Prequels are almost never that good. It's hard to tell a compelling story when A. the outcome is already known and B. the plot is forced onto a path that follows the original story's backstory. Life is Strange: Before the Storm (referred to as BtS from now on because I am not writing that full title out every time) however is pretty good, not quite "really good", but pretty good. The reason for this is that the game largely ignores much of A. and B.
BtS is squared on Chloe meeting and befriending Rachel Amber. The game does cover Chloe's grief about her fathers death (WHOO BOY, more on that later), her relationship to David and her mom who he is currently dating, her relationships with Blackwell Academy students and the school itself, and her relationship with Frank. All of this is....ehhhh it's fine, but I found myself wanting to get through it just to get back to the games core, Chloe and Rachel. And because that is the core of this game, I was initially apprehensive of even playing it.
The safety of playing as Max is far out of town.
This is for two reasons. Firstly, you get to play as Chloe who is the most fleshed out character of the original game, even more so than Max since she has to double as the player avatar. Max has soft personality traits like being geeky, but not TOO geeky, and being an artsy hipster, but not TOO much so that players aren't put off and can feel free to make choices. Chloe has hard personality traits established like being a "punky bitch" who flirts with varying degrees of criminality and whose sharp edge is dulled by a hidden softer side. Giving the player choices on her actions could easily derail her into somebody she isn't. To my surprise, that largely doesn't happen. I did find myself trying to "play the character" a lot more than I usually do in these kinds of games, "what would CHLOE do" so to speak, but it works out. Typically choices look like something Chloe would do or say, with maybe a rare part being out of character.
The other reason is because Rachel Amber is a primary character who is a unicorn. She is too perfect in the first game. Everybody loves her except Victoria who viewed her as a rival, she has straight A's, she is good at everything she does, and is largely NOT a character. She is a plot device in the first game, basically a MacGuffin. Yeah, the player discovers a hidden dark side that even Chloe didn't know about, mainly Rachel's hidden relationship with Frank, but it's played off as "wild child" stuff to make her fit in with Chloe better. Why would a perfect super popular girl be friends with Chloe in the first place?
Well, in BtS Rachel's mythos is safe because the game actually does a good job of humanizing her. The most obvious way was to give her flaws which the game pulls off without completely destroying her character traits in the first game. It's honestly the most impressive aspect of the entire game in my opinion. I went from, "I'm not sure I want to see Rachel Amber the character," to after the first episode, "....I have a crush on Rachel Amber." That is quite a turn around. Respect to the developers.
Damn your charm!
While BtS is not as good as the first game it makes some solid improvements. It amplifies the strengths of the first game, character development and relationships, while excluding its weaknesses, the supernatural stuff and video gamey-ness. Obviously Chloe does not have time travel powers so that game mechanic is replaced with a "talk back" feature. It basically allows Chloe to insult someone into giving her what she wants via sick burns. BtS also has better presentation. The animations are noticeably improved and facial expressions are much better. The game does not have to lean on writing and voice acting* as much as the previous game but these too are really good. I was surprised to see that the developers used motion capture for the animations considering the probably small-ish game budget, but the use of them made everything so much more natural combined with the previously great parts.
*It's a shame that Ashly Burch couldn't reprise her role due to the strike, which is apparently the longest in history, but she is coming back for a bonus episode featuring Chloe and Max. The new actress did a great job despite the voice sounding a little off at first and also for being a SCAB (It's union lingo). You get used to her though.
The game also largely avoids awkward video gamey-ness by keeping the mechanics simple. It's mostly talking to people and exploring stuff in a space with some light puzzles. The puzzles are mostly just go get a thing to unlock this other thing. They work just fine in a grounded real world game. There are no utterly bizarre stealth sections here.
En fuego utero.
Where the game really deviates is with its plot. There almost isn't one for the first two episodes. Every story needs conflict of course, but the conflict here is so low stakes that it is at once a breath of fresh air and feeling lacking at the same time. Then, in episode 3, the tension is ramped up out of nowhere to life and death stakes. It's a bit jarring even if it isn't all that surprising since the first two episodes feature so little "action". The first two episodes play more like a teenage drama with some sitcom thrown in there.
