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texhnolyze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,193
Indonesia
Seems like a lot of people are sleeping on this sequel due to the lukewarm reception on the first episode(s). But this is an interesting take:
If Life is Strange was DONTNOD successfully experimenting with a new narrative form, then Life is Strange 2 is a veteran team showing off its remarkable capacity for ludic storytelling. The sequel is simultaneously bigger and smaller than its predecessor, and the careful balance shown in knowing where to expand and where to contract ensures the game is meaningful, impactful, and emotionally charged. Life is Strange 2 seems to have been overlooked in the discourse about games across 2019, but this story of Sean and Daniel Diaz is one that deserves to be remembered when thinking about exactly what games can achieve.
Full article here:

Another praise:
 

Cactuar

Banned
Nov 30, 2018
5,878
Life is Strange 2 is a hot mess. I paid for the entire season pre-release on the strength of my love of the original, made it through 2 episodes and couldn't bother with the rest even though I own the whole thing. The brothers are just not the characters of Max and Chloe, and the lack of time travel/the ability to view all options is at the core of what made the original what it was. If from Episode 3 on the game magically turned into some bastion of powerful story-telling so be it, but from what I saw, the path they were on and the characters they were working with, I doubt it.
 

Deleted member 49611

Nov 14, 2018
5,052
i'm not enjoying it at all. doesn't even come close to LiS 1.

i just can't bring myself to care about the characters. i was super excited for it but regret buying it.
 

benzopil

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,150
Episode 3 is trash, all the others are good or great. The final 30 or so minutes are fantastic.
 

Xiofire

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,140
Life is Strange 2 is a hot mess. I paid for the entire season pre-release on the strength of my love of the original, made it through 2 episodes and couldn't bother with the rest even though I own the whole thing. The brothers are just not the characters of Max and Chloe, and the lack of time travel/the ability to view all options is at the core of what made the original what it was. If from Episode 3 on the game magically turned into some bastion of powerful story-telling so be it, but from what I saw, the path they were on and the characters they were working with, I doubt it.

Gotta agree with this wholeheartedly.
I adored the first one and BtS, but I got to the start of Chapter 4 of LiS2 and just felt like I didn't care about the characters like I did with Max, Chloe and Rachel.
The lack of power from the the protagonists perspective too also dragged the whole thing down, placing it right alongside the plethora of other story games where you unknowingly pick your path instead.
Not sure if I'll go back to finish it.
 

Kongroo

Avenger
Oct 31, 2017
2,949
Ottawa, Ontario, CA
Life is Strange 2 is a hot mess. I paid for the entire season pre-release on the strength of my love of the original, made it through 2 episodes

Well there's your problem. Like most of these episodic games, I grew more and more attached to the main characters with each passing episode. I cannot say enough good things about LiS2. I'm especially impressed with how well they stuck the landing. It may not be for you, but there's way more to it than you think.
 

LonestarZues

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,101
No lies detected. I loved all the episodes except 2. I did enjoy Life is Strange, but I can relate more to the Diaz bros.
 
Dec 5, 2017
1,454
The game was a huge disappointment to me. I loved LIS 1 and BTS even more than 1 but 2 just I cannot care about any of these characters.
 

Chivalry

Chicken Chaser
Banned
Nov 22, 2018
3,894
Just finished Ep.4 and the storytelling sucks. It's incredibly trite and the dialogue is awful.
 
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Mifec

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,753
I'll come back to this thread when I actually play it but for now I'll say there is zero chance this comes anywhere close to Disco Elysium.
 
Jul 10, 2018
1,050
Life is Strange 2 is a hot mess. I paid for the entire season pre-release on the strength of my love of the original, made it through 2 episodes and couldn't bother with the rest even though I own the whole thing. The brothers are just not the characters of Max and Chloe, and the lack of time travel/the ability to view all options is at the core of what made the original what it was. If from Episode 3 on the game magically turned into some bastion of powerful story-telling so be it, but from what I saw, the path they were on and the characters they were working with, I doubt it.
Thank fuck, a voice of reason.
 

Buttonbasher

Member
Dec 4, 2017
4,054
Agreed in full. So glad they stuck the landing in this incredible story, after the storytelling mess that was Before the Storm (Different developer, I know). Really bummed that so many people didn't give this a shot. They're missing out.
 

shinobi602

Verified
Oct 24, 2017
8,372
The first Life is Strange is one of my favorite games this entire decade. It took a lot for this one to finally get going though. I felt like the first two episodes dragged a bit, and I think I chalk that up to the simple fact there weren't a lot of NPCs to talk to. In the first one, talking to the denizens of Arcadia Bay, chatting up folks at Blackwell, and the dynamic between Chloe and Max was a huge part of what made it so great. The way different plot threads interwove together was incredibly engaging.

