Young adult novels and films have been a lucrative business for many years. As video game technology has advanced so too has the ability to tell increasingly complex stories through the medium, and with that complexity came the ability to cater stories to specific audiences. Hence, the rise of young adult video games was inevitable. Throughout 2015, the episodicLife Is Strangecapitalized on the young adult market to great success, and after two sequels, one prequel, and a spin-off, the original game and its prequel have been remastered for PS4, Xbox One, Steam, and, most importantly, Nintendo Switch. Despite being labeled “remastered,” the recently releasedLife Is Strange Arcadia Bay Collectionlooks and performs like a seventh-generation game when played on the Switch. Luckily, the story-heavy nature of the game keeps the focus away from performance shortcomings and makes it more accessible for a new generation of players.
At the core of theLife Is Strangeexperience is the branchingchoose your own adventure type storyline. The story of the original game and its prequel story,Before the Storm, is a perfect representation of young adult fiction, for better and worse. Characters are poorly written-caricatures of people that don’t actually exist in the real world. The dialogue feels stiff and awkward full of hip slang that is overused and reeks of a “hello fellow kids” type energy. And the levels of cognitive dissonance required for the audience to ignore thehypocrisy in one of the game’s main characters, Chloe Price, is nothing short of total insanity.
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Regardless of the poorly written dialogue and shallow characters, the completely absurdist plot that only becomes more and more over the top as each layer is peeled back is still extremely enjoyable seven years on.Max’s initial ability to turn back timerequired a significant suspension of disbelief on the part of the audience as the game never seemed concerned with establishing any consistent rules of time travel. But her abilities allowing her to travel back in time through photographs and change events of the past creating alternate timelines is something that can only be treated seriously in a young adult story. The fact thatthe writers clearly took their own story so seriouslyand committed to it to such an extreme degree makes the progression loads of fun. Choose your own adventure games are naturally drawn to string theory and Max’s ability to reverse time and allow the player to view the road not traveled in such small quantities but also so quickly makes for a unique flavor on a tried and true formula.
Unlike the story, thegameplay is a part ofLife Is Strangethat should never be seen or heard.Life Is Strange’sgameplay systems and mechanics are designed for the express purpose of delivering the story to the player in the most seamless and unobtrusive way possible, and in that way the game is a great success. Gameplay consisting of walking around and pressing buttons to talk to characters, interact with objects, or simply take a closer look at the things in the world is not and should never be the centerpiece of the game. Controls are extremely intuitive, empowering the gameplay to get out of the way of the story as quickly as possible. The only problem players may encounter specifically onthe Switch version of the gameis caused by the control scheme and the ergonomics of the Joy-cons. When playing in handheld mode it is extremely easy to accidentally press the left and right shoulder buttons, which can trigger an instant rewind and force players to replay scenes unintentionally.
The “Remastered” label on theArcadia Bay Collectionis the only part ofLife Is Strangethat seems out of place. Neither the first game nor the prequel looks in any way remastered on the Switch. In fact, the games look arguably worse than the first game’s original release on the seventh-generation consoles back in 2015. Technically the Switch version is a port of the remastered versions of the games released on other platforms in early 2022, but even when not utilizing the power of the PS5 or Xbox Series consoles, the games look significantly better than their original releases on those same platforms. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Switch version, the sacrifices made to get the games to run on the Switch’s hardware leave textures looking muddy and the entire game running at a resolution that is almost constantly sub 720p.
In fact, the term “Remastered” seems to have been grossly misused in this case. Yes, on the other platforms the games do look better. But what this re-release really has to offer is the technology that has been developed for subsequent games in the series. Visually thedifferences are hard to notice without a direct comparison, but the new facial animations do wonders for making their reactions to each other and the world around them feel more visceral than ever. This version of the game is more of a re-release utilizing new tech on the Switch than it is a remaster.
Despite the challenges the game faces that are unique to the Switch version, the single biggest benefit from this re-release is entirely unique to the Switch version: portability. It cannot be stressed enough how invigorated the entireLife Is Strangeexperience is by simply making it portable. The ability to lay down in bed and play for 30 minutes or an hour before going to sleep harkens back toenjoying another chapter of a good bookin the days before smartphones and social media. The freedom of portability alone makes up for the visual shortcomings and makes the series feel more at home on Switch than it ever has anywhere else.
The entireArcadia Bay Collectionmakes for the perfect young adult storytelling experience in video game form. The game both feels and plays like awonderful hybrid of YA books and movies, finding a place between the passive act of watching a movie and the intimacy of reading a book. By utilizing the abilities unique to the medium, Don’t Nod made something that feels both totally familiar and entirely new. Despite how awkward the dialogue can be at times,Life Is Strangeis evidence that there should be many more of these types of games that are more interactive than visual novels while still remaining entirely focused on their story. After the Switch version ofLife Is Strangeis arguably the pinnacle of this type of game, more YA games flooding the market would not be a bad thing for the industry.
On the whole, theArcadia Bay Collectionis largely the same game that was released almost eight years ago, but that isn’t a bad thing in the slightest. When a great game focused almost entirely on its story, not much needs to be done for a remaster. While the Switch version is undoubtedly the worst version of the game from a visual perspective, those hiccups are more than made up for by the portability offered by Nintendo’s console. That portability makes for the worst-looking yet most enjoyable version of these games to date and elevates the entire concept of the genre.
Life Is Strange: Arcadia Bay Collectionis currently available on Nintendo Switch. Game Rant was provided a Nintendo Switch code for this review.
Life is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection
WHERE TO PLAY
Return to Arcadia Bay and experience two award-winning Life is Strange games like never before! Remastered visuals and animation breathe new life into the great cast of characters and gripping stories. The Life is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection includes ‘Life is Strange Remastered’ and ‘Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered’.Remastered visuals across characters and environments. Vastly improved character animation using full facial mocap performance (Life is Strange Remastered only).Updated and refined gameplay puzzles.Engine and lighting upgrades. Choice and consequence driven stories with multiple endings. Harness the power of Max’s rewind ability or Chloe’s quick-witted attitude to change the course of events. Distinct licenced soundtrack & original scores.
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