REVIEW | Life is Strange Remastered Collection

Life is Strange Remastered Collection review | I look back fondly to when Life is Strange originally came out. This was in episodes so there was always some time between emotional events in the game, then discussing them with other fans. It’s one of my favorite games for me because it has deep meaning and a tremendously strong story with engaging characters that you fall in love with instantly. So the fact that Deck Nine remastered the original Life is Strange with better visuals and better facial expressions was exciting to hear. I think the reason why we are publishing a review this late for the remastered collection for Life is Strange is an important thing to say too. Unfortunately, whoever was tasked with covering this game had mental problems, so I took over the writing task. Something that is an important point in the storyline of Life is Strange, some things in life cannot be controlled. Unexpected events don’t make life simple or difficult moments in the past either. Something I personally learned thanks to Life is Strange and Max in particular. You always have to keep going for it, overcome the storm and do everything possible to come out better. That’s the message I also want to give to everyone. That and just buy every Life is Strange game because they are all great, including this remastered collection.

What we Liked!

• The improvements that come with the remastered version | Life is Strange is a special game because of the story and characters. This part is even better in the remastered version as facial expressions have been improved. It was a sore spot before but emotional moments have even more impact now. To be honest, this reason alone is worth to replay Life is Strange! Other visuals improvements have been made too, especially the lighting engine. It is nice to see a more detailed Max and Chloe without losing the lovely artstyle. Deck Nine really respected the work from DONTNOD and only improved upon what was already created.

• Memorable characters | The characters of Life is Strange make the game so special, somewhat comparable to Clementine from The Walking Dead. I can’t imagine that anyone can’t be a fan of Max’s cute shyness and the tough but gentle Chloe. The vibe between these two girls is so powerful that it has had a lasting impact on me since 2015. To experience all of that again with the enhancements Deck Nine has done is just a godsend. It goes without saying that Max and Chloe are memorable but the supporting characters are great too. And since Before the Storm is included you have the full story and experience in one package.

• Before the Storm | Life is Strange Remastered Collection has the prequel Before the Storm. Just a small piece of advice before you start your adventure, I would keep Before the Storm as the last part to finish. It has more hell yeah-moments if you play through Max and Chloe’s story first. You’ll notice some different artistic design choices in the Before the Storm but I personally love the new breath of fresh air.
  
  
• A Spotify-worthy soundtrack & excellent voice-acting | Alt-J and many more incredible music gives extra emotional punch. Songs kick in perfectly giving you goosebumps or seem to do some magical things to make your eyes cry. Life is Strange doesn’t shy away from allowing music to get some spotlight. Voice-acting can be described very well in one sentence. ‘Best voice-acting in the gaming world’ Voice actors Hanne Telle (Max), Ashly Burch (Chloe) and Kylie Brown (Rachel) do fantastic performances. I do have to note that Chloe is voiced by someone else in Before the Storm though, a small bummer.
  
  
• Gameplay and dialogue | Life is Strange’s gameplay is especially special with choosing conversation options, Max has special powers that she can go back in time. So you can take different paths to reach your goal. Furthermore, you explore the environments in a third-person view to solve puzzles and interact with the environment. Each chapter is full of collectibles, adding replay value. There isn’t any real action so it is a pretty chill game without much pressure.

Mixed Feelings

• A few performance issues | A small bump on the beautiful road of Life is Strange, the original game had some troubles with it, and this remastered version too. The frame rate isn’t always stable, it is much better in this newer version though. Especially during the later episodes, when things get a bit heavy on effects the game struggles a bit with keeping up. It doesn’t happen frequently though, so that’s why I placed it as mixed feelings and not the disliked part.

What we Disliked

• Nothing! Or wait… | As Chloe would say, Life is Strange is hella good! So there isn’t anything bad I can say. Or wait… there is one small change I noticed. More short loading screens have been added, a bit weird considering I was playing on the Xbox Series X. They only take a split second, not entirely sure why this happens though. There is even a disappointed Tweet from an original DONTNOD developer about this. Seems that they spend many nights making sure that some scenes didn’t have loading screens on the PS3 and Xbox 360, so I understand how frustrating it must be to see this happen on stronger and much faster consoles.

How long to beat the story | 15 hours
How long to achieve 1000G | 20 hours
You’ll love this game if you like these | Telltale games with a big focus on story

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