Away.

[rionaleonhart]

I can't believe the last episode of Life Is Strange 2 is actually out. Will I be able to protect my boys? I'm going to try extremely hard.

I've just played through the scene where they reach the wall.



The opening took me very quickly from 'aww, Sean and Daniel are sleeping cuddled up together, that's adorable' to 'DON'T SLEEP RIGHT NEXT TO THE EDGE OF A CANYON, WHAT ARE YOU DOING'

Part of this opening was previously released in teaser trailer form, and this was my response to it at the time:

Riona: They've just released a teaser trailer for the final episode of Life Is Strange 2, and it's the brothers hugging and saying that they love each other, and then the two of them howling like wolves for ten full seconds like the fucking furries they are.
th_esaurus: i'm so glad this game is going to bless you with everything you could ever want

This setting is absurdly beautiful and Sean and Daniel are being absurdly cute, and I have a feeling I'm going to end up absurdly heartbroken.

I think I've raised Daniel well? I hope I've raised Daniel well. He seems to have a sense of morality and to get along well with Sean.

I wasn't sure whether the final episode would go straight into PLOT PLOT PLOT, so I'm glad we still have slow, relaxed exploration scenes.

Daniel's treasure hunt! He's such a kid and it's adorable.

When David said he was a stepdad, 'or, in her case, a stepdouche', I exclaimed 'HOLY SHIT' so loudly that Ginger called out to check on me. I wasn't expecting him to be that David! (I am completely incapable of recognising a character if they've changed their hair.)

It's strange that Sean doesn't really react to David mentioning the death of his stepdaughter. It's a bit of an oversight and makes me wonder whether the David cameo was a last-minute addition. (I wonder what you get in its place if you sacrificed Arcadia Bay.)

The 'climbing up to the canyon and releasing lanterns' part was a very Life Is Strange scene. Just a quiet, beautiful moment, without any stakes: a moment to breathe before the plot hits.

David kept Chloe's 'Parental Advisory: Explicit Content' sign! I'm weirdly touched; it's so opposed to the person he is, but he kept it because it was hers.

Riona: oh no, there hasn't been a major choice yet in this episode, what horrible decision are they going to ask me to make
Game: So, do you hug your mother or not?

I told Daniel we'd be okay in Mexico and he said 'okay, I trust you' and I'm very concerned about whether we'll actually be okay in Mexico. I just want to be worthy of your trust, Daniel!

Daniel's asking why Mexico is walled off but Canada isn't. This poor kid.

I was extremely unhappy when Daniel got shot. That's the second time he's been shot in my playthrough, which is entirely too many times for a ten-year-old.

I do, however, love that this game's creators are just as dedicated to Sean's suffering as I am. Pinned down by bounty hunters and panicking about his brother! Look, yes, I ultimately want Sean to be safe and happy, but I also want him to be knocked around a bit first; half my love for the boy comes from how well he suffers.

I said 'whoops' aloud when Sean called out for Daniel while the police officer was checking on him and the officer went 'er, wait, are you Sean? fugitive Sean Diaz? okay, you're under arrest.'

SO, YES, DANIEL'S UNCONSCIOUS AND SEAN'S BEEN ARRESTED, EVERYTHING'S GOING GREAT.

I wonder if there's going to be a Chrono Trigger-esque 'put on trial for your actions' scene. I, er, might be about to regret going along with Joey's 'make it look like you attacked me' plan for escaping the hospital in episode four.



This game is so stressful, but I'll miss being stressed out by it when I've finished.

Comments

[pict]

I finished the episode in the early hours of the morning and immediately fled to Reddit. For the answer to how David's cameo is handled if Chloe survived: If you chose Bae over Bay (I didn't), David gets a phone call from Chloe instead. There's also a picture of her and Max as adults, I think? Chloe's hair is longer, lanky and green. There's also a letter from Victoria in his trailer, allegedly, but I never found it. I belatedly realised these are spoilers (for an alternate version of a scene you've already seen) and blacked them out, whoops.

When we see him, I spent several minutes being like YOU LOOK SO FAMILIAR. But I took it as a repetitive character model('s eyebrows) rather than David fucking Madsen popping his head back up, until he started in on Chloe's death. And, like, I feel that was done more for the audience? Looking at it from Sean's perspective, the scene feels very inorganic, like wow this dude clearly needs someone to listen to him about this, so I guess it'll be me. (I felt the same way about the adorable husbands; I couldn't figure out why they were soliloquizing the way they were after knowing Sean for two months. It's deliberately sacrificing organic dialogue for story and thematic purposes.)

ANYWAY I CRIED A LOT. But I'm very satisfied.

What Daniel-ing did you get on the hilariously obvious scorpion benchmark?

[rionaleonhart]

I highlighted the alternate-scene spoilers, and that's really interesting! I'll have to look that up when I've finished. I thought at first that David might not be there at all if you sacrificed the Bay, but I suppose he must have survived the storm.

I couldn't figure out why they were soliloquizing the way they were after knowing Sean for two months.

Honestly, I can imagine that it's a combination of just being nice to the traumatised kid who desperately needs guidance, and the fact that I imagine you would quickly get attached to people in your weird isolated desert commune.

What Daniel-ing did you get on the hilariously obvious scorpion benchmark?

Daniel was playing with a scorpion with his powers; I said 'hey, don't do that'; he said 'yeah, you're right; sorry, little guy' and put the scorpion down. It was reassuring! I definitely found myself slightly nervous about what Daniel might do in that scene if I'd, for example, let him kill the cougar in episode two. Did you get the same thing?

I love that icon so much.

[pict]

More on that! From tvtropes (so unsourced, unverified, etc): If Chloe survives, then it becomes clear during their phone conversation that he has a much better relationship with her, Chloe was the one who initiated the call and David gives her good advice, with both even saying "I love you," to each other.

Honestly, Chloe's happiness was the biggest motivating factor in my continued interest in the first LiS, so I'm thrilled to know that if she survives, she maintains a good and healthy relationship with her surviving parent.

As for the scorpion, I got the exact scene you did! My assumption is that he always starts toying with it, but his ultimate response to Sean's cajoling is based off of his moral compass/previous guidance. Hence why I consider it a benchmark: it's meant to indicate to the player right away where Daniel is and what he's capable of.

Lastly, this game makes me want to road trip so hard. I want to go the Arizona desert and stargaze at a canyon!