Okay first things first. Life is Strange is an episodic game by a smallish developer, which focuses on story in a similar way to the Telltalge games. Some might say that games like these are more along the lines of interactive movies than actual games, calling it walking simulators and such, but personally I think this is a full blown (point & Click) adventure game. If you don't like any of those this game might not be for you. However you might miss one of the best games of the last years in my opinion.

Graphics and Technology
Let's start with the biggest downside of Life is Strange. Sure, the visuals are colorful most of the time and can be stunning, but most of the time they lack in detail. Animations are sometimes stuck in the uncanny valley and at other times they don't even make it there. The textures and backgrounds can seem blurry as if washed-out and effects within the game like weather seem rather stylized than realistic. This is not entirely bad though, it just gives Life is Strange a distinctly comic-like indie feel, and if you looked at the trailers or pictures you wouldn't have expected a Call of Duty in terms of graphics any way. Aside from that the the more technological side seems fine. I had no bugs or crashes with this game. You can play it with a controller, yet there are some situations were using the Steam Controller made the controls awkward and almost impossible. I'd maybe suggest playing this with keyboard and mouse.

Sound and Voices
The voice-overs are great. For most characters they fit perfectly and helped a great deal to identify with certain characters. With others they showed depth and emotion in a way which is sadly not exactly common in some games. The same can be said for the sound. Even though the soundtrack doesn't contain the best background music ever and can have that indie feel again I personally liked it a lot. It captured the ups and downs of the life of a young adult in a very good way, setting the mood even for scenes that invoke feelings you might not now you had. Don't expect a hollywood blockbuster here either though.

Story
Finally it's time for the most important bit. The story is where Life is Strange shines, which was to be expected from a game like this as well as developer Dontnod (known for "Remember Me"). Yes, this game is a story centered about time travel with mostly adolescent characters. The first usually means it gets convoluted with more plot holes than a swiss cheese, while the latter just states the game itself wants to be hip, while reeking of high-school drama. In a way both of this is true. Without spoilering the content you will see bullying, cliques with the cool kids and teachers that ignore problems, while travelling forward and backward in time like mad.

However I found no fault with the narrative and even enjoyed the back and forth of the characters, despite the to be expected teen angst. Even though some of the dialogues seemed a bit cringy thanks to their word choice that almost seemed to scream hip cool teen. But maybe I should summarize a bit why I think Life is Strange is one of the best games ever. Maxine Caulfield the protagonist of this game is a young girl interested in photography and seems like the usual shy awkward teen with not enough confidence, neither in herself, nor her creative work. At some point she has a vision and after a dangerous encounter in the bathroom she discovers that she can rewind time.

From there one the game relies on your time manipulation powers making it an integral part of almost every interaction. Did you at some point think "oh it would be so cool if I could save, rewind time and then choose differently"? Heck with all the multiple endings of video games nowadays it's pretty common to look at other decisions. Life is Strange makes this easy. Confronted with a choice you usually will look at one outcome and then are allowed to rewind time and choose differently. Sometimes this opens up new dialogues of things you couldn't have known before, sometimes it even allows you to save lives.

A mysterious story about meeting old friends, lost girls, psycho kidnappers, catastrophies, time and particularly hard moral choices unfolds from there. Trying to do the right thing you might fail, or discover that you only made it worse and you will learn the hard way what a butterly effect truly can do. There are some choices which don't have an impact on the game at all, yet there some which come back to bite you in the end. Nevertheless there are only two endings and like some choices within the game neither seems great or easy, instead they are emotionally and deep like the game itself.