taxalot
I'm a spicy fellow.
What do you expect from a slam dunk sequel developed by a different company?I am playing Before the Storm and I think I'm mostly done by now (a fair bit into Episode 3 ; then there's the Farewell thing to play).
I am not sure what I think of it. It is clearly not without its own qualities, but it is really a different beast than the original one. It focuses way way more on teenage drama, relationships and romance. The "thriller" part of the original that kept thing mysterious is entirely gone. There is one supernatural element that is so absent, so in the background, and so pointless that one has to wonder why they even bothered. Technically, it's also behind the original game : they moved to Unity and kept the same assets. As a result, while it's nearly impossible to tell the difference from a screenshot or from a short video, something still feels off. The characters are much more rigid, way less happen on the screen and while LiS had some impressive cutscenes both because supernatural shit and natural character interactions, this doesn't happen here.
This game is basically all about Chloe being Chloe and her getting into a lesbian relationship with Rachel. It's hard to recommend to a Codex crowd, even to the few of you that, like me, grew to appreciate the original series. On my side, I enjoy it for the price I got it for (5 bucks) and for its lengths, as a nice break between more hardcore games, because, yes, it has still has a little something. The characterization, while maybe stereotyped, is nice. Chloe is still a lovable bitch to whom it's difficult to have hard feelings against. The other characters are all in shade of grays, and you get to see the good side and bad side of almost everyone you meet. It's a cute little game if you are into that sort of thing. The rest of you can wait for Life is Strange 2.
Oh yes, and the gameplay, choices... everything is even more incosequential than in the first game ; I guess that's what you get for making prequels that still need to be forced in the direction of the start of the original game. I also remember having to think a little tiny bit to solve some puzzles ; this is entirely absent in this spin-off.
Something that clearly could have been much more shitty than BTS.