Played: Life Is Strange, Episode Three: Chaos Theory (2015).
Did you ever watch the movie The Butterfly Effect? That’s not a facile question, believe it or not; there’s more common ground between the two than the idea of chaos theory and time manipulation. Also integral to both the film and this episode is the idea of focusing on an otherwise-normal kid (or man-like kid, as Ashton Kutcher was) in an extraordinary situation. The problem with the film is that it escalated past the point of being a thriller and ended up being just weird (though I still have a soft spot for it, don’t tell anyone); it remains to be seen what this game, which has two episodes left to wrap up a lot of loose threads, will end up doing with the conceit.
The greatest thing about this game, though, is the small stuff - there are countless little character interactions you can miss if you blast through the puzzles (which are usually character-based, too), and an environment that feels brilliantly-crafted (the visual style on display here is incredible). Occasionally, the juxtaposition of big science fiction beats with a mundane college existence feels a little off, but by and large it’s really refreshing. We’ll see where we end up.