Life is Strange Wiki – Everything you need to know about the game

Life is strange is an upcoming episodically released video game based on a brand new IP that is currently being developed by DONTNOD, the developers that previously developed the 2013 neo-Paris futuristic cyber punk action adventure game, Remember Me. The game was first announced by the titles publishers, Square Enix, of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Hitman fame.

Currently being developed as a cross generational game, DONTNOD are currently set to release the game across the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC, the game will not be available at retail upon release due to the fact that it’s following a business model similar to that adopted by TellTale Games for their, The Walking Dead series, meaning it will be released in individual “episodes” rather than as a complete product. Whether or not the game will see a retail release upon the series completion, similar to The Walking Dead, remains to be seen and has not yet been commented on.

Despite the fact that the game has been announced for a digital download cross generational release, there has been no information put forth regarding a possible release date for the title, it did however make an appearance at Gamescom 2014 in Cologne Germany.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

The development cycle for Life is Strange has been somewhat quiet in regards to publicised information. The reason for this isn’t entirely clear, but it’s worth noting that the game could just be developing nicely with nothing of note having happened that warranted publication. What is strange though, is the manner in which DONTNOT are approaching the games public image. At the time of writing and thus, the time of the games development, the video game industry is rife with debate about sexism, (amongst other things) specifically in video games.

DONTNOT’s previous game Remember Me features a female lead role and so does Life is Strange. But rather than accepting the good grace of the video game industry and the consumers therein, the games creative director Jean-Maxime Moris said “That’s not us trying to be different for the sake of being different,”…”It’s not as if we’re trying to ‘fix the industry.'” during a demo at Gamescom. Whether this was just a lapse in PR or a miscommunication on his part remains to be seen, but he did try to elaborate on it by saying that Life is Strange is more than just “a game with a girl in it.”

Other than that odd handling of a rather divisive topic, the development cycle for Life is Strange has gone on, seemingly fine. We now know that the game is being developed for a number of platforms including the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC. The game was given a demo at Gamescom 2014 in Cologne Germany.

One titbit that Square Enix did feel inclined to share with us is that every texture in Life is Strange is a hand drawn texture. It’s not much, but it’s something.

Story

As far as the story goes, we know very little about the game, but Square Enix has promised that Life is Strange is going to be something “wholly different” when compared to any other projects they have ever worked on, regarding both gameplay and narrative.

What we know so far is that Max, our protagonist, is a 17 year old girl with an aptitude for photography that has been away from home for around 5 years. Max (surname, Caulfield) returns home to find that one of her classmates has “disappeared under mysterious and rather uncomfortable circumstances.”

Hoping to discover the truth of the matter, Max reunites with an old rebellious friend by the name of Chloe. It’s around this time that Max discovers her talents reach beyond photography and into the realm of the supernatural.

Gameplay

Players take control of Max. A 17 year old girl with an eye for good photography. Max is in possession of supernatural powers, she has the ability to rewind time for a few seconds. What hasn’t been explained yet is whether or not this power can be activated at any point in time or only when the game requires you to do so.

With the crux of the game being that it’s based loosely on the butterfly effect, a select example of general chaos theory, choice and action is what alters the game world; the player can let things unfold one way then rewind time and change the outcome. But changing the outcome will of course alter all the things that will happen in the future, thus causing the cycle to repeat.

Characters

What we know about the plot so far, is that it concerns 3 characters.

Max Caulfield – A 17 year old student with a passion for photography that returns home to find a classmate has mysteriously vanished.

Chloe – Chloe is Max’s friend with a rebellious streak. She has a rather abrasive attitude and a habit of smoking marijuana.

The Missing Classmate – A classmate of Max’s that has “disappeared under mysterious and rather uncomfortable circumstances.”

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.