EoFF's Life is Strange Video Walkthrough

[Shauna]

Hi everyone!

I've recently played through DONTNOD and Square Enix's newly published interactive novel Life is Strange, and I thought I'd record it for the site!

I decided to go for commentary-less, as it is a heavily cutscene driven game, and I didn't want to blabber over the top of it too much. Obviously, spoiler warnings ahead! I also went ahead and tried to look at everything, as I heard that there were some cool Easter Eggs. Which ones do you see?

Hope you enjoy! :)



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Meet Max, a weird socially awkward kid with a passion for photography. Back in her childhood home of Arcadia Bay, she wakes from a nightmare to find that she suddenly has the ability to rewind time. What kind of crazy hijinks will she get up to?

This is part one of Episode 1 - Chrysalis, covering the first 20 minutes or so this interactive story from DONTNOD and Square Enix.

[Galuf]

nice! this may help me decide if i want to play it or not. good one shauna:lol:

[Psychotic]

Life is hella strange.

[Shauna]

Hella

[Omni-Odin]

Wow I just finished the first episode. Very engaging. For God's sake, put the writers of this game behind the FF scripts.

ANyways, I obviously really enjoyed myself, so I might go back and try to find all the secret photos before the next episode comes out..

[Shiny]

Wow I just finished the first episode. Very engaging. For God's sake, put the writers of this game behind the FF scripts.

Noooooooooo, dear God no.

My biggest pet peeve about episode 1 was the writing; particularly the dialogue for the young people. I forget where they said they're from but they sound talk like the people on the SNL Californians sketch. The dialogue was so absurd. No American college student that I know of talks like that in the East Coast. Not many teens even talk like that. Many of them actually talk a lot dumber than that. Hence: "fleek" "yasss", etc.

It was like they were trying too hard to combine cool catch phrases to make it seem like "OH YEAH WE KNOW HOW YOUNG PEOPLE TALK SO HA". Reminded me of another writer who thinks she knows how young people talk...*cough* Diablo Cody *cough*.

My other problem is that it was just extremely boring. Walking around the house looking for power tools. I mean c'mon. There wasn't much conflict apart from dealing with trivial spats of bitchy girls. Hopefully by episode 2 this will get more interesting, but I find it hard to be engaged in a game where everything you do can be re-done in an instant if you mess up. It doesn't allow for much of a challenge if you can avoid or change consequences.

[Leigh]

My other problem is that it was just extremely boring. Walking around the house looking for power tools. I mean c'mon..

This saddens me. Your lack of a Y chromosome means that you will never know the true joy of searching for man wrenches and the quest for rotary force. :(

[Shauna]

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Max, having learned of her magical time control abilities uses them to further her life in a positive way. Only kidding, Max uses them to prank that girl she hates and breaks into her room to look through her computer.

Following that, Max has a run in with that gun-slinging Nathan Prescott and we find out something interesting about the mysterious blue-haired girl.

[Psychotic]

The Spirits Within xD Oh my god.

[Shauna]

Best Sci-Fi flick ever.

And I do have to agree with Shiny in that the writers are trying really hard to capture what kids these days talk like, and it all seems very forced and unreal. But then, I don't know what the kids these days talk like so maybe they're spot on and I'm just an old person.

[Psychotic]

Hey guys we made a reference to Kickstarter we're hip and down with it right

But yeah they're really going for a "She's this nerdy arty girl who is actually really deep and struggling to fit into a world of bitches, just like you! Why don't you love her and empathise with her hmmmmmmmmmm?" thing. For once I'd like to play as the bitchy bully in one of these things.

[Shiny]

My other problem is that it was just extremely boring. Walking around the house looking for power tools. I mean c'mon..

This saddens me. Your lack of a Y chromosome means that you will never know the true joy of searching for man wrenches and the quest for rotary force. :(
Almost no one likes the act of looking in a game, they enjoy the act of using and doing. If I had actually been able to use power tools that would be a different story. I was actually looking forward to repairing the camera. :(

Also I want to play as the rocker chick with colorful hair. She seems slightly more interesting than the character we're forced to play as.

[Endless]

Argh, the cliffhanger. Damn youuuuu Shauna.

[Shauna]

Gotta keep you hanging on for more!

[Shauna]

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Amidst some minor technical hitches, and an overly long time spent trying to figure out how to save a bird from smacking into a window, Max has finally been reunited with her childhood friend, Chloe. How will these two old friends get along now?