I didn't feel that this time around, at least initially. Since the brothers are on the run all by their lonesome the first couple of episodes, there weren't many opportunities for great storytelling. It was a little boring.

But it picked up in Ep. 3 and 4 and I'm more attached to the characters. Haven't played Ep.5 yet so I'm looking forward to its conclusion.
 

Blue Skies

Banned
Mar 27, 2019
9,224
I really need to play this just for the fact that they actually put un latino characters.
cant think of a single other game that has.
yet we're 18 percent of the American population.
 

dskzero

Member
Oct 30, 2019
3,368
Man I so want it to be good because I just played LiS and loved it but for all accounts it sounds terrible.
 

Xyber

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,298
I have played through ep 1-3 and I just got extremely tired of just being annoyed at the little brother. I get is, he is dealing with loss, but they took it way too far and actively made me want to stop playing. After the final decision in ep 3 I just quit the game and have not even thought about going back.
 

ara

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,024
I'll come back to this thread when I actually play it but for now I'll say there is zero chance this comes anywhere close to Disco Elysium.

Lol yeah, this was my first thought when I saw that title.

Very interested in checking LiS2 out at some point, though, especially since it's been so divisive. I never liked the original, though, it was just too corny for me.
 

DynamicSushy

Member
Sep 7, 2019
661
It's hard to write a little brother who acts like a little brother and still be likeable as a character. Dontnod has proved this to be very true, sadly.
 

Damn Silly

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,194
I have issues with it, and I prefer the original and Before the Storm, but it's still great and definitely has the best put together final episode of the three games.
 

SunBroDave

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,164
Life is Strange 2 was fine but overall much weaker imo than both the original and Before the Storm. Now, if there's an episodic game that people are sleeping on this year, it's the last season of The Walking Dead, which was an absolutely fantastic conclusion to Clem's story
 

Egg0

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,659
I just started Episode 1 yesterday and am looking forward to see what happens.

I loved season 1, but I ended up waiting for the the entire 2nd season to come out before jumping in.
 

Hassansan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,128
The brothers and the world resonated with me so much more than everything i the 1st game, finished it few days ago and it's still on my mind which doesn't really happen often.

It's one of my favorite stories this gen and it deserves more love tbh.
 

Elephant

Member
Nov 2, 2017
1,786
Nottingham, UK
I haven't read anything at risk of spoiling myself, because I haven't played any of LiS2 yet.
The reason I haven't played any of LiS2, despite loving the first game and BTS, is because I was waiting for all episodes to be released before playing. I ended up completely forgetting about it until this morning with the other Life is Strange thread. I'll be playing it over Christmas.

It's been overlooked by ME, a fan!

I think staggered episodes, released over months, have had their time in the sun. I'd be super interested to see the drop-off of players from Episode 1 to 5. I'm hoping DONTNOD move on from this format for their next title and release the full game at the same time. My memory is too shit to keep up.
 

TheTrashBoi

Member
Oct 20, 2019
33
I'm surprised so many people here like BtS more than LiS2. That game was very unnecessary and had a lot of stupid moments. I prefer LiS2.
 

thisismadness

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,448
Overall, I liked it and I think its better written than the first game. However, I dont think it is as enjoyable from a story or gameplay perspective. LiS1 has the intrigue of a murder mystery and takes some wild turns across the episodes, LiS2 ends up being pretty predictable and it leans heavy on certain tropes. In terms of gameplay, the rewind mechanic is infinitely more interesting than brother's super power. Also, I felt like too many of the choices in LiS2 were very black and white...a lot of the big choices are a matter of decency or depravity.
 

Deleted member 22750

Oct 28, 2017
13,267
The first one set the bar too high.

Max and Chloe are really good characters.
 

Deleted member 23046

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
6,876
Now that the game is complete and discounted, I strongly encourage people who were hesitant (like me) to try it.

When played without interruption, you understand why the game has suffered from its episodic release. The pacing is entirely different from LiS1, composed with raw cuts in the story and focused on a relational juggling. So in a symetric way to the travel that Sean and Daniel are doing, you can't get attached to places or people.

What impressed me is how they've improved their visual technics. It's a realistic game while not entirely photorealistic. But all characters have a a great individual presence and subtelity in their eyes, gesture and facial expressions despite a visible higher level of stylisation than the usual mo'capped AAA (ironically I often find Sean the most uncanny-ied of all).

About the writing I would be more nuanced. Not about their technics that here is also drastically improved, but on choices made with it. The story doesn't avoid too much melodrama sometimes, over-the-top moment and an irritating kid. But in the meantime it's compensated by a lot of other fine details, jokes, observations and a good overall coherence.

I am also still not entirely convinced by the behavioural game system but it's slightly different here and conducts the game well. Of course because it describes travellers and outsider, the game was accused of [blablaba] but it doesn't show a too drastic portrayal of the Trump America when you unroll all encounters you've made. Except two or three real assholes, people have their reasons.

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