I hope they make a system like Bioware rpgs so that our choices from first game carry over.
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I'm pretty sure, that I read, that the story is complete and that any sequel will have a different setting and different characters and a different story. Nothing to carry over.
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Not really. It was a complete story. Every time they try to make sequels to stories which were intended to be completely standalone, they either make something that has nothing to do with the original, that is pretty much the exact same thing with maybe a new side character, or something much worse.
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The game was a complete story, but it didn't explain every single thing. A sequel could be amazing if, for example, it takes place in the same world, but possibly another town (or in the past or something), and follows a new character that gets the same (or different) powers and goes deeper into the mythology behind it and the source of the powers, while still telling a rich and emotional story.
It could expand on the first one by explaining more about it how and why the events happened, while still delivering a fresh experience.
I'd love to see that, and I believe that's what they're going for. They'd be pretty stupid to go for a direct sequel
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Sequel to LiS doesn't necessarily have to involve the same characters, personally I'd love to experience entirely another story, but perhaps with similar concept.
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That is the "nothing to do with the original" part. I have faith in Dontnod, but I have seen quite a few good franchises ruined by the greed of cashing in on things with a sequel/prequel instead of accepting that it was a one-off story that ran its course. (Just think of how many issues Hollywood has trying to let go of the idea of a Gladiator sequel even today, when the film is slowly getting two decades old.)
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Actually, I fear, it will be another story entirely with exactly the same concept - meaning that our choices won't matter again in the end. Making the whole game a one-way trip once more, with no incentive to replay it with different choices (something I was looking forward to very much when I started episode 1). I would love the story to continue, but I think they made the ending so final that it's basically impossible.
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Same concept doesn't mean same mistakes. I think they'll do something about it, seeing as a lot of people weren't happy about the ending.
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The only way to avoid that "mistake", imho, would be a different concept. One, where choices actually mattered and where we'd have more than two endings with every single thing leading in a different direction (perhaps, in case of very bad choices, even leading to a bad and premature ending). However, I imagine that something like that would be exponentially harder to code compared that linear story we got in Life is Strange. So, we'll see, but I have my doubts.
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Yeah, Telltale's games are the exact same, and they've been making them for ages. I mean it's not that hard to realize why, to make a game that would branch out so much based on player choice would be the equivalent of making several different games in one. On the other hand I'd be very happy paying the price of several games to get one where my choices really changed things a lot.
Weird thing is the concept isn't unheard of I mean just look at RPGs like Mass Effect or even Fallout. Making different choices can take the story to completely different places so I don't know why it's so much easier for them than for choose-your-own-adventure kind games that Dontnod and Telltale make.
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But that's not the concept's fault, that's just bad execution. Their biggest mistake is the ending, as throughout the game the choices did mattered. Not on a grand scheme, but still - few life/death choices, and many that determent relationships with other characters and carried significant consequences. If they managed to made it through the game, I don't think it would be much harder to reflect it in a better and more varied endings. At lest on the second try :)
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I think it started with the alternate reality thing in episode 3. Life and death choices like whether to help Cloe with her suicide in the alternate reality. Choices that were eradicated right after they were made. Those were flaws with the concept or the story itself. So yeah, with a different story and paying more attention to details, they could fix that "mistake", but I remain sceptical, it's just so much easier to come up with a linear story and put in some pseudo choices along the way. It's a one-way trip, but chances are good people will still like it and it still sells pretty good.
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There's also Kate, dude with the dog and Victoria. They carried up until the whole final conundrum with dark room and all the photo-jumps.
So to bring balance to the universe I'll remain optimistic and say they'll improve their weak spots and learn mistakes. Let's both hope that I'm the right one ^_^
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Congratulations - you've been heard! Then they rewound time to last year and announced that it would indeed be new characters. I mean, that sounds better, than "oh, I messed up and posted news that's apparently not so new and not even full story"
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One of only three games I've ever bought at launch (not including ones I've helped kickstart), and the only one I've ever preordered. It didn't disappoint. :)
The sequel may even end up displacing Rise of the Tomb Raider at the top of my wishlist, if it manages to match expectations... =O
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Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights (the Bioware one). The first was incomplete at launch, before patches fixed some bugs and missing quest items, but I got enough fun multiplayer games out of it over the years that my investment paid itself off in the long run.
NWN shipped with the toolkit broken and unusable, but the core game, unlike ID's, was pretty stable and polished. Despite that, while reasonably fun, NWN (by my considerations) definitely wasn't worth anything close to its launch price, at the time of its launch. Later on, once updates and expansions had their way, it ended up being worth the trip, but that required rebuying the game (in its complete version), making my launch purchase all the more of a wasteful one.
in short, I expected a more stimulating campaign, smoother mechanics, more involved character building, more accessible and stable multiplayer, and more robust toolkit features- while I never was entirely satisfied with the last one, the rest all did get updated the the levels I'd initially expected them to be at, by the end of NWN's run (though credit for the campaign improvements goes to the community rather than the developers, of course). ID, by contrast, was (other than its launch bugs) fun from the start (which is why, 2 years later, I ended up gambling on NWN in the first place).
