Life Is Strange Emotional Response (+ emoticons)

The game starts up with a young girl lying on the ground, woken up by a ferocious storm complete with a tornado. It is unclear whether what is happening is real or fake so I felt very confused and also frightened for the safety of the girl. I began to ask the same questions as she was, "Where am I?" and "What is happening?"

The story then cuts to the girl waking up in a classroom filled with students, with a very teen movie vibe about it. I felt a little more informed as the game tells you the previous scene was merely a nightmare. The whole atmosphere of the game is very immersive and I began to feel more involved in the story and characters.

The next major event takes place in the bathroom, it all felt very ominous and I had a feeling something bad would happen. The build up felt very real and when the girl is shot I was really shocked but even more surprised once we see Max then reverse time.






Back to the classroom and I was even more puzzled, much like the antagonist. After learning I could rewind time I knew that this game had a lot in store. Once having saved the girl I felt relieved and excited for the adventure and story that would follow now Max knew the power she possessed.





Then came humiliating the 'bad guy', but this time you are given a choice and I am the worst at making decisions so this stressed me out a little bit, knowing that my choice would effect the story somehow. However it was really fun and satisfying choosing to pour paint on Victoria

Life is Strange Comparisons

Genre – crime, drama, sci-fi

Life is Strange features a variety of settings each creating a new and unique atmosphere, for example Blackwood Academy is busy and full of life yet comes across as a mundane, depressing place. In contrast, Chloe Price’s house, along with Max Caulfield’s dormitory feel much warmer and more friendly. Friendship and trust is present throughout the game and the use of the lighthouse and junkyard help to add to the intimate mood. These locations are also seen in the movie, Juno, with several scenes being just two characters sitting together either at home or on a park bench. Other similarities in areas include the high school and rich, suburban neighbourhood visited by Juno later on in the film.

The characters in LiS are mirrored in the novel, now a movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the

antagonist Max Caulfield and Charlie, is a shy introvert with minimal friends, their best friend is outgoing and wild, Chloe Price and Patrick, and the love interest is a little strange, but kind and sweet played by Warren in the game and Sam in the film.

Life is Strange follows the story of an 18 year old teenager who discovers she has the ability to rewind time and only reveals to her old friend and together they try to uncover the mystery behind what happened to Rachael Amber, a missing student, and who is behind it all. Similarly in the TV series, Smallville, Clark Kent, a young man, realises he has superhuman powers, but only shares his secret with a few people including his best friend Pete, and must stay hidden whilst trying to fight off his enemy Lex Luthor and stop him from harming anyone, much like David Madsen and Nathan in LiS.

Images common in both Life is Strange and the graphic novel, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, including a loud, crowded party, a diner and confrontations between 2 or more people. Costumes seen in the two media are also similar, with the antagonist usually wearing casual clothes such as jeans and a hoodie and the secondary character having coloured hair.

Themes present throughout Life is Strange and all these other media include ‘working together’ and ‘friendship conquers all’ as the main narrative in every story features at least 2 people helping each other to overcome an obstacle.

Life is Strange 2-Step Content Analysis (Connotation)

The titles sketchy font gives the overall atmosphere that this is a homemade, arty cover, and suggests a creative, rustic aesthetic will be present throughout the game.

The two images of the photographs imply that it will be heavily based around taking pictures or the idea of photography; perhaps the main character enjoys using a camera?

The young girl shown could be he protagonist or maybe just a main character, the player will interact with. Her being mid to late teens could mean the game may be set in a high school and feature the dramas of everyday life for a young adult.

Her pose, along with the title may be a clue to the fact that this girl could be special in some way, possessing some kind of ability. The close up gives an intense feeling and focuses the viewer on the girls emotion which could mean this game draws attention to the characters emotions, their individuality and how the player choses to interact with them.

The image is slightly blurred towards the edges and one corner seems to be disintegrating, suggesting a threat or even that this girl may be in danger.

The background also helps add to the idea of this cover being a page in some kind of sketch book as it looks damaged and marked like a piece of paper.

The drawings seen around the photo all represent and imply a variety of ideas. The lighthouse could be a landmark located in the hometown of this character, but it could also be a metaphor for guiding someone away from a hazard as a lighthouse does with boats on the water. The lighting and tornado, both natural disasters could be showing a literal event that occurs within the story or they could be a way of showing how this character is feeling emotional. The cliff could be another setting and the figure on top may be the girl in the photo or someone related to her.

“Episodes 1-5” indicates that, much like a TV show, the game is available in chapters, each containing the same story but each time something happens that must be resolved at the end by the player. This also links in with the idea of the game being very much like a teen drama.

