[spoiler]I played LIS2 first, LIS1 later and I love LIS2 more.

[:3]

I'm not writing this to make some huge controversy or something. My English is not even good.
I think both games are great but I just want to share my feelings because It's funny to see my feelings about LIS1 and most of fans' feelings about LIS2 are very similar.

Here are some reasons I loved LIS2 but couldn't do LIS1. Just read it for fun.
Feeling it's too long text then go to the last paragraph.


1. From LIS2, " I would give anything to change what happened, but I can't " line and main theme that you have to take every unexpected things from your stupid mistakes really got me. Also, how you interact with people around you doesn't always go way you expected.

But right after I learned Max can rewind, I thought 'wow, then what all the choices and consequences mean? I can get best answer in the end anyway.' and I couldn't play LIS1 sincerely like I did in LIS2. All the people around Max felt like literally NPC saying same thing again and again.

2. Since my first ending was 'lone wolf', I felt like part of me died. And I played much more hours and saw every ending and now, Sean is like my missing family and even listening to soundtracks makes me feel all the emotional moments he had to gone through. I mean, I totally put myself into Sean's shoes. but I couldn't do that to Max.
(so funny to see people love Max but hate Sean. I hate Daniel too btw.)

2-1. I loved 'circumstances or life itself are main villains' theme in LIS2 but I encountered some cliche highschool bad guys in LIS1. Victoria or Nathan didn't look like real threat to her, just 'of course your father is rich, own the school, but low self esteem, etc.' characters. (I'm not american citizen nor lived in Nevada but I felt all the fear, anger, frustration in the scene where Sean meets Chad on the contrary. it was real off the game moment to me.)

2-2. Girls have home ,food, family, friends, full body parts and even they can make a love.
Sean had to be a father(not what he wanted. he just wanted to go to the party) and had to learn all the responsibility, sacrifice during all the nonsense world is giving him. With a brother you didn't ask for, who never goes way you wanted. I thought those are realistic and heavy.
but conflicts and worries in LIS1 teenager life felt like not deep enough.
Sean lost his eye and brother because he just wanted to make a little happy moment with Cassidy or Finn. that happening gave Sean guilty and I could understand why Sean gives everything to get him back in episode 4.(so sad) and also, I could understand why Daniel wants to believe what Lisbeth says because he got his own trauma too. he's young and wants to think he's not a people killing evil, but a God's gift. but after those dark hours of LIS2, watching Chloe whining because Max got Kate's call was so teenage stuff.

2-3. I really loved character lines from various social base or age in LIS2 but most of teenager lines from LIS1 was like cringe to me. like.. Imaginary teenage girl talks from 40 years old dude. (I only had to endure that prologue only in LIS2)

2-4. I felt Max-Chloe relationship too idealistic. I prefer Sean's responsibility to Daniel. 'not always cute' brother to someone you can sacrifice everything. Sometimes feeling sad to understand what he wants to be. Always tried best but stupid mistakes. like most parents do. but I've never seen someone had friendship like Max-Chloe had in my real life. If it's definition of friendship, I don't have any friend. that's so perfect human being match.

so I couldn't focus on Max. just thinking 'Sean was like my another ego. but Max is far from that.'

3. Endings. whatever or however you did in the playthrough, you can choose final decision depend on your thoughts in LIS1. but 'maybe you had your own best ending, but life is strange so never always goes that way' style LIS2 ending got me more.(BUT cmon, surrender kills Sean was.. too way off. writers. I'm still traumatized. I just didn't want to suppress Daniel like Claire did to Karen or my parents did. I wanted him what he wanted to be. I just showed respect to his power which I don't have. and I was afraid of being shot.)

Now I know both games have same theme that 'every choice follow sacrifice'. but I can understand people just saying LIS2 sucks even before they finish the game or LIS2 has stupid storyline or characters. I almost deleted LIS1 in episode 1 because characters seemed flat and conflicts and puzzles felt stupid and meaningless. I wasn't interested in finding Rachel or revealing secrets. 'How is it the main suspense of this game? playing detective for boring teenage life?' And felt literally nothing until I see Chloe in a wheelchair.(even when Kate tried to jump off, I knew I can help her with Max' power so... another puzzle thingy. not some heavy and dark tragic life vibe.) Me hoping to feel something until episode 3 with cringe face kinda similar to people saying LIS2 was boring af.

Summary :
My point is not criticizing LIS1. Both are great games. Only taste matters. just wanted to show LIS2 is great too especially played LIS2 first. It's so sad when I watch people being way too tough on LIS2 while praising LIS1. I agree that making random racists and Daniel into conflict-maker was lazy writing but LIS1 was boring to me anyway. One is about parenting, the other is about friendship or love I think. both about sacrifice. and life is so sad even with super power.

[julian.varanel]

Ultimately, I ended up feeling much the same way. While I thoroughly enjoyed LiS 1, I never really connected with either Max or Chloe. And that has nothing to do with them being bad characters..quite the contrary. As a person, I'm just very different from either of them. As for the brothers, I liked Sean quite a lot. Granted he's a lot more laconic than I am, but I could still relate to him. I liked Daniel in episodes 1, 2 and 5..and not quite so much in 3 and 4.

I've stated in other posts and I'll state it here again: LiS 2 needed to have more continuing characters. We needed more time with Lyla and Brody from Ep1. Certainly more time with the grandparents. Seriously, nearly a decade of separation between Sean and them warranted more time than we got. Same with the drifters. While I enjoyed Ep 4 well enough ( I viewed it more as a spiritual journey for Sean than anything else), I think it would have been much better if your love interest from Ep 3..if you chose one..could have gone with you. While I didn't mind the changing locations of LiS 2, it needed more ongoing characters to interact with.

Final thought: if there is to be a LiS 3...please, please..stop with the rigid need to follow a 5 episode format. If the story can be told in 3, great..do that. If you need 7 or 10..then do that. A good example of what I mean from LiS 2: if you agree to do the heist, you can, by playing carefully, actually get to the safe without being noticed by either Big Joe or Merrill. All Daniel needed to do was take the safe out quietly, put it on the truck and the guys drive off. They can open it later away from everyone. By rights, they should have succeeded with the heist. But because the plot has to move forward to fit some 5 episode format, it has to fail.

I think it would have been better to have a chance to actually pull off the heist...that would honor the players actions and choices. And if you're not rigidly following some 5 episode format, you'd have the time to show the fallout and ramifications of the heist in the next episode.

So, yeah..either ditch the entire notion of episodic content (preferable) or, if you won't do that, then at least don't limit the story by making it fit some arbitrary number of episodes. The games, and the story, would be better served.