As is to be expected by this point, Max continues to invade people's privacy as she snoops around her friend's house. She finds out more about what Chloe has been up to these past few years, and what kind of person Chloe's new stepdad is.


I totally didn't forget to get this part uploaded until Extra Credits had a mention of this in their video this week. Nope! Not at all! :shifty:

[Psychotic]

THE STEP FUHRER

[Shauna]

She's so edgy!

[Pumpkin]

I like the idea of the game but not really the execution too much?

I don't like the main character

[Shauna]

What's your issue with the execution? Is it the visual novel/interactive story style thing or...?

[Pumpkin]

One aspect is basically what's already been said. A lot of it feels a bit forced with the dialogue and the character. And it seems that, while there's a lot of interaction in the form of reading this, looking at that, there isn't as much to actually DO with the stuff. You have a character who can rewind time, I feel it would have been neat to see her try more stuff more often and just really put it all out there and go big you know, because there's less risk involved. Probably just personal preference though. I am enjoying your videos~

[Shauna]

The secret is that this was the second time I played so I knew what I was doing. The first time I messed up incredibly often so the time travel thing is probably much more utilised than I made it appear. Next episode right.

[Pumpkin]

Oh nevermind then xD

[Shauna]

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In the final segment of Episode 1, Max reveals all to Chloe. How will she take the weird stories about time travel? Speaking of time travel, we have the optimal time for using it, as we climb a stormy mountain to reach quite the cliff(hanger).


hay guess what was released yesterday?

Yep Episode 2 is out just in time for me finishing uploading this! I am good at this sort of thing.

[Freya]

Nice Timing! I was wondering if you were going to be up for episode 2. Just saw it was released!

[Psychotic]

I hope Chloe gets awesome sauced away in that tornado :colbert:

[Laddy]

The writing is very flawed but I find it endearing considering it's written 30-something French men writing about teenage American girls. It's not perfect at all but I think the general thinking patterns and reaction to things are strong, all things considered. I never felt like it was a story of how "Max is too different and no one understands" considering that two of the people she seems to like the most in her school are a religious girl and a cheerleader. I think it's just teenagers being teenagers and looking too much into how they and those around them are defined. Plus, the acting is very strong even with the awkward writing.

Definitely better than Heavy Rain and arguably even the first season of The Walking Dead. I just feel like the visuals and soundtrack are amazing and the choices more nuanced. I very much enjoyed it and want to see what happens.

Episode 2 is just excellent. And, to avoid spoilers, there is a huge challenge in the game that requires you to pay attention and talk to people in order to solve it. It's very profound, personally.

EDIT: I get the feeling the writers spent a lot of time on tumblr and it both helped and hurt them considiering a lot of that slang is used but just not that often or in that manner.

[Loony BoB]

Just popping by to say that whenever I see this thread title it misleads me for a moment. "EoFF's Life is Strange" is the full title of something being walked through in video form when I read it. :p

[Shauna]

Well, EoFF's Life is Strange. Videoing it could be a tad creepy though.


On the topic of this, I do have Ep2 ready to go. Just need to upload it! I have just been a bit under the weather recently, but I'll get it moving this week.

[Shauna]

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Max is back in action after her crazy premonition of the tornado destroying her home. She gets right into the action of trying to figure out how to stop this by consoling her friend who's going through a tough time, having a shower, confronting some bullies and awkwardly not realising that her friend is asking her on a date. Oh, she also chats to the weirdo groundskeeper about spirit animals. All in a day's work for a time travelling high school girl.



No opening comments from me, my throat is still a bit tickly due to that ol' cold I had. Just right into the action.

[Psychotic]

Why does everyone hate poor misunderstood quirky Max?

Because she is a creepy weirdo who rifles through their stuff and makes stupid comments about every single god damn item.

And emoji (that are really emoticons) I guess.

[Shauna]

But she's so quirky.

Thinking about it, she's also a true RPG hero, looking at people's things, hoping to find something useful.

[Laddy]

Am I the only one who wants a Persona-style High School JRPG about kids with special powers...but set in America?

Anyway, Max is fine. She's likable to me. I don't go through people's stuff but I catch myself making weird comments to myself about every little thing I see.

[Shauna]

I think she's fine too. I just like poking fun.

[Endless]

I've gotta commend SE for using ∆'s Something Good to open that episode. Good choice.

[Shauna]

I do really enjoy the musical choices in this game!

