Couldn't it still try to explain though? The Girl Who Leapt Through Time has time travel but it's main focus is relationships but still attempts to explain the time travel element.
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Life is Strangely mediocre at best [SPOILERS]
- Thread starter Enter the Dragon Punch
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Couldn't it still try to explain though? The Girl Who Leapt Through Time has time travel but it's main focus is relationships but still attempts to explain the time travel element.
Hellsing321
Member
I don't really see how The Girl Who Leapt Through Time explains time travel beyond, "hey I'm from the future and we have time travel"
I think this argument would have been more poignant if the setup, characters and story beats of 99% of other games weren't more juvenile.
You're too old for a coming of age story with themes of fitting in, americana and suicide, but okay with e.g. a high fantasy power wish fulfilment? Alrighty then.
High Fry Frow
Member
I'm most perplexed by the people who stand tall, with the constitution of a deep rooted redwood tree bolted into the ground, defending the game's dialogue.
Coming from a 26-year old millenial who grew up in Portland, with young family members who live in the pocket communities of South Oregon, the word-choices and dialogue come off as so forced, try-hard and inauthentic.
It's baffling to me that not only the dialogue is defended for it's authenticity and accuracy, but that several people here on GAF with ties to the area and in similar age brackets as the game's characters say that Max and Chloe's words are a genuine representation of what young people in the Northwest sound like.
Coming from a 26-year old millenial who grew up in Portland, with young family members who live in the pocket communities of South Oregon, the word-choices and dialogue come off as so forced, try-hard and inauthentic.
It's baffling to me that not only the dialogue is defended for it's authenticity and accuracy, but that several people here on GAF with ties to the area and in similar age brackets as the game's characters say that Max and Chloe's words are a genuine representation of what young people in the Northwest sound like.
I lived with a girl a couple of years ago that was 100% exactly like Max except switch out photography for drawing. I can confirm that the obnoxious dialogue is realistic.
Edit: The voice acting is a bit hammy though so I will agree that the delivery is try-hard at times.
NinjamicWZ
Banned
That's the thing about people. They don't all sound, speak or behave the same even in the same towns or states. Sounds nothing like me or my friends and family =/= Sounds like no one
TheSlySoul
Member
Pretty much, also it makes a pretty good point about accepting the past and not wishing to change things. Clearly saving Chloe again is the bad ending.
Edit: As for characters, I only know people like Nathan and Victoria.
Episode 1 in general is pretty weak, I would say play up to Episode 2 and if it is not gripping you, then you can drop it.
Well, Ken explains where he's from, why he's there, and how the time travel stuff even got into Kazuko's possession. That's an attempt at some explanation to why she possessed the ability and where it came from.
Macadinho94
Member
Greg Miller did a spoilercast with Michel from DontNod which might interest you guys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhxh3Iy_3Ic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhxh3Iy_3Ic
Demoskinos
Member
Psychoward
Banned
80s Bad Guy
Banned
That's great, thanks. Watching now.
If he wasn't being sarcastic then I'm too cynical.
Roni
Banned
I thought the game was alright, I liked it, definitely a title I would recommend women who are not into video games to play. The setting, the characters, the gameplay, the choices, the story and a bunch of other things would resonate with women strongly enough that it makes me think they would be compelled to finish the game and perhaps interested in exploring what else gaming has to offer them.
Fakeknowledge
Member
I was half wondering whether we'd get an explanation of her powers but only in the back of my mind as it was never something the game focused on. My theory in the beginning was the time travel stuff would have something to do with Rachels disappearance and she'd shed more light on it.
The more the game went on though the more it become clear they were going for a much more grounded approach and an explanation probably wasn't coming. I can't say it bothered me at all tbh, I love the game.
The more the game went on though the more it become clear they were going for a much more grounded approach and an explanation probably wasn't coming. I can't say it bothered me at all tbh, I love the game.
It's perfunctory. Would it be a fair criticism that the time travel in TGWLTT wasn't explored thoroughly enough? Or how the future society wasn't elaborated upon? No, not really. She can travel through time. He comes from a crappy future. That's all you need to know for the drama to unfold. Everyone has their own threshold for "how much exposition I want". Not meeting those thresholds is not the film's fault, it has other problems, but it's great film overall. Lack of or an abundance of exposition is almost always a personal choice.
Hosada's film are actually a very good point of discussion here. How much exposition did Wolf Children Ame and Yuki have, concerning one of the central plot devices, really? Almost none. It's immaterial to the core of the story which is about a single mother raising her children. We don't need to know how they transform to see what it does to their lives. We don't need to know where their lycanthropy came from to see its ramification on their identity. They could be half-aliens or half-demons for all it matters. The story would be indistinguishable; the only thing that would change are some of the aesthetic motifs.
