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Life is Strange is an interesting series of episodic games which began in the wake of the critical and commercial success of Telltale games’ The Walking Dead. With the increased demand for these types of storytelling experiences, Life is Strange was made to tell the story of Max, and three years later Life is Strange 2 told the story of Sean and Daniel Diaz. Now, Life is Strange 1 and 2 are both giving away their first episodes for free.
Life is Strange 2, its free episode and how to get it
These games capitalized on a type of game that had exploded in popularity, and helped show how games as a medium could tell intricate and complex stories in an accessible way.
Life is Strange 1 and 2 both center around a character with a unique ability, but aside from that the stories and how the player experiences them differs wildly. For Life is Strange 1, players play as Max, a girl who can rewind time, and her relationship with the wild-child Chloe. Players use Max’s ability to double back on decisions and see the possible outcomes of her actions in order to play the story how they want.
Life is Strange 2 removes the ability to double back on your actions, making it play out much more like a typical story game. Additionally, these powers are controlled by the main character’s younger brother, giving them a sense of unpredictability. Instead of learning how best to use your powers, players instead must decide how to guide Sean’s younger brother in the development of his powers.
The first episode sets the tone for the story, but is admittedly a little slow and uses its time to set up the story and dynamics rather than get the story moving in earnest. Nevertheless, the first episode will let players know whether or not they want to spend potentially dozens of hours with Sean and Daniel.
If you’re intrigued, there’s no barrier to entry. Just find the store page on Steam, download the first episode, and go from there. I also recommend checking out Life is Strange 1 because the games play very differently and are totally different stories, and you might end up enjoying both of them.
