Critical Play: Mysteries

I chose Life is Strange on an MacOS device. This game was published by Square Enix.

 

Figure: The game allows players to choose their interactions

 

The target audience for Life is Strange is 6+. I think it will be well-liked by those who appreciate story-driven adventure games and/or games with a focus on character development and choice-based gameplay.

This game places a lot of emphasis on the “single player versus game” concept of player interaction. The main character of the game is you, and you move through many scenes and environments. The main character’s goals must be achieved in order for the plot to go forward. I liked how there seemed to be little chores that led up to bigger goals because I always felt guided and knew what to do next; there was a good balance between me finding out what to do and the game giving me tips or guidance. Furthermore, you must move around and look at your surroundings to find the game’s features that you must interact with in order to advance. This game strongly focuses on exploration to accomplish goals.

The resources available to the player in Life is Strange include Max’s time travel ability, as well as various objects and items that can be collected and used to solve puzzles or progress through the game. Finally, the game’s boundaries undoubtedly influence how the gameplay develops. The game has restrictions on where players could go and what they could accomplish because it is built around exploration. My player was unable to enter several regions since players cannot fly or pass over walls in the game. This latter component provided helpful feedback that I might be heading in the wrong way or that I might need to revisit my goals.

This game’s fun is primarily narrative in nature; the episodes’ plotlines are essential to the goals and create a smooth gameplay. Since there was no narrative dissonance with the objectives I believe the game succeeded in living up to its promise of being a narrative game with an element of adventure.

A moment of success was the time-travel mechanism. I felt more immersed because of the game’s ability to change the past by rewinding time, which added a choice element. A particular problem was issues with pacing. While some episodes felt boring and lackluster in terms of action, others were dramatic and quick-paced. This sometimes broke the story’s main flow and occasionally gave the game a sense of disarray.

For improvement, I would suggest addressing the pacing problem and figuring out how to keep the player interested throughout the entire game in order to improve game. The player might be given more opportunities to investigate the effects of their choices by expanding on the time travel mechanic, which would give the game even more depth.

 

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