“How is narrative woven into the mystery through its mechanics? How does the architecture of the setting control the story?“
The story of Life is Strange is an incredible, constantly unraveling mystery where more questions are discovered than answered. I think a perfect example of this is the rewind mechanic that the game introduces in the first 5 minutes of gameplay, but never attempts to answer throughout the 4 chapters of the game. Tossing in a crazy, time-bending mechanic without any backstory, exposition, or narrative development into an already ludicrous, mind-bending plot would be a very surface-level way to create mystery. However, I believe that the design and implementation of the rewind mechanic tells more of a story than the actual plot.
From the first rewind in Life is Strange, the game teaches the player what the rewind mechanic actually is. Power. Max uses her newfound power to play god and save a life. As the introduction of the game proceeds, the player can continually use the rewind power to correct any mistakes, humiliate Max’s bullies, and know the answers to every question. In a game where it feels like every interaction has important ramifications down the line, the power to rewind and redo an interaction over and over again until you’re happy with the outcome is powerful.
The developers intentionally set the precedent for this mechanic to be used whenever, however, and as many times as the player wants, and the player gets so used to this that they begin to take it for granted. They accept the mechanic for what it is without a thought of its origin, how it affects the world around them, or anything about the mechanic. It’s less of a “rewind time” mechanic and more of a “save now and load later”. It is when this power is stripped away from the player that the game’s most important moments occur. When the rewind mechanic is disabled, it’s for one of two purposes. Either the player is unable to rewind because they’re making a choice that will drastically alter the game, or Max has lost the ability to rewind because of a powerful narrative moment. In both cases, the loss of the mechanic makes the player feel powerless. It feels like they aren’t detectives unraveling the mystery, but pawns in this larger story.
It’s only when the power gets stripped away that the player feels the impact of the mystery. It’s a perfect example of how not telling a story can ultimately tell the most powerful story.
Life is Strange does have accessibility options in the game. While most of them are standard features, such as colorblind filters, the game does include more powerful features. One example is the content warning for the game. This game deals with some incredibly deep and disturbing themes that could potentially harm players if unwarned. When a player is making an outcome-altering choice, there is a timer that ticks down to force the player to make a choice. The settings include an option to increase this timer.
