Life is Strange: Before the Storm (2017)

Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Analysis Rating: 10/10

Life is Strange: Before the Storm was a huge surprise for me. Initially, I didn’t expect much—especially since it lacks the time-rewinding mechanic present in the previous game. However, what I discovered was a powerful and engaging story that exceeded all of my expectations.

Narrative and Characters

The dynamic between Chloe and Rachel is the highlight here. Although I still favor the Chloe and Max duo, I loved how Rachel’s impulsiveness perfectly complements Chloe’s chaotic yet balanced personality. Together, they create exciting and thought-provoking moments throughout the narrative.

Choices and Impact

Without the time-rewinding feature, every decision carries even more weight. You have to think carefully before acting, as each choice feels definitive and is loaded with emotional impact.

Double the Emotion

The post-credits scene left me completely shaken, and then the extra episode hit me hard—tears were shed. It’s amazing how the game can evoke such a wide range of emotions and leave you reflecting for hours after playing.

Conclusion

Before the Storm is a stunning game and an experience I highly recommend, especially for those who have enjoyed the first title. Despite my initial reservations, I was truly surprised by the strength of its narrative and the depth of its character development. If you’re in doubt, just play it!

It's been a bit over 8 years since I played the first Life Is Strange, but not too long ago I decided it was time to revisit Arcadia Bay. Unfortunately, my research indicated that the 2022 remasters of the original game and Before the Storm were buggy and didn't feature significant improvements to make playing them worth it. So I set out to find a good way to play the original version which unfortunately doesn't go on sale anymore since the remaster released. Eventually I settled on using a month of PS Plus to play through it and also check out the two other Life Is Strange games which have come out since, among other titles.

Since it's been so long since I played the first game, I went into this one pretty hazy on most of the major plot details. Thankfully, this prequel works reasonably well as a standalone story, meaning I wasn't forced to relearn the intricacies of the plot I had forgotten. This isn't all great though, as its standalone nature also means it doesn't really have much to add to the original story as far as prequels go.

This time around you get to experience the town of Arcadia Bay through the eyes of Chloe, an angsty teen who has been through the wringer these past few years between the loss of her father in a car accident and her best friend Max moving far away. The first hour of the game can be a bit uh, cringey, for lack of a better word, because Chloe's flavor comments on objects around her come across as very "hello yes I am a 2010's teen" in humor but thankfully this does get toned down after the opening.

I found her to be fairly likable if maybe a bit overly abrasive, which is clearly intended, and I appreciated getting more time to see what her life was like after Max left. Watching Chloe grow as a person over the few days the game covers and also how her relationship with Rachel blossoms were the highlights of the experience for me. The scene where they perform a bit of Shakespeare's The Tempest together is totally adorable and definitely one of my favorite parts of the game.

Gameplay mostly centers around making dialogue choices which have lasting ramifications on the game's world and story. The available options were typically well-written such that I rarely felt railroaded into a decision I disliked. While there is no supernatural element at play this time, as Chloe doesn't have powers like Max did, I didn't really miss them much as I made my way through the story. I had a great time following the twists and turns the plot presented and felt that the exploration-based puzzles were well-implemented and intuitive to solve but felt a little simplistic.

The final hour of the game does fumble a bit as it tries to wrap up the narrative in a satisfying fashion. I think the issue here is most of the plot threads you've been following through the game till this point have already basically been resolved, leaving the writers to come up with one final significant thing to set up and then tackle in a short span of time as well as shoehorn in Eliot, who had been sidelined since near the beginning. This culminates in a finale wherein Chloe makes a series of absurdly poorly thought out decisions (breaking into Rachel's dad's study, contacting the drug lord to figure out where Sera is, burning evidence which could be used against him, and then hand-delivering a massive wad of bills to him on the assumption that he'll keep his end of the bargain) before a physical altercation occurs off screen, thus resolving the conflict at hand. It's very odd, as I felt the writing up till this point was pretty solid. This was an unfortunate, clunky way to end the story.

Still, while I don't exactly think Before the Storm is essential for fans of the first Life Is Strange, it does deliver a solid story that expands some on Chloe's experience alongside some simple but effective environmental puzzles. The dialogue choices feel well written and the relationship at the heart of the story is very cute. All of this made it very much worth experiencing for me.

Setting aside the fact that the girls have gone through a lot, even though Rachel seems to come from a stable family, why are both characters so emotionally unstable? Sure, it’s normal to feel angry or sad sometimes, but why is the dramatization in this game so exaggerated that they come off as almost unhinged? It’s mentioned that players can make choices, yet the impulsive teenager just seems to do whatever they want.

