Life is Strange Before the Storm | Episode 2 | Brave New World

Thursday 9 November 2017

gaming



*SPOILERS*
Publisher: Square Enix 
Developer: Deck Nine
Sequel to Life is Strange
PS4 Review


Recap of episode 1 (Awake): We find out about Chloe's rebellious behaviour and how her friendship with Rachel Amber started. We can see Chloe does care for others but she is a very angry girl due to her father's death. Max isn't in the picture right now and Chloe is pretty pissed off with her, it's sad to see how bad their friendship got due to max moving away but knowing it gets better is something I love. Rachels anger has caused a fire, a fire she didn't think would spread, there is an important lesson to learn from this and that is: don't make choices when you're angry, it can lead to something far worse, read the previous post HERE.

In this episode we find out Rachel and Chloe have consequences for skipping school, of course, both girls don't want either to get in trouble but Rachel ends up taking the blame. The principle still suspends Chloe which leaves her mum and mums boyfriend angry, her mum hates that the school has treated Chloe so unfairly and thinks that she shouldn't have been suspended, to be honest, you would think a school would want to try help someone who clearly is in need of help but that's not how they roll so it seems. Rachel and Chloe seem to have made a close bond after learning about the women Rachels father was with and the fire, it seems as if they rub off on each other and that they are worse together than they are apart. They have already shown that when they are upset it can lead to a trail of destruction and their burdens lay heavy on one another, Chloe seems to be very invested in having more with Rachel, you can tell her feelings are growing. Even after getting suspended Chloe doesn't seem to feel any guilt, in fact, she graffitis all over the girl's toilets when she is meant to be collecting her things from her locker which can have consequences for more than just her. When her mum's boyfriend tries to step in and work things out with him and Chloe she reacts badly when she learns he will be moving in badly with them and decides she doesn't want to be there anymore and goes to live in the junkyard.



This episode focuses more on Chloe helping Frank if she does him a favour which helps get her into his good books, the episode is a bit slow and you mostly have to find bits for a car that Chloe dreams of running away with Rachel in and also learn that the fire Rachel start is spreading fast. When you eventually do get around doing the favour for Frank you are met with more problems than it's worth, you solve one problem by getting Franks money from one of the guys at school but you make more of a problem as he needed that money for his family. Chloe is playing with fire, to be honest, she is heading down a road that could lead her somewhere very dangerous, the town is obviously going to start talking if they saw her hanging out with a local drug dealer like she has been and as always her actions have consequences. I feel like Chloe is very selfish at times towards her mum and hiding away at the junkyard doesn't solve anything, she thinks the world is against her and I just want her to open her eyes and see she is loved and that her mum has been trying her hardest to raise her and pay the bills. I guess teenagers aren't always aware of what sacrifices parents will make for them and by diving into Rachels problems and helping Frank she isn't addressing her own feelings or facing her dad's death. We see her dad again in this episode, she is sitting by a fire with him roasting marshmallows whilst the fire Rachel started moves through the greenery, he turns to her and you see his badly burnt face and then she wakes up, she must be exhausted with these confusing and lifelike dreams.




Although we do know the consequences of Chloe's actions thanks to the first Life is Strange, we don't know what happened in between, so seeing how it is being played out slowly starts to slot things together, with this game I wasn't as confident choosing the actions with Chloe as I was with Max, Chloe seems like a much more complex teenager who can't stick to one choice as it is, whereas Max was cautious. But I wouldn't want Chloe to change, when she comes out with her sarcastic jokes or points something obvious out I find myself smiling or laughing, they did well in bringing her personality out more in this episode. My most enjoyable part of this episode would have to be the play The Tempest, Chloe and Rachel managed to make it completely about them and their newfound friendship and it turned into something very romantic and poetic, even though Chloe was pretty awkward and you could tell how uncomfortable she really was.




I prefer the first episode (Awake) to this one only because I felt it had a lot more content in it and this focused mostly on Frank, that being seeing I always wondered more about him from the first game as a lot wasn't explained but this episode gave me a few answers, the end of the game came with the biggest shock ever I was sat at my desk and said "WHAT" so loudly James thought I was shouting at him (haha oops). I'm starting to wonder what they could possibly add to the last episode because so much more needs to be explained, I think when I do get to the end of the game we will still be left with a lot of questions but perhaps this means there could be more than 3 episodes (not including the extra one with Max). I give this episode:


Elle May 


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