Arcadia Bay

Arcadia Bay

Life Is Strange is an episodic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix. The first installment of the Life Is Strange series, the game was released in five episodes periodically throughout 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It was ported to OS X and Linux in 2016 and iOS and Android in 2017–2018. A remastered version of the game was released as part of the Life Is Strange Remastered Collection in February 2022. The plot focuses on Max Caulfield, an 18-year-old photography student who discovers that she has the ability to rewind time at any moment, leading her every choice to enact the butterfly effect. The player's actions adjust the narrative as it unfolds, and reshape it once allowed to travel back in time. Fetch quests and making environmental changes represent the forms of puzzle solving in addition to using branching choices for conversation. Development of the game began in April 2013. It was formed with an episodic format in mind, for reasons both financial and creative. The developers conducted field research on the setting by traveling to the Pacific Northwest, and subverted known archetypes to make the characters. Player feedback influenced the adjustments made to the episodes. Story and character arc serve as the central point in the game. Square Enix's European branch worked with Dontnod for the development. Life Is Strange received generally favorable reviews commending the character development, rewind game mechanic, emotional depth and tackling of taboo subjects. Criticisms included the slang that was used, poor lip-syncing, and tonal inconsistencies in the story. It was purchased by 3 million unique players as of May 2017. A prequel, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, was released in August 2017, and a sequel, Life Is Strange 2, in September 2018. A main installment to the series, Life Is Strange: True Colors, was released in September 2021.

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