Life is Strange: Episode 1 - Chrysalis

 PlayStation 3
Metascore
tbd

No score yet - based on 2 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. GameCritics
    Feb 11, 2015
    80
    What I can say is that the concept of rewinding and rewriting has much potential. If it delivers genuine variances based on player decisions, there could be many interesting outcomes, but it's too early to tell how much Effect the Butterflies will have.
  2. Polygon
    Jan 29, 2015
    80
    Despite its shortcomings, there's a powerful kind of nostalgia I draw from its characters and world.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 65 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 65
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 65
  3. Negative: 6 out of 65
  1. jtlats
    Feb 8, 2015
    10
    Played the demo thinking it might be cool. As soon as it ended I bought the full pack deal.
    The reverse time game play is cool not just    Played the demo thinking it might be cool. As soon as it ended I bought the full pack deal.
    The reverse time game play is cool not just because you can change your answers but also because some times you don't know which one is right. You answer X, rewind, answer Y, and the reaction doesn't seem to be much of a difference.

    The graphic style also works amazingly well! Some games spout "Realistic!" and this game doesn't need that.

    If you want to give it a shot, the demo works great and if you decide to buy it restarts right then and there where you left it off so no need to replay through! Although you might want to so you can see what the differences are in choices!    … Full Review »
  2. Heisenberg93
    Feb 19, 2018
    8
    I've heard a lot about Life is Strange. Some have praised it saying it's an unforgettable experience, while others have pointed out someI've heard a lot about Life is Strange. Some have praised it saying it's an unforgettable experience, while others have pointed out some flaws, however claiming it's good. Although the game was released 3 years ago, only recently I played it and this is what I think of Episode 1 - Chrysalis.

    Gameplay isn't particularly special, there's just some of it, but it's indeed this way these "modern graphic adventures/interactive movies" want to be. However, it's interesting the ability to rewind time and that the protagonist is aware of this mechanics to see what happens, acquire information, then rewind and change a situation that could have ended in an other way. It's a bit like knowing a reaction from a character, making a mistake or an unsatisfactory choice and reloading the game... except that in Life is Strange don't need reloading the game, just rewinding time. A nice find.

    Very beautiful music, but technically the game is nothing more than acceptable, it's true that it has its own graphic style, and it's nice, but considering is moved by a technological prodigy like Unreal Engine, I expected more. And on PS4 – to make a comparison with PS3 – the situation doesn't seem to improve much, except for some better-defined textures and smoother shadows.

    I'm quite convinced that 10, 15 or 20 years ago, such a game would have provoked less immersion for players around the world. In a sense, the network, the Internet of our modern times, has unified what is the collective imaginary of at least two generations, amalgamating it, making some elements common also to people often very distant from each other, in different countries or different continents, of different cultures. It is no coincidence that the game designers are Europeans, who have built a mainly American reality. I am very critical of both my generation ("Millennials") and even more of the one came after ("Digital natives") – which in my part of the world are often defined as "an electrocuted generation". Therefore, knowing very well both generations, I am very critical also in their reconstructions, in the way they are represented and I have to say it: Life is Strange succeeds. It's not just an amalgamation of stereotypes – that wrongly or rightly, they exist – but an efficient picture of a reality, which is now distant to me and which I have never lived in that very way, personally, but certainly that has been painted with good methodology. Dontnod, knowing that they had to raise interest already with a pilot episode which then would became a series – like a TV series – succeeded to build very well the reality of Arcadia Bay, the protagonist, Maxine Caulfield, and all the other elements that revolve around this first episode. The setting, the events and the personal stories are intriguing, the episode invites to discover more, to go to the bottom of the story. Then I really appreciated the many references to the cinema – which, paradoxically, the younger ones will hardly understand.

    There's something big moving at Arcadia Bay, this first episode manages to make it clear, yet to reveal very little. It's a very good start and I can not wait to know what's going on.    … Full Review »
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