“Life Is Strange” is an episodic game that was released in episodes from January until October 2015. This is a fantastic game and I would have never discovered it if it wasn’t free on the Playstation Store in June. I really wish I started playing it a lot sooner then I did, I downloaded it, along with the episodes in June and didn’t start playing it until August. This is a game that feels like an indie movie or TV show at times and I love it.

The games first season follows Maxine Caulfield, a student that goes to a seniors only arts school called Blackwell Academy, which is set in the fictional town of Arcadia Bay, Oregon.

The game starts off with a dream sequence of a huge storm hitting the town, which comes into play down the road. She wakes up in a seemingly normal classroom, but when she goes to the bathroom to wash up, she sees a blue butterfly. She decides to snap a picture of it (which will also come into play later).

A fellow student, named Nathan Prescott comes into the girls bathroom to meet Max's old best friend, Chloe Price. A conversation is had about drugs, and eventually Nathan pulls a gun on Chloe and she is shot and killed. This prompts Max to jump in and do something, which in doing so, she realizes she can rewind time. She is back in class and since she knows what’s about to happen in a few minutes, she saves Chloe by pulling the fire alarm.

After this, Max and Chloe go on a hunt to figure out what happened to Chloe’s friend/girlfriend, who has been missing for a few weeks.

The game's rewind feature is something that I really enjoyed, but while it gave you a second chance at things, there is a catch. No matter what, there will always be consequences for your actions regardless of your choices. The rewind feature is also limited, and if Max rewinds too much, she gets a nosebleed and passes out.

One particular instance is when Max’s dorm mate, Kate, has a revealing video spread around about her after possibly being drugged at a party. She gets made fun of by most of her peers besides Max, and this comes into play when Kate is about to commit suicide. Max is able to freeze time so she can get to the roof, but it begins just as she gets to the top and she is unable to rewind, which means a character's life is at stake. Now depending on your choices, you will get certain dialogue options that if you paid attention, you know what to hit.

There are also other instances, such at the end of Episode 4 “Dark Room”, a huge reveal is made and its that Max’s photography teacher, Mr. Jefferson, is actually a really creepy guy who likes to take pictures of people at there weakest moment then usually kills them. He drugs Max and ends up killing Chloe, at this point you are unable to rewind.

This is also in my eyes taught a lesson, as through out the game you blame multiple people with no real evidence and never suspect Mr. Jefferson, which in my opinion shows that you should always be sure before making really serious accusations

The game's story is very well written, it all flows really nicely and reminds of “The Walking Dead” game by Telltale Games. Every choice you make really matters, such as not answering Kate’s phone call during Episode Two, will affect how she sees you at the end of the episode when she is on the roof. Some choices have long term effects as well, such as in one instance Episode One, Chloe smokes weed and her step-dad finds out and if Max takes the fall for it, it will come up down the road in Episode Four and Five.

The game also does a really good job at emotion. In Episode Three, Max discovers she can go back in time by focusing on pictures, so she goes back and ends up delaying Chloe’s dad from going out, where in the original timeline of events he goes out and is killed in a car accident. When Max comes to in the timeline she changed, a lot is different and it turns out that Chloe ended up getting into an accident.

And after spending the day with Max, Chloe makes a request for Max to kill her using the morphine. You have a choice to do it or not, but I chose not to because Chloe was one of my favorite characters. After her death in Episode Four, Max is able to save her again, which does cause problems.

There are two endings, and one is the only one that makes sense and it’s that Chloe was always meant to die and Max saving her constantly messed up the natural order of things, which is why there is a huge storm coming, two moons, dead whales, and a surprise solar eclipse.

Chloe realizes this as the massive storm is bearing down on the town and she is willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of everyone else. The player is given two choices, Sacrifice Chloe or SacrificeArcadiaBay. Like I said, I chose sacrifice Chloe, which was a real depressing ending. Max uses her time travel through photos ability to go back to the shot of the Blue butterfly in the bathroom, and everything goes as it did originally with Chloe getting shot and dying except this time Max does nothing.

We get a glimpse of ArcadiaBay a week after Chloe’s death and there is no storm or anything out of the ordinary. Which actually brings me to the butterfly, I think the butterfly represents the butterfly affect, which is a butterfly flapping its wings can create a hurricane. In this case, something so small such as saving Chloe caused a huge storm and dead animals.

The soundtrack to the game is fantastic and really immerses you in the environment, such as ending Episode 1 with “Obstacles” by Syd Matters, opening Episode Two with “Something Good” by Alt-J, ending Episode Two with “Mt.Washington” by Local Natives, and finally, ending the first season with “Spanish Sahara” by Foals (If you chose the right ending). This game is fantastic and does an extremely good job of having a fun factor while also employing a lot of emotion as well, as the characters are very well written and most are very likable. I highly suggest checking this game out, as of now it is one of my favorites.

There is also a prequel called “Life Is Strange: Before The Storm” which follows Chloe’s adventures with a girl named Rachel Amber, who is the girl that is missing through out the duration of the game. I have yet to play it, but it is on my list. The first episode of Before the Storm is out now.