Board 8 > Just started Life is Strange

(+) Yeah! (+)

@Robazoid

This may or may not be a playthrough topic

As I started off I'm near a lighthouse during a huge storm. I then wake up in a photography class. This professor seems like he's kind of a dick.

How important are the decisions I make in the game? Do I have to be careful about them or does it not really matter?

Also jeeze your character walks super slowly
---

I went out into the hall and got to hear Max's internal monologue about all of her schoolmates and random posters on the wall. I assumed this was college before, but I guess this looks more like a high school? Eventually I make my way to the bathroom where Max rips up her old photo and decides to take a new pic of a butterfly that flew in. Immediately after she snaps the photo a guy comes in and starts muttering to himself and generally seeming pretty psychotic. Sure enough, shortly after another girl comes in and threatens to expose the fact that the (apparently rich) guy is a drug dealer he pulls a gun on her and shoots her. Max rushes out from behind the stall and then... rewinds time or something? We're back in Mr. Jefferson's class.
---

I'm here, and hella hyped!

LordoftheMorons posted...

How important are the decisions I make in the game?

This is hard to answer without spoilers. I'll just say that most of the choices matter in some way (some far more than others, obviously) but you don't need to stress over them or anything. Just play the game naturally

LordoftheMorons posted...

Also jeeze your character walks super slowly

I'm pretty sure they tell you what the 'trot faster' button is right after the part you were on when you posted, so you probably found it already
---

It's a private school for seniors and Max gets a run button. And your choices matter but you get second run at nearly all of them through time travel.
---

Oh, since you actually just started and didn't make the topic after beating Episode One like most people, my actual advice is to try not to rush. For example, you're coming up on an area where it's possible to run straight through without seeing or doing anything, but you'd miss out on several minor choices and twenty minutes of conversations. You don't need to see every little detail, but make sure to take a look around!

Max also has a journal and I'd really recommend reading the initial entries. It updates throughout the game too if you're interested but those first entries provide a lot of background to the characters and setting.
---

Robazoid posted...

Max also has a journal and I'd really recommend reading the initial entries. It updates throughout the game too if you're interested but those first entries provide a lot of background to the characters and setting.

I actually just found and read this!
---

I went and stopped Nathan from killing the blue haired girl by pulling the fire alarm (after abusing time travel to correctly answer Mr. Jefferson's questions) and then reported Nathan to the principle. Doesn't seem like he's too keen on pissing off the school's donors, though!

Going outside I talked to some people to learn about the missing girl, Rachel. One girl claimed that Rachel had slept with Jefferson. Gross. I also didn't sign Ms. Grant's petition and let Daniel draw me, both of which will apparently have future ramifications.
---

I use my newly obtained time travel powers to ruin Victoria's sweater and a few other very minor things and eventually retrieve Warren's flashdrive. When I get to the parking lot and hand it back to Warren it becomes apparent that he likes Max. Sorry Warren, but we won't be reciprocating!

Shortly into our conversation, however, Nathan the psychotic rich kid comes to try and get revenge for the fact that I reported him to the principal. Warren tries to protect Max, but things are looking pretty dicey until Max is saved by the blue haired girl from before, who, it turns out, is Max's old friend Chloe. We abandon Warren and get the hell out of there.

Chloe is upset that Max apparently hasn't contacted her in five years despite the fact that they presumably used to be best friends. She forgives her pretty quickly though, and we head off to Chloe's house to fix Max's camera.
---

Sorry Warren, but we won't be reciprocating!

only important choice in the game and you got it right
---

I'm Chloe's house it's revealed that Chloe is the one who's been putting up all of he missing person posters of Rachel (and it's strongly implied that they were in a relationship). We also find out that Chloe's stepdad is the asshole security guard, David. Down in the garage we discover that David has security cameras set up all over the house. He's also missing a gun (Nathan's?)

After we get the tools and fail to fix Max's camera Chloe gives Max her deceased dad's camera, and then David arrives. After failing to hide in the closet David forces his way into the room, where he discovers Chloe's weed. We take the fall for Chloe, which it is suggested may have some future consequences.
---

We show up at the lighthouse from the beginning of the game. On the way up the path Max gets a text from Warren and replies with "kek." Oh no, she's been infected with whatever Vlado has!

