Life Is Strange takes notes from Telltales playbook and use's them properly while still coming out w...

1. Life is Strange: Episode 1 - Chrysalis
Life Is Strange takes notes from Telltales playbook and use's them properly while still coming out
with something still worth while to play through. Everything from it's art style, story and gameplay
blends together perfectly well leaving you wanting more by the time the episode ends.
Life Is Strange fellows Max Caulfield, a photographer who learns that she has the ability to reverse
time by simply raising her hand after witnessing someone being killed in front of her. I would go on
about the story but it's far to nice for me to ruin it for you so i'll leave it to that.
I hate talking about graphics in a game, specially in this generation of games, but I have to talk
about how nice the game really looks. The art style of Life Is Strange is water painting style, flushed
with rich color that makes everything look so good. There were times I wished I purchase the game
on Steam so I could get see just how nice the game can look. You shows they truly put allot of love
into the art style of the game and with each character as well, giving each and every person there
own personality.
Gameplay wise the game plays similar to many Telltale Games. You can move freely in the area's
your in and read/look at everything the world has to offer. Being able to go from one area to another
makes the game feel more open then it is which is a nice touch. Interacting with characters is pretty
much the same as most Telltale Games, i'll be pointing out allot of stuff about Telltale games through
out this review with a reason at the end so bare with me. With a open option of dialogue to select
from it feels normal but mixed with the ability to reverse time you are given the ability to change
things you say or interact with people. It's only briefly touched on n the first episode but mixing the
ability to control time with conversations can completely change how things turn out like not
knowing the answer to a question, learning it from someone else then reversing time to give them
the correct answer. It's simple in the first episode and briefly touched on but it's great. The only part
about the time ability was that at some talking sections of the game you are unable to reverse time
at all. It was a little odd to see this come up more then I thought would happen but in some cases it
made sense, but the time ability isn't just for conversations either.
Time reversal can be used for three things, speech, puzzles, choices. With the speech section already
explained the puzzle's are what will keep the game interesting depending on how far they go with
them in future episodes since yet again there are not many with in the first episode and the ones
that are there are not that hard to figure out. The puzzles they shown with in the first episode were
basic stuff, most of the puzzles only take about two to three steps to finish which is a shame since it
looks as if they could have done more with in the episode.
The last is choice and it's the most simple of the three. In all Telltale Games they leave the players a
big choice here and there with in a episode and depending on what choice you make can effect the
story down the road. It is pretty much the same thing here except instead of sticking with your
choice you can see what just happens in each choice before picking the one you wish to go with. It is
nice to see what could happen but in a way it sort of gives away the surprise a little for future plays.
The only real downfall for me with this Episode was the fact that it was not as long as I thought it
would be. With the so many things to find, read and interact with it's still playable around two hours
which isn't bad but it really does leave you wanting more in a single play through.
At this point you can pretty much tell I've been comparing this game more to Telltale Games then

2. anything else and let's be honest here, there really aren't that many developers out there that make
these sorts of games until now. Other developers like Capcom with there upcoming Resident Evil
Revelation 2 and Access Games with D4 are starting to try out new idea's for episodic games which
is great if done correctly. As for now tho, Life Is Strange is heading in the right direction with it's
amazing art style, story and gameplay. The only thing that held this game back from a higher score
was the length of the episode it's self.
With that said I will happily give this game a 9/10.
Pro:
-Amazing art style
-Interesting Story
-Well Used Time Abilities
Cons:
-Just A Little To Short
http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/life-is-strange-episode-1---chrysalis