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Have you ever had a game that had quite literally changed the course of your life? Or maybe a game that helped you get perspective on a difficult decision in your life? Or maybe a game that helped you realise something that just stuck with you forever?
I have a few of such games that just changed me, my perspective, gave me reasons to survive another day or just made me a better person in general. When I was growing up, my family didn’t have enough money to buy me any games, and my computer was bad, to say the least. But I had some comforting YouTube channels that took me for a ride with their gameplay. And even though I may not have played the game, I can tell you with all my heart that I have lived through every decision these games have to offer.
I had two such games. First, on which I will place my sole focus today, is the game Life is Strange. Oh boy, this game, has stood the challenge of the years for me. I think it is highly relevant today, and the overall gameplay still feels fresh.
!!SPOILERS AHEAD FOR LIFE IS STRANGE!!
A quick story recap
The game is about a girl who, due to the traumatic events, develops a superpower, time rewind. And the whole gameplay revolves around her having this power and how she solves problems in her life. This is a horrible simplification of the game’s story, but it will suffice for now.
Seeing the game through another set of eyes
As I mentioned earlier, my first experience with this title was through the gaming channel @EugeneSagaz. I watched his videos when I was around 12 years old, and what I very much liked about him was his calming presence. He always discussed his decisions, and even though I may have disagreed with some, I always liked to see the game through his eyes. He read every text, he literally took your hand and carried through the game as you were his best friend. I didn’t know much English back then, but he always explained any underlying meaning of what characters were saying. He was, and still is, a very charming person.
Now, as I played it little over a year ago, I can finally make my own decisions in the game. And some are different, but most are kept the same. I think it is a lot because I grew up with Eugene, or any Let’s play YouTuber, at my most formative years. I do still see the reflections of what they were saying in their videos even now in my own thinking. And I know it sounds strange to talk about it this way, but I am 100 % sure that I’m not the only one who experienced this.
The game for me didn’t lose that sense of surprise when it comes to the plot twists, you still can mess up horribly without the possibility to rewind back, and it can very quickly change from good to so so bad. What really stood out to me was the vibe, the feeling that this game gave me. The high school setting and paranormal background kept the pace. In some places, the game was warm, when you, for example, visit the school grounds in those first episodes or the dinner with some great tunes (I still listen to the soundtrack, but that’s for another post). Later episodes give off the dark, sad and unpleasant feeling due to the topic that are brought up. The game is so vibrant and so diverse in every sense.
Decisions
Life is Strange is not really about the people, or the time travel or all that. It’s about the decisions you make as a human being in your life. Because, in the end of the day, you are going to live with your decisions, you are going to remember them. You are responsible for everything you ever said or did, and it makes you who you are. These decisions have shaped you in ways you might never fully understand.
All the lies, all the ugly truths, they cause nose bleeds to Max, because she used the time travel too much, but they cause us a shift that may not have an immediate physical effect, but has for sure an emotional and mental effect. And I know, I always dreamt of having this power (who didn’t, most of the popular sci-fi tropes are about time travel), but after playing the game, in my ripe age of 22, I understood that I don’t need it. If I stay true to myself at all times, say the ugly truths, keep good, and have reliable people around me, I do tend to choose the ‘correct choices’ for me and my surroundings.
I always saw myself as a Max. I was quite shy in (druhý stupeň). It was very hard for me to find my voice in the crowd, in the newly established era of social media. My generation was there when the corporations were building the money grabbers. I was overweight, nobody had ever considered me beautiful, and Max really helped me. I also leaned a lot into photography and the arts in general. It helped me to outlet my emotions somehow. Max was quiet in the beginning of the game, but by the end of the game, she became confident, she found her inner strength. This is best seen in the ending, where she chooses to save Arcadia Bay. She lives through the death of her rediscovered best friend that she had saved. She saved the thousands of people who won’t ever thank her; she did it because she matured. And by the end of the sequence, she smiles. Not because she is happy that Chloe died, but because she accepted it.
I also accepted all the bullying that I had survived. It made me stronger and better. I forgave the people who bullied me, and I forgave myself.