At the summit Chloe reveals that Nathan had drugged and attempted to assault her, but she was able to get away. As we contemplate how to deal with him Max is suddenly transported back to the stormy night with the maelstrom off the coast, apparently headed to destroy Arcadia Bay. We follow a ghost deer up the path (rewinding time several times to avoid being killed by falling trees and lighthouses), eventually finding a newspaper that reveals that this is happening Friday, four days from now. Max tells Chloe about her ability to reverse time but Chloe doesn't buy it. Suddenly it starts snowing despite being 80 degrees out, and we have a montage of all of Arcadia Bay seeing the snow. At the end we see a row of binders with girls' names on them, focusing in on a binder marked "Rachel."

Episode 1 beated!
---

Tag

Only advice is to explore and interact with a lot of stuff, and use the rewind often. Don't do that "oh I want to commit to my first choice" BS. The button is there for a reason.
---

Yeah I've been rewinding whenever it looks like I've made a shitty choice (and also have been trying to look at everything optional)
---

Played a bit more. Apparently we've been researching time travel, and it appears that this game has not taken the effort to get the physics right enough to at least allow me to suspend my disbelief. In an email Warren claims that Pulp Fiction demonstrates the theory of relativity (no) and there's some other bullshit on Max's computer too. After taking a shower Max returns to her room to find it trashed, presumably by Nathan. Kate appears to have been drugged by Nathan as well, and I advised her to report him to the police (which doesn't necessarily seem smart, but I want to see how it plays out). We get some threatening texts, and later more texts from Nathan's father warning us that he'll sue for defamation. Meanwhile Samuel has some photos of Rachel and seems to think that our encounter with the ghost deer is totally normal. We shut down Warren again and then head over to the diner.

We talk to some random people. The Prescott family does not appear to be popular. A cop at the diner doesn't buy the story that Chloe's weed was "a friend's" which seems convenient for us. He also claims that Madsen is an okay guy. I kind of suspect that he's caught a thread of whatever conspiracy is at work here and is actually trying to help out despite his dickish attitude.
---

Oops, finished episode 2, so sparse update:

We prove our time rewinding powers to Chloe, but get a nosebleed at the end. On the way out I ignore Kate's call, and we head over to the junkyard. After a bottle fetch quest Chloe does some time travel-assisted target practice (and we rewind time after she was shot by her own ricocheted bullet), ending with her shooting a car over to crush the last three bottles. Max, however, almost faints, so they take a break.

Shortly after this Frank shows up. He's the RV owner that I saw earlier (but didn't mention), and apparently is owed money by Chloe. After I try to shoot him he leaves, but say's that he'll remember what I did. We head over to the train tracks and lay on them because that sounds super safe. Sure enough a train ends up coming and Max has to rewind to save Chloe yet again. This feels like some Steins; Gate shit here!

Back at school we talk to the principal (who again doesn't believe us) and then David (who once again shifts me further into the position that he's actually a good guy). Kate runs away crying from Mr. Jefferson, and shortly into his class we find out that Kate has gone to the roof of the dorm to commit suicide. Max just barely manages to use her powers to undo her death a few times and get to the roof, where we manage to successfully talk her down.

Back in the principal's office we blame Nathan for what happened rather than David or Jefferson (easy choice) and then sign our statement. Max goes to hang out with Warren (who does not yet realize this isn't going to pan out) to see a freak eclipse. We get another montage where Frank sits with his dog, the principal talks to Jefferson in his car, and another binder is prepared to be added to the shelf, this time with Kate's name (and photo). Could it be Mr. Jefferson...?
---

I'm appreciating the updates! What do you think of LiS so far?

Also, I don't know if you remember, but back in January I did that ranking of every game I played in 2016 and everyone who followed along got to pick a game for me to play in 2017. You chose Dragon Quest V, and I was inspired to finally start it after seeing you play my favorite game. I'm only an hour in, but it's good so far!
---

I'm enjoying it, but it's definitely too early for me to get a sense of how I'd rate it overall. I'm under the impression that the stakes get higher as the game continues, so I'm interested to see what direction the plot takes.

