Life Is Strange (A Narrative Analysis)
The following contains major spoilers for Life Is Strange.
It was not too long ago when video games did not need stories. A designer of a game would create a game mechanic then structure a narrative around that mechanic, if there was even a story the designer wanted to tell. But now, games have evolved technologically, and with that, artistically. With new technologies coming to market, designers are more free to create an interesting medium different than any other. However, games are notorious for having laughable or non-existent stories and voice acting, which turns away most players from video games, which is a real shame for the industry as a whole. We have a medium that affords unlimited possibilities for exploring interactive narrative and meaningful gameplay, however we keep going back to John Everyman the Epic Space Marine. However, some games have transcended this boring genre, for better or worse, and has created something very special. This is an essay written for the 2017 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Many games have explored the possibility for nonlinear interactive narrative. Some have succeeded, but others have failed horribly. Life Is Strange is a game by Dontnod about a teenage girl, Max, who realizes she has the power to reverse time and teams up with her childhood friend, Chloe, to solve the disappearance of a missing student and why there is a tornado headed towards their hometown. The game presents itself as an episodic mystery teenage drama that explores themes of bullying, suicide, euthanasia, determinism, loss of innocence and youth, and sexuality.
BREAKDOWN
Within the seemingly simple gameplay of Life Is Strange is a game that delivers a powerful message about choice and how it will affect the lives of others. Unlike other time travel stories, Life Is Strange’s time travel elements are not explained and is much stronger for it. Rather than wasting time discussing what causes the time travel, the game focuses on the characters and the struggles they face. While the game has only two major possible endings, the choices the character makes will greatly determine how the story will unfold. Because the player plays through the perspective of Max, the player will experience the relationships and choices the player makes directly through her eyes and see how it affects her and the people around her. The time travel and clue based puzzles along with dialogue options pushes players into this world and discusses important topics like bullying, suicide, and euthanasia.
Life Is Strange explores the world of the seemingly peaceful town of Arcadia Bay, Oregon. The game provides the player a town to explore and interact with that seems innocent, but has a dark underlying theme. The game provides juxtaposition between the moments of calm and exploration and the moments of gut wrenching and emotionally intense scenes, which make those moments all the more meaningful and effective. As the events of the story unfold, Max quickly learns that there is much more going on in Arcadia Bay than what it seems at first glance, and Max quickly tries to uncover what is happening while trying to keep her personal and educational life in check. The game does this by providing gameplay that primarily involves dialogue trees, exploration, and puzzle solving either through dialogue or to progression through the story.
The heuristics of the game that the player creates are contextual to the situation the player is in. The player’s heuristics in a dialogue branch is to select the correct dialogue options to get what the player or Max desires. However, the ultimate long term heuristic is to play the story and see how the game narrative concludes. The game uses the short term heuristics to help progress the story as a whole or to explore the other characters of Arcadia Bay. These secondary heuristics are optional, but are provided to help enhance the player’s understanding of the narrative and the world it takes place, the long term heuristic. Life Is Strange uses the Catharsis Engagement Theme and the game structure does not afford a real victory condition to the game and is strictly uses narrativism. Therefore, all the engagement created by the game is purely for the emotional and transformative catharsis that the game’s narrative provides.
Most of the game’s choices are not morally binary and are presented to be morally gray. They are not designed to be right or wrong answers, but choices between what Max wants and what others want, which quickly becomes an important theme and is contextual to the last decision of the game. Chloe’s character throughout the story evolves from being selfish and stubborn to being a great friend and companion, and when the narrative comes to a close, she will lose her selfish attitude for the benefit of the ones she loves. Max’s journey takes her to several locations and themes. She begins the story as a shy introvert who wants to be cool and popular. But throughout the game, she is encountered with friendship issues, moral dilemmas, and life threatening events that strengthen her character so that when the end of the game arrives, she would’ve learned about the power of friendship, sacrifice, and the potential dangers of using time to get what you want.
HIGHLIGHT
What this game does better than most games on the market is character development. Character development and powerful parasocial relationships, or the one way relationships between the player and the character in the game, with the characters are crucial to any game’s story that needs to have engaging and relatable characters. In most video games, characters are defined by a single archetype. The character of Chloe Price is exceptionally well developed and her character is entertaining. She has complex emotions that makes her feel more human and more likable. The player gets to see her laugh, cry, get angry, have fun, and be romantic with someone. That is why when the final decision in the game comes, most players cannot decide what to do. At the end of the game, the tornado is about to wipe out the city and Max realizes that the tornado was created because Max caused time to change. It is then that Chloe realizes that she must stop Max from ever using her power to help save the city. Max must go back in time when Max first used her power to save Chloe and stop herself from doing so. The player must then choose whether to sacrifice Chloe or sacrifice Arcadia Bay. If the player chooses to sacrifice Arcadia Bay, Chloe will live, but the majority of the people in Arcadia Bay will die. If the player chooses to sacrifice Chloe, Chloe will die and the player will watch as all the memories between Chloe and Max fade away, but Arcadia Bay will survive. While this does provide an emotionally intense ending that successfully ties up all the narrative elements of the game and takes Max to the end of her character arc, the other ending does not provide these elements and creates an unsatisfying conclusion. However, without powerful and effective development of Chloe’s character, the final choice of the game is meaningless.
LESSONS
Creating player agency using choice can create a great emotional impact on the player and create a different experience for the player.
◦ If a narrativist is playing, or someone who values the narrative of the game more than the other elements of the game, choice in video games make the player feel in control of the story, and therefore, feel responsible for what happens. When the character is confronted with a moral choice, they feel a greater emotional impact on the outcome than any film or book can create. In Life Is Strange, there is a moment when Max encounters Chloe, who is terminally ill, and she asks you to euthanize her. The player is then given the option to accept or decline her request. If the player accepts this request, the player will feel responsible for Chloe’s death and therefore has a greater emotional reaction to the choice. This makes these choices difficult and why the game freezes time to allow the player time to think.
The power of character development and parasocial relationships can make or break how the player engages with the character.
◦ Character development and parasocial relationships are important in any game and can be the difference between the player caring about your characters or not. The choice where Chloe asks Max to euthanize her would be meaningless if the player did not care about Chloe or her feelings. If the relationship with characters are not strong enough, then the choices in the game become meaningless.
CONCLUSION
Life Is Strange skillfully uses a combination of catharsis and exploration to create a compelling narrative for the player to enjoy. The game creates meaningful and engaging heuristics to immerse the player into the rich world of Arcadia Bay and the lives of Max and Chloe. The game’s narrative uses parasocial relationships and character development to make us relate to and enjoy the characters Dontnod created and ultimately care about their experiences and troubles. The game gives the player agency through the choices the game provides, by doing so the player has a stronger emotional reaction to the content than what could be possible in a non-interactive medium. Finally, Life Is Strange juxtaposes the calm and exploration moments from the intense and emotional moments so that those moments become increasingly powerful. Dontnod uses these elements to create an emotional roller coaster that keeps players engaged as the game snowballs to the end.