How would the themes and drama of Life is Strange have been advanced had Max's time travel powers been explained? I have no idea. The only time travel stories for which this approach makes sense are earnest thought experiments about the ramifications of time travel, in which the mechanics and consequences are the real focus and characters are secondary. That's not the case here, despite what the game might have led you to believe. It's the central mechanic because it's a game and the game demands some element of gameplay. But being central to the game doesn't mean it's central to the story. I don't see why that's so hard to understand.
RE: The dialogue thing. It's pretty interesting how divided people are on it. I think it's important to keep in mind that your teenage experience is not the only teenage experience in the world, and the Northwest is not a homogenous culture. What comes off as try-hard for you might have been nostalgic for someone else. At the same time, youth culture shifted rapidly within the last few years because of the rise of smartphones and social networking. What you consider "teenage banter" is already very out of date in this world of instagrams and snapchats and what the fuck ever. Yes, it is possible that it's we who are out of touch, just like our how parents looked to us when we were younger.
I wouldn't mind the game not elaborating on Max's powers if they actually used them to effect, but, like OP said, the only real change she did was save Chloe's father. And with the "twist" that her powers created the tornado and other anomalies, it feels bland that all of that was caused because she saved Chloe a few times.
Never mind how predictable the entire 5 chapter was since I've seen people saying it's supposed to be obvious.
Never mind how predictable the entire 5 chapter was since I've seen people saying it's supposed to be obvious.
GlamFM
Banned
What is this garbage?
BTW, never said the story was bad. The delivery was horrible.
Alrighty then?
OmegaTreeFish
Banned
Your right I remember that too.
Strange. I find it a bit odd in a game where you don't create your own character that their sexual preference is a choice when in reality it isn't. Just an observation.
I don't think a French guy and a 40+ year old (the writers) have the best grip on teenage culture in the Pacific Northwest.
There are people who try hard to be pseudo-intellectuals and talk like the characters in Life is Strange, but they're phony lame-os.
I would say this is a pretty accurate portrait of teenage art students, no?
LUXURY
Member
Your original post, claiming that people on care about the game because it features "two lesbians", is the most asinine thing I've read in a while. There is so much more that people have latched onto in this game besides "two lesbians." You just didn't understand.
That's pretty much the central thing in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time too. She altered the past to fix so many things and not learning how to let things go and it messed her up, it helped some relationships but also ruined some relationships. It's grounded in modern day Japan and it's a novel from 1967. The sci-fi element is the vehicle, but it also at least gets some understanding of why and how it happened and they tie up loose ends. And she fell in love with Ken, but because of the things she knew her memories of their time had to be erased.
I think The Girl Who Leapt Through Time handled the whole thing much better.
Loved this game. Will defend it to the end of the earth with this blog post:
http://thekenpire.com/2015/10/30/li...ysis-personal-growth-through-trial-and-error/
http://thekenpire.com/2015/10/30/li...ysis-personal-growth-through-trial-and-error/
I speel my dreenk
Member
I was writing up a response like this, but you've stated it better than I could have.
I don't know if you've come across any actual pseudo-intellectuals in your life, but they ARE phony lame-os. Or, you know, teenagers who still have a lot to learn.
I wasn't a teenager in 2013 at a private school in the Pacific Northwest, but they do a fantastic job of making it feel like what it could be like - which is all they needed to do to be successful in this regard.
Not all teenage art students. I feel like they picked an annoying subset of characters, and it just wasn't necessary.
AcademicSaucer
Member
I felt the game was a average too, didnt grab me, so I stopped playing it. Cant get over the cringy dialogue too.
Self selection bias. This thread is going to attract more naysayers than your average LiS discussion. It might as well be universally praised by any reasonable metrics of "universally praised".
I think this was intentional. They could've made Max a paragon among paragons. Or they could've made Max the sole sane person in an asylum. But I think the character traits were fairly divided out. Everyone had something they were good at, some things they weren't so good at, some things that made them "decent people", some things that made them "horrible people".
It's a nuanced approach to characterization that's really rare in video games. DONTNOD set out to push the boundaries (for video games) and I feel they succeeded, even if a lot of the cast were unlikable twats.
BlastProcessing
Member
GlamFM
Banned
I suggest watching the first 15 minutes of a let´s play on YT.
If you make it through that without cringing you are probably good to go.
The Last Wizard
Member
For me it was a fun ride but nothing topped the end of ep 2, don't see why it's praised like its the second coming of episodic gaming. Overall good but not great.
OmegaTreeFish
Banned
Nah I cringed for the first house because I'm 34 and have don't understand teenagers at all. But I still loved the first 3 episodes. Just had to accept I want going to relate to how these kids spoke. I have heard plenty of younger people talk in a manner I don't get (I'm in the UK so its different but the same point). It's called not being young any more.
Yeah lol. The phonies aren't so bad haha. Doesn't mean I'm gonna play a game that induces cringes every 5 seconds.
Cymbal Head
Banned
The benefits of working within an established setting.
