i will show my hand immediately and say that i have a very vague idea of the endings of this game because i remember hearing they were divisive. outside of that, i know very little about what happens and where these characters go.
so, with that out of the way, i think i can say i'm cautiously optimistic about this story so far. the central characters sean and daniel feel a lot more distinct than any other LIS characters up to this point. and sure, they're pretty one-note in this episode, DONTNOD seems to have set the stage for them to grow and change pretty organically so far. i think the most compelling part so far is going to be seeing how the game's plot handles the player character being the one without the superpowers, not to mention the character with said superpowers being so immature, excitable, and suggestible. i'm more invested in sean/daniel interactions than i am max/chloe, because even though the latter feels more tightly defined, the former feels a lot more open to growth and change in a way that m/c never did.
gameplay-wise, i'm hopeful that the shackles of the illusion of choice aren't going to be as tight here. at first, i was really on-board with "you're making choices early on by picking food and drinks and money without knowing this is going to be important", but then got slightly fucked off by "it doesn't matter if you shoplifted or not, you're going to get accosted and accused of shoplifting regardless". it's a means to an end for story/plot progression, sure, but i hope it ends up being the exception rather than the rule going forward. i was actually pretty invested in the idea of managing money vs. needs + legal vs. illegal actions, but i'm going to be much more wary of investing in those choices going forward. i want my decisions to have weight if you're going to imply that they do, and having this inelegant "you lose no matter what" type of predestination makes me not want to give a shit.
as far as story goes. . . ehhh? i like when it's not indulging in indie movie misery porn and characters are given a minute to breathe and hash out how they're feeling, whether it be internally or intrapersonally. i also dislike how extremely unsubtle this game is going about the idea of racism and police brutality, it feels incredibly heavy-handed and hearing "you're why we should build the wall" has already aged extremely fast. it all feels so. . . period piece-y in a weird way. police brutality and racism against latine people existed for decades before trump's presidency, so clumsily associating your themes with that is just dating your game. i don't doubt that these police brutality elements could be lifted straight from the news or that characters like hank or brett really could exist, they just feel like narrative devices than actual characters. oh well. obligatory "i am white so take every gripe i have with a story that tackles police brutality and racism with a grain of salt because i have never experienced either" line for this review.
overall, i enjoyed episode 1. i'm hopeful for later episodes to expand more on these characters and for decisions to potentially have more weight than just "Did you steal from the handicap fund? You did? Let's have Chloe remind you of your choice every 5 minutes.". if nothing else, this game blows LIS1 and BTS out of the water when it comes to presentation, so at least i'm getting eye candy out of this at worst.
so, with that out of the way, i think i can say i'm cautiously optimistic about this story so far. the central characters sean and daniel feel a lot more distinct than any other LIS characters up to this point. and sure, they're pretty one-note in this episode, DONTNOD seems to have set the stage for them to grow and change pretty organically so far. i think the most compelling part so far is going to be seeing how the game's plot handles the player character being the one without the superpowers, not to mention the character with said superpowers being so immature, excitable, and suggestible. i'm more invested in sean/daniel interactions than i am max/chloe, because even though the latter feels more tightly defined, the former feels a lot more open to growth and change in a way that m/c never did.
gameplay-wise, i'm hopeful that the shackles of the illusion of choice aren't going to be as tight here. at first, i was really on-board with "you're making choices early on by picking food and drinks and money without knowing this is going to be important", but then got slightly fucked off by "it doesn't matter if you shoplifted or not, you're going to get accosted and accused of shoplifting regardless". it's a means to an end for story/plot progression, sure, but i hope it ends up being the exception rather than the rule going forward. i was actually pretty invested in the idea of managing money vs. needs + legal vs. illegal actions, but i'm going to be much more wary of investing in those choices going forward. i want my decisions to have weight if you're going to imply that they do, and having this inelegant "you lose no matter what" type of predestination makes me not want to give a shit.
as far as story goes. . . ehhh? i like when it's not indulging in indie movie misery porn and characters are given a minute to breathe and hash out how they're feeling, whether it be internally or intrapersonally. i also dislike how extremely unsubtle this game is going about the idea of racism and police brutality, it feels incredibly heavy-handed and hearing "you're why we should build the wall" has already aged extremely fast. it all feels so. . . period piece-y in a weird way. police brutality and racism against latine people existed for decades before trump's presidency, so clumsily associating your themes with that is just dating your game. i don't doubt that these police brutality elements could be lifted straight from the news or that characters like hank or brett really could exist, they just feel like narrative devices than actual characters. oh well. obligatory "i am white so take every gripe i have with a story that tackles police brutality and racism with a grain of salt because i have never experienced either" line for this review.
overall, i enjoyed episode 1. i'm hopeful for later episodes to expand more on these characters and for decisions to potentially have more weight than just "Did you steal from the handicap fund? You did? Let's have Chloe remind you of your choice every 5 minutes.". if nothing else, this game blows LIS1 and BTS out of the water when it comes to presentation, so at least i'm getting eye candy out of this at worst.