Has Life is Strange become too depressing? [spoilers]

[Boss]

..if you don't judge Ep 4 on its own, but compare it to previous episodes? A yes/no answer is enough but elaborate if you wish.

When Ep 1 was out, I bought LiS because this was a game that made me genuinely happy with its beautiful soundtrack, crazy situations and cheerful moments with Chloe and other friends.

Ep 2 and Ep 3 largely continued this theme. Sure, we have Kate's suicide and Chloe in a wheelchair but these events were well balanced by lots of happy moments. The pool scene, saying no to Warren a dozen times (^.^), walking over the train tracks, the sleep-over with Chloe + kiss, breakfast at Two Whales etc. all made me smile.

I feel that this balance is missing in Ep 4. It is simply too depressing. It goes from one shocking scene to another. Apart from Max hugging Chloe there's no hope, no joy. It made me feel sad and I know others who were more immersed in the game who actually became quite depressed. In my opinion they should've let us go to the End of the World party as if everything is normal (with our date Chloe or Warren), so we could have some fun. Then end the episode with a cliffhanger where we find Rachel's body.

I still like LiS but I feel a bit cheated out of my money because this is not at all what I was expecting to buy when I had played Ep 1 (and 2 and 3). How about you?

[Rylos]

Well episode 4 is basically the climax of the season, so of course you're not going to have as many happy moments. Everything starts coming together in this episode and all of the plot lines are starting to conclude or come together.

You can't say that you feel cheated out of money for not expecting the game to get this dark. You knew from the start that Rachel was missing, that a hurricane was going to destroy the town, and that something is wrong in Arcadia Bay. Sure the first three episodes delayed this darkness, but it was still building towards this moment.

This episode was probably the best so far.

[Autumnflame]

Life isnt always fair or fun

[ThatMcFlyGuy]

Yeah, episode four was really depressing, way too much in contrast with the third episode, which was a long flirt between the lovebirds Chloe and Max. I hope we will find some redemption in episode five with a lot of emotional moments, and a possible half happy half bittersweet ending.

Originally posted by Autumnflame:

Life isnt always fair or fun

Yeah, sometimes, Life is Strange.

[Boss]

Originally posted by Rylos:

Well episode 4 is basically the climax of the season, so of course you're not going to have as many happy moments. Everything starts coming together in this episode and all of the plot lines are starting to conclude or come together.

You can't say that you feel cheated out of money for not expecting the game to get this dark. You knew from the start that Rachel was missing, that a hurricane was going to destroy the town, and that something is wrong in Arcadia Bay. Sure the first three episodes delayed this darkness, but it was still building towards this moment.

This episode was probably the best so far.

Yes I expected things to go dark but I also expected a balance between happy and sad moments. As I said, they could've shown us Rachel's body as a cliffhanger in Ep 4. Then we deal with the tornado in Ep 5. Boom. Both dramatic moments dealt with.

I felt there was really no need to introduce this whole serial killer plot that we've already seen in so many other movies/tv series/games. This game was good enough by itself, with its unique indie theme, friendships, time travel powers etc. Now it feels like a bit of a cliché story.

And I can say that I feel cheated out of my money if Ep 1-3 had such a different balance between happy & sad moments than Ep 4. But don't get me wrong, I still love this series. It's just very different from what I expected and I will play it for different reasons now. And some people I know have become quite depressed by it.

[Boss]

Originally posted by Autumnflame:

Life isnt always fair or fun

I know. I actually like it when a story tries to simulate this.

I'll use Game of Thrones as an example to make my point. GRRM wrote the A Song Of Ice And Fire books. These books had some shocking moments, sure, but they were all needed to move the plot forward and offset by lots of hopeful/cheerful moments.
The show writers for the GoT television series seem to have no clue whatsoever what the books are actually about .They go from one shocking moment to another that make no sense and introduce a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of plotholes. They removed pretty much all of the cheerful moments from the books.

I have no problem with any of the sad moments happening in Ep 4. But where are the hopeful/happy moments to provide us with a balance? I'm criticizing Ep 4 not out of personal feelings, but from a storytelling perspective. It's bad storytelling imo when you don't have this balance. It makes the shocks feel cheap the longer you continue and it makes the story feel too depressing and thus unrealistic. Even real-life is not usually this bad (and a lot of people play games/watch tv to escape real-life).

[Remy]

Originally posted by Bas:

Originally posted by Autumnflame:

Life isnt always fair or fun

I know. I actually like it when a story tries to simulate this.

I'll use Game of Thrones as an example to make my point. GRRM wrote the A Song Of Ice And Fire books. These books had some shocking moments, sure, but they were all needed to move the plot forward and offset by lots of hopeful/cheerful moments.
The show writers for the GoT television series seem to have no clue whatsoever what the books are actually about .They go from one shocking moment to another that make no sense and introduce a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of plotholes. They removed pretty much all of the cheerful moments from the books.

