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Theories After Life Is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 2

 Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Nov 082017
 

After Episode 1 of Life is Strange: Before the Storm, I discussed several theories.

Now it’s time to do the same in the aftermath of Episode 2, “Brave New World.”

Spoiler warning: this post will include spoilers for Before the Storm Episode 2. If you don’t want events in Episode 2 spoiled for you, turn back now.

Last time, one of my biggest concerns was about whether or not Rachel Amber could actually be trusted. I’d hoped the next episode would help me decide, but instead, it only left me more conflicted.

Is Rachel Manipulative?

At the start of Episode 1, I thought my concerns were resolved. When Rachel lied to cover for Chloe in the principal’s office, my feelings toward her significantly improved. She was a nice person after all and she didn’t want her new friend to get in trouble!

I felt so kindly toward Rachel, I took the blame after all. In the next scene, however, Eliot asked if Rachel got off completely free and seemed skeptical about Chloe’s claim that Rachel tried to cover for her. That left me with the unsettling feeling that Rachel had manipulated me, the player, into protecting her.

The later dream sequence is the greatest source for my continued mistrust of Rachel.

In the nightmare (which includes another raven, a recurring motif in Before the Storm), Chloe speaks with her father, William. He tells her that darkness blinds with absence and loss, but fire blinds with beauty.

After how the first episode ended, it’s hard not to associate Rachel Amber with fire. Is the dream trying to warn Chloe that Rachel’s beauty and charm might blind her to her true nature? If it was an isolated line, it might be dismissed, but the rest of William’s comments make it clear he’s trying to warn Chloe about the “fire.”

The final scene that left me uncertain about Rachel was The Tempest. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the scene. I’m a Shakespeare fan to start with, and when Rachel went off-script, that was a great moment!

Except she went off-script to say that she (Prospero) would deny Chloe (Ariel) her liberty. After the ensuing discussion, she vows to eventually make her so happy, she won’t care about liberty.

Now, I can definitely see how this scene has been interpreted as romantic or heartwarming. If I had no doubts about Rachel, I probably wouldn’t have any doubts about this scene. But together with her earlier manipulative behavior and Dream William’s warnings, this scene came across as slightly obsessive to me… and I would have liked a line about how I could have liberty if I decided I wanted it after all, thank you.

What About Eliot?

Moving on from Rachel, I’d also like to briefly discuss Eliot. Eliot has generally come across as Chloe’s equivalent of Warren, a good friend with unrequited romantic feelings.

Some people thought Warren was a little creepy in the original game, but while I didn’t pick up on that, it’s definitely a bit creepy that Eliot’s search history includes multiple searches about Chloe.

Not only that, but if you talk to Samuel about Eliot, he says he can see what most people want to keep hidden… but not Eliot. With Eliot, Samuel can only see what he wants to be seen.

A developer also commented in a discussion of Eliot’s similarities to Warren saying it would be very interesting to revisit the topic after the end of the game.

One way or another, it seems there’s more to Eliot than meets the eye.

Conclusion

Damon and possibly Sera seem to be on track as Before the Storm’s major antagonists, but can we trust Rachel and Eliot? What do you think? Are there any other suspicions and theories you have about characters in Before the Storm?

Theories After Life Is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 1

 Video games  3 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Sep 132017
 

Over the weekend, I played Episode 1 of Life is Strange: Before the Storm, “Awake.”

Despite some problems with the explanations in the final episode of the first game, I enjoyed the original Life Is Strange quite a bit.

I was a little less certain of Before the Storm because I don’t connect with Chloe as easily as I did with Max, but Episode 1 was pretty interesting and has me intrigued about their plans.

This isn’t a review, however–that can wait until I’ve played the full game. Instead, I want to talk about a few of my biggest Before the Storm theories after playing Episode 1.

Spoiler warning: this post will include spoilers for Before the Storm Episode 1. If you don’t want events in Episode 1 spoiled for you, turn back now.

There are plenty of theories out there, over course, but here are a few of the strongest ones for me.

Rachel Has Powers

Some fans speculated even during the first game that Rachel Amber has powers similar to Max. That never occurred to me at the time… but after this episode, I really have to wonder.

First, let’s consider the ending scene, as shown in this video.

Rachel’s scream doesn’t sound natural. And when she screams, the wind visibly whips around her. This happens with each scream and seems to help spread the fire. It could be symbolic… but it has a very supernatural presentation.

Second, she has an unusual amount of knowledge about Chloe. This is most evident in their “two truths and a lie” game, where Rachel is always able to see through Chloe’s lies (even knowing approximately how many years ago she broke her wrist), but also when she references Chloe’s conversations from the start of the game.

