Did not they do that with The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit this summer? It was like a demo for Life is Strange 2.
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Life is Strange 2 debuts with ~1/4th the Steam player concurrency of LiS:BTS
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
I wouldn't say that counted. You play as an entirely different character with a very different premise. Captain Spirit was much more interesting to me than the brothers.
That's one of the reasons I'm holding off.
EDIT: for people who DON'T think that non-female or non-LGBT protags is hurting sales, I would disagree. Check the steam discussion and reddit, there's huge discourse about it.
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Ding ding ding! Bingo!
The LiS games made their name on deep discount. Likewise, sales for this new series will pick up when they recieve a similar discount.
I'm waiting for the physical release.
Maybe it's time to forget about the idea of episodic games and focus on releasing the whole experience at once like regular games.
I seriously hate the idea of episodic games and wish they will go away ( before anyone attacking me this is my OWN personal opinion ).
Maybe it's time to forget about the idea of episodic games and focus on releasing the whole experience at once like regular games.
I seriously hate the idea of episodic games and wish they will go away ( before anyone attacking me this is my OWN personal opinion ).
Ya, it's funny because LiS got me to watch twin peaks and within the first ep I could see all the inspiration LiS took from it and shows like it.
It is a shame because I just recently watched Dark on netflix before LiS 2 and it got me hype for another show about small town mysteries with super natural elements. Instead they went with the coming of age road journey across the land :/
There are so many factors into this. It's a busy time, I enjoyed the first season, but haven't picked this up yet because I still have Spider-Man, Forza Horizon 4 and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC to play, plus Valkyria Chronicles 4 just came out as well!! >.<
I wonder if they will change their business model to complete the narrative and release it as a full package next time. Episodic business models surely aren't that great for the dev/pub, unless they have a cash flow issue and need sales to fund development.
I don't think I've bought a single episodic game full price, LiS included.
I don't think I've bought a single episodic game full price, LiS included.
Might be a bit premature to declare this a flop. As mentioned in the OP, BtS was working with established characters and was a lot cheaper. A new cast + significantly higher price means more risk for consumers. I imagine a lot of people are waiting for more episodes before deciding whether the season is worth buying. Episode 1 has also come out at a very busy time for game releases and has been largely overshadowed.
To be perfectly honest... the main character is a boy accompanying a boy, so i am out from the get go. :/
If it happens that the game is interesting with its story progression and word of mouth is good, i'll get it.
So it's wait and see stance for me.
If it happens that the game is interesting with its story progression and word of mouth is good, i'll get it.
So it's wait and see stance for me.
Feels like they haven't done a good job promoting it? I was surprised to here it's already out the other day and I was a huge fan of the first game so this one was on my radar. The trailer didn't interest me that much though, think I'm gonna see what the mood is like after the first few episodes before jumping in.
Love season 1. But i have zero interest in these characters/setting from what i've seen in the trailers. I miss Max and Chloe...
I think it would be better to compare the sales to the original LIS - it's a fairer metric (new unproven cast, no attachment to characters etc.)
I'm interested in LiS 2, but will be waiting for all the eps to be released and a sale price. Still haven't finished before the storm.
I'm interested in LiS 2, but will be waiting for all the eps to be released and a sale price. Still haven't finished before the storm.
Jumped in at 40 $. Figured that dontnod has earned that after buying LiS at a discount and absolutely loving it.
Taking my time with the first episode though, get a really bad feeling while playing it. Counting on some really hard choices down the road in this game. Setting is amazing and touches on more relevant (or perhaps needed) themes than the first game, at least to me as a middle aged white man. If they go dark with the coming episodes oh boy...tears and anger ahead.
Thread is not needed though, mostly speculation. This game will sell by discount and being in a humble monthly for those who can wait. Looks like it's doing ok at a higher price compared to LiS, being a sequel with a new cast and such.
So in short, it's hella good.
Taking my time with the first episode though, get a really bad feeling while playing it. Counting on some really hard choices down the road in this game. Setting is amazing and touches on more relevant (or perhaps needed) themes than the first game, at least to me as a middle aged white man. If they go dark with the coming episodes oh boy...tears and anger ahead.
Thread is not needed though, mostly speculation. This game will sell by discount and being in a humble monthly for those who can wait. Looks like it's doing ok at a higher price compared to LiS, being a sequel with a new cast and such.
So in short, it's hella good.
Surprised you can't buy it episodically on PC like I did on PS4. Just due to money factors I couldn't really afford the full game day one but the episodes make it more immediately affordable.
I hope this game does well, LIS 1 is one of my favourite games of all time, just what I'm looking for, and I want to see more.
I hope this game does well, LIS 1 is one of my favourite games of all time, just what I'm looking for, and I want to see more.
