On Sunday and Monday, you could watch me live playing the game Life is Strange: Before the Storm, so it is perfect time to write down my impressions until they are fresh.

I note that I played Life is Strange before, so I had a somewhat greater expectation in playing its prequel. But I will try not to affect this review by it.

I was rather surprised that the game has only three episodes because I automatically expected them to have five as a previous game. I didn't notice it until after the first two episodes, so you can imagine how disappointed I was that it's only about two and a half hours of more gameplay.

Gameplay

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It won't surprise you that it is more than simple. Life is Strange is such an interactive movie, so except watching cut scenes, you'll interact from time to time. The WASD, Shift, Space and Mouse buttons are enough to play this game.

Besides movement, you use WASD to choose the type of interaction with an object, animal, or person. To switch to interactive mode, however, you must hold the left mouse button. The Shift is like in most games for more swift walking (Chloe doesn't run much), and with Space, you can skip cutscenes.

And as it happens in such interactive movies, you just don't have a chance to get stuck in the deadlock. If you forget what your goal is, just hold the right mouse button and Chloe looks at her left hand on which she has written what to do. I really liked this original "quest log," and the best thing about it was that even in some cutscenes the writing was noticeable.

During the story, different decisions will be on your shoulders. Some will affect the story. You recognize them thanks to Illuminati sign (or it at least looks similar) which appears in the upper left corner. Other decisions don't have such a major influence and are more voluntary.

You also know that unlike Max in Life is Strange, Chloe doesn't have any superpower, in addition to her harsh speech. You can use it in some situations to reach an otherwise unreachable goal. You can recognize it thanks to blue speech bubbles next to interaction.

Then you have to respond to the opponent's most recent thought in the most badass way in the time limit.

And if you've been successful and won several speech battles (the little circles), you'll see a punk character marking your win, and you get exactly what you wanted.

And let's not forget, Chloe also has her hobby. It's not a photo shoot but graffiti. If you are a hunter of achievements and trophies, don't forget to check every scene properly otherwise you'll miss some graffiti opportunities which gave you an achievement. But even if you miss it, when you complete the episode, you can open a so-called Collector Mode where you can draw the forgotten graffiti without having to play the game all over again. The actions you make in Collector Mode doesn't affect your score.

Diary

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I almost forgot the diary! Even Chloe has one, you get into it by pressing Tab, and you can read her insights into individual characters, see the graffiti you drew, etc. There is also a phone that rings a lot because there is always someone texting you. Sometimes it's quite annoying because you have to wait for both persons to express their thought.

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack I like more in this game than in Life is Strange because it is more rhythmic and badass. In short, just like Chloe. But that doesn't mean that the melancholic element is missing. It makes the music an important part of the game.

Plot

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Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a story about how Chloe began to make friends with a talented classmate Rachel, how their relationship developed, and what these punkish teenagers had experienced together. As well as their imperfect lives and parents.

That would be pretty much all about the game, and now it's time to look at individual episodes and its choices.

THIS PART CAN AND WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, so if you don't want this post to spoil you the game, close your eyes and scroll to Overall game time.

Episode 1 - Awake

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In this episode, you get to know the main heroine Chloe Price. A 16-year-old smart girl who became a rebel and punk after her father's death. She doesn't go home in time, doesn't go to school, hates her mother's boyfriend, and is constantly getting into trouble with her harsh mouth. You'll find out about this in the first few minutes of the game, where Rachel Amber pulls her out of trouble on a concert.

Rachel Amber is a talented actress and excellent student who started to be friends with Chloe just because of her punk. Together they skip school and enjoy the day and new friendship by watching people in the park. Suddenly, however, Rachel becomes crazy, stops talking to Chloe, and the whole forest will end in the flames because she saw her father kissing a strange woman.

Summary

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I'm probably too old because I simply caught my head for all those absurd pubertal struggles against everything. They are guiding you through the whole episode. There's hardly anything going on, most of the time you're just arguing with someone and sending them to hell. Yes, my father didn't die, so I can't fully feel it, but her actions were irrational.

The emotion rate is about 10% for me, just thanks to the soundtrack and the last shot of a burning forest with a musical background.

My major choices:

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My minor choices:

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Episode 2 - Brave New World

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In the second episode, you find yourself in front of the school director, where is decided your fate. Chloe will be suspended from school, and Rachel is forbidden to take part in a show in which she plays the lead. However, Rachel will get her role back. After the end of the show, girls decide to run away from home. But after they arrive at Rachel's home, a common dinner with her parents turns into a argue about Rachel's father's mistress.

Summary

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In this episode, there was finally something interesting and action going on, but I still waited in vain for some heart catching moment.

So the emotion rate is still about 10% for me.

My major choices:

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My minor choices:

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Episode 3 - Hell Is Empty

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It turns out that the woman wasn't his mistress, but Rachel's real mother, who was a junkie. Rachel wants to meet her, but when she meets Chloe's dealer, who knows her mother, she is stabbed and ends up in the hospital. So it's only up to Chloe to find her mother. She finds out that Rachel's father had a deal with one of the dealers to get rid of the Rachel's mother. Chloe stops it, but mother refuses the meeting of her daughter, and it's up to you if you'll tell the truth to Rachel, and spoil her family or leave it for yourself.

Summary

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Finally, I got emotional! Whether it was Rachel's transport to the hospital, an interview with her biological mother and the end of the episode it forced me to release a few tears into the world.

But I can't help feeling that all the problems the girls have gotten to were useless. If Rachel knew that her mother won't meet her, she wouldn't be stabbed, the dealers would look for their interest, and no one would be in danger.

The emotion rate is about 80% for me. I would give more, but in this case, I won't dare to compare with Life is Strange, during which I cried like a baby.

My major choices:

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My minor choices:

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Overall game time

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It takes about 2.5 hours to complete one episode so that you can play the whole game in about 7.5 hours. Besides, you can find it out in the previously mentioned streams whose replay you find HERE (episode 1 + 2) and HERE (episode 3) (don't worry, I already have a new webcam at home, so I'll be able to take some more photogenic angle on the other streams, so I won't look like Jabba the Hutt anymore). However, I note that I tried to play the game swiftly without unnecessary examination of every subject that was in the game. So, if you examine everything honestly, you can make the game time tens of minutes longer.

Summary

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The game doesn't have such an emotionally strong story as Life is Strange (probably because no one dies), but it is a nice preview of Chloe's thinking and her overall mysterious relationship with Rachel.

In gameplay is nothing to criticize except that Chloe's character occasionally covered interaction choices and you didn't know what to choose.

Overall, however, the game, despite all the argues, has a nice atmosphere which is greatly underlined by alive and yet melancholic soundtrack.

I think if I played the game before Life is Strange, I would definitely enjoy it more. So I recommend to all those who haven't played the games yet to play it in the order of Life and Strange: Before the Storm and Life is Strange to enhance the experience of both games.

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May the seed be with you! :D