I also find it hard to believe that when someone experiences loss or faces difficult situations, they would immediately spiral out of control—setting fire to a tree or getting hopelessly drunk. Am I the only one who feels this way? Yes, teenagers have raging hormones, but that doesn’t turn them into emotional wrecks overnight. Such issues typically stem from earlier childhood experiences or prolonged challenges, not just because a parent cheated or someone passed away, especially if they’ve otherwise had a healthy and sheltered upbringing.

Furthermore, the game isn’t a good "role model" for teenagers. It certainly doesn't reflect the "average" reality in any meaningful way.

In this game they've put everything that is cringe in the first one but forgot to add the compelling plot that makes you play it.

In this prequel of the events happening in Life is Strange we play as Chloe, and instead of having Max's rewind power we have... the backtalk. Sure. After all, they saw how good their dialogues are and seriously thought to have a whole mechanic related to it.

The plot is boring. I didn't care about it, just as I didn't care about Rachel, the whole reason behind this game and a big part of the previous. In the first the characters always talked about such a beautiful, smart, popular with every single person (but Victoria) girl, setting high expectations for her, and in this game they weren't able to maintain them. Every time she was on screen I was disappointed. I would have preferred to spend time with Steph and Mikey rather than with her.

Playing in a prequel as a character with an already defined backstory wasn't the smartest decision. It doesn't matter what decision you make, because the story for Chloe is already written, and you can't change it. Related to this, in the second episode I was nice to both Joyce and David, but Chloe ended the conversation in a fight anyway. And that's the most canonical thing she could do, because her strained relationship with both her mother and not-yet-step-father is already established, and it would be weird for a stubborn character like her to do the opposite. So, basically, in a game where choices are a big part of the gameplay, what you decide doesn’t matter.

The sound of a camera shooting in the background, while on screen there is Rachel's phone with Chloe's missed calls and a red binder, was like a punch in the stomach. A cheap way to make the player feel something? Maybe, but I fell for it nonetheless. However, it was also the only moment where I felt something that wasn't boredom while playing this game.

Long story short: I'm disappointed. It doesn't give the same feelings the first Life is Strange gives, even if it's obviously related to it, and, honestly, it's clearly something they made just for money and not because they actually had a story to tell.

Was this precuel to the original LIfe is Strange needed? Not really. While it's fun to play as Chole, get to know Rachel and interact with the rest of Blackwell's Academy students before the first game, I don't feel it add that much.

One of the problems is that since we know how all the characters start off in the original game, there is no tension and little place for characater growht. You know that neither Rachel nor Chloe are in any mortal danger. You know that Chloe will be a surly teen that hates his stepdad. You know that David will be a toxic-masculinty-exuding dousche and that he will end up proposting to Joyce.

It also has the problem that there cannot be any overly supernatural element since it was established that Chloe doesn't have powers and the first game wouln't make any sense if she knew of other people with powers. So that element of gameplay and sotry is also missing.

So without tension nor character developement, what's left is Star Wars precuels levels of explaining stuff form the first game, such as the the origins of Chloe's truck and toque, or where did she got the idea of dyeing her hair blue.

It is nice to meet Rachel, though. I fully bought her as the unstoppable force of nature that she was touted to be. And her relationship with Chloe is as explosive as you would expect. The main mystery is gripping and propels the narrative and the characaters forward.

I feel that the hostiptal scene is when the story really tumbles down and loses all cohesiveness and coherence. It's got a lot of elements there that don't really hang together and both character motivations and decisions are nonsensical if you think about them.

So, ok. Chloe goes to the dad's office to get a way to contact Sera. Fine. But then she finds out that that he had contacted Damond to kill her. That's a strong move story-wise, but why does Chloe goes along with him? She destroys evidence, snitches on a snitch and gets his money. Why? Damon's warning is that otherwise "this little problem will become a big problem". So what? Let him do it. Let him not do the job that we don't want him to do and tell people the truth.

Then comes this creepo Eliot and you have this whole terrifying scene of abuse. It is fucked up and well excecuted but, what's the point? It relates to the rest of the story in no way whatsoever and it's all about this nothing of a character that you mostly ignore for the whole game. And the resolution makes no sense. The police comes instantly, presumably arriving at the scene of someone having tresspased the DA home and obviously having tampered with evidence. Yet, basically no fallout comes for anyone but Eliot, who is righfully expelled in the final cutscene.

Then, Chloe actually GOES to meet Damon. Why the hell is she doing that? To scenes ago we were at the hospital scared shitless about this guy. I would've expected some character change in her. But, nope. She's just as baddass / unaware of the danger as before.

