This Action Will Have Consequences

2023-01-08 · games

“This Action Will Have Consequences.”

Coming back to origins this winter break, I wanted to play the old role of a detective again. That led me to Life is Strange, or LiS, which I entered believing I was playing a mystery detective kind of game but came out realizing that it is a game about god, fate, and destiny. And to make you believe so, LiS gives you the powers of a god.

You play as Maxine Caufield, or Max, a girl who gained the powers of rewinding time to be able to pick the best choice possible in any situation. One of the first things a player might learn about Max is that she is terrified of making wrong decisions and thus believes that the safest course of action for her is not to make one, just like many of us.

Life Is Strange is a story about growing up and accepting how unfair life can be. If you want to get more specific, it is about casting off the last innocent illusions of childhood; that everything turns out alright in the end, that there is always time to make up for past mistakes/failings, that bad things only happen to bad people, that its easy to see who is good and who is bad, that time heals all wounds, that good intentions inevitably produce good results, that indecisiveness only affects you, etc. It is a story about facing and learning to live with what you have done in your life, no matter how terrible those things are.

Once again, it is a Steins;Gate with the Steins Gate. You cannot win this game, yet you cannot lose. You just accept the consequences of your actions.

Truly, life is strange.