Editor’s note: This article discusses sexual assault and suicide.

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There’s a common eye-roll-y film bro talking point that goes something like “You couldn’t make X, Y, Z today.” It’s usually wielded against marginalized people, so it’s to be avoided. They could, however, make the original “Life is Strange” today, but it would be fairly incoherent.

The game is obsessed with what’s happening in the real world, and having a take about it. Chloe faux-angrily tells Max “No emojis” in spite of the fact that Max is using ye olde emoticons. Presumably, a writer had big feelings about emojis in the mid-2010s. Why? I couldn’t tell you. I certainly can’t imagine a punkass teen having strong feelings about them.

There’s a whole subplot where Chloe smokes weed, and Max can take the heat from Chloe’s “Step douche” about it. He gives her guff multiple times, but she eventually rebuts his moral panic with “Marijuana is almost legal in Oregon,” which was definitely in a news feed the creatives were scrolling through at the time.

Out of nowhere, Chloe — who is well-established as sapphic — sends a strange joking “Marry me!” text to Max. Instead of just rolling with it, Max brings up that same-sex marriage isn’t legal in Oregon… Yet. It was in the news!

It felt odd at the time, but it only stands out more all these years later.

Broadening out

At long last, we get to spend some significant time off campus this episode. We visit Chloe’s mom’s diner for a delightful Belgian waffle and some time-bending mini-games to prove your powers to Chloe. They lean very heavily into the “Twin Peaks” elements here, “Firewalk With Me” is written on the mirror, but I think it hits more than it misses in the vibes department.

The NPCs, however, look like absolute shit in this area of the game. I certainly don’t remember the original looking this rough, but it’s certainly possible that the remaster is simply keeping it authentically awful. I’d have to go back and check.

When you get off the bus, there’s a lady who looks like nothing but a big smear. Inside the diner, one lady’s hair seems to be fused to her neck. It kinda looks like a head scarf from certain angles, but it’s definitely not. It’s just some of the ugliest character work I’ve seen in a long while.

But after breakfast, Chloe and Max head to the dump to fuck around with time and space a little bit. This section is broadly enjoyable, and Ashley Burch’s performance as Chloe really starts to shine. Rhianna DeVries, Chloe’s voice actor in “Before the Storm” and “Reunion,” does a serviceable job, but it just isn’t the same. Burch really sells Chloe’s more manic moments.

There’s a fair bit of pixel hunting that happens in the junkyard section, and I’d probably prefer it to be a bit tighter, but this segment does allow us to better understand Max and Chloe’s dynamic. Not to mention the little hide-y hole where the Rachel Amber story starts to get way, way juicier. That’s pretty neat.

Maybe don’t

Once we avoid getting hit by a train near the junkyard, Max heads back to campus for an ending segment that is absolutely brutal. Kate Marsh, the poor girl who was drugged and then had her assault spread all around campus, jumps off the roof. You basically have to see it over and over as you try to rewind. It sucks.

Max eventually rewinds so hard that she pauses time long enough to make it up to Kate before she jumps. This is one of the first times they play fast and loose with what Max’s powers really do, and then they never stop. Even “Reunion” is a little uncertain of what Max is capable of.

But being with her isn’t enough to keep Kate safe. We now have to do a gamified segment to try to save this girl’s life. If you weren’t attentive enough to her earlier in the game, there’s nothing you can do. It’s all your fault if she dies. It’s a disgusting implication, and I hate it to my core.

Of course, I knew going in this time how to keep her safe, but I crinkle my nose the entire time. I desperately wish this was handled entirely differently. We can incorporate difficult subjects in our media, no doubt, but we need a deft hand. This is a huge miss.

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Image credit: “Life is Strange”