Square Enix marketed Tomb Raider but didn't market Dragon Quest XI nor Life Is Strange 2.
Which is baffling to me since the two are significantly superior games
Which is baffling to me since the two are significantly superior games
I'll get around to playing LiS2 eventually, but the two things that stopped me from buying it immediately were the price, of course, but also the fact that there are just too goddamn many big games coming out right now.
I'm still a big fan of games like this and the Telltale style, but $40 is a little much to ask. Especially when we're talking about an entirely new story without the much-loved characters from the previous games.
I'm still a big fan of games like this and the Telltale style, but $40 is a little much to ask. Especially when we're talking about an entirely new story without the much-loved characters from the previous games.
Something I noticed on Youtube is that Let's Play videos of LIS2 are racking up millions of views. There have got to be at least three million combined views between each of these popular Let's Play videos. Another thread speculated that these types of videos might have helped kill Telltale's games; that people are more interested in watching them than playing them. I wonder if that's having an effect here too.
It's possible, but those millions views those YouTuber are getting is regardless of what game they play .
This has to be the end of episodic games, right? Most of the people are not interested to buy these anymore until all episodes are released. At that point the whole package will costs $10.
How can you say they didn't market LiS2 when they released an entire episode thats only purpose was to build hype for LiS2 during E3 nonetheless?
I think it helped that in the first, I had a much better idea of what was going on. High school girl gets rewind powers, you make choices and the rewind means you can see different outcomes.
Here, I know there are two brothers on the run from, I assume the police, but that's nowhere near as much of a framework in terms of the actual game. Are there powers here too?? How do they affect the narrative/gameplay etc?
This hasn't really been shown, and despite really enjoying Captain Spirit, I'm not motivated to plonk down $40 just yet. Plus BtS had established characters and was released at a much lower cost, so direct comparisons like this aren't super-helpful as the situation's very different. I don't think it's the death knell for episodic games or anything, but I reckon comparing to the original LiS is a better metric, and even then I could understand if it had higher sales for the reasons I outlined above.
I think the actual character choice is fine, and that frankly only a very small (albeit of course still valid) number will be shirking on this game because it's bros instead of a girl. Can't speak to the LGBT angle but imo that was never really played up in the marketing for either LiS or BtS so each to their own, but I can't see that having a huge effect either.
Here, I know there are two brothers on the run from, I assume the police, but that's nowhere near as much of a framework in terms of the actual game. Are there powers here too?? How do they affect the narrative/gameplay etc?
This hasn't really been shown, and despite really enjoying Captain Spirit, I'm not motivated to plonk down $40 just yet. Plus BtS had established characters and was released at a much lower cost, so direct comparisons like this aren't super-helpful as the situation's very different. I don't think it's the death knell for episodic games or anything, but I reckon comparing to the original LiS is a better metric, and even then I could understand if it had higher sales for the reasons I outlined above.
I think the actual character choice is fine, and that frankly only a very small (albeit of course still valid) number will be shirking on this game because it's bros instead of a girl. Can't speak to the LGBT angle but imo that was never really played up in the marketing for either LiS or BtS so each to their own, but I can't see that having a huge effect either.
I think that the 40$ price is actually quite clever. We are living in an era where price discounts come so fast that many people wait for it even in case of releases that they are eager to play. If you start with 40 you will get more money from your core audience and then, once the price cut comes, you will be able to sell the game to the rest for 25 or 20$ which was the older release price anyway.
I could argue 'serial' continuous series are even more popular, and it always has been like that. Harry Potter, Star Wars, Games of Thrones, MCU Infinity War...
Price
New characters
People want to see how the game turns out first
It makes a lot of sense when you consider those factors. With that said, I think the new games will develop a following as the story progresses just like the first game did. People who are very attached to the old characters really seem to have it out for this game.
New characters
People want to see how the game turns out first
It makes a lot of sense when you consider those factors. With that said, I think the new games will develop a following as the story progresses just like the first game did. People who are very attached to the old characters really seem to have it out for this game.
Yeah, I wasn't even aware of LiS until the last few episodes were coming out and people were talking more about it. People slowly jump on as the story continues.
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Between Hitman 2 ditching the episodic model and Telltale going bankrupt, the episodic model just looks bad for business.
It is, but a lot of that was telltale devaluing episodic games by selling an entire series dirt cheap after it was completed. If you buy episodic games at launch you always get burnt.
Thinking about this I can't see many factors that would have made it a successful launch. They diluted the core audience with new male characters while keeping a very similar setting, the marketing was way too vague, the price is higher and it's releasing at a time where other games have the mindshare.
I'm not worried about the episodic model but I think DONTNOD painted themselves in a corner with this.
