Episode 5 / DONTNOD Entertainment
*Spoilers Below*
Ladies and Gentlemen, DONTNOD Entertainment has dropped the final episode to the Life is Strange series. If you’re like me, you’ve been waiting a long time to see how the story of Max and Chloe unfolds. DONTNOD’s Life is Strange has taken us on an enlightening, interesting journey while putting me on an emotional roller coaster. This game is a true work of art that presents a unique experience. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end.
We will always remember Life is Strange as the story of the friendship between Max and Chloe — the shy hipster and the punk rock chick. Max discovers she has superpowers which allow her to rewind time and change her past to affect her or another person’s future. A power we wish we all had, am I right? She even discovers that she has the ability to teleport through time using photography. On top of all that, a girl named Rachel Amber is missing and has posters scattered around Arcadia Bay.
As you remember from Episode 4, Max was trying to prevent the potential murder of Victoria and had to attend the Vortex Club’s End of the World Party to do that. We were then presented with a huge shocker that made my jaw drop. Max and Chloe returned to Rachel’s body and Chloe was shot in the head. Max was given a needle to the neck by her photography teacher, Mr. Jefferson! This was one ending I didn’t see coming.
Episode 5 starts with Max being duct-taped to a chair in the very room she so desperately wanted to find, the Dark Room. The psychotic Mr. Jefferson is taking pictures of Max’s helpless body and has plans to kill her after he gets the “perfect shot”. Max later finds that she is the cause of all the danger that has been happening to her and others due to her rewind powers. She must now use the same powers to get herself out of trouble. Yeah it sounds weird, but trust me on this one. During her attempts to save everyone, she finds herself wandering through fractured space-time. She goes through this Silent Hill P.T. dilemma in her dorm room where she must go through certain doors in a specific order. She goes through this weird, trippy, dark world where she has to avoid multiple Mr. Jeffersons as well as some other characters. At this moment, I was thinking is this some type of acid trip? Then Max re-lives her many mistakes and moments that she had with Chloe. Max and Chloe’s relationship is a bit romantic. Max always has the option to save Chloe from harm’s way and her strong effort to do that shows that their friendship goes a bit further. Some people see this as a strong friendship but I know there’s a little something something going on between those too. Anyway, back to the story.
At the end, a huge tornado is about to destroy the town and Max realizes that trying to save Chloe all the time is what got everyone into this mess. I’m not actually sure how, but let’s just go along with it. You are left with the two big choices out of all the episodes: save Chloe or save Arcadia Bay. Saving Chloe leads to an ending of Max and Chloe driving off into the sunset living happily ever after while Arcadia Bay is wiped out. This means that you can choose to save one person over thousands of people. Tough choice, right? If you choose to save the town, you go back to that moment where Chloe and Nathan are in the bathroom. This time, you do not save her, leaving Chloe to die. This teaches us that acceptance is sometimes more important than action. The end of Life is Strange is about making a mature choice. For Chloe to live, the town has to die. For Arcadia Bay to live, Chloe has to die. This seems like an easy choice to make, even though I personally chose to save Chloe. I don’t know, I felt bad for her.
Overall, the Life is Strange series was wonderful and I really enjoyed it. Yes, it has its faults but it immersed me in a great story and it was a fun gameplay. I want DONTNOD to do more episodic gaming. Even though Max’s story may be done, I’d love to experience another story that displays such love and maturity. Life is Strange, I tip my hat to you!
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