[Shauna]

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Max heads to the diner to meet up with Chloe to talk about her time travel abilities. While she's there, she runs into Chloe's clearly annoying and obnoxious mother who was perfectly friendly and served her delicious breakfast. Chloe eventually arrives and they start testing out Max's powers - but things don't appear to be as good as they initially appeared.

[Psychotic]

What the shit is going on xD By Neptune's Beard! Have a super day, eh? Getting my coffee on before I cut class and surf some rails! Of course I'm baked. Amazeballs.

fuck me who wrote this episode xD

oh shit the old nosebleed too much time travel trick.

[Shauna]

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Our valiant heroes head to Chloe's secret place, which is a bit of a dump. No, it's literally a dump. Luckily, there are plenty of things here for them to shoot up, because that's safe.

Not everything is good, though. Max finds herself feeling a bit faint again, and they have a few dangerous run ins - namely with a dangerous acquaintance of Chloe's, and a high speed train.

[Shauna]

There were some technical issues that have now been resolved. Enjoy!

[Psychotic]

Chloe has some Final Destination shit going on, I tell you what.

I didn't think this was a stronger section, very much filler. Like, hmm, search a junkyard for five bottles for no specified reason? I mean, if Chloe wanted to test Max (even more than she already had) they could've at least just have the bottles there rather than a pointless fetch quest accompanied by awful Max commentary of "This item used to be used by people now it is not".

Still enjoyin' the vids tho'!

[Shauna]

Yeah, I didn't get the point of more testing. Was all that nonsense at the diner not more than enough? Other than to get the two of them to a quiet place near some railroad tracks to they could get held up at knifepoint and then have to deal with that entire train thing.

I think that the episodic gameplay actually hurts Life is Strange. It's going for this longer arching story and it's just not going fast enough for any kind of payoff. Overall, in Episode 2 nothing really happens until the finale (sorry for "spoilers") - which has a slow build/burn throughout the episode with hints here and there dropped - and it just feels like... well, what was the point the rest of it? If I look at it in comparison to say, TellTale's Game of Thrones - yes, the things we do will likely have an effect down the line, but you're also seeing some effect now within the length of the episode. This does happen in Life is Strange, but it doesn't feel like it happens enough.

[Shauna]

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After all the near-death experiences of the last episode, Max takes it easy in school, which she is somehow not late for and with time to spare before class!

She spends this time chatting to the Principal and the Security Guard who are suspicious of all of Max's, admittedly highly suspicious, behaviour. She also does some SCIENCE! and has a few run ins related to Kate Marsh - what is going on with that girl?


(I am not sorry for the way this episode ends)

[Psychotic]

BUT WHAT IS GOING DOWN IN GIRLS DORM

[Shauna]

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[Shauna]

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Max arrives at the Girls' Dormitory to see what the big deal is. And what a big deal it is.

I only hope that we're not too late!

[Endless]

Ooo, interesting episode.

I'm thinking more and more that Mr Madsen is involved in the sense he wants the disappearances to stop but he is an ass and very misguided, and on the other hand, I have a feeling Mr Jefferson isn't the Mr-perfect-teacher he appears to be.
Nathan I'm not so sure about anymore too. Drug dealer, self-entitled, dangerous ass ? Yeah, but something about him drugging Kate and posting the video sounds too convenient.

And Warren ? Smooth.

[Shauna]

You're in luck! Episode 3 was released recently, and I have all the footage recorded! You won't have to wait too long for your questions to be answered(?).

[Psychotic]

Should've just let Kate die imho :colbert:

[Shauna]

Wow :colbert:

[Psychotic]

Just sayin', there's a reason nobody likes her.

[Shauna]

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Our valiant heroes move on to stage two of their plan - break into the school to find out some hella secret things about the kids of Blackwell Academy. Unfortunately their plans are put on hold when there's, shockingly, a locked door between them and their goal. Give up? No no no, time to cause some extreme damage to school property.

[Psychotic]

LISA NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo

Release the kra-can

[Shauna]

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Our intrepid heroes, still on their high from breaking and entering decide to continue breaking and entering, but this time they get to have a swim. Their relaxing pool time is cut short though, when the security guard also decides that a late night splash is exactly what he needs...

[fat_moogle]

PATIENTLY WAITING FOR EPISODE 4 TO COME OUT.

[Shauna]

Don't worry, you'll have the rest of my videos to watch to remind you of the game until it is released!

[fat_moogle]

Don't worry, you'll have the rest of my videos to watch to remind you of the game until it is released!
No I won't, because I don't want to watch them incase you played differently to me. Once all the episodes are out I plan on playing through the whole game again :)

[Shauna]

Well then why are you even in ma thread :colbert:

[fat_moogle]

I'm beginning to wonder that myself.

