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berrycedar's review
5.0
Wow they really did justice to the characters and the vibe of the whole game in this comic. I'm so grateful they made it. It's my favourite video game and the characters are really close to my heart.
avaa_readss's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
schlawiner's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.0
lilifane's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this! I loved it. The atmosphere, the art, the mystery and all the feels. Such a cool idea for a sequel. I'm curious where it will lead.
inthebelljar's review
5.0
I feel like my rating for this comic sequel is going to completely depend on the ending.
For now, I've given it 5 stars from all the emotions I have gotten from it. It's hard to emphasize enough how important getting to return to Max and Chloe's story was for me. I played Life is Strange as it came out, and I grew extremely attached to Arcadia Bay and its residents, literally having to clean off my keyboard several times from all the tears.
This work captures the spirit and characters of the original game incredibly well, and I thought that it translated smoothly into a very pleasing 2D art style.
I also love the surreal nature of this story; while living in Seattle with Chloe and doing freelance photography for her friends' band, Max is also dealing with slipping into other timelines and universes. Upon the first anniversary of the hurricane hitting Arcadia Bay, Max begins seeing things and entering universes where things are different. Ones where Chloe's mom is still alive, ones where Max moved to Seattle alone, ones where Max never left Arcadia Bay and Chloe has been dead for more than a year.
The way that these slight changes occur are so very surreal and well-done, and I loved that. I felt Max's panic and confusion vividly.
But that also worries me. Because my main complaint of the original game, as dear to my heart as it is, is that both endings really feel like they punish these sapphic girls for just...daring to exist and to love one another. Chloe either dies miserable and alone, or she loses her mother and leaves her hometown with Max. Max loses her childhood best friend who she loves, or she has to deal with the responsibility of the destruction of her hometown and the lives of her friends and neighbors. Rachel Amber dies for senseless, cruel reasons and even time travel can't bring her back.
I'm concerned because often it feels like these girls are being punished for...daring to hope? Daring to live their lives? And with the comic confirming that Max's time powers caused the hurricane for sure, I worry this will continue. Max feels she's being pushed out of her own timeline and universe, losing her new life. Chloe even laments that they are both just getting to heal from their trauma and now she's losing Max.
I don't necessarily mean I need a *happy* ending or even an uplifting one. I don't need everything to work out perfectly. But for pure tragedy and trauma, for these young women--many of whom are queer--being almost punished by the universe... That's not what I'm here for.
So for now, I'm giving it 5 stars because it means a lot to me and it captures the world and characters wonderfully. But, honestly, if it ends in tragedy yet again? I don't know.
For now, I've given it 5 stars from all the emotions I have gotten from it. It's hard to emphasize enough how important getting to return to Max and Chloe's story was for me. I played Life is Strange as it came out, and I grew extremely attached to Arcadia Bay and its residents, literally having to clean off my keyboard several times from all the tears.
This work captures the spirit and characters of the original game incredibly well, and I thought that it translated smoothly into a very pleasing 2D art style.
I also love the surreal nature of this story; while living in Seattle with Chloe and doing freelance photography for her friends' band, Max is also dealing with slipping into other timelines and universes. Upon the first anniversary of the hurricane hitting Arcadia Bay, Max begins seeing things and entering universes where things are different. Ones where Chloe's mom is still alive, ones where Max moved to Seattle alone, ones where Max never left Arcadia Bay and Chloe has been dead for more than a year.
The way that these slight changes occur are so very surreal and well-done, and I loved that. I felt Max's panic and confusion vividly.
But that also worries me. Because my main complaint of the original game, as dear to my heart as it is, is that both endings really feel like they punish these sapphic girls for just...daring to exist and to love one another. Chloe either dies miserable and alone, or she loses her mother and leaves her hometown with Max. Max loses her childhood best friend who she loves, or she has to deal with the responsibility of the destruction of her hometown and the lives of her friends and neighbors. Rachel Amber dies for senseless, cruel reasons and even time travel can't bring her back.
I'm concerned because often it feels like these girls are being punished for...daring to hope? Daring to live their lives? And with the comic confirming that Max's time powers caused the hurricane for sure, I worry this will continue. Max feels she's being pushed out of her own timeline and universe, losing her new life. Chloe even laments that they are both just getting to heal from their trauma and now she's losing Max.
I don't necessarily mean I need a *happy* ending or even an uplifting one. I don't need everything to work out perfectly. But for pure tragedy and trauma, for these young women--many of whom are queer--being almost punished by the universe... That's not what I'm here for.
So for now, I'm giving it 5 stars because it means a lot to me and it captures the world and characters wonderfully. But, honestly, if it ends in tragedy yet again? I don't know.
unladylike's review
2.0
This was a nominee for one of the women's comic book groups I'm in. I had never heard anything about this medium-jumping series (if that's the appropriate word). Soon, everyone I mentioned Life is Strange to would make a gleeful, excited face full of complex emotion and rave about how great the [first] game is. Next I found out that the comic is a spin-off and a sequel to the video game, that a semi-local creative team crafted the prequel game after the first one was so successful, and that they're still releasing "episodes" of the second game. That's a lot of media to churn out over one independent intellectual property in just 4 years, I thought! And the queers seem to love it especially! I love video games that are heavy on story, character role-playing, and romantic developments, so I quickly ordered Before the Storm, which included what I thought was the whole first game, now several years old. Unfortunately the PS4 disc only contains the first episode of the original game, giving me just enough of a taste of the gameplay to want more, like a demo. I DO want to play it through, but I don't want to pay nearly as much as they seem to be still asking for this title!
Tangentially and simultaneously, I was reading this TPB. I wasn't very impressed with either the art or the character development tbh. They were all cute, but the book kind of just plunged me into the middle of their story. I think liking this book a lot would be dependent on first having fallen in love with the characters via the game. Definitely not something I'd recommend as a stand-alone comic book.
Tangentially and simultaneously, I was reading this TPB. I wasn't very impressed with either the art or the character development tbh. They were all cute, but the book kind of just plunged me into the middle of their story. I think liking this book a lot would be dependent on first having fallen in love with the characters via the game. Definitely not something I'd recommend as a stand-alone comic book.
icraggers's review
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I finished the game weeks ago and I miss the characters so much, this comic was a fun continuation of that story