*Spoilers* Why so much hate on episode 5?

[Aghro]

I don't really understand the hate.

Just finished the game. I'm just devastated. Took me more than half an hour to decide which option to pick.

I understand the last episode can be a bit tedious. Also I can understand how people doesn't like the ending since there's one choice that feels truly right but you don't really know if you want to make it. Also I know people complained about your choices not having an impact on the endings at all.

But c'mon. This game, simply put, is a masterpiece. A work of art. When was the last time a video game, yes a video game, made you feel such intense emotions? Myself, I can't even remember. And I've been playing video games for a long time.

From goosebumps, passing through such a nice feeling of anticipation of what is about to happen to just crying out of sadness and of course the nostalgia trip. Also, carrying the story with yourself even when you are doing other stuff. This is what good art does, it makes you display your emotions. As pretentious as it sounds, sorry for that.

This story and characters left a huge mark on me. I feel nostalgic and sad already but happy to have experienced this.

Just wanted to share a bit how I felt, don't know.

Thank you DONTNOD for making me feel alive and SQUARE ENIX for helping them.

[ManlyMan]

Beacause it killed my family.

[Dishon]

people hate on it because their was a 3rd ending in the code but they said they didn't have the money so they just left it their.

[Hiromi Higuruma]

It was amazing to me

[Jeckenn]

Because the final episode was not really up to par with the rest of the game and when you compare the storyline through out the entire game it just does not stand up to the rest. It started out very nice building the characters so that the player would become very emotionally attached to them and feel what they feel as the story unfolded.

Episode 2 was even better and the feels when Kate was on the roof and you had to save her or fail in the attempt was amazing and it felt like the story was offering the player choices that really mattered.

Episode 3 was an even better ride and the feels continued to tug at the players heart strings and the friendship between Max and Chloe was growing into something even more then the story itself.

Episode 4 felt a little bit more on rails then the previous three chapters but the ending showed yet another twist in the storyline that absolutely no one suspected and that made it on par with the rest of the game.

Episode 5...well we were all expecting Dontnod to NOT pull the standard "butterfly effect" that all time travel stories seem to end up at and do something really different. However they totally buckled under the preasure and just churned out an episode completely on rails and a very poor ending to an otherwise really great story.

[DickBusterAbobo]

While I do agree that it wasn't as good as the other episodes, I liked it. I kind of think some people just didn't like the ending since both weren't "happy" at all.

[Alyx]

I could never hate LiS. :) Nonetheless, they kinda ruined the time-power thing for me when they explained... nothing. I wanted to hear it was the Tobanga, as a representative of the native American spirits or something, seeking to restore balance to the land, after the Prescotts had perverted it. Or whatever. *Anything*, is the point. Instead, they gave us nothing.

Now, I know ppl are quick to pull the 'emo' card; and yes, while friendship and emotion played a huge part, of course, still, the story would have been concluded so much better if it had all actually made sense. 'Purpose' is an important story-vehicle. You can't just have an 18-year-old girl suddenly have time-powers, and then not explain why. Or at least hint as to why. That's like a reverse Deus Ex Machina: instead of using 'any artificial or improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot,' they chose to simply ignore it altogether.

There were simply too many loose ends. What about the spirit guides? And was the homeless lady really Max from a different reality?! (YAY Mari from Geek Remix!). Was Rachel a time traveler too? (And was the storm perhaps caused by her and Max both trying to alter time simultaneously?!). Oh, we had such good times here, on this forum, spinning all these amazing theories! And yes, LiS was not just about a puzzle, of course; but it was nonetheless very much a mystery, with an incredible attention to detail... which eventually went nowhere. And that, to me, was disappointing. And the ending was rather predictable and corny. They could have done soooo much more with it!

[Remy]

It's deeply emotional and personal but falls short on being a masterpiece. I blame Episode 5 for that. It's my favorite "experience" of 2015, and it is a work of art but intense emotions doesn't equal masterpiece.