Glad to hear you're liking DQ V! Which version are you playing?
---

I'm playing the DS version. Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know that I started. It might take awhile since I have less time for gaming lately but I'll try to let you know what I thought of it once I've finished too
---

Talking Kate down was probably my favorite part of the game.
---

Tag!

I failed to save Kate...glad to see you were able to. I'll be excited to see how that changes things.
---

Oops, drowned my plant D:
---

After leaving the dorm and sneaking past a drunk principal Wells, we head over to the school with Chloe (who has stolen the keys from David). Here we see Victoria trying and failing to get Jefferson to choose her as the school's rep for the contest and take her to SF to have some "alone time" together. In the school we make (and unmake, via time travel) a pipe bomb to break into Wells' office. There we collect various files. The files on Wells' computer suggest that Nathan might have some serious mental issues, and that he may have worked with David to harass Rachel Amber. Before leaving Chloe discovers a $5000 disability fund in Wells' desk, which we prevent her from taking.
---

We went to swim in the pool, but soon after security entered, somehow having been alerted to our presence. After some rewind-assisted MGS action we escape to Chloe's house.

After waking up, we encounter our next major choice: to kiss or not kiss Chloe. Presumably Chloe is into girls but Max is not; I wonder how this will affect things? I went with the kiss.
---

I find it interesting you ignored Kate's call, but still saved her anyway.
---

I think I answered all of the questions correctly (pointed out her dad loved her, chose the right bible verse, maybe something else I'm forgetting) and erased all of the anti-Kate messages I saw on her board/the bathroom mirror; maybe the call just gives you more leeway?
---

It does but also there is a good bibleverse and a better one. Also it depends on whether you intervened in David's harrassment of her or took pic.
---

LeonhartFour posted...

Talking Kate down was probably my favorite part of the game.

Same. One of my favorite parts of gaming overall this decade.
---

Kate jumping was probably my favorite part of the game, especially since I hated it and felt cheated after it first happened

But a few days later I realized it was supposed to feel that way
---

I remember I got one of them wrong (think I told her not to go to the police, then she didn't like my answer to that) but she was still okay
---

Back at Chloe's house I found David's files; he appears to have been tracking Rachel as well. I sided with David instead of Chloe in their argument, and then we headed off to the diner. At both Chloe's house and the diner there are dead birds everywhere. Do not eat!
---

We rewind time a bunch to interrogate a cop, Nathan, and Frank at the diner (after dying a few times from spilling Franks beer on him and his meal on the floor), and then successfully still the keys to his RV. Upon opening it I can't bring myself to probably kill his dog by throwing the bone into the road, so we only slightly divert him by throwing it into the parking lot. Inside we find proof that Rachel was in a relationship with Frank.

Chloe doesn't exactly take it well and concludes that nobody is on her side, including Max due to our siding with David earlier. Back in Max's room she stares at the photo of her and Chloe back in middle school... and suddenly Max time travels back to when the picture was taken. Time to save William??
---

Indeed, by throwing William's keys into the back yard we're able to prevent him from taking his fatal car ride. Max is transported back to the present, where she's apparently a member of the Vortex Club (and Nathan is apparently not expelled). David is now a bus driver, and the weird animal deaths are ramping up: we see three beached whales. Max heads over to Chloe's house and is greeted by William, who is very much alive. He says that Chloe will be glad to see us... but when she comes over she's in a wheelchair (and I think has had a tracheotomy)?

That's what happens when you fuck with time travel!
---

Oh no, Max's journal has been pretty much erased by the timeline change...!
(Except for the trophy photos, which apparently transcend parallel worlds)

Apparently Chloe uses emoticons in this reality despite hating them before
---

Chloe's medical bills are destroying her family financially, and she's apparently getting worse. We also find a letter from Principal Wells in her room that indicates that he was trying to weasel out of making the school ADA compliant by pushing Chloe out of Blackwell. After getting the morphine for Chloe, she makes a huge request: help her commit suicide by giving her a morphine overdose.

...welp, not sure what I want to do here...
---

Couldn't do it. We leave Chloe alive and use the picture to go back in time once again, this time letting William die and burning the picture of Max and Chloe, I guess so she can't be tempted to change fate again.