Maybe I can rewind? :p

[Psychotic]

Kiss! Kiss! KISS!

[Shauna]

Maybe all your wishes will come true. Or maybe they'll never kiss. Who knows, I can't see the future.

[Psychotic]

I don't even like them okay I don't know why I'm so invested :colbert:

[Shauna]

That's what they all say.

[Shauna]

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Max and Chloe are chilling back at Chloe's, after their night of adventure. Max learns more about the relationship between Rachel and Chloe, before heading downstairs to cause a little bit of a domestic dispute between Joyce and David. Max just can't keep her nose out of other people's business, huh?

[Psychotic]

THEY KISSED

not that i care or anything :colbert:

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdork

[Shauna]

Yeah my heart totally didn't skip a beat either when the option to have them kiss popped up or anything :shifty:

[Shauna]

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Not having had enough of ruining people's lives, Max and Chloe decide that it is time to sneak into Frank's trailer and snoop around to find out what he knows about Rachel's disappearance. It is here that you really get to see my incompetence with the time travel mechanics as I flit back and forth with little understanding of what I'm actually trying to do. It all ends badly for our leading ladies too, as Chloe finds out something she wished she hadn't.


As an aside, Episode 4 is out soon! Maybe I'll actually just have a continuous stream of these pouring out of my internet soon!

[fat_moogle]

I started and finished Episode 4 today. You guys are in for a treat when Shauna uploads this one!

[Shauna]

I still have to play it myself, but I have a week before I run out of content. xD

[Psychotic]

TIME PARADOX

max why would you do that

also lol at "oh no what do i do with these keys"

[Shauna]

I didn't see part 5 pop up on YouTube. Maybe I failed miserably at uploading it. >.>; I will investigate when I get home.

The real option is that I was too busy playing video games to notice, but let's not jump to conclusions.

:shifty:

[Shauna]

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Wait, what? Why am I 13 year old Max? How did this happen?

Watch as I again fumble my way through the puzzle, and fail miserably at the one thing I really wanted to do.

[Shauna]

I started and finished Episode 4 today. You guys are in for a treat when Shauna uploads this one!

You were not wrong.

I'll be getting Episode 4 all sorted out hopefully for release this Sunday!

[Shauna]

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Max's meddling has led to an horrible situation - if Chloe's Dad survives, Chloe ends up paralysed from the neck down. How awful!

What else has changed in this world? How is Chloe's family coping? What choices will we have to make in this timeline? Is this existence better than the alternative?

[Psychotic]

I knew where that was going as soon as morphine was mentioned.

[Shauna]

I honestly was taken off guard. I should have known, since it's such an obvious thing, but I was so engrossed. xD

[Laddy]

To be honest, this ending didn't surprise me and I'm kinda disappointed by it. I think having Warren instead of Mr Jefferson be there at the end would be more interesting.

[Shauna]

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Back in the preferred timeline where Chloe is not paralysed (or dead), both she and Max are moving to work out exactly what is going on in Arcadia Bay. They have a few things they need to do, but first on that list is snooping around at David's things and then going to check up on Kate in the hospital. I wonder how she's getting along after her near death experience?

[Psychotic]

I don't really like the EVIL PRESCOTTS plot it's a bit boring. :shobon: LIS has grown on me though!

[Shauna]

I do think it has been a really slow burn, which is unfortunate for an episodic game that requires you to really care right from the get go. I don't know if I would have stuck with it if I hadn't got it pretty cheap and if I hadn't decided to do these videos. xD

[Shauna]

Back on track this week!

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It's time to do some snooping around Nathan's place. I wonder what kind of cool college kid stuff he keeps around his room. Regardless, our intrepid detectives are determined to find something that will incriminate him. Heck, even Warren gets into the action and gets a few light jabs in at Nathan!

[Shauna]

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Next stop, the friendly neighbourhood drug dealer to get the info he has. Super sleuths Max and Chloe are at it again.

Enjoy twenty full minutes of random guessing at what are the right answers to stop him going postal at me.

[Shauna]

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We have gathered all the information we need. It's time to piece together the clues and find out where Nathan's Dark Room is.

Another twenty minutes of staring at the same thing while I work out what the heck is going on in Arcadia Bay. Another dry episode, but it's building to something good, I'm sure!

[Shauna]

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We did it! We found our way to the old run down shed that Nathan apparently brings his victims to. But there's nothing here? Just some straw and old pictures.

