Life is Strange: Farewell - I'm Not Crying, You're Crying

Due to starting a full time job, I have unfortunately been neglecting this pokey little blog. I'm still planning on posting every Wednesday, though the articles may be shorter than usual. This will be starting today, with a quick look into the final chapter of one of my favourite games.

As I've previously written, I don't think I've played a game quite like Life is Strange. They have become my go to for a nostalgic trip back to the endless summers and carefree antics of my teenage years. The music, the style, and some of the plot lines come together to create a wonderful mental trip back in time.

Deck Nine have done incredibly well in continuing this with the prequel season, Before the Storm, and yesterday they released a bonus episode called "Farewell" to complete the Max and Chloe story arch, starting at the beginning of their story. The day Max leaves for Seattle. As I said in my Before the Storm review, I wanted to write a little piece about this bonus episode as it completes the Pricefield saga.

-=[Here be spoilers]=-

Getting Hannah Telle and Ashley Burch back to voice Max and Chloe for one last time is a delight. The chemistry the two shared from the first game is still there and it sounds like they are having a good time whilst recording. They embody the souls of their respective characters, even though they are portraying them five years prior to the events of the main game. Seeing Max and Chloe back in their pirate days is a joy too, using Chloe's house and garden as a stage for one final voyage for treasure.

The environments are small but incredibly well detailed, something that has changed from the rest of the season. Deck Nine hadn't made the rest of Before the Storm feel as lived in, but here they have gone to town, with Max exploring through the Price's attic and perusing Chloe's room for memento's.

But these details slowly begin to reveal how this one last adventure will turn out, and someone who is particularly observant will notice them straight away. Some are subtle, some are more overt. The finale is the most heartbreaking moment of Life is Strange, and Deck Nine pulled it off spectacularly. If this series has taught its fans by now, there's no such thing as a happy ending, and Deck Nine has been keen to remind us of that.

The episode also features some of the best animations the series has seen so far - a step above the improvements to lip syncing from the rest of Before the Storm. Body animations and cutscenes are far better, back to the original's standards, which is great because they needed to be in order to get the tone of the afternoon just right.

Whilst Dontnod have gone on record in saying Life is Strange will return, in the end, "Farewell" is the perfect, bittersweet goodbye that Max and Chloe deserved. A soulful, charming, and meaningful exploration of a relationship that has endured tragedy and manipulations of space-time that will forever remain on my top ten list.