For this week’s Critical Play, I played Life is Strange (2015), developed by Don’t Nod through Steam on Mac. The target audience is likely young adults, as it deals with some heavy subject matter while also requiring the player to make choices based on clues within the game. Life is Strange is an episodic, choices-matter narrative game that follows the life of high schooler Max Caulfield and her newfound ability to rewind time, which serves as a key game mechanic. The type of fun here is primarily narrative, with elements of discovery. By following Max’s story, we mainly enjoy making choices that affect her life and the lives of those around her. The discovery aspect involves hidden areas or lore within the game. In Life is Strange, the narrative structure lies somewhere between an enacting story and an embedded narrative. While the player’s choices matter to some extent, the most crucial part of the game is that we are acting through Max, and our actions affect her life.
In Life is Strange, the mechanics drive both the game’s mystery and narrative forward. For the first 30 to 45 minutes of the game, Life is Strange unfolds like a typical choices-matter narrative. However, after an inciting incident where Max witnesses something horrific, she miraculously jumps back in time. From this point on, we engage with the core gameplay loop: Max will try (and often fail) to achieve a goal before rewinding time to use her newfound information to her advantage.
Thus, the narrative and mystery connect through Max’s raw experiences of the game’s events before she rewinds time to approach them the “correct” way. The mechanic is so central that there are even hotkeys to rewind to your last decision, as shown in the screenshot below.
This ease of access seems to encourage the player to use the mechanic liberally, and it is even essential to progress through certain parts of the game. However, one issue with this triviality is that it risks making decisions feel meaningless. If the player can endlessly rewind time until they reach the desired outcome, then there is not really much downside to choosing any option without a second thought. Admittedly, the game does try to alleviate this somewhat by locking some decision points behind exploration areas, but even then, the player has all the time in the world to make their choice.
On the topic of the game’s spaces, the setting’s architecture serves as a crucial tool to guide player action and establish aesthetics. As previously mentioned, some decisions are location-bound and force the player to choose a path before moving on. Additionally, architecture contributes to the narrative of Life is Strange by enhancing the setting in the background.
These missing person posters function as a kind of Chekhov’s gun in the story. As more people mention Rachel Amber’s disappearance, we understand that not everything is as it appears in the quiet town, and the player is presented with yet another mystery to solve.
Finally, the architecture does a lot of heavy lifting to direct the player. Oftentimes, paths are demarcated by changes in color, changes in lighting, or even arrows.
Each of these architectural choices demonstrates the developers gently nudging the players in a certain direction, often in addition to telling them explicitly. The bathroom is particularly interesting; while there is a contrast in lighting that focuses the player’s attention, the overall atmosphere suggests an eeriness that aligns with the following scene.
Reflecting on the Adams reading, the school acts as a point of familiarity; it features all the tropes of cliques, bullies, school and home troubles, allowing players to gain insight into Max’s world and experiences without overtly stating them. Architecture plays a crucial role in players’ understanding of Life is Strange’s mystery and environment, and through it, the game’s aesthetics and mechanics are skillfully highlighted.
Ethics
When searching for first-hand accounts of accessibility issues, most of what I found were enthusiastic positive reviews of more recent games in the Life is Strange franchise, with little relevance to the game I played for this assignment. One review I did find, however, was from a deaf gamer on caniplaythat.com. In narrative games such as Life is Strange (2015), understanding the game’s plot is essential for having fun. Therefore, this comprehension must be as accessible as possible. Subtitles help lower the barrier to understanding the game’s plot. However, one important thing our reviewer noted is that there are no speaker labels within the game. This means there is a near-constant flow of text with no indication of changing speakers, which can also make the plot difficult to parse. While the inclusion of subtitles is a wonderful first step, it is crucial that developers continue to improve these features so that as many gamers as possible can enjoy the experience.