[linkfire12]

Incredibly poor writing mostly.

I wouldn't care as much about there only people two "endings", if the actual scenario itself wasn't as stupid. I've talked about this before, but it's just a horrible concept, and doesn't fit the tone of the coming of age story that made me interested in this game.

It breaks suspension of disbelief, and the actual idea that an innocent teenage girl somehow causes A FREAKING TORNADO breaks suspension of disbelief. I don't feel anything other than irritation at the writings.

It literally took less than a second for me to make a choice, as the whole concept really doesn't make sense.

ALSO I don't get why people talk about good/bad endings, this is just not how real life works! We don't have braindead teenagers hanging out on beaches and getting killed by tornados instead of evacuating hours earlier!

I actually just dislike the episode in general, all of the choices during the entire thing were completely pointless, the time jumps and photo cutscenes were completely overdone. And the nightmare sequence added no new content, overbeared scenes that already stayed their welcome and generaly made me apathetic.

It general just was a stupid story direction. I would have preferred a much more tone to earth story approach, I feel a little manipulated as a consumer.

[Archanioł]

Beacuse we have ONLY 2 endings and all choices in game are not related with endings.

[pickyroman]

Because people don't want to be disappointed and instead of trying to understand why this happened, they just do things that will please their ego.
I also was disappointed because I didn't get what I wanted. But I did get new unexpected experience and things to think about. And I am glad for this.

[linkfire12]

Originally posted by th3romeo:

Because people don't want to be disappointed and instead of trying to understand why this happened, they just do things that will please their ego.
I also was disappointed because I didn't get what I wanted. But I did get new unexpected experience and things to think about. And I am glad for this.

Thats actually a big thing. Lots of little hints left unsolved, lots of things in the world that are given no further exploration.

Even with timetravel, it scientifically doesn't make sense, and since they give no supernatural explanation, it drives me crazy.

[esmeraldka]

Everything you do in this game doesn't really matter in the end. You can just choose your ending, and that's it. The game was good tho.

[pickyroman]

Originally posted by linkfire12:

Thats actually a big thing. Lots of little hints left unsolved, lots of things in the world that are given no further exploration.

Even with timetravel, it scientifically doesn't make sense, and since they give no supernatural explanation, it drives me crazy.

Sure, I was prepared for mindblowing explanation near the end. But seems like this game is'nt about timetravel, regardless to be the main gameplay and story-driven feature. I think DONTNOD didn't give us any explanations because they wanted to emphasize that point.

[Jariah]

I liked the last episode even though many questions were left unanswered. I still hope for a second season.

[Aghro]

Thats actually a big thing. Lots of little hints left unsolved, lots of things in the world that are given no further exploration.

Even with timetravel, it scientifically doesn't make sense, and since they give no supernatural explanation, it drives me crazy.

I can understand your desbelief. But for me the game just didn't make me fall into it. I was too immersed in the story from episode 1 just to question things like why Max had her powers. And even if it's good to question things almost always, I didn't felt like doing it.

I see it as I'm just being told a story and things are just that way. I have to say I even had prejudices towards the main character being a 18 yo girl. But those went away fast.

I don't know if I make sense at all or I'm making myself understandable. Random example: When you first saw Harry Potter you didn't question why the magic wand has its powers or how a car can fly. You just accept it and live vicariously the experience. But I can see it's a bad example since you can consider HP more of a fantasy series rather than science fiction.

Also a good example comes to mind. If you seen the film 500 days of summer, the famous scenes that became a meme "Expectations vs. Reality". There you can see how a character keeps giving hints on what is his position in the relatonship and thoughts throughout the movie, but the protagonist keeps blind and deaf to it, it builds his own expectation and ends disappointed cause in the end, it wasn't what he was expecting.

I think this is what happens with LiS, reality crushes the expectations you may have. And by that I'm not saying this game hasn't loose ends or is perfect. But for things like this I find it a masterpiece. But as everything is just a matter of opinion.