I'm not worried about the episodic model but I think DONTNOD painted themselves in a corner with this.
Always check the context.
- What is the difference in viewers between each game the Youtuber plays.
- Every YTer has a dedicated fanbase that watches everything, regardless of what he or she plays
- what is the drop-off between Video 1 and the median of the rest of the Videos
For example, if one of the YTers you checked had 250.000 views for the first LiS2 Video but his other-game Videos get upwards of 400.000 views in the first days, it would mean that there isn't much interest for it among the fanbase. Additionally, if his or her views drop larger than 50% in the next few videos.
I usually do not like the episodic model and I buy games when the full season is released but I think with LiS 2 I can buy just first epidode for now. I mean I'm already bought Spider-Man this month and pre-ordered RDR 2 so I can't afford another game for $40 but one episode for $8? Sure, it's not gonna hurt my wallet much and I need something before RDR 2. The reason I have not bought it yet is because it looks boring to me. Brothers on the run? I don't know. And no, I'm not asking more of Chloe & Max, I think their story is done but school setting was more interesting for me.
I bought the first episode. It was 4 dollars in my region. Let's see how it stacks up against the first one.
XCOM2 completely disregarded your campaign win and made a Campaign Failure the default. There was no serious outcry because of it.
Also, one of the Endings from LiS is canon in the (upcoming?) Comic.
And seriously, why not make 2 Games with the 2 Endings?
Either would have made LiS2 with Ending 1 and LiS3 with Ending 2
OR
Make Ending 1 LiS2
And Ending 2 LiS Mirrorverse
with 2 teams and release them half a year apart and make 2 different series out of it.
Would be nice if we have a separate thread to discuss this. I used to think episodic model is key to selling story-based games to the mainstream crowd (entry price similar to a movie ticket + revenue that makes sense for publishers). With news that Telltale games failed on mobile platforms, seems like it was pipe dream all along.
For me its the fact that theres no Max and Chloe. Yes, I understand the challenges, but if it had been a continuation of that narrative, I would have been in on Day 1.
I intend to buy Season 2 either halfway through, or when its fully released. Not as a sign of protest, but more of a sign of only having so much money to go around. This fall is crammed to the gills, and I have other things diverting money from gaming.
I intend to buy Season 2 either halfway through, or when its fully released. Not as a sign of protest, but more of a sign of only having so much money to go around. This fall is crammed to the gills, and I have other things diverting money from gaming.
It feels like it's aiming for a completely different target demographic story-wise, so that isn't surprising to me. It'll have to build up a rep via word of mouth, like the first game did.
Yeah as I stated before the game came out, this is what worried me. Twin Mirror doesn't look like it has any lasting appeal either, so hopefully Dontnod didn't expand too rapidly like Telltale did. They still need publishers to foot their bills and can't afford too many failures on their resume.
It did okay and broke their break even point at 500k sales. The profit/we are happy point was set at 1 million and it probably hasn't reached that one yet. Idk if it will soon considering it declined sharply in the charts. With some discounts eventually I assume. So not an amazing performance, but quite okay. Depends on what Focus really wanted out of it if they are happy or not
I mean, I'd rather watch as stuff comes out and then decide whether to buy when it's all wrapped up (and priced down), than throw my money at an incomplete product that has me waiting for months at a time and might not be to my liking anymore at the end.
I don't think the comparison to XCOM 2 is really relevant. It is not a story focused game.
The comic is not canon according to all the marketing materials and interviews. It is referred to as "potential future" and "one possibility out of many." It's also a licensed 3rd party product that only has minor involvement from the SE LiS team. "some of the core LiS team here at SE provide feedback on bits of overall plot at certain intervals, just to make sure that it doesn't go completely off the rails, but it's not the same kind of relationship that we (SE) had with Deck Nine or DONTNOD when working on the games."
I mean, that would be cool I guess? I just don't think it's realistic for numerous reasons.
Haven't finished episode 1 yet but so far I think it has significant problems which LiS1 does not. The first 30 minutes or so of this episode are spent alluding to a cast which largely are waysided and it seems as if we won't see them again. Then we get thrust into a relatively generic Pacific Northwest forest setting with a brother-brother dynamic which so far just hasn't seemed all that interesting. And while it's clear there is something supernatural going on, in LiS1 it was clear immediately what that was and so it was able to establish a hook. LiS2's so far is vague enough that there's nothing there for me to dig into. I've played a couple hours and feel like I'm waiting for something to happen which is an extension of the things the story is trying to set up and not just "Oh now I'm walking along a road. Okay," or "Oh now we're kidnapped. Okay.
It happens in the first chapter
You should play it
There are other plights out there besides sexism or anti lgbt views, maybe you should indulge them. Like racism.