Nope it's not, It is a fantastic game with issues. I would definitely recommend to play it.
JumpCancel
Banned
Life is Strange robbed Bloodborne. Every thread is actually a Bloodborne thread when you think about it.
You know I'm right.
On topic I enjoyed the game, however I got it as a gift so that does impact my view of it to a degree. Episode 5 took the time travel aspect and had fun with it and I'm sure they enjoyed finally delving into the stranger angles of time travel. Considering how
Chole has to die
That's my personal take.
I have an innate issue with time travel stories which rely on ending with "you should never have altered time in the first place" trope. I hate that. It essentially means everything I did in the game didn't happen which to me means it was pointless. Before you light torches and say:
"But JumpCancel that's the point of it all! You shouldn't time travel but rather live your life and accept the consequences"
I know that. It doesn't mean I have to like it. I see it as lazy writing to just go with moral of time travel stories is to simply not to time travel. I was hoping LIS would break the mold in that regard with Max gaining more and more control over time and mastering it, rather than forgoing it all at the end.
Perhaps I just don't like time travel stories.
GlamFM
Banned
It´s really not just that. It´s not just how they speak, but how they are fleshed out in general.
Every character fulfills every damn cliche.
Emo kid is super emo.
Rebel is Hardcore rebel.
Mean girl is super mean.
It´s all soooooo black and white.
Way to simple.
Bloodborne is Hella cooler than LiS.
Man Called Aerodynamics
Member
To each their own, the game isn't flawless or anything, BUT...
If your reason for not liking Life is Strange is because they don't adequately explain the mechanics of how time travel works... I don't think you could have missed the point of that story any harder.
If your reason for not liking Life is Strange is because they don't adequately explain the mechanics of how time travel works... I don't think you could have missed the point of that story any harder.
Not at all, you should definitely give it a shot. For the things it does wrong, it does a TON of things right. It's worth a lot to the medium.
Victoria is a 17 year old girl playing at adulthood because of the culture she was raised around (the art world). Her parents work in the industry so some of the more negative behavior there rubbed off on her. She's affecting a maturity she doesn't really have because this is what teenagers do. She bullied Kate for the same reason as most bullies do what they do (self aggrandizement), but she's pretty loyal to her "in-group", including, unfortunately, Nathan, whose own toxic personality fed and fed off of hers.
At the same time though, she's still a child inside as you can see by how jealous she was of Amber, and, in the events of the story, Max. In her room Max finds some kind of figurine so you know she has a nerdy side she's suppressing for the sake of her image. She's fixated on rooting out "phonies" to cover her own insecurities. This is one of the reasons she so desperately tries to circumvent the rules to win the competition. She knew, deep down, that Max was legit competition and she didn't want to think about losing.
You see her more vulnerable side when you confront her after Kate's attempted suicide, and later when you're both bound in the bunker. Her meticulously curated demeanor breaks down in moments of great stress and reveals the unstable girl within. Max, on the other hand, might be introverted but she's as solid as a rock, mentally. Victoria resents this, that Max can be so self-assured when she doesn't "play the game (bullying, cliques, cutthroat competition)" as Victoria does.
I don't see how this is "black and white" or "simple" at all. She's a very carefully crafted example of how negative environments can deeply affect a child's outlook on life and the masks they wear to hide themselves from each other. All of them are, really. They are all fighting intensely personal demons.
Fakeknowledge
Member
Fantastic read, that. Thanks for posting, I agree with every word. It's interesting that this blog mentions Buffy as the dev in that spoilercast that was posted earlier mentioned Buffy specifically as well.
It's also interesting to read about other
wrong
I can't get enough of LiS, i'll post in whatever thread is currently active.
Cymbal Head
Banned
I think this makes sense when you consider Life is Strange as, basically, Young Adult fiction. It uses archetypes and heightened characters to maximize audience self-identification and to mirror the heightened emotional experiences of adolescence.
The explanation of the storm with "Chaos Theory" was very unsatisfying, as it betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the common example that a butterfly on one side of the world might cause a tornado on the other side of the world. It does not mean that tiny variations in a chain of events can lead to massive results. It only means that they can lead to massively different results. Max' tinkling with time just cannot explain the tornado.
I agree that the last episode disappointed story-wise. I do not think that you need to provide an explanation for everything. But what they actually did provide made little sense. I mean, you kill your entire city, including friends and families, and then just drive merrily into your exciting future together? Come on...
I agree that the last episode disappointed story-wise. I do not think that you need to provide an explanation for everything. But what they actually did provide made little sense. I mean, you kill your entire city, including friends and families, and then just drive merrily into your exciting future together? Come on...
GlamFM
Banned
And the end result is? Yep, mean kid that fulfills every damn cliche.
How she got there is not really relevant - in the end she´s just that.
The characters could very well be from a low budget daily soap pilot.