Ok so i’m in! Haven’t finished the first episode yet. TBH i actually didn’t know (for some reason) the in-game dates of the events of LiS… and i didn’t replay LiS during that time. I have failed as a fan.
Thoughts:
This is almost exactly like LiS! If you told me this was “reconstructed” rather than reused assets, i’d be astonished. Even the collision model feels the same. The fonts, the dialog interactions, the art style. It’s just about dead on. I think you nailed the proportions and look of younger Chloe about as well as could be done.
Chloe’s voice was the first thing i noticed, like everyone. So far DeVries has done a good job… and the way she talks sometimes feels exactly the same as the old Chloe. Almost like Burch’s hand in the dialog at times. In fact i feel like it is appropriate she sounds a little younger and different. It’s when her voice gets deeper, i think that’s what throws people off. Also… sometimes it actually does sound like Ashly Burch, in short throwaway comment that don’t have a lot of vocal emphasis. Maybe two or three times. I think it was Burch’s performance in LiS that everybody loved, but i’m not near far enough into BtS to see what Rhianna DeVries does with it.
I feel like Deck Nine has almost completely gotten rid of Bioware “paper doll” conversations that Life is Strange mostly did away with - two characters stiffly facing each other, maybe twitching their arms. The characters seem much more animated and able to have conversations in more detailed scenes. My most painful memory of this in LiS 1 was the scene on the beach during the storm. They more or less admitted they’d run out of money at that point, but it felt like without MOCAP LiS 1 could sometimes feel stiff, as if you could see the budget peeking through. I appreciate the subtle improvement in character fluidity here.
LiS 1 felt a bit like French fans of American television and film making an American style game - there was a bit of … out-of-body translation experience… BtS otoh feels much more American written. I think the dialog has a more organic, natural feel to it. Not to say LiS wasn’t iconic in it’s own way - sometimes the very slightly awkward unreproducible foreignness has an appeal of its own. I did notice it feels a bit more modern in context than LiS 1, despite actually being earlier in time. References to social media and stuff. Many times in LiS 1 you wouldn’t hardly be able to distinguish if it were taking place in 1993 or 2013.
So far i can’t tell how much BtS “leans into” LiS. I felt a bit… unsure… about Chloe having the same kind of “Rookie” style diary/artbook as Max. It feels a bit like “this is what Life is Strange games have”. But watching some Youtube videos, the fans seem to love it, so all good with me! The characterization of Chloe definitely, definitely leans into what hardcore fans saw Chloe as representing, and i think that’s great! Especially in our modern context with all the issues with politics and social revelations going on, i suspect BtS will be very well received.
Reading other reviews it seems like a measure of success is how many of them almost set aside typical game review issues - how does this or that work, or this or that system interact - and go straight to the narrative. Probably the highest complement you can receive.
I do like the backtalk system. It seems like a neat workaround to give Chloe her “own thing” without going back to the supernatural rewind stuff of Max.