I have no problem with any of the sad moments happening in Ep 4. But where are the hopeful/happy moments to provide us with a balance? I'm criticizing Ep 4 not out of personal feelings, but from a storytelling perspective. It's bad storytelling imo when you don't have this balance.

There are numerous happy moments in EP4:

- Visiting Kate
- Max returning to OG timeline
- Spending time with alternate Chloe (before the heartbreaking decision of course)

Though I'm not sure if it balances it out for you. It's obviously meant to be a dark episode in general.

[ParkTheMonkey]

Originally posted by Rylos:

Well episode 4 is basically the climax of the season, so of course you're not going to have as many happy moments. Everything starts coming together in this episode and all of the plot lines are starting to conclude or come together.

You can't say that you feel cheated out of money for not expecting the game to get this dark. You knew from the start that Rachel was missing, that a hurricane was going to destroy the town, and that something is wrong in Arcadia Bay. Sure the first three episodes delayed this darkness, but it was still building towards this moment.

This episode was probably the best so far.

Yeah it's standard story telling formula for a story to turn darker towards the middle/end. Harry Potter started out fairly innocent but got much darker, however the ending was happy, which will probably be the case for LIS. DONTNOD said they hope the game helps people to "grow", a depressing ending wouldn't really have that effect.

[ThatMcFlyGuy]

Originally posted by Virtuoso:

Originally posted by Rylos:

Well episode 4 is basically the climax of the season, so of course you're not going to have as many happy moments. Everything starts coming together in this episode and all of the plot lines are starting to conclude or come together.

You can't say that you feel cheated out of money for not expecting the game to get this dark. You knew from the start that Rachel was missing, that a hurricane was going to destroy the town, and that something is wrong in Arcadia Bay. Sure the first three episodes delayed this darkness, but it was still building towards this moment.

This episode was probably the best so far.

Yeah it's standard story telling formula for a story to turn darker towards the middle/end. Harry Potter started out fairly innocent but got much darker, however the ending was happy, which will probably be the case for LIS. DONTNOD said they hope the game helps people to "grow", a depressing ending wouldn't really have that effect.

Oh god, I seriously hope so. I will be able to get through all that dark ♥♥♥♥ in episode 5 as long as I get a happy Chloe+Max ending. :/

[Autumnflame]

I think they are doing a good job.
THe darness isnt darkness for darkness sake.
it fits within the story and for the most part is a reflection of RL things that people deal with.
Which is good

[ParkTheMonkey]

Originally posted by aldimon:

Originally posted by Virtuoso:

Yeah it's standard story telling formula for a story to turn darker towards the middle/end. Harry Potter started out fairly innocent but got much darker, however the ending was happy, which will probably be the case for LIS. DONTNOD said they hope the game helps people to "grow", a depressing ending wouldn't really have that effect.

Oh god, I seriously hope so. I will be able to get through all that dark ♥♥♥♥ in episode 5 as long as I get a happy Chloe+Max ending. :/

Also LIS is aimed mostly at younger audiences, so I don't think DONTNOD would go too heavy on the depression as it could really mess with someones state of mind, teenagers have to deal with some of the themes we've seen in the game, I think DONTNOD would want to end positive to show young people that life isn't as bleak as some people think.

[Remy]

Originally posted by Virtuoso:

Originally posted by aldimon:

Oh god, I seriously hope so. I will be able to get through all that dark ♥♥♥♥ in episode 5 as long as I get a happy Chloe+Max ending. :/

Also LIS is aimed mostly at younger audiences, so I don't think DONTNOD would go too heavy on the depression as it could really mess with someones state of mind, teenagers have to deal with some of the themes we've seen in the game, I think DONTNOD would want to end positive to show young people that life isn't as bleak as some people think.

Well it certainly isn't going to be a happy ending, more like bittersweet/melancholy.

[Gibbs]

This episode was super depressing for sure, but I wouldn't ever say that I feel cheated out of my money. Whether an episode leaves you feeling happy or sad, you can't deny that it is a powerful emotional experience that the devs constructed, and I am glad to be experiencing this game.

[ParkTheMonkey]

Originally posted by ReminemRapperChef:

Originally posted by Virtuoso:

Also LIS is aimed mostly at younger audiences, so I don't think DONTNOD would go too heavy on the depression as it could really mess with someones state of mind, teenagers have to deal with some of the themes we've seen in the game, I think DONTNOD would want to end positive to show young people that life isn't as bleak as some people think.

Well it certainly isn't going to be a happy ending, more like bittersweet/melancholy.

Well you can't really know that for certain.

[Remy]

Originally posted by Virtuoso:

Originally posted by ReminemRapperChef:

Well it certainly isn't going to be a happy ending, more like bittersweet/melancholy.

Well you can't really know that for certain.

True, but EP5 will likely carry the same dark themes over from EP4 so that's why I think so. :P

[Autumnflame]

Yes things are bleak at the moment.
But we have a time travel power still and i assume the chance to make this right.
depending on how you acted earlier in the game.
( saving kate being one example. )