...I guess traveling back in time to two years ago to stop Chloe from getting a car would have been too convenient!
---

THOSE WERE MY BEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS

caps
---

DeathChicken posted...

THOSE WERE MY BEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS

caps

Actual best part.
---

DeathChicken posted...

THOSE WERE MY BEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS

caps

I WAS EATING THOSE BEANS
---

LordoftheMorons posted...

Couldn't do it. We leave Chloe alive and use the picture to go back in time once again, this time letting William die and burning the picture of Max and Chloe, I guess so she can't be tempted to change fate again.

...I guess traveling back in time to two years ago to stop Chloe from getting a car would have been too convenient!

Max can only travel to moments where she was present and only through pictures. So even if she had a photo from that time, she was in Seattle when it happened and could have in no way prevented Chloe's accident.

It's implied Arcadia Bay is tied to her powers so she probably can't effect anything during the five years she was there at all (or she'd have saved Rachel by now).
---

Bump.
---

Thanks

I played a little bit last night. Back in the original timeline we steal David's files, which include a list of coordinates. We then visit Kate in the hospital. She is no longer feeling suicidal and thanks us for saving her. Heading back to Blackwell, we inquire about Nathan and prepare to sneak into his room to find out what he's been up to.

Not sure if I'll be able to play tonight; my roommate has his girlfriend over, and they're extremely annoying together so I have a hard time bringing myself to be in our common area where my PS4 is set up until they go to bed (which is typically several hours earlier than me luckily).
---

Okay, playing a bit more

We enter Nathan's room and find a cellphone hidden behind his couch. As we're leaving Nathan enters (of course), but before he can do anything Warren comes in and beats him up. We stop Warren; one major difference between stopping him and allowing him to beat up Nathan is that in the latter scenario Chloe takes his gun, but in the former she leaves it. I kind of suspect that Chlow having the gun will not lead to a good outcome, so let's keep it out of her hands for now.
---

Oh no, Warren is "feeling pretty alpha now"
---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRpy1JKZ4wY
---

LordoftheMorons posted...

Not sure if I'll be able to play tonight; my roommate has his girlfriend over, and they're extremely annoying together so I have a hard time bringing myself to be in our common area where my PS4 is set up until they go to bed (which is typically several hours earlier than me luckily).

This is literally the exact situation LiS was created for

It defeats any cringe with its own super cringe
---

LordoftheMorons posted...

Oh no, Warren is "feeling pretty alpha now"

Just wait until he starts talking about the european immigration crisis
---

Maybe he'll have an opinion on ethics in gaming journalism...!
---

We head back off to the beach to visit Frank, but soon end up in a confrontation that leaves both Frank and his dog shot by Chloe. After rewinding several times we manage to get through the conversation without anyone dying and get Frank's account book. Back in Chloe's room we piece together all of the clues to conclude that Nathan takes his victims to a barn that his family owns. After exploring the barn a bit we find a hatch 4 8 15 16 23 42?, and after a bit of rewinding we manage to smash open the padlock. Presumably this is the titular dark room!
---

We head down to find a hidden fallout bunker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbSM02_1k34

Inside we find more evidence that Nathan is super fucked up (and that his dad's mentally abusive parenting is likely a contributing factor). Eventually we find the binders from the episode 1 + 2 endings, revealing how Kate and Rachel had been drugged and used as photo props... and that Rachel had likely been killed. Furthermore, it looks like Victoria is next. We rush back to the junkyard (which is where the photo of a seemingly dead Rachel was taken) and find her corpse. As Chloe mourns we see the ghostly doe again, presumably Rachel's spirit or something.

We head to the Vortex Club party hellbent on revenge. After running into Warren and seeing a second moon we enter the party. Here we end up warning Victoria about Nathan, but can't find him anywhere. On the way out we run into Jefferson, who announces that Victoria has won the photo contest. We, however, get a text from Nathan saying that he's going to destroy the evidence, so we rush back to the junkyard. We slowly make our way back to Rachel's body (the junkyard being much creepier at night). Chloe finds that the corpse is still there, but suddenly we're drugged (becoming unable to use our time reversal powers) and Chloe is shot... by Mark fucking Jefferson! I knew that fucker was up to something!
---