Life is Strange: Bae or Bay?

[tarraxahum]

Been surprisingly decently discussing this in a dangerous place called "YouTube comments" and, considering that the residents of Melonland are much better at such discussions, I'm here to hit a hornets' nest with a bat out of sheer curiosity.

So, Life is Strange 1, the original that started the series, and its infamous last choice.

Spoilers. Obviously.

Feelings on whether that choice is disappointing gameplay-wise and choices-mattering-wise aside... What was your choice and what's your reasoning behind it?

I'll start: I'm a big time "sacrifice Arcadia Bay"/"Bae over Bay" truther. That's not only just because I'm uselessly gay. Well, it was back when I first played the game. Having very recently replayed the remaster though, I'm having some much more defined opinions. Namely:

1. I feel like both choices ultimately make this a story of acceptance and maturity. However, "sacrifice Chloe" is more of a "accept that sometimes you can't change things/save everyone" story, and "sacrifice Arcadia Bay" is more of a "sometimes you're gonna mess up big time even with the best of intentions and you have to learn to live with the consequences" story. I choose the latter moral. ":grin:omg: as you must and come what may".

2. I despise stories where a character kicked down the most by the narrative has to die in misery at the end. And Chloe might be a difficult character who got on a lot of people's nerves (not mine but still), but she is that very type of a miserable character.

3. As far as fiction goes I find more catharsis in selfish love and burning the world down to stand together atop the ruins. Self-explanatory, I think.

4. And finally I'm just annoyed by the idea of erasing all the events of the game by going back and making no one but Max remember them? I was given a power and I've spent five episodes thoroughly effing up space and time with it, let it damn show! (Also if 'rewind bad' then how's it the answer to...rewind one more time? Meh!)

There's an obvious argument of "Killing a whole town of innocents for one punk girl is BAD", yada-yada, trolley problem, but I think I made it rather clear that I personally don't measure fiction by real-life standards. You're welcome to, though!

So what do y'all think, dear gamers? I'm geniunely curious, it fascinates me that this game still can fascilitate discussion this many years later!

[Melooon]

Ooph, I got the Life is Strange Remastered bundle last April when I had covid; and went into it knowing absolutely NOTHING about the game, Id heard the name before so figured it was worth a go! On a personal level, 2021 was a very bad year, and 2022 had not started off well, most people around here were still in covid isolation, me included - All that is setup to say I was not emotionally prepared to handle this game and it hit me very hard

I picked saving Chloe at the end - my thought process was along the lines of "No no I cant loose someone again we are not doing this" - but I regretted that choice almost instantly.. what right did I have to choose to let everyone die.. did this not invalidate everything Id done before then!

I saved the girl from the rooftop, and I knew how much her family loved her - and now I was sentencing her to death again; because I couldn't let go of a friend I had already lost years ago? Somehow that last choice was like clinging to the past, it was choosing stasis and comfort instead of facing reality and letting myself and the world move on.

Finally what happens after this; do Max and Chloe stay friends? I cant imagine they could or should.. its just too much pressure.

In the end time catches up with everything no matter what you pick, no one lives forever - but that doesn't make the time any less valuable - I chose to hold onto time with someone from my past, instead of letting time offer me something new - I don't think it was a good ending for anyone

What a head wrecker! But I enjoyed it thoroughly and It'll stay with me for many years! - I loved the way you could see how common other peoples choices were!

[tarraxahum]

Finally what happens after this; do Max and Chloe stay friends? I cant imagine they could or should.. its just too much pressure.

There's an official Life is Strange comic taking place after the "save Chloe" ending! It positions itself as a "what if" kinda story, not something set in stone but rather a one of the possible stories that could take place afterwards. Can't say I fully agree with some of its takes (and that's the whole point of being a 'what if' story tbh, doesn't necessarily step on anyone else's views), but it was nice to read anyway. And I really liked its take on growing and rebuilding. Just a reccomendation if you'd ever wanted to see how one creative team answered that question!

Honestly I think that your description of saying "No no no please I don't want this to happen again" and then very quickly regretting it as the realization dawns on you sounds like a very plausible version of that ending interptetation, too. Considering what Max went though right before making that choice I could easily see it being a spur of the moment decision - and then there's just no going back.

did this not invalidate everything Id done before then!

I mean honestly I think that this could be said of both choices. If you rewind the whole week back - then nothing you did matter 'cause now you've never done it (although knowing where to find Rachel, busting Jefferson and preventing Kate from even going to that rooftop are still on the table, so that's a result), and if you sacrifice the city and everyone you helped dies then it doesn't matter because, well, everyone is gone.

In that regard I personally believe that you helping someone one day is not devalued by something happening the next day. The world may end tomorrow, so to speak, but our actions will still matter today. Something like that.

That choice it truly a double-edged sword because both choices make you think "what was the point?" but also in both cases it wasn't exactly for naught, I think.

(Also, speaking of "what happens after this": I've always been slightly horrified for Max in "save the town" ending, 'cause can you imagine having all that trauma from being kidnapped, tortured and seeing your friend die a few times over, etc etc, and then being unable to talk to anyone about it 'cause it just...never happened for anyone else? At the very least if the town is destroyed she'd be able to blame her likely PTSD on that and get some actual therapy I think @~@ )