Answer Or I'm Taking Your Hot Dad.
The first episode of Life Is Strange 2 came out a day earlier than announced! How extremely uncharacteristic of Square Enix.
I've played for a couple of hours, but I realise that's not necessarily a helpful measure when you can either play quickly, rushing from objective to objective, or play slowly, taking the time to look at everything. I'm a very slow player when it comes to Life Is Strange. I've just reached the 'setting up camp by the river' sequence.
I'm pleased to report that Life Is Strange 2 is giving us the furry representation so sorely lacking in many videogames.
First impressions of Life Is Strange 2:
Sean and Lyla's no-boundaries friendship is very, very cute. I love that they're comfortable enough around each other for her to grab his hand and write on it.
Sean and his father also have a really cute relationship. (Sean thinking 'I wish Dad were here' and then getting pissed off with himself for thinking it really upset me.)
Sean himself is pretty cute (I love him trying to practise being sexy in the mirror), and I embrace him regardless of his furry proclivities. He feels very realistically teenage, I think, particularly in his 'frequently frustrated, reluctantly loving' relationship with his little brother. His drawings are beautiful, too!
I genuinely love that Sean is a furry. It feels like a very real character trait, and, well, it's not the sort of characterisation detail you see every day. