I haven’t written about games in a while. Even though I have been engrossed in The Last of Us remastered and some apps on my phone. I haven’t gotten the chance to write about them. Well I felt the need to write about Life is Strange again. While I know it is a game, I would now use quotes around that…so lets call it a “game” as I think it would have been better as some kind of mini series or a book.
My main concern with this “game” came about when I finished the most recent episode, Episode 4, titled “Dark Room”. I will try to avoid Spoilers but here’s fair warning that some of what I have to say may very well ruin the plot points for you.
Many people in the world suffer through mental illness, honestly I include myself in that group. I suffer from anxiety. This game had me feeling really uncomfortable this last episode. A lot of discussion is happening about this game, and now that I am looking at it, I really feel that it needs to come with a Trigger warning. What is a trigger warning? A trigger warning is a statement at the start of a piece of writing, video, etc. alerting the reader or viewer to the fact that it contains potentially distressing material. This “game” contains some pretty distressing material. While I dealt with it fairly well, I can see how some players might have difficulty dealing once the fourth episode is done, and there’s even some distressing scenes in earlier episodes.
Trigger warnings are a kindness to those who do not handle some hard topics well. So while the companies don’t seem to be putting trigger warnings on this “game” in fear of revealing plot lines and twists, I am going to write trigger warnings for Life is Strange here. Be warned that if you play Life is Strange and you suffer from anxiety, depression, or any form of mental illness that there are topics of rape, kidnap, murder, death, and suicide in this game. If you typically cannot handle these topics then please do not play this game. They should have provided a Trigger Warning to begin with because from the first episode you are inclined to believe that this is where the story is headed. You may be trying to save your precious plot line, but you should also be concerned with someone’s mental health and making sure your game does not cause unnecessary emotional distress.
Those are my two cents.
Metal and the Geek 