The rating of the game is 16 meaning it will have adult themes and other ideas linked with teenagers e.g. alcohol and drug use.

Life is Strange 2-Step Content Analysis (Denotation)

The title is written in a maroon coloured, capitalised, sketchy font with the word “is,” written inside an old style photograph that has been taped the background.

The main image is a close up of a young girl with short, dark hair, looking with a fairly neutral, but slightly serious expression. She is holding her hand up, with the palm facing towards her as if she is looking into it. Similarly to part of the title, this image is placed inside an old fashioned photograph also attached to the background with strips of tape. 

Neither the title nor photo are positioned straight on the page.

The photo contains fairly dark colours with harsh shadows being produced on the girls face, by her eyes, neck and cheeks. The light source is coming from the top right; where the photo is tearing and beginning to dissolve.

Drawn over the girls head are two birds flying to right, they are very faint and hard to notice.

The background is predominantly white with added crease marks, stains and coloured doodles, suggesting it is paper.

The sketches include:

• a lighthouse
• a cliff edge with trees and a figure at the edge
• lightning strikes
• a tornado
• water like marks 

All the drawings feature some sort of natural disaster or structure related to the ocean, suggesting the setting for the game.

Written beneath the image of the girl is “Episodes 1-5,” telling us that this game is split into 5 separate episodes.

The rating of “Pegi 16” is shown in the bottom left hand corner, the box has been given a roughly drawn, grey outline.

In the bottom right is the logo of the company “Square Enix,” the publishers of the video game.

What makes a game, a game?

"Games are the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacle"
- Bernard Suits (1978)

"A game is a rule-based system with a variable and quantifiable outcome, where different outcomes are assigned different values, the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the player feels emotionally attached to the outcome and the consequences of the activity are negotiable"
- Jesper Juul, Half-Real (2005)

Life is Strange

Rule-based system: the game is very linear, there are basic objectives given for each chapter within the episode and an option must be chosen when asked. Some scenes ask you to save another character who's life is in danger and you cannot proceed with the story until this goal has been achieved.

Variable outcomes: there are several different outcomes depending on how the player responds to each character and the physical events they have the antagonist do. This includes obtaining the trust of another character or changing the attitude of the main character.

Outcomes different values: all outcomes can either have a positive or negative effect on the character and play alike, for example, the option between killing or letting a character live. Some decisions made can have the desired outcome or shock the player and make them regret the previous choices.

Effort exerted: based on actual movement and gameplay there isn't a huge amount of involvement for the player, however within each episode there are several choices, both important and less so, impacting the entire rest of the game and the players' satisfaction with the end result. The effort exerted may also be increased if the player wishes to replay the game in order to experience each individual scenario and ending.

Negotiable consequences: there is a huge difference between playing alone and with a friend as they may have a completely opposite opinion and cause you to change your mind or go back and alter one you've already made.

Life Is Strange Emotional Response

The game starts up with a young girl lying on the ground, woken up by a ferocious storm complete with a tornado. It is unclear whether what is happening is real or fake so I felt very confused and also frightened for the safety of the girl. I began to ask the same questions as she was, "Where am I?" and "What is happening?"



The story then cuts to the girl waking up in a classroom filled with students, with a very teen movie vibe about it. I felt a little more informed as the game tells you the previous scene was merely a nightmare. The whole atmosphere of the game is very immersive and I began to feel more involved in the story and characters.

The next major event takes place in the bathroom, it all felt very ominous and I had a feeling something bad would happen. The build up felt very real and when the girl is shot I was really shocked but even more surprised once we see Max then reverse time.

Back to the classroom and I was even more puzzled, much like the antagonist. After learning I could rewind time I knew that this game had a lot in store. Once having saved the girl I felt relieved and excited for the adventure and story that would follow now Max knew the power she possessed.

Then came humiliating the 'bad guy', but this time you are given a choice and I am the worst at making decisions so this stressed me out a little bit, knowing that my choice would effect the story somehow. Even with the power to go back and change your option, I felt I had too much power and would spend a few minutes going back to explore the consequences of each possible choice.

Dontnod Entertainment

Dontnod Entertainment is an independent company founded in 2008 by Henrve Bonin, Aleksi Briclot, Alain Damasio, Oskar Guilbert and Jean-Maxime Moris. Their headquarters is based in Paris, France with around 200 employees and they have created just two games, Remember Me and Life is Strange and are currently working on their third, Vampyr. Life is Strange has sold over 1 million copies, however their first game, Remember Me flopped, selling just under 200,000 copies. Dontnod develop games available across platforms and both games have been single player, third-person, roleplaying action adventures.