Life Is Strange: Before the Storm
Developer: Deck Nine
Price: $17
Platform: PC, PS4, and Xbox One
MonsterVine was supplied with an Xbox One code for review
Is someone cutting onions in here? Seriously, please stop. The tears are clouding my vision and making it incredibly difficult to type this up.
Look, I know I’ve been pretty generous with my past Before the Storm episode reviews. Really, that’s only because the episodes put my emotions into overdrive—making me care a little too much about the characters—and I love a good emotional rollercoaster ride. Deck Nine’s stunning character and story development deserve all the praise in the world. The stories they tell feel real, personal, alive.
But BTS’s bonus episode, “Farewell,” completely kicks all of its predecessors to the curb.
The Amber-Price dynamic takes a backseat as 13-year-old Max Caulfield (from the original Life is Strange) joins Chloe on an impromptu pirate treasure hunt, skillfully crafted by their eight-year-old selves. As they clean Chloe’s room and search for clues, Max and Chloe reminisce on their best friendship. They flip through old scrapbooks and a choose-your-own-adventure book, and create new memories, with Max documenting every second with a Polaroid camera. It’s clear from the beginning that the two are extremely close, and have been that way for quite some time.
All the while, however, Max harbors a deep secret: her family is moving away from Arcadia to Seattle the very next day.
13-year-olds Chloe and Max, before BEFORE the storm
Much of Max’s interior monologue throughout the episode expresses her struggle in coming clean to Chloe about the big move. And it’s not hard to see why: Chloe’s in incredibly high spirits, she’s been accepted to Blackwell Academy, and her dad’s still around. This is a young, unrecognizably carefree Chloe (I mean, she still swears, so there’s that) who thinks about science and pirates instead of graffiti and drugs. This is a Chloe who still trusts the good in the world. She is pure, and I want to protect her with my life. Max’s careful consideration for Chloe’s feelings rings true for any young friendship.
The rose-tinted glasses come off, however, so abruptly in an unexpected ending that I spent the last few minutes of the episode bawling my eyes out. I wish I was exaggerating. The throwback photos, surprising soundtrack, and character-made mixtapes didn’t prepare me for the closing punch in the gut. I just lost it during that final mixtape moment in Chloe’s bedroom.
No please oh GOD
I might’ve played as Max in “Farewell,” but this episode is definitely all about Chloe. The fact that the entire ~70-minute-long episode happens solely in Chloe’s house is a telltale sign of that.
But beyond that, it’s about the suddenness of tragedy and trying (but ultimately failing) to be okay. It’s about the future’s uncertainty and life’s fragility. There are no hard decisions to make in “Farewell” because it doesn’t matter what you pick: the outcome, the pain will stay the same. There’s always a Price to pay.
All you can do is try to soften the blow.
The Final Word
As someone who hasn’t played the original Life is Strange, “Farewell” successfully piqued my interest in continuing to explore Chloe’s life and her relationship with Max. The bonus episode made me feel more sympathetic for Chloe, even without the concrete decision-making function featured in other episodes. “Farewell” beautifully captures the innocence, and tenderness, of young friendship.
MonsterVine Score: 5 out of 5 – Excellent
