Be warned, Baconeers! This particular article contains SPOILERS for Life is Strange! Proceed with caution.
If you keep up with my reviews on this site, you know by now that I have yet to shut the hell up about Life is Strange. But can you really blame me? It’s an incredible game that deserves all the recognition and awards it’s been receiving. However, I’ve prattled endlessly about this stupendous game and why it should be in everyone’s game library, so, this article will focus on how Life is Strange has affected me personally.
Buckle up, because we’re about to go on what the kids nowadays call a “feels trip.”
This past year has been rough. January of 2015 started me off horridly, having been dumped by a boyfriend that I thought loved me, and kicked out of an apartment that I thought was my home. There was never a quiet moment that wasn’t tainted by my tears. I woke up every morning sick to my stomach, and I struggled to fall asleep every night. Every time I felt some happiness come back, it was met with a sinking feeling in my stomach. Food had no taste, and something as merely as breathing felt like a chore. I started picking up the pieces of my life, focusing on school and work, but keeping busy just distracted me from my mediocre life.
And it just wasn’t a life that I wanted to a part of anymore.
Pictured: Max and Chloe. Also pictured: My only two moods throughout last year.
Fast forward to a couple of months later. I was staying in Florida with my mom for some much needed time away from what felt like a prison of icy memories in Michigan, when one of my friends from high school messaged me requesting that I review a game named Life is Strange. At first, I wasn’t sure, and I procrastinated. Being a good friend, I obliged and downloaded the game, but the icon for the game sat lonely on my desktop for a very long time.
Finally, while having coffee at a Tim Horton’s, I opened up the game. I learned very quickly that this was an episodic game much like The Wolf Among Us, and that the episodes would be released six to seven weeks apart. When I learned that Life is Strange featured a noble female heroine with time travel powers, I was immediately hooked and gleefully bought the season pass.
With the episodes being released slowly throughout the year, I was given something to look forward to. Each episode inspired me to reflect on my own strange life.
And I’ve learned many things, like:
How to Listen
I’ve always fancied myself to be a good listener (despite my mom’s complaints), but after a crucial scene in episode five, Polarized, where Max’s fate depends on whether or not Chloe believes Max’s alternate reality-hopping stories. I was convinced that Chloe would be too stubborn to listen to Max, considering how stubborn she was throughout the course of the game, and that Max would have to continue performing miracles to save Chloe again and again. To my surprise, I was wrong. Chloe’s character evolved, and she became a more careful listener.
That got me thinking, do I really listen to people when they talk to me? Or am I too busy thinking about what I want to say? Regardless, I make it a point now to listen to folks when they address me, and really listen. Which leads me to the second thing I’ve learned…
You Never Know What’s Going on in the Lives of Others
I say this in particular to the character of Nathan Prescott. From the beginning of the game, Nathan just seems like spoiled, drug-abusing brat that belongs to a powerful family. But after searching Nathan’s room for evidence that he’s involved in the ring of drugs and missing girls, we find out there’s so much more to his complex character.
Questionable looking photography, menacing notes from a not so doting father, and even a little radio that plays whale sounds all point to Nathan being a restless soul and a vulnerable, pitiful puppet to the villain of the game. Nathan possesses a suffering mind, and the scary thing is, his character is not too far off from reality. He hides how much he hurts from the world, which is something that anybody could relate to.
I’ve spent several years of my youth never considering that someone else’s life could mirror just as many complications as my own. I have never considered another side, or thought deeply about what insecurities someone else may be hiding. In other words, I never gained a proper sense of empathy.
Nowadays, even if it’s something that I can’t relate to, you won’t find me short of compassion for someone else’s situation.
We Underestimate How Much Our Parents Love Us
I’ll admit, I hated Chloe in the early episodes of Life is Strange. I thought that she was rude, stubborn, and ungrateful. Well, I actually still think that about her. It becomes more understandable as the game goes on, especially in light of her tumultuous relationship with her stepdad (or as Chloe lovingly puts it, “step-douche”), David. David is very militant in contrast with Chloe’s wild lifestyle choices, and saying that the two have friction in their relationship is an understatement. The entire game gives the impression that David is a flat character, only existing to be an obstacle for Chloe and Max.
Later on, however, when Max is captured, drugged, and held hostage, it’s David that comes to rescue her. And what is his immediate concern?
Chloe.
And if you choose to tell David the truth about Chloe being killed, his reaction is relentlessly heartbreaking.
As someone who has a rocky relationship with a step-parent, this has given me insight on how I treated her along with my biological parents. Planning my funeral is something that I hope they never have to do.
How to Embrace Change
Good or bad, change is happening all the time. In Life is Strange, all it takes is one week for Max’s entire life to change. And her character becomes better for it. Someone who was once too shy, meek, and vulnerable, becomes determined, passionate, and brave.
When my boyfriend broke up with me last January, I couldn’t accept that things were going to change. I couldn’t bear with the idea that I had to continue on with my life and didn’t want to leave my comfort zone. I had gotten used to the petty fights at 5 AM, having doors slammed in my face out of anger, and just generally being depressed. But I didn’t know any other way.
Moving back into my parents house forced me to re-evaluate the choices I had made, and the decisions that I had wanted to make for my future. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time travel powers like Max and just undo all of the things that I did wrong. It took months of soul-searching filled with quiet summer nights sitting on the front porch until well in the morning to realize that what had happened to me was really a great thing.
I wasted a lot of time hating myself, depending on others (mostly boyfriends) to validate me as a person, only to find that I actually enjoy my own company. Years of being my own worst enemy evolved into me being my own best friend. What I thought was love had left me, but it turns out I had even more love to give.
Not that I don’t still struggle sometimes, like all humans do, but the struggle comes with being alive, and being a part of this Earth.
I often compare my year of self-discovery with Max’s week of time-traveling shenanigan’s because of the abundance of time between the episodes’ releases, which makes it feel like her story was parallel to mine over the year. Max’s power gave her a chance to learn about herself, and appreciate life and the people around her.
Awhile ago, I was working a morning at my coffee shop alone. As I was making someone her latte, we engaged in some small talk. She asked me about what I do outside of school and work, so of course had to tell her about reviewing games for Nerd Bacon. At the mention of “video games,” she made a face that crinkled her nose and bitterly made a comment about how video games are nothing more than a mindless hobby that costs too much.
She’s right about it being an expensive hobby, however, I had to correct her close-mindedness. Using Life is Strange as an example, that woman now knows that video games are also used to tell beautiful stories, and that the industry is changing because of these story-driven games.
Life is Strange has shown me the raw beauty of human nature. How our emotions, actions, and flaws encompass how unique we are as human beings.
And as strange as life may be, it’s a good one. Make sure you live it. And remember…
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