Source
r/lifeisstrange•
BlueHawke

Does LIS make anyone else feel excited...

Discussion

...about the future of gaming as an artistic medium?

Seriously, I played through this game over a month ago, and I still catch myself thinking about it from time to time. I'd like to think I'm reasonably cultured, but no other book, movie, TV show, etc has hit me as hard as Life is Strange.

Video games are still pretty nascent as an artform, so it's surprising that even current games are able to surpass other mediums in terms of impact.

I can't wait to find out what amazing works of art we'll get to play through ten or twenty years from now.

Posted Sep 10, 2016, 12:27 PM UTC

5513
MorforQuantumwizardAre you cereal?•

Absolutely. Games like firewatch and LiS have so much to offer that will keep you thinking about it long after you've finished the game. I'm also excited about "Virginia" which is coming out soon, which looks to have a strong story vibe as well.

I personally can't wait to see more games in this genre, because I feel there is a lot left to discover.

11
BlueHawkeOPShaka brah•

I'm definitely gonna pick up Firewatch on the next steam sale.

Virginia sounds awesome! Can't believe I've never heard of it. (A twin peaks inspired mystery game... Where have I heard that before?)

2
MorforQuantumwizardAre you cereal?•

I had a blast playing firewatch and it's such a beautiful game. It's fairly short, but that didn't bother me at all.

2
Ragondux•

Loved Firewatch too. I'd add the Vanishing of Ethan Carter to the list of awesome games with a somewhat similar vibe.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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LEXX911•

The only thing I'm excited about is what DontNod is going to do next with LiS. What's great about DontNod is that they took some of the best stuff from tv/movies and from other games and gave us LiS in one package. I only wish Arcadia Bay was open world because I would love to roam around and explore that small beautiful painterly town to the soundtracks with a companion. From the Two Whales, to the American Rust Junkyard and train track, to the Blackwell Academy, to the lighthouse and to the beaches.

5
ranchcroutons•

Life is Strange is truly a breakthrough for the medium in terms of realizing realistic characters. This is where interactivity holds a tremendous advantage over passive mediums. Viewers may feel like they "know" Walter White and his cohorts but none can understand what it is like to be him and interact with those around him. LIS does provide this experience and the stakes are raised accordingly.

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saltyshanty•

Yes. This is actually the reason why I love the game most: for all of its flaws, it manages to tell a story with very real, mature messages to it that go far beyond the usual black-and-white moral lessons or grim-dark "look how awful the world truly is" commentaries that you get out of even the best story-driven games.

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BlueHawkeOPShaka brah•

"We can still live happy, impactful lives, fall in love, and make a difference, even when dark, undeserved, fucked up shit happens to us an the ones we love."

That's a pretty good thesis statement for the game (at least in my view). It's a nice departure from the edgy, angsty, pessimistic, faux-intellectual "everything sucks and people are the worst" theme that most storytellers go for these days.

1
saltyshanty•

Even more specifically, how poorly Chloe handles William's death is, if you go the Bay ending route, a sad lesson to Max on how (not) to handle the death of a loved one (which she is forced to cope with herself in that ending): cherish their memories more than you mourn their loss; if they loved you as much as you loved them, they would you to be happy. And the Bae ending's message about acceptance of your own failures -- that you can't fix everything, and sometimes you need to think in terms of what you have and not what you don't -- is something that gets me on a personal level. And then there's lots of little stuff throughout the game too! Man... I love this game.

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Awesome_Goats•

Completely agree!! People don't think I'm serious when I'm talking to them about how it affected me.

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Kalune● ← Hole to another universe•

Same here. I guess it's difficult to understand for people who haven't experienced anything like this. In fact, before finding this sub, I thought I was kinda crazy for feeling devastated because of a game... and maybe I am, but at least now I know I'm not the only one ;)

1
[deleted]•

Definitely! Life Is Strange is a masterpiece. The graphics, script, storyline and characters are all incredible and I'm crossing my fingers for a sequel or at least something very similar to, or hopefully even better than, LIS.

1
NeM-ounetEmotionally compromised•

Yes ! A thousand times yes !

Although "video games" is kind of too broad right now, and in my opinion games like life is strange will push the need to better differentiate the physical medium (let's say interactive digital entertainment) from the artistic form it can take (story/experience drived games).

You might want to check the christian divine's Interview from the Blackwell podcast (man I link this video a lot around here). It's a bit long but his insights on the artistic maturity of the industry is very interesting, especially given its video game background. I especially find it interesting when he says that (according to him) videos games are at a point in their evolution similar to cinema when it switched from silent to the sound era.

1