An enjoyable time but ultimately feels very afraid to commit to any elements that might rub its target demo the wrong way, and as a result ends up feeling safe. After Life is Strange 2 struck out sales wise, we're back to hot bisexual girls in a picture perfect affluent but small town that loves alt music and art as much as it loves weed (to be fair, they did set this in Colorado, where it makes more sense than pretty much anywhere else in America). And you know what, at least for me, it does kind of work! A progressive hipster's self insert fantasy that I did genuinely enjoy my time in, even if there was that cynical voice in the back of my head telling me that I shouldn't be.
The issue is that the game's attempts to inject the fantasy with some drama often come off as hollow. There are scenes that genuinely did manage to hit me emotionally, and I'd say the moment to moment writing is pretty strong, at the level of an above average indie drama (which is I think the best mindset to approach the LiS games with). The big picture stuff just doesn't quite work. Alex is introduced as a foster kid, someone who has a lot of genuine trouble connecting with people due to her empath problems making her feel the emotions of others too strongly... which ends up pretty much being dropped by the end of the first episode. Mopey, angry Alex lashing out at everyone who tried to welcome her to this new town wouldn't let allow for as much fun wish fulfillment hanging out with your cool buds, so instead we get a mystery plot that makes some wishy washy critique of the mining industry and capitalism. In a way this just feels like feeding the fantasy even more, that all of these progressive people living in a miniature paradise also get a figurehead to feel directly affected by problems that, frankly, are way worse for the actual miners that this story mostly sidelines, not to mention the vast majority of people who don't live in such otherwise idyllic circumstances. The endings (or lack thereof) feed into the problem of the story not really feeling like it's saying anything or that there was some ultimate point to it all, though I do feel the mark of covid all over this game (any facial animation outside of the biggest moments... woof) so I can't judge them too harshly for reigning the scope back in that aspect.
It sounds like I'm being super hard on the game here, and I am, because I think that conceptually they had a lot of things here that they just couldn't properly manage to capitalize on without sacrificing their somewhat safe tone. With that said... yeah as a wish fulfillment indie teen fantasy, it's pretty fucking good! What the bigger strokes of the plot don't do for me the characters do manage to make up for in a lot of ways. The townsfolk are all wonderfully realized (despite sliding right into the small town indie fantasy archetypes) and their small personal stories are often the thing that works most about the game. I criticized how the writers brush aside any of the elements that could have made Alex unlikable... but damn, they did make her really likeable. As in I don't see how you come out of this game not falling in love with her a little bit.
Bit of a rambly review here but to sum up, if you want a story with some real genuine catharsis or deep meaning, this doesn't really land. If you're looking for some teenage escapism, I've got the game for you.
...But how are you gonna make your lead character a hot acoustic indie musican with feelings powers and only have her play two songs what the hell Deck Nine that festival scene should have lasted a full 45 minutes I want a full set of Alex and Steph covering folk punk music
The issue is that the game's attempts to inject the fantasy with some drama often come off as hollow. There are scenes that genuinely did manage to hit me emotionally, and I'd say the moment to moment writing is pretty strong, at the level of an above average indie drama (which is I think the best mindset to approach the LiS games with). The big picture stuff just doesn't quite work. Alex is introduced as a foster kid, someone who has a lot of genuine trouble connecting with people due to her empath problems making her feel the emotions of others too strongly... which ends up pretty much being dropped by the end of the first episode. Mopey, angry Alex lashing out at everyone who tried to welcome her to this new town wouldn't let allow for as much fun wish fulfillment hanging out with your cool buds, so instead we get a mystery plot that makes some wishy washy critique of the mining industry and capitalism. In a way this just feels like feeding the fantasy even more, that all of these progressive people living in a miniature paradise also get a figurehead to feel directly affected by problems that, frankly, are way worse for the actual miners that this story mostly sidelines, not to mention the vast majority of people who don't live in such otherwise idyllic circumstances. The endings (or lack thereof) feed into the problem of the story not really feeling like it's saying anything or that there was some ultimate point to it all, though I do feel the mark of covid all over this game (any facial animation outside of the biggest moments... woof) so I can't judge them too harshly for reigning the scope back in that aspect.
It sounds like I'm being super hard on the game here, and I am, because I think that conceptually they had a lot of things here that they just couldn't properly manage to capitalize on without sacrificing their somewhat safe tone. With that said... yeah as a wish fulfillment indie teen fantasy, it's pretty fucking good! What the bigger strokes of the plot don't do for me the characters do manage to make up for in a lot of ways. The townsfolk are all wonderfully realized (despite sliding right into the small town indie fantasy archetypes) and their small personal stories are often the thing that works most about the game. I criticized how the writers brush aside any of the elements that could have made Alex unlikable... but damn, they did make her really likeable. As in I don't see how you come out of this game not falling in love with her a little bit.
Bit of a rambly review here but to sum up, if you want a story with some real genuine catharsis or deep meaning, this doesn't really land. If you're looking for some teenage escapism, I've got the game for you.
...But how are you gonna make your lead character a hot acoustic indie musican with feelings powers and only have her play two songs what the hell Deck Nine that festival scene should have lasted a full 45 minutes I want a full set of Alex and Steph covering folk punk music