Musithical 最近的评测

6.5/10

Recommendation: Buy on sale, $30 or less

Like all games in this franchise, it's extremely flawed but will resonate with the people who are able to connect with it. Life is Strange is at it's best when it's taking big swings. It doesn't always hit, but when it does, it hits hard. This game is no different.

It's best to abandon any preconceived notions or expectations with this game. This Max is a decade removed from the one we knew in the first game. For Deck Nine, I think this was a good choice. Their portrayal of Chloe in Before the Storm is often discredited as being - at best - underwhelming. While I don't agree that it's bad enough to call it 'fanfiction' like so many do, I can see why people would be disappointed that she wasn't like she was when we see her in 2013. So when Max was announced to be returning with Deck Nine at the helm, it made a lot of people anxious. I don't think Deck Nine were ever going to win by trying to write Max as she was in the first game. Having such a large time disparity allows them room to evolve and adapt the character in a way that better suits their writing style and the story they want to tell. I think that's a good thing. It definitely isn't going to ruin the first game like some people say. In fact, I'd say the premise inherently benefits anyone's headcanon.

The real issue is the rapidly deteriorating story. The plot of a lot of these games tends to unravel near the end as they try to wrap things up, but this one makes a very fatal flaw. The game starts out extremely strongly, the first 3 episodes are great, and I'd say that the first and third episodes are some of the best of any of the games. However, episode 4 and 5 are so short that they may as well have been combined, and episode 5 on the grander scale is somewhat of a disaster. They clearly wanted to use the final moments of the story not to tie up this games plot, but to set up where Life is Strange is going in future games. I do not like this. It feels like another attempt to turn something into an MCU-esque story structure. The best part of these games are how well contained they are, and how complete the story feels by the end of the game. I didn't have an issue with them bringing back Max because she was so disconnected from the first game that it could stand on it's own. However, this entirely undermines that, and while it doesn't 'ruin' the first games story, it definitely sours this one a bit. The redeeming quality in all of this is that the actual characters and their relationships with Max feel fleshed out and dynamic. They react strongly to your choices, even if the plot at large doesn't. I'm sure it's not a surprise to any fan of the franchise to say that the characters are the saving grace of this game.

As for gameplay, I think this is the second most engaging of the series. The choice system in terms of endings is not as robust as LiS2 or True Colors, but the individual variations on the way and the character interactions are a little more fleshed out that most of the other games. I think this may be because the cast this time around is a lot smaller than the others, but the characters are interesting so I don't find that to be an issue. The inclusion of a power that is more attuned to the unique kind of puzzles these games provide is a breath of fresh air. Telekinesis and Empathy were cool, but didn't really service the actual puzzles very well like Rewind did in LiS1. The timeline jumping is much better for that. The issue is that it's not really utilized to the best of it's ability. Solutions are usually obvious, and if not then they are tedious. There's a handful of actually thoughtful puzzles in the game that require Max's new powers, which is a shame because the concept has so much mechanical potential. Even in the story, it feels like it never really reached the height of what situations Max could have found herself in.

The last thing I'll touch on before mild spoiler territory is technical performance, and I have to say, this is a rough one. Hopefully it get's patched soon, as I'm playing pretty close to release, but the performance cost lives up to the fidelity. The game looks gorgeous, but that's the only option. Most graphical settings are barely different between medium and maximum, and the lowest settings look the worst I've ever seen a game look in the past 15 years. If you have a low spec PC, you're kind of out of luck. On top of that, despite the amazing visual style and stunning facial animations, every other animation in the game feels really floaty. It's like all the characters are underwater. There's also more and more visual glitches the further you get into later chapters, so it's fairly obvious that the brunt of the polish was put towards the beginning.

So yeah, the game is deeply flawed. Probably more than any of the others in the franchise. Despite that, I think that the moments where it shines are worth it if you are a fan of Life is Strange and don't mind Deck Nine's writing.

What an amazing, groundbreaking, and beautiful game! Can't wait for the next game from this development team after this record breaking, award winning, profitable, and objectively successful title!