But there is something strange about this rickety shack... Just need to find out what.

[Shauna]

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It's the End of World party! And Chloe is on a rampage. Understandable given the situation.

At the party, everyone looks like they're having a great time though! That's nice. We do need to warn Victoria, she could be in danger... But things do not go well at all and the truth behind everything is revealed.




Actually up to date here! Final episode out in October, I think!

[Endless]

First: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Second: I totally knew who the mastermind was.

Edit: final ep scheduled for Oct 20th.

[Shauna]

I didn't call it because I am bad at mysteries, I guess. xD

[Psychotic]

I did a binge watch a while ago but haven't commented :shobon: I'm watching the last two now!

RUSTY ASS BUTTON. Gross Max.

Oh damn. Well. We kind of knew all along they'd find Rachel like that.

Warren demanding a photo HMMMMM I wonder if this will be important later.

ahahahaaha Daniel in a m'lady fedora neckbeard shirt


Call. The. Fucking. Police. YOU DUMB SHITS. ARGHHHHHHHHH. Sure let's fucking go to a junkyard in the middle of the night after being lured here by a sociopath murderer who knows that we know he's a murderer THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.

oh. welp. Well, yep, calling it, the Warren photo is the saving grace.

[Shauna]

That is an interesting idea, Warren's photo being the saving grace. I guess they had to show off that pointless time travel thing via photo for a reason!

But the final episode is out today! All the mysteries will be resolved. Or will they...?

[Shiny]

I saw my friend Twitch stream the last episode tonight. I had been following his gameplay all the way through. He played both possible outcomes of the final decision which was a doozy. I am interested to hear what other people ultimately choose.

I also am more sure by this episode that at least Chloe bisexual or a lesbian and had a relationship with Rachel at some point. I won't go in to detail why as it isn't blatantly obvious but there have been some things here and there that make it more apparent. I guess how the player plays it would also mean Max is in love with Chloe as more than a best friend or as a best friend. Warren is also as sweet as sugar.

[Shauna]

I have completed my recording today. This was a doozy indeed. I will get my vids up soon!

I thoroughly enjoyed this game, and although in many places it was a bit "what are you doing game", but I would honestly recommend the whole thing to someone. Episodic gameplay did hurt it quite a lot, I felt, but now that it's all released... yeah.


But soon. Watch this space.

[Shauna]

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Chloe has been shot. Max had been taken to the Dark Room where Mr Jefferson is being hella creepy. Luckily there are lots of photos around. Maybe we'll be able to save the day using our time travel powers!

[Shauna]

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Just gotta keep time-travelling until the result we need has come up.

And here it is! Looks like everything has gone brilliantly, Jefferson is no longer able to ruin people's lives. What could possibly go wrong now?

[Shauna]

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Well, that went significantly worse than I had imagined. Is there no way to have our cake and eat it too? At all? Max finds herself back in the Dark Room with Mr Jefferson. What now? Will we ever break Max out of this seemingly endless loop?

[Psychotic]

"Life is... weird"

fuck you max

[Shauna]

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Warren has the photo that will save us all. We can go back again and try to save everyone! Again. Man, this is happening quite a bit. But, we've got to get through the town that is falling to pieces. This better end in happiness.

[Psychotic]

Max is going to fucking kill herself with all the time line shit she's fucking with.

[Shauna]

why must she mess with the natural order!

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This time for real! Except the storm is still around, and it is looking as if it's still going to destroy everything. This is bad. What's even worse is that Max passes out and gets trapped in some trippy timey-wimey world. What the heck is going on?

[Psychotic]

oy SLLAB 'nippirT

[Shauna]

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Still in this freakin' weird trippy time world. Not much more to say. Revisiting key points in the game, and leading all up to a big decision that I really don't want to have to make.

[Shauna]

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Here it is. The final section. The big decision. It was a difficult one, but I'm sure I did the right thing.

[Psychotic]

Life is pretty damn strange. Thanks for playing through it!

[Shauna]

Thanks for watching!

In the end, I really enjoyed the overall story. I still think episodic gameplay killed it a bit, but hey ho. Here's to the sequel!

[Pumpkin]

Your videos inspired me to try the game myself, so I haven't watched too many to avoid spoiling it. It's pretty alright so far, about halfway through Episode 3. It's very short. I really like taking the pictures

I was happy I saved Kate, she's my favourite character. I didn't know if it was possible to not save her but the ending where it shows your choices showed that it is possible not to. So that was nice