Life is Strange is a highly interactive episodic game that plays on the ideas of time. It’s a choice-based story game that follows a main character - Max. Max is a high school photography student that discovers she can manipulate and rewind time in order to avoid tragic or dangerous events and solve strange things happening in Arcadia Bay. Released in 2015 by DONTNOD Entertainment, it has 5 episodes (or “chapters”) with the second installment and prequel “Before the Storm” (this time by Deck Nine) releasing in 2017 which follows Chloe instead.
Interactive storytelling is used which makes the narrative as a whole is directed by the player. Since the game is to be dictated by the players choices, the settings and architecture of the game not only have to be able to translate the foundations of the storyline - which without it, could be confusing and possibly neverending - but they would have to lend itself to the player by being as interactive as possible. Without such a level of interactivity the label ‘game’ would be debatable as some have labelled it as an “interactive movie”. A major feature of the game is in the way the developers approached the visuals. The stylistic choices make for a very aesthetically pleasing visual, making it more intriguing to explore. The atmosphere created makes for a very autumnal, tired and lived-in environment which is reflective of the mood and themes of the narrative. The settings have been designed to replicate a small town environment, with run down buildings, historical campuses, small homes, beat up cars, etc. which all work together and despite being a content-rich setting, each aspect has a purpose within the storyline which makes for effective environment storytelling. Players explore places such as the Blackwell campus and dorms, the junkyard and diner of Arcadia looking for clues, making connections, collecting photographs and putting pieces together as they gain more and more information that helps them determine their decisions. As the player progresses through the episodes, there are many subtle changes in the environment. For example buildings can look more run down, rooms can be more cluttered, the “weather” can be more grim making colours more muted and lighting more stark in contrast. All of this is changes depending on the reality created by the players choices and how often they make Max rewind and manipulate time which then contributes to the narrative. This pared with the interactiveness of the settings makes for a very interesting and varied gameplay. The environment not only tells a story but are made to be interacted with. Through the environment clues are picked up, objects can be used and puzzles can be solved to get out of sticky situations. As the player navigates Max through places, items or people are highlighted to show that they are able to be interacted with, picked-up or used. Max also has her notebook and camera which the player can often refer to for diary entries, text messages, character profiles and photographs. Overall, the thought and work put towards every detail in “set” design, colour and lighting of the environment is evident and greatly enhances the gameplay experience. Every aspect is intertwined, from the themes of time to the under-lining connection of photography, and makes for a very pleasing game not only to play but to create and experience. |
World design theory (WDT)DevelopersThe goal of this blog is to relate current and past attempts at world design to further improve our understanding. Archives
October 2017
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