Recent reviews by I like chinchillas

monke game remind me of when me were smaller monke

After getting a coupon for -90%, I figured why not, but having played through the game I couldn't help but see a bunch of problems that kinda need attention, as well as general criticisms that I don't think will change but I still did not really like.

* Really do not like the combat. Combat is real time which isn't necessarily bad, but because what you could do was typically very limited and only could be done at certain times, it felt really bad.
For example, in a fight you could basic attack, cast a spell, guard or use an item such as a healing potion.
However, fights would typically devolve in to mindlessly doing two things - casting your strongest spell and occasionally topping off your health and mana. There was very little variety in how to play fights because you didn't have time to think and plan what to do, and you objectively had a strongest attack which you'd just spam in order.
As such a lot of bosses and enemies just felt like stat checks, since there wasn't really any thought in to beating them it was just "Spam this as much as possible and either kill the enemy or die".
Combat definitely needs work in some way, whether it's dropping it down to be turn based to slow things down and let the player plan how to play, or overhaul the items and attacks the player could use in order to make things less binary.

* Controls were clunky and could probably do with breaking up some of the buttons which were "press this to do everything", and also there were times in the game which handled REALLY badly. One that springs to mind was the lava lake section, where sometimes the character wouldn't move as you wanted which was really frustrating.

* Some things felt fanservicey. I know some people like that, but personally I do not.

* Game felt very linear with not much side questing or exploration to get up to. There was a gold collection mechanic too, but never really anything to buy so it would just turn in to "well I can buy hundreds of this thing and I've got nothing else to purchase, so ok".

Overall I feel like the game does have potential, but currently isn't really fleshed out enough to justify buying.

Life is Strange is not really a game. If you're looking for an exciting experience with thrilling and rewarding gameplay and intensive mechanics, go elsewhere. The closest you really have to traditional gameplay are the puzzles that are used either as filler or to mask a decision. So if LiS isn't a game, what is it? Personally I'd say it is more akin to a living story. LiS is about jumping in to that world and watching it come to life and exploring the different arcs in the story that choices set in motion. Observing friendships blossom and establishing connections with the characters is...

nice. I'm guessing I'm not alone here, however as someone who hasn't had an awful lot of close friends over the years just sitting and having human moments is really enjoyable, fake or not.

So if that's not really your cup of tea, then it's a shame but perhaps LiS is not for you.
You get back what you put in. If you can take the time to have a thorough playthrough, it's very worth your time.

edit: just here for the steam badge lul