Life Is Strange Episode 1 Going Free Tomorrow
Time-twisting teen 'em up
The full first episode of Life Is Strange [official site] will tomorrow be set free forever. We've written a lot about one of our favourite games of 2015, about individual episodes astheyeachcameout and giving them the Fail Forward and Cogwatch treatments and... it's weird to be thinking about Episode 1 again. Now knowing where Life Is Strange was going and what it would become, I want to add disclaimers like "Look, Episode 1 is awkward but it really does find itself, okay." I'm weirdly protective.
Let's briefly rewind. Life Is Strange is an episodic adventure game in the Telltale-ish style, made by Remember Me devs Dontnod Entertainment. LIS is about a teenager at an art school in Oregon who suddenly and unexpectedly gains time travel powers. Joining up with her childhood best friend, they try to solve mysteries ranging from a missing friend to the glimpsed future in which a tornado destroys their town. They investigate, they get into trouble, they rekindle their friendship, ahhh it's all very nice. A teen melodrama with time travel.
Square Enix previously released a demo with the very start of the first episode but this will be the whole thing. Presumably the rest of the season will be discounted to make up for a fifth going free.
Looking at the stats now, there's a 47/53 split on the final episode's big final decision. For a choose 'em up adventure game, a balance like that is mighty impressive - especially given my conviction that the other 47% are massively wrong. It comes to feel personal, this.
Here's a wee new trailer introducing Life Is Strange:
