Review: Life is Strange - Before the Storm (2018)

'My attitude is what makes me special.'

★★

After the success of Life is Strange, it was only natural for Square-Enix to push for a sequel, and even a prequel. DONTNOD Entertainment, the original developer of Life is Strange, wanted to move on to new stories and characters after the first game, which led to "Life is Strange 2." However, Square Enix, the publisher, wanted a prequel focused on Chloe and Rachel from the original. Since DONTNOD wasn't interested in developing it, Square Enix brought in Deck Nine to create "Life is Strange: Before the Storm." Deck Nine also developed "Life is Strange: True Colors" and is now involved in the development of future games in the series.

DONTNOD had little to no invlovement with "Before the Storm," as they were busy with "Life is Strange 2." However, some of the developers who worked on the first game worked on "Before the Storm," and Square-Enix was able to provide all of DONTNOD's assets and files to Deck Nine to help them with development. Although they didn't recieve any advice or consultation, DONTOD was given access to a playtest of the game, which was the only time Deck Nine got any feedback from them. DONTOD believed fans would enjoy the new game. If only that was true, for the most part.

The game takes place three years before the events of the first game. The first game is set in 2013, while the prequel is set in 2010. As we learn in the first game, William was killed in a horrible car accident, leaving Joyce widowed and Chloe without a father. Joyce blames herself but learns to move on as she grieves and eventually remarries David. Chloe chooses to remain angry and goes through many physical and mental changes, no longer doing well in school, running away from home, and getting involved with drugs, tattoos, piercings, and bad boys. She goes to a party and meets Rachel Amber. The two become friends and ditch school the next day. As a result, Chloe gets expelled, while Rachel remains a student. The remainder of the story focuses on Chloe and Rachel's relationship and Rachel's backstory, with the game ending before Rachel attends a Vortex Club party.

The idea of a prequel sounds nice, but the final product was left underwelming. When I first played this, I thought it was okay, at the time, but after a replay, I found myself underwelmed and disapointed. I was hoping for this prequel to focus less on Chloe and Rachel's relationship and more of Nathan, Mark Jefferson, the Vortex Club Party, and why Rachel even decided to go a party and how she got herself mixed up in that kind of mess. None of that is explained. All the game focuses on is the relationship between Chloe and Rachel and her backstory. Chloe's story was also messy. It starts off with her getting expelled, and just randomly throwing in stuff from the first game, giving it a slight explanation. Everything else was lazily written in. None of the characters were memorable. Steph was the only one everyone remembered because of her appearance in True Colors.

Rachel Amber was a character everyone wanted to see in the first game, but couldn't because she was accidentlly killed by Nathan. In the prequel, We learned more about her than he needed to know. For example, her mother isn't her biological mother, it's her stepmother. Her father slept with some other woman. I can't remember the full details because it's been a long time since I played it and frankly, I didn't care. Rachel was a "mystery" character in the first game, and that's what it should've been. But I guess Deck Nine and Square-Enix wanted to focus on pleasing fangirls with Lesbian romance. Which is fine, but don't let that be the main focus. Why not focus on the the mystery aspects of the first game?

With each game, the main character(s) have a unique power. Max had the power to manipulate time, Daniel had what was similar to the Force but Sean had to mentor him, and Alex could read people's minds and take away their emotions. Chloe's "power" was just the ability to talk back to people. I don't think that's a power, that's just having a sharp tongue. Deck Nine couldn't add a real power because that would just be creating a plot hole.

It does have its momments, but the final product is a left as a disapointment. The bonus episode is the best part of the whole game. It offers as a great "prologue" to the game and a nice reminiscent feeling of nostalgia from the first game. Hannah Telle and Ashly Burch reprise their roles for the episode. However, Ashly Burch didn't return to voice Chloe for the main game. Because they were involved in the SAG-AFTRA strike, Ashly Burch and other voice actors from the original game (including Nathan's voice actor, Nik Shriner) were unable to provide their voices to their characters. But since Ashly Bruch played Chloe in the original voice cast, was so devoted to the character that she wanted to stay engaged and even went back to the franchise as a writing consultant to help the writers understand how she saw a younger Chloe.

Overall, a failed attempt a prequel, with a convoluted plot, underdeveloped characters, and an underwelming experience from start to end. The dialogue for "Before the Storm" is kind of clunky and awkward, it's like, they only wrote a first draft and never looked over it. Leaving us with more questions than answers and an example of what not to do in a prequel.