rocky41_7

Alright so I've finished the game.

Absolutely thumbs-up, this game impressed me so much more than I expected. I loved exploring the different worlds, which were all beautifully rendered, and the combat was smooth and enjoyable. I loved how the narrative handled the Jedi and how Cal and Cere are both so committed to putting themselves in harm's way to try to protect others who are less able to do it because it's what they were trained to do.

The Zeffo were fascinating and I loved the tomb exploration and the sheer size of the ruins and the objects inside. Past alien cultures offer such a great opportunity for the "exploring the ruins of a grandiose past culture that no one understands anymore and trying to piece together their history" which I always enjoy.

I loved how the game kept emphasizing the Empire's disregard for natural ecosystems and the damage they did to the natural landscape wherever they went, whether by pollution, deforestation, or careless and rampant expansion. The close connection between the empire and environmental destruction feels particularly pertinent in today's world with corporate-driven climate change.

Also Trilla and the Ninth Sister were such neat antagonists; I really enjoyed them. I only wish we'd gotten to see more of the Ninth Sister!

I'll definitely stick around now that I'm post-campaign to grab some more of the trophies.

I was a big fan of the first Life is Strange, and I had some fun with Before the Storm as well, but Life is Strange 2 just didn't hit for me. It just...wasn't fun. Maybe I judged it too quickly--I gave up and sold it back to Gamestop partway through the second episode--and I've really tried to pin down why I didn't like it. I have no concrete answers; the only thing I could come up with was that some of the issues that are central to it (police brutality, racism, homeless youth etc.) just felt...idk, too heavy to be playing through a video game? I'm sure other people have done better analyses of it than me.

So I was a little hesitant about True Colors. This time I looked for reviews before buying. All the ones I saw were positive, and well-deserved! From the opening scenes, True Colors is a more vibrant, more beautiful game, with frankly superior voice acting (sorry, LiS 2), which matters a lot in a dialogue and cut-scene-heavy game like the LiS series.

The game did an excellent job of capturing the Colorado landscape, and Alex was both unique and relatable, staying her own true self no matter what path you led her down. You see so clearly how she was shaped by her history, and yet how she and Gabe are trying to break free of their family's difficult past and move forward, and really chose and shape their own destinies. (Minor spoiler) Seeing Steph again was great too, and I have no doubt she was popular with LiS despite her brief screentime in Arcadia Bay (end spoiler) I also loved the theme of taking on big business. Maybe it's cliche, but as I watch companies like Amazon and Google wield ever more influence over our society and the people who work for and consume from them, stories like Alex's--a seemingly hopeless push for justice against a massive company--seem continually relevant.

Alex's power stands out from Max's in how Alex's has been with her for much longer, and has had a much greater hand in shaping who Alex is and how she interacts with the world. This makes her "superpowers in a small town" story differ a great deal from Max's overnight acquisition of a power she can't explain. I also thought True Colors did a better job than the original LiS in making you feel like your choices mattered. I know a common complaint with LiS: Episode 5 was that it felt like all your previous choices didn't really matter; it all came down to Bae or Bay? With True Colors, your interactions with the townsfolk do make a difference in how the end of the game plays out for Alex, and not just in that you have a choice in romance arcs this time!

I had fun, and while I played through Steph's romance this first time, I will definitely play again to check out Ryan's path, and snag those memories I didn't catch the first time through!