Life is Strange: Before the Storm

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm is a prequel to episodic graphic adventure video game Life is Strange which was released to critical acclaim three years earlier. This prequel focuses on two side characters from the original video game and takes place about three and a half years before the sinister events of Life Is Strange. It tells the story of Max's childhood friend Chloe who is acting tough, hanging around with shady people and listening to loud music in order to hide her loneliness, her lack of self-confidence and her pain regarding her father's death two years earlier. The broken teenager meets Rachel who seems to be quite the opposite: everybody seems to like her, she comes from an intact and wealthy family and she succeeds particularly well at school. Rachel however feels attracted to Chloe's craziness, honesty and spontaneity. The game revolves around the fact that appearances are not what it seems as Rachel's father has more than one sinister thing to hide from his daughter.

If you liked the dream-like atmosphere of the original game with its unique characters, intense storytelling and floating soundtrack, you will also like this sequel. It's particularly interesting to explore some characters from the first game further and to understand how they became the way they are. The two lead characters are intriguing teenage girls with bright and dark sides. As someone who grew up with perfect parents, succeeded well at school and appreciated most of his teenage years, I have always been intrigued by people who have experienced life differently. The characters in this game are authentic, deep and unique and all these elements will make you care about them and their fates.

There is only two minor reasons why I preferred the original game over the sequel. First of all, the original game has five episode while this one only has three. Secondly, the first game revolved around a truly sinister secret involving murder while this sequel is rather a family drama. On the other side, it was the right choice to tell a different story here to distinguish this game from the first one.

To keep it short, if you like authentic characters, dramatic storytelling and ominous atmosphere, you will like this game as well as the original Life Is Strange.

This game's limited edition includes some truly nice gimmicks such as a beautiful art book as well as the game's creative soundtrack on CD.

It was fun I just don't like the way they have the bird that loads to each scene I wish it was all put together so you don't have to wait to the next scene.

This game is basically a prequel not a sequel to the first Life is Strange episodic game and it follows the story of Rachel Amber with her best-buddy Chloe Price . Rachel Amber, the girl who went missing and was spoken so much about in the first game, so much so to the point where the whole story of the first game was revolving around finding her and where she had disappeared and getting to the bottom of what happened . But because it was a sad and tragic turn of events in the first game which led to Thomas Jefferson getting arrested let alone getting suspended from Blackwell Academy cause he had sedated and killed many students and being on a payroll with the Prescotts, the fans wanted to see more about Rachel Amber so we go back a few years, now playing as Chloe Price in this choice-based game which determine the outcome of the whole story, same as before, Rachel's real mother shows up, Chloe and Rachel's chemistry and their friendship, how they get suspended from Blackwell and more .

Pretty good prequel. I enjoyed the game, it's not as good as the first game or True Colors, I'd give it a 10/10 mainly just bc it's a good short game and it's the kind of game that you can play and beat in less than 6 hours.

LIFE IS STRANGE: Before the Storm (2017) Chloe Price and Rachel Amber, once passing strangers to one another, become close friends under strange circumstances, their individual experiences drawing them together. Chloe is a young teen struggling from loss in Arcadia Bay, Oregon.

This was an interesting prequel to Life is Strange. I don't see why there has been so much hate. Sure, it wasn't quite the same, had less sci-fi, supernatural element, and delved deeper into psychological pain and trauma, but it was still a beautiful and moving game. I do wish they had kept the same actress as Chloe from the original but this actress was certainly not bad, just different enough to notice.

Behind the mask of the lovable, snarky, quirky and high-energy persona that Chloe wears, there is also a lot of depth there. Even though Chloe is rebellious, hot-headed, immature and somewhat selfish, she was probably everyones favorite character from the original LiS game. It was great to see her story, what experiences made her who she was later on. And regardless of her faults, she is very human character and highly relatable and lovable. Her character is tormented by loss, and memory and coping the pain and change as best as she can. This game offers a beautiful glimpse into that past and explores who Rachel Amber really was to her.

Developed by Deck Nine and published by Square Enix, Life is Strange: Before the Storm was a good installment and prequel to an intriguing series. This was a very memorable game. Can't wait to continue following the series and see where it leads.

STORY: 9/10 GAMEPLAY: 9/10 GRAPHICS: 9/10 ART DESIGN: 10/10 MUSIC: 8/10 OVERALL RATING: 8.5.