4/5 ★ – asoola's review of Life is Strange: Before the Storm.

It’s been a while since I played this game but I’m so glad I revisited it because I found myself enjoying the game more than I did the first time! I’ll talk about the main story of Before the Storm then talk about the Bonus Episode: Farewell! Before the Storm main story is really well done, I’m not gonna say it’s a masterpiece or better than the first game or it’s the best Life is Strange game but it’s a good game for what it was trying to do, I think the writers handled the untold story of Chloe Price and Rachel Amber friendship really well! The themes in this game were handled well I think Chloe’s abandonment issues and loneliness were handled with so much care, Chloe’s feelings were really well written in my opinion! As for Rachel Amber would it be an overstatement if I say her character is the best thing in this game? Well to me I think her character is the best part in this game I really love how they handled her character and friendship/relationship with Chloe while trying not to ruin what we knew in the original Life is Strange! Rachel was always a mystery in the first game but because of this game I found myself understanding her more than ever, she wasn’t perfect no matter how people said she was and she wasn’t a saint she was a normal teenager with dreams and trying to live up to everyone’s expectations! She’s a flawed character for sure and I think that’s part of her charm. The story about her dad and Sera her biological mother was unexpected but appreciated because to me her having to deal with her dad lies and everything made me understand why she wanted to get out of Arcadia Bay and go to Los Angeles! I personally chose to tell Rachel the truth and I managed to make Rachel meet her mother too so it’s my preferred ending to Before the Storm. The ending montage was really fun I think it was amazing how much references there was from the first game, I honestly remain to be shocked when I watch the after credit scene of Chloe and Rachel taking pictures at a Photo Booth and then it shifts to Rachel being in the Dark Room… ☹️ But anyways like I said really well written story if I had to rate it on its own (not counting Farewell I mean) I would say it’s easily a 3 or 4 out 5 game! 💜 I would like to mention one thing before moving on to talking about Farewell, while I think the voice acting is great in Before the Storm there is one voice acting I didn’t like… I don’t know if it’s the dialogue for this specific character (but then again the dialogue for the other characters was great so I don’t know maybe it’s the voice acting) but Chloe Price voice acting was… how do I say this slow? Chloe was talking in slow motion in this game I don’t know how to explain it but that’s the only way I can describe it no hate to the new VA I’m sure they did their best but to me I didn’t like it much. Now let’s talk about the best Life is Strange episode and that is the bonus episode: Farewell! It’s such a nostalgic, fun and emotional episode I loved it so much. It was truly like I went back in time to my younger years with Max and Chloe! I loved playing as Max again and I loved revisiting these two childhood memories the good and bad. Max and Chloe friendship will always be an amazing friendship I love their friendship so much! (When they were kids anyway) I think the ending will never fail to make me cry it’s such an emotional ending ☹️. Aside from that I loved the soundtrack it really made everything feel even more nostalgic, I think the way they explored Max’s feelings about moving to Seattle was fantastic she really wanted things to work out but even before William died she was worried about how she’ll make everything work and what she’ll say, even in her voice mail she says that she doesn’t know how to say what she’s feeling so I really do think that’s one reason why she struggled with texting and sending letters. The other reason is I think she was also grieving and trying to adjust to her new life. It’s mentioned in her journal in the first game if I remember correctly she mentioned how it was easier to run from the grief than facing it. Anyway I don’t think we should blame anyone in this situation because it is a hard situation to deal with. That’s all I wanted to say about Life is Strange: Before the Storm it was a fun game to experience despite the sad moments. 💜