An finally what the fuck kind of climax was that? You go back to the place everything started, get into a crazy escalating situation, shit's comming down... and everything's resolved off-screen with a Frank-ex-machina and without any input from the protagonist of the story? What the actual fuck?

And then there's the coda. What's up with Sera's whole "Rachel has a perfect family" angle? The guy not only lied to Rachel about her biological mother, but he also FUCKING HIRED A THUG TO KILL her, with DESTROYING EVIDENCE being part of the deal. How is "being an elitist asshole" the worst that Chloe can come up with? The guy is literally an attempted murderer, for crying out loud. And what's up with 51% of player chosing to hide the fact that the city's District Attourney hired a drug dealer to kill the biological mother of his child?

I might sound overly negative after five fuck-filled pharagraphs, but overal I ejoyed the game. Perhaps it works best viewed as a colection of vignettes "on the theme of" Life is Strange, though.

The first episode was cool. It has the similar teenage angst feeling as Life is Strange but less hipster and more punk --fitting for Chole.

These games really work as episodic chapters. It allows the story to be more controlled. There's a natural starting and stopping point so that the highs and lows are better paced than if I could mainline the whole plot at once.

Chloe "I'm every tumblr rule34 artist's wet dream" Price was the worst part of Life is Strange. I guess the fans loved her because this game is a story about her. It's only 3 episodes long, which just shows how weak of a character she is, and nothing much happens in those three episodes at all. There were some good moments like when Chloe smashes up a bunch of stuff in that junkyard and the final scene after the credits, but most of it is just boring or fan service. The story feels very disjointed compared to the first game and it really feels like something that Chloe would have brought up in the first game.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm is an inferior gane to the original which removed the one cool gimmick that the original had. Still, doesn't look as bad as Life is Strange 2.

Life is Strange was such a whirlwind of storytelling that I couldn't imagine a prequel living up to that standard. So in that regard, I wasn't disappointed with Before the Storm. The story, while nowhere near its predecessor's level, did a good job of propelling us through the three episodes and getting me to tear up a bit at the end.

However, it's also a very flawed game. It plays pretty much like Life is Strange. Dialogue options, walking around interacting with limited environments. But Chloe, our new protagonist, lacks the time rewinding skills of Max, so a significant part of what made the game mechanics of Life is Strange stand out are absent here. This feels like half a game as a result. Instead of time rewinding, Chloe can try to manipulate the people around her through dialogue sparring: pay attention to what the person just said and respond in a way to prove your point, using their own words against them. It adds a decent dimension to otherwise rote dialogue trees, and (frankly) fits Chloe's personality in the first game, but it's no time rewind replacement.

But more disappointing is just how recycled the game feels. We spend significant time in environments from the first game with little to no change: We again explore Chloe's house, the old junkyard, and Blackwell's dorm/quad area. Hell, even the puzzles have a similar feel to them. The puzzle to get in the dorm this time is pretty close to the corresponding puzzle from the first game. It makes the game feel like a remix rather than its own thing.

The few new settings sparkle. Our first scene in episode 1 features Chloe getting into an old mill for a secret concert. The aesthetic is cool, the exploration fun, and the vibe of the rock and roll show in the background effective. The highlight of the whole game is the theatrical theme that crops up: we explore actor dressing rooms, the stage, and even partake in a bit of Shakespeare. These are things that feel new and fresh and are simply fun to play. And I would be remiss to forget the pen & paper role playing we get to engage in.

These moments happen just often enough to keep Before the Storm from crashing and burning as an experience. Luckily, the story is emotionally engaging and helps elevate that. Notice I said "emotionally engaging"--I'm still not sure how good it is.

On the one hand we have great relationship developing between Chloe and Rachel. It's a fun portrayal of a sexuality that rarely gets attention in video games. I think it can be played non-romantically, at least the dialogue options seem to suggest such a thing, but I didn't feel inspired to try that. It's just a good, enviable romance. It just... it feels good. Sometimes in fiction (video games or film/book/tv) romance happens and you don't ship it? Not a problem here. This was super shippable.

But knowing what we know from the first Life is Strange makes it a romance that is cut with bittersweetness from the beginning. I get why they wanted to tell this story--to let us experience it as gamers--but I was swamped with a sense that this was all so fucking doomed.

Ultimately, Before the Storm strikes me as a cash-in (from, incidentally, a different developer). It's riding the coattails of the original's success and acclaim without actually stamping out any territory on its own. But as far as cash-ins go, at least this one provides some good experiences and showcases an emotionally engaging story. So that's probably enough for fans for the first. But I'd recommend waiting for a good sale before picking it up.