In consideration, that's probably why I waited so long [13 years!] to once again gamble with launch-purchasing anything past that game, given how unfortunate that purchase turned out to be- though, given recent DLC practices, it didn't end up being the last game I had to rebuy for stupid reasons. :X
Life is Strange definitely didn't let me down, though- lacking all the mechanical and story weaknesses of a Telltale Game (especially more deeply flawed recent ones), it was (by my experience) polished in all respects as soon as each episode launched, and really helped exemplify what the cinematic adventure game genre was capable of giving us. If I can support more games like that being released, then that's certainly one of the best game investments I've ever made. Of course, it helped that LiS's preorder price was only $18- an $18, polished, unique, stimulating game? Sharp contrast to the usual half-broken $30-$80 games we're all too used to getting.
Similarly, I've got fairly high hopes for (my kickstarter-backed) Tokyo Dark, releasing later this year. We managed to hit the cg animations tier, after all. :)
As far as Icewind Dale goes, only Snowblind's Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance/Champions of Norrath console games ever really gave me as stimulating a co-op action-RPG experience. Even as far as general co-op goes, only a few games really ended up striking me as comparably engaging. Trine 2 and Bombastic are really the only two that come to mind quickly.
So yeah.. I guess 2 outta 3 ain't the worst possible success rate to be runnin' with. :3
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Wow, thank you for such complete and interesting reply! It was very enjoyable reading and I wishlisted Icewind Dale right away :)
I don't have writing skills to reply with anything on par, so I'll just thank you once more and wish you a nice day and wish all of us nice and improved new LiS :)
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and I wishlisted Icewind Dale right away
Keep in mind that Icewind Dale plays to pen and paper's strengths as far as combat and dungeon design considerations go, which is why it works so well with the more focused approach of single-character-per-player co-op.
[Compared to other games of its type,] it's more challenging and tactically involved. It's also one of the rare games where sometimes running away is the best option- which sounds cheap to an RPG gamer, but to an old-school tabletop gamer, it's a very familiar consideration.
In playing to those strengths, it offers a very linear storyline. Given that it doesn't play at its best with the single-player-controlling-a-full-party dynamic of the other infinity engine games, and it lacks the exploration of those games, it tends to be less well received for single-player. It really shines in the fact that, where the other games threw co-op in thoughtlessly and weren't really suited for it [due to their party-based dynamics and open world gameplay], Icewind Dale is built in a way that really works for co-op. That said, even a fan of the game such as myself is going to admit that it's a bit weak on the single player, due to not really being as smoothly built for single-player party-play.
Of course, I've never played the Enhanced Edition, and that adds in Baldur's Gate 2's character building, which should, at the least, make party-based character-building a lot more engaging. Add in the other improvements in the edition, and it's probably better suited for single player than the original game was. That said, do note my recommendation is nevertheless still primarily for the game's co-op. ID isn't, by any means, bad for single player- but it's a game that does so well in single- (or even double-) character[-per-player] co-op that it's a waste to play it in the style of the other games (which, frankly, are better suited for single player anyway, so why waste this co-op gem on something you can get elsewhere?).
No matter how you approach it, it's a game worth adding to your library. But, by my considerations, if you really wanna get the best experience, it's worth making sure to find at least one other person willing to co-op it with you. :)
(Also, avoid Heart of Fury mode unless you're absolutely desperate for a reason to go through the game one more time. Rather than being a higher difficulty, it's really more just an imbalanced one [and thus, more like a different experience than just a more difficult one].)
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Thank you for all advices and explanations! I have two regular coop buddies with whom we always on a lookout for something new (as in "haven't heard before", not "recently released") and interesting to try so that's not a problem. I won't even have to talk them into it - I'll just link your comments :)
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Actually, it's the only game I ever bought at launch. And I found it very disappointing because of the ending.
Not because the ending's sad, there's beauty in sad stories as well. But rather because it was so final. None of my choices even mattered and because there's no incentive to play it a second time with different choices. I imagine, it must be much more difficult to create a game that actually turns out very different depending on your choices, but I would have loved more impact on the final outcome with a game advertised as "choices matter".
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but I would have loved more impact on the final outcome with a game advertised as "choices matter".
I'm so used to playing Visual Novels (and hell, even some JRPGs have pretty involved choice mechanics) that it always stuns me a bit how very limited choice-driven/path-based western games tend to be. As someone who is familiar with the developmental concerns involved, I can attest that path-design and coding aren't usually aren't of any concern, it's usually just purely down to the manhours required in creating additional content to play through and watch. Which makes the lack of inclusion of even a second ending split [though admittedly Mass Effect 3 did offer one.. eventually.. after much demand..] in prominent choice-driven games so darn weird. It's as easy as marking off some valuation checkboxes (think Chrono Trigger's trial), or just having a purely player-driven ending choice-
(Note, my favorite game of all time, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, offers you the choice of 5 different endings once you reach the final part of the game. Sure, there's no choices matter build-up, but that's in part due to the final choice being meant to be the culmination of your character's development, as a sort of 'well, after all you've seen, how would you like to proceed?. It's straightforward, but it pulls it off well.)
however, we don't ever get to see that.
