Life is Strange: True Colors Review: An Emotional Triumph
Life is Strange: True Colors Review: An Emotional Triumph
RRP $ 59.99
"Warm and moving, the only thing Life is Strange: True Colors stumbles over is its own words."
advantages
-
A similar story
-
Warm moments
-
Happy characters
disadvantage
-
Random pace
-
Pathetic dialogue
-
Inconspicuous optics
If you're looking for a mental health story, it's that easy to find one by logging into Twitter and scrolling a little. Media, regardless of its format, now have a way of presenting the wide range of mental health problems. The theme of widespread depression or anxiety has taken hold and is now represented by the characters in the games we play and the shows we watch. At some point, many of us noticed that something was wrong internally, something was not good.
Life is Strange: True Colors is about that notion – that we are all broken or wrong in our own unique way. However, the story it tells isn't just about coping with everyday life. It's not a healthy lifestyle anyway. It is about accepting these imperfections, addressing them directly and, in some cases, fighting for life to be the way it should be.
This message comes alive through the game's wonderful characters, each with their own experiences and traumas. It's nearly impossible to complete Life is Strange: True Colors without referring to Alex or one of her friends. Even with a staggered story pace and sometimes repulsive dialogue, the game managed to connect with me in a way that not many have done before.
In someone else's shoes
Life is Strange: True Colors puts players in the shoes of Alex Chen, a woman who has apparently been through everything. She spent a large part of her life with the foster family, whom I don't know firsthand, but who have known them all too well through the experiences of a close friend. With a look at their phone, players can see that even the few social relationships they established during their time in the system weren't working. One ends with Alex haunting a boy who expects her to have sex after a few meetings, another ends because Alex seems to have "freaked out".
This freak was caused by Alex & # 39; causes latent force that is not as spectacular as flying or shooting laser beams. Instead, she's an odd mix of a telepath and an empath (a telempath, if you will). She can see how people feel, visualized by colorful auras that appear around their bodies. When someone feels something, they can tap into it and understand the reasons for their emotions. Overall, it's a powerful tool that she and the players can use to get to the heart of each character's motivation. When someone acts out of fear or anger, Alex can identify this deep-seated emotion and bring it to the surface.
However, if she really gets into someone's feelings, Alex & # 39; Forces to lead them elsewhere. Instead of simply seeing how someone is feeling – albeit on a deeper level than most others – she can see the world through her eyes, filtered by her emotions. Sometimes this experience is bizarre and puts Alex into a Dungeons and Dragons-esque world that a kid imagines. Other experiences are not as pleasant, but still poignant. In one of these passages, Alex sees through the frightened eyes of a woman who is slowly losing her memory of a "state" through the lens of her fear of eventually failing to remember basic things, like the face of her own granddaughter. Those moments came close to me in the end as terrifyingly brilliant depictions of the fear, anger, and fear I felt in my own life.
Sometimes this experience is bizarre and puts Alex into a Dungeons and Dragons-esque world that a kid imagines. Other experiences are not as pleasant, but still poignant.
The negative emotions players experience in Life is Strange: True Colors are balanced equally by moments of tenderness and real joy. The game begins with Alex arriving in the town of Haven Springs, Colorado to move in with her brother Gabe. The first day they are together is one healthy moment after the other, whereby the calm, restrained shell that Alex has built up over the years slowly flakes off as she sees her brother and the close family he has in the little one City has built, is presented.
Family found
That perfect day ends with Gabe's death, an event that sets the rest of the game's plot in motion. Alex and her two best friends Steph (returning from Life is Strange: Before The Storm) and Ryan begin investigating a mining company that was in town and set off an explosion that caused Gabe's death. This story of corporate espionage and intrigue, however, largely takes a backseat in four of the game's five chapters. There are moments when you focus directly on that plot, but for most of the game, the spotlight is on Alex and her slow but safe habituation to a place that is safe at home.
This ultimately creates a strange imbalance in a story that I generally enjoyed and that I eventually connected with. Alex's battle against the Typhon mining company seems to be the focus at all times. Instead, however, it provides an ominous backdrop for Alex & # 39; her own story of personal improvement and how she comes to terms with her new role in Haven Springs as a person who recognizes himself as broken but feels the need to fix others.
For most of the game, players walk around the small, quaint town, interacting with the locals, and helping them with their own problems. Through these little interactions, Alex builds her own found family, slowly replacing the one who either died or left them.
While most of these moments are touching, they're also where writing Life is Strange: True Colors is worst. Sometimes everything the game's characters say is powerful and relatable, but sometimes the words sound hollow (and sometimes they are downright inappropriate). Alex, a 21-year-old, doesn't have to spit out Internet-era memes when looking at random objects in the area. That makes them less of a relatable example to people my age (which may be a stretch since I'm at the ripe old age of 25) and more like a caricature.
The story of Life is Strange: True Colors, while slow for most, is entertaining. It's not a chore, but rather a pleasant walk that can be enjoyed at a leisurely pace. However, that feeling changes completely in the final act of the game when things take an extremely sharp turn. The story is entirely about Alex & # 39; Getting used to their new surroundings directly leads to their conflict with Typhon. It's a dramatic twist that really grabs you. While I could stop playing at any time in the first few chapters of the game, I had to stop after the fifth hit.
While most of these moments are touching, they're also where writing Life is Strange: True Colors is worst.
In this final chapter, players are also given one of the game's six endings. At this point, I've only worked my way through the game once, but will likely try again to experience all of the things I've missed that the game generously displays at the end of each chapter. I don't think it's possible to have a really "bad" ending, but there are some who would be worse than others, at least for me. I tried to get Alex to find one of the game's two love interests, and I succeeded. There are several other important decisions players make about Alex & # 39; Future may meet, but I will not dwell on these spoilers.
Our opinion
There's no easy way to recommend Life is Strange: True Colors. Like the rest of the Life is Strange franchise, it's not a typical game. It's more like a visual novel or a point-and-click adventure. The game is a slow, fun experience, perfect if you want to end the night or get up in the morning.
Beyond that, however, it is an emotional triumph. Alex & # 39; Experiencing adventure and seeing the world through its excellently designed perspective is a joy that hit me harder than I expected. I've often written off the Life is Strange franchise as inaccurate and never gave it the chance it deserved. However, Alex's story and the trials of those around them sounded true to me. Your fears, fears and other emotions are all personal and come from a place that I consider to be common. Fear of old age, anger at corporations and their endless greed, as well as sadness and anger after the loss of a loved one, are not only reserved for the characters of this game – they are universal feelings. Life is Strange: True Colors, despite its unbalanced story and sometimes pathetic dialogues, uses its emotional weight masterfully.
Is there a better alternative?
Telltale's The Walking Dead still reigns first in this genre. It's a perfect emotional story for those looking for a more mature game.
How long it will take?
My play through of Life is Strange: True Colors took about 10 hours, but that was just one play-through. Players can go through the game multiple times to find their ideal ending.
Should you buy it?
Yes sir. Life is Strange: True Colors is assignable at almost any level and offers a solid experience for those who like slower, more relaxed games.
Editor's recommendations