Her scream suggests power over wind (or fire?) but her knowledge could be a sign that she really does have time powers like Max.

Can Rachel Be Trusted?

We go into this with a good impression of Rachel from the sequel… but can she really be trusted? If she doesn’t have powers, her unusual knowledge of Chloe feels creepy, like she was stalking her.

Even without that, she feels a bit manipulative. And what about the fire? It’s understandable that she’s upset, but starting a large fire like that intentionally feels dangerous. There was even a part earlier in the game where characters discussed the dangers of wildfires.

I expected to like Rachel Amber, but I left the episode feeling uncertain of her.

“Ansia”?

Before Chloe returns the photograph to Rachel in the scene above, there’s a moment where we see the photo in Chloe’s hand.

The word “ansia” is written on her palm. “Ansia” means “anxiety” in Spanish, so it could refer to Chloe’s mental state, but why is it written on her hand?

In the episode, you can check your plot objective by looking at Chloe’s hand, where she writes notes to herself. However, this isn’t a section of the game where you can check… and it doesn’t appear to be Chloe’s handwriting.

Why is “ansia” written on her hand? This scene occurs right after a nightmare that showed her where to find Rachel. Could the writing have come from the dream?

The Woman in White

This isn’t a theory so much as a question, the question on nearly everyone’s minds after the episode. Who is the woman in white? And why is she smiling as the fire spreads? What does she want?

Whatever it is, it seems there’s more to her than meets the eye.

Conclusion

If you’ve played Episode 1 of Before the Storm, what do you think? Can we trust Rachel? Does she have powers? (Is she connected to the eventual storm?) Why is “ansia” on Chloe’s hand, and who is the woman in white?

Let me know your own theories in the comments!

What Caused Life Is Strange’s Anomalies?

 Video games  3 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Aug 212017
 

Today is a total solar eclipse!

Not only that, but this is the eclipse that some fans speculated was the eclipse in Life Is Strange, displaced from time.

Warning: This post will include Life Is Strange spoilers. Continue reading at your own risk.

What’s that? Oh, just an unscheduled solar eclipse, no worries.

Of course, now we know that wasn’t the case. It was…

Uh…

Chaos theory…?

If you’ve read my review of Life Is Strange, you know I wasn’t thrilled with the lack of explanation for some of the more supernatural events.

The game gradually shows more and more things going wrong with the world:

  • Early snowstorm
  • Unscheduled eclipse
  • Dead birds and beached whales
  • Two moons
  • Massive storm/tornado

It all culminates in the appearance of the storm (which Max has an unexplained vision of before getting her powers), and the game finally suggests it’s due to chaos theory. Basically, tiny changes have major effects.

All right, I can see that with the unusual weather and dead animals… but the eclipse? Two moons in the sky?!

How did one girl not dying on a specific day cause the moon to change positions and a second moon to briefly appear? When I first saw the second moon, I thought it was evidence of two different timelines overlapping somehow, but the game gives a rushed explanation of chaos theory to say this is all because of Max’s decision to save Chloe.

And it really does seem linked to Chloe’s death rather than to Max’s powers. Rewinding time and saving Chloe leads to the tornado. Rewinding time and not saving Chloe prevents the tornado.

Some people have argued that saving Chloe put you on a path where you had to use your powers over and over, so all those changes add up. However, the Polarized timeline shows this isn’t necessarily true. Max can save Chloe, give David the information he needs, and never need to use her powers… but the tornado still occurs.

I kind of prefer the thinking that led to the theory that their eclipse was this eclipse, that Max’s powers were messing with time on a larger scale and causing time-based anomalies in Arcadia Bay. Snow appeared out of season. An eclipse occurred several years too early.

Would that mean a giant tornado awaits in Arcadia Bay’s future, and sacrificing Chloe just delayed it?

(Talk about depressing.)

Then there’s the other theory, that Dontnod originally intended more supernatural origin for the storm.

Evidence for this includes the early references to Native American lore and spirit animals, Max’s vision occurring before she gains her powers, unresolved build-up about Sean Prescott and the Prescott family, and unused audio files in which Nathan knew about the storm.

Will Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, due out at the end of the month, shed any further light on this? Will the sequel, which will feature a new location and cast of characters, tie into this at all? That’s hard to say. And it’s not that I think Life Is Strange was bad… but when I look back on this, it makes me think that the final ending could have been so much more interesting.

What do you think caused the weather and meteorological anomalies in Life Is Strange? Was it just chaos theory? Do you believe there was a different explanation that was removed?

And for those of you in the path of the eclipse, enjoy!

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