The game largely ignores a lot of backstory to focus on the backstory the player is more likely to care about, Chloe and Rachel. Things like, Rachel and Frank's future relationship is (almost) completely ignored, to the point where it seems like a....what's the term for a prequel ret-con? Is it pret-con? Ew.....anyway. There are certain aspects of Rachel that the player will know, but Chloe does not until discovered in the first Life is Strange, making the future narrative VERY bittersweet and not just because Rachel is murdered.
Since you play as Chloe, it wouldn't make sense to see Rachel getting involved with Frank, Nathan, and especially Jefferson since he isn't even in this game. Chloe does not know about any of this at this time. Yet, the player knows these relationships happen later, leaving us to assume this happens after this game. And the ending is so goddamn bright, excluding one after credit scene confirming Rachel's future doom*, that it is no wonder Chloe gets so upset when she learns about Rachel and Frank's relationship in the first game. I mean yeah, playing as Chloe, I'd feel betrayed too. What happens between them after this game considering how strong their friendship/romance is at the end of it? What leads Rachel into the secrets she keeps from Chloe?
*Unless you are one of the 10% of players (on PC at least) where Rachel meets her mother. That replaces the dark room scene. Also, it's fucking horse shit how you get her to meet her mother. Fucking nobody saw that relationship as "not a romance". Of course I picked the kiss option in ep 2. The only way Rachel meets her mother is if you choose the bracelet, which you give to her mother (then I guess FUCKING FRANK gets? HOW?). Stupid.
I get the impression that the developers didn't want to go there. I think they knew that a prequel featuring them would be bittersweet enough so they made a game where a player could almost head canon/fan-fic a completely different future. Chloe and Rachel live happily ever after if you so choose. But more importantly the developers wanted to capture a specific time, a friendship/romance between two girls, fate be damned.
I mean, look at em. Cliche? Yes. Badass? Fuck yes.
Dear reader, ask yourself this question. "What do you care about more in your stories? Theme and evoking emotions, or narrative consistency?"* Preferably you'd want both but that isn't always possible, and with a Life is Strange prequel, it's pretty impossible. The only thing that would be interesting in a prequel is Rachel Amber and specifically her relationship to Chloe, and this game nails that. A prequel could include more darker stuff but instead BtS went with a lower stakes game and more down to earth theme, excluding a specific scene in episode 3. The game is better off for it. If you want literally every backstory explained in a prequel, try Star Wars. It's a cautionary tale.
*Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a decent example but this idea is amplified to a million with a certain movie I saw on the SAME DAY as finishing this game. Wanna watch it a 2nd time before writing about it. I also know every, EVERY, argument against it now and the vast majority are...nerds are fucking stupid. Stooooopid.**
**I'm talking about Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
BtS is a good game, pretty great as prequels are concerned, and a decent lesson for all future prequels. Do you have to tell the backstory exactly as told in the original or can certain things be left out without it feeling unfaithful? Did the game have to tell the story of Frank and Rachel? I don't think so. I like that people are finally challenging the idea that canon is sacrosanct. We get stories worth talking about. Media and art that can provoke an emotion, and/or is more concerned with its theme, is sometimes better than a great logical story. Logic is helpful but not always REAL. Life is Strange: Before the Storm is good emotional storytelling even if it's logic doesn't always make sense.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I mentioned a thing I'd talk about later with a WHOO BOY.....here is that thing.
DEEP BREATH.......My Dad passed away in early November. Episode 1 spends a good amount of time dealing with the death of Chloe's father and while I played this before he passed, he was in the hospital at this time. My life was a roller coaster while he was in the hospital for a month straight so Chloe's scenes dealing with her grief of her father left me with such varying emotions I can't even begin to describe them.