On the other hand, as far as cinematic adventure games, that's not actually too surprising: First, as much as I enjoy them, my expectations for Telltale games are never especially high- I don't imagine that company would ever spend more effort on any game than they felt was absolutely necessary (which, frankly, is a waste of the capabilities of their scriptwriters). Second, LiS was a pretty small-scale indie affair, and they seem to have gotten overwhelmed by the point where they released last two chapters. It's unfortunate, but this may be the only story they could reasonably manage to offer us.
Of course, now that LiS has been a success, we should be able to hope for more from the second game.. right? :X
All I really want out of a game is a good story, and LiS tells that. With many VNs, it's often a matter of finding a story I like, more than enjoying multiple good stories. Multiple paths aren't necessarily an inherently good thing, for a story-driven game- though no doubt, when done well, they really enhance a game, by essentially multiplying the number of richly told stories by the amount of endings.
Likewise, replayability and game duration never matter to me either. In the end, I'd certainly appreciate the chance at extending a story and exploring different possibilities- but it's not something that factors into my enjoyment as I'm playing a game. :)
So yeah.. go nudge the developer, emphasize your preferences. I don't think anyone is going to disagree with 'more content', so you're basically speaking for every fan of the game. But if all I end up getting is another richly told single-path story.. well, that's not so bad either, y'know? :)
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I mean, the first game was very well received. I'm sure they can accomplish a sequel in some way or another, but I can only assume there will be another plot which reflects the first one, but maybe a twist? Using time-manipulation to stop a criminal, as a dramatic example.
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Afaik, they've talked about a sequel for a long time. Supposedly it's not with Max this time.
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Oh, really? I missed it completely! I wasn't even expecting any news until they finish the Vampire game
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It wasn't an official announcement, just that they wanted to continue the series later on. http://www.pcgamer.com/life-is-strange-2-confirmed-by-dontnod/
But it's good to hear they are in development. Really looking forward to it, as I loved the first one.
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It's one of my all time favorite game, but it's one of the only games in my "favorite games" list that I only played once. I tried to play it again, but as soon as Nathan said "Nobody would ever miss your punk ass would they?" I closed the game. It was too much xD
Really looking forward to going through emotional trauma over fictional characters again!
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Hopefully this time they will not lie about
Multiple endings depending on the choices you make.
I loved it until Ep4, then Ep5 came and made me hate it.
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IIRC they said in LIS developer commentary that they were working on a sequel with similar mechanics but different characters. Let's hope this will be as good as the first one.
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Oh, so it's even known that it'll be different characters? I'm late with everything it seems :) Was it in those in-game videos?
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Yeah it was in those videos you can watch from the game's menu. As many dev commentaries are, they were pretty interesting.
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They are, I'm watching right now :) I wish more developers would do something like that
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I'm crying tears of joy
As much as I loved Max and Chloe though, I really hope they go with new characters. Their story's done
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Apparently they have told before that it would be new characters indeed, so your hopes been answered :)
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Well, I'm excited to get a new game in the same style, I hope the new characters and story will be as great. :)
But I trust the developers, writers etc, especially now they know what worked last time and what didn't.
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Very excited about this. I pretty much loved everything about LIS.
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That is very exiting news and something to look forward to.
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Hmmm, I'll just use this thread to ask: is this the new "Life is Strange" game, or is it just a filler until they come up with the real thing later? If this Prequel is the new game, then there's one problem already, we already know what happend to Rachel and Cloe ... so the ending will be just as linear as in LiS.
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Nope, this is just a short (3 episodes) additional story, made by the other developers. New "Life is Strange" is being made by the original team and supposedly set with different characters. Other then that nothing known about it.
So basically we get two games instead of one ^_^
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Okay, thanks for the clarification. Didn't even notice that it's different developers. Also, two games instead of one, seems a lot like "milking" for cash if you ask me.
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But if it is two good games, then they'll deserve that cash. I think of this as a small tribute to those, who wanted to see more of the same beloved characters.
By the way - you play as Chloe in game, but there is an additional day-one DLC where you play as a young Max. And that is indeed milking.
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In a short announcement video published by Dontnod, the French developer have confirmed that they are working on a sequel to Life is Strange.
According to Dontnod, production on the Life is Strange sequel actually started after the release of the physical version in January of last year. While they didn’t have any in-game footage to show in this short video message, they assured fans that they will be sharing more in the future. Don’t expect anything at E3 however, as Dontnod have said on their blog that the sequel isn’t quite ready for the show.
Excited? I know I am ^_^
Edit: Even though they haven't said anything in that announcement video about content of the new game, in the past they have more than once told that it would be different cast.
Also, does anybody know whatever happened with that live-action series, that was supposed to be in development?
Edit: For those who missed - there is also short (3 episodes) prequel story being made by other developers. First episode available august 31. You play as Chloe, and in additional DLC as a young Max. It's set 3 years before the main game and cover Chloe's transition into rebellious punk we knew.
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