I played Life is Strange, a narrative adventure game by Square Enix. This game is rated M, so the target audience is 17+. Life is Strange is released on multiple platforms including PlayStation, Windows, iOS, etc., and I played this game with its Windows laptop version.
Formal Elements + Types of Fun
The user is the main player of the game. However, the game still evokes fellowship since the player can interact with other characters in the game (ex: saving other characters) by making certain choices. The ultimate objective of the game is unclear during the gameplay, but together with the narrative of the game, they tie back to the mystery this game is consisted of which contributes to an urge of challenge to solve the mystery. The core of this game is mystery, and it is perfectly carried out by the switch between the narrative of the initial tornado scene and the seemingly mundane classroom scene that you slowly uncover layers of mysteries. The procedure + resources of the gameplay of how you should navigate as the student Max in her school day with the ability to rewind time in order to unravel the mystery also adds to an important type of fun, discovery. Specifically, the ability to rewind time creates the game architecture of complex interaction loops that further infuse mystery into all types of fun.
Successes + Failures
One particular moment of success I remember was when a fellow student asked me who the photographer of the “fallen soldier” was and I made the correct choice out of 4 photographers which I had no clue who they were. I remember being so engrossed in the narrative at that point and just wanted to continue discovering more regarding the mystery to the point that I would be so annoyed if I chose the wrong person since I don’t want to interrupt my gameplay flow. But luckily, I chose the correct photographer first try and I remember being so happy.
One particular moment of failure happened when I was trying to enter the dorm while Victoria and her friends were blocking the doorway. I didn’t know what I should do during that part. I turned on the sprinklers which got water on Victoria and her friends, but that was not enough. I spend a really long time figuring what to do next and I had to unwind so many times to redo my actions only to repeat what I did before. I finally figured out how to drop the paint and make the paint splash onto Victoria.
What I would change
I think I would change the speed of some narratives. Since this game is already not super interactive in a sense that there is a set storyline based on your choices (mainly one main storyline with few alterations based on certain choices), I think some pure narratives can take away the fun and interrupt the interaction loops, so maybe there can be a skip/2x choice for long narratives that aren’t too crucial to the gameplay.