My experience isn't that relatable to Chloe on the details. Her dad died in a car accident when she was a teenager. My Dad died at 80 years old, while I'm in my 30's, because he was a badass. Buuuuuut, my dad did die from a fall*, something that you beat yourself up over about not preventing, and yeah. Even acknowledging that a teenager losing her father due to an accident is going to result in significantly different emotions and changes as opposed to a father who lived a long life, this game gave me something to relate too even if it isn't that close. The "event" may be wildly different, but at least some of the emotions are similar.
I even had a bizarre dream with my Dad in it too.
*The fall was the spark really. He died from smoking, drinking, and especially Parkinson's Disease, which caused him to fall in the first place. But still, with all that stacked against him, he lived to almost 81 (his birthday is in December). Not too shabby old man.
This game, along with a certain movie that I hope to write about in January, helped me with the grieving process. (I'm leaving the name of the movie blank as a teaser BTW. I haven't quite gotten to the point that I can write about that movie and my dad, but I am getting closer. I've wanted to write it for ages.)
I was hesitant to play episode 2 of BtS just because of how much Chloe's father was present in the first. But...her father is barely in episode 2 and 3. It was weirdly reassuring. He was still there, but not. It's very hard to explain. The death of a parent. I'll let you know if I ever understand these emotions.
Chloe is one of the most actualized teenage characters I have ever seen in media and having her grieve with me as the game was coming out was...thank you. This makes my whole review look biased as hell but thank you to the developers for making this game, and out of pure serendipity, at the right time. Hell I'm still sort of critical of the narrative, but I changed man. I changed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Spoiler Section. Additional thoughts that didn't fit into the post.
1. I'm not sure if I like ep.1 or 2 more but ep.3 is certainly the weakest. All anybody wanted to do was spend more time with Chloe and Rachel but ep.3 stabs Rachel and puts her in the hospital, effectively removing her from the story. I get the idea of having Chloe be the hero in the climax but it felt lacking that Rachel wouldn't be involved. Only one half of the core is present when it should be the two of them tackling the climax together.
2. That final showdown with Damon is weird. Also, Frank killed a guy. I guess he could get out of it with a "self-defense/defense of innocents" thing but whoa.
3. How fucking bananas is it now that Frank knows Rachel's mom. The relationship between him and Rachel just keeps getting grosser and grosser.
4. As I hinted at in the post, that future relationship isn't completely ignored. Frank checks Rachel out in the junkyard in ep.3 and she seems embarrassed. That's it. That is the only aspect of that thread visible.
5. I gotta stop talking about Rachel and Frank. I sound like a jealous girlfriend.....
6. The train scene is probably my favorite, other than maybe the post Tempest play scene for obvious reasons. Also, how awkward would it have been if Chloe doesn't share her earbuds with Rachel on the train? Almost nobody picked the option to not share. What would Rachel do? Just sit there?
One of the few times I let the whole song play in one of these games.
7. Finally, I'd like to discuss the symbolism in these games. The doe in the first game is obviously Rachel, while the raven in this game is Chloe's father. The doe watches Max and at times, aides her in the first game. The raven is present in dream sequences where Chloe's father gives her advice. While the animal choices seem kind of random, I do like their usage. The use of fire is a little more vague though. The motif is certainly a combination of "fire is pretty but destructive" and "the truth hides in darkness, the light can bring it out". I can't tell if this is in relation to the truth about Rachel's mom or a larger metaphor about the two girls relationship being like a fire that burns bright at first but will eventually burn out. Or hell, even both.
There is also The Tempest. This motif is probably meant to be more than surface level as both ep.2 Brave New World, and ep.3 Hell is Empty, are both in famous lines from the play. (Ep.1 Awake could be anything though). I'm curious if it's more connected to the game than I know. I'm not gonna sit here and claim to know a lot about Shakespeare but from what little I looked up....maybe. Chloe and Rachel's relationship isn't very similar to Prospero and Ariel, the two characters they perform in the play, unless you take a very broad approach as "When Rachel dies she sets Chloe free". That doesn't feel accurate at all. Nor would relating the two girls to Ferdinand and Miranda so....I dunno. I look forward to seeing possible fan theories about this.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow me on Twitter.
Getting ready for my Star Wars: The Last Jedi fight.
