Life is Strange 2, David is basically like "Yeah everyone except me died and I hated that Max and Chloe drove off. But I have a decent relationship with her now." True Colors by default goes against this by showing that Steph and Mikey survived (oh thank fucking god). Not only this, but Wavelengths addresses this ending on multiple occasions. There's memory dialogue Steph has of making pride buttons with Chloe post-storm. There's her relived trauma from her Mom dying in the storm (and Mikey's brother). It's heartbreaking, but it at least gives us SOME goddamn context and divulgence for a half-baked cop-out of an ending to the first game.
Anyway, I appreciate Deck Nine actively rebelling against Don't Nod's reluctance to respect their most acclaimed and popular franchise. And as developers, Deck Nine just gets better with each release. I'm very interested to see what they do next with The Expanse.
I'm finally caught up on all of the Life is Strange games. I was not feeling burnt out in the least when playing this title directly after all of the others, so there is still a lot of clarity in my analysis of this game.
Deck Nine definitely gets what a "franchise" of Life is Strange "should be" more than Don't Nod at this point. The problem is that they still have difficulty reaching the depth and mechanical novelty of the first.
Characters: Alex Chen is a great protagonist. She has a backstory that is cathartic for people who have slipped through the cracks in society due to the catastrophic failure that is the American foster care system. But she has a couple issues: 1) She has a lot of inconsistencies in how she reacts to situations. There is a particular inciting incident that she just kind of did not have much of an emotional reaction to in proportion to...how devastating it was. Just as well...she oscillates between being a quippy trickster to a meek loner often. She is definitely more compelling when being the former. I realize it can be obviously stated that, "Dude. That's called character depth". Well, the problem is that it's a binary for her. She is EITHER one or the other in most scenes, which can make role-playing as her slightly unsatisfying . By comparison, Steph, Gabe, and Ryan have much more truly dynamic interactions. Just as well, Erika Mori (her VA) has the same inconsistency in her performance. Sometimes she's fuckin' killing it, and others there is a lot to be desired.
Otherwise, I really liked the cast. Ryan is a really good boy going through an existential crisis. Steph is Steph, she has always ruled. Gabe is endearing and layered. And the rest of the peoples of Haven Springs are equally charming (love Charlotte and Eleanor).
Gameplay: While Alex's powers are an excellent idea that create really memorable visual and emotional moments, they aren't mechanically engaging (outside of a couple specific interactions). It is "press button near person to feel their feelings". The times when it shines most are when you're navigating dialogue options to get people to overcome the hardships they're going through. But at that point, it's basically just "can you talk to a person good". It doesn't have the same puzzle-solving potential as, say...time reversal...
Story: All over the place. The setting is great. Haven Springs and the art direction are gorgeous. But, unlike Life is Strange 2, the game is way too damn short to tell the story it wants to tell. But it does do a decent amount even within this hastened plot.
The real problems are the themes and pacing. It takes an entire episode to get to the inciting incident. And the investigation in general needed a lot more micro conflicts. There's more fucking around and talking to people than there is uncovering secrets and intrigue. The absolute most MAJORLY missed opportunity was not giving the Scooby gang of Alex, Ryan, and Steph more "big time missions" together.
I am still trying to wrap my head around what the game was trying to convey in terms of its main themes. We've got Persona 5-esque "making bad people realize their horrific mistakes and getting them to be better". We've got Persona 4-esque "finding the truth is the only way to get justice". We've got...empathizing with people is good. We've got "you have to be strong in order to overcome your past". We've got familial trauma. And then we have the pain of being a foster kid stuff. Ultimately, while it was good representation, the foster care/family themes came to a conclusion that I thought was a massive cop-out. It basically boiled down to "hey, you just gotta be strong". That's some Kingdom Hearts shit man. What a huge missed opportunity to critique the system and how our country defaults to tearing families apart rather than assisting them.
The above elements ended up creating a Life is Strange game that felt a little plastic, rushed, and confused about its identity.
Also worth noting: Deck Nine has some major issues with several technical things. The audio compression on the voiced lines is unfathomably bad. I'm not sure I've EVER heard characters sound more like they were doing a horribly mixed podcast. When the characters "smile", it looks more like a grimace and is visually upsetting. And Deck Nine STILL (since Before the Storm) have not figured out how to make a natural-looking walking cycle for the protagonist. Alex and Steph have a lock in their shoulder joints that disallow them from swinging their arms further back than their waist. Their torsos protrude too far forward while their heads tilt slightly behind the nape of the neck...it just doesn't feel or look good to walk as these characters, which is a fairly big flaw in a game where you are primarily walking around.
I know I've had a lot of criticisms of the game so I'll finish up by saying this: Life is Strange True Colors is still a fun and worthwhile experience. The story and characters are compelling. The "majority of the episode segment" in chapter 3 is one of the best chapters of any Life is Strange game. And the finale, while a watered down version of The Wolf Among Us' finale, is definitely the most satisfying in the series (the final confrontation is genuinely beautiful and made me cry).
But actually as my final words: Both of Deck Nine's "side story DLC's" are stronger than the base game. The Farewell in Before the Storm is tight and even more emotional than Before the Storm itself. And this might be an unpopular opinion, but I think the same of Wavelengths.
I think the writers on this team really bring it home when they have severe limitations. Wavelengths is very efficient with its storytelling. Steph is a consistent but still complex character (thus making roleplaying as her more engaging). The themes are rock solid--loneliness and new beginnings: full stop. And the final thing I'd like to mention: SPOILERS FOR LIFE IS STRANGE 1 AND 2
Deck Nine wants to address the consequences of the "save Chloe" ending in Life is Strange 1 in a way that makes it a more meaningful and satisfying choice. In Life is Strange 2, David is basically like "Yeah everyone except me died and I hated that Max and Chloe drove off. But I have a decent relationship with her now." True Colors by default goes against this by showing that Steph and Mikey survived (oh thank fucking god). Not only this, but Wavelengths addresses this ending on multiple occasions. There's memory dialogue Steph has of making pride buttons with Chloe post-storm. There's her relived trauma from her Mom dying in the storm (and Mikey's brother). It's heartbreaking, but it at least gives us SOME goddamn context and divulgence for a half-baked cop-out of an ending to the first game.
Anyway, I appreciate Deck Nine actively rebelling against Don't Nod's reluctance to respect their most acclaimed and popular franchise. And as developers, Deck Nine just gets better with each release. I'm very interested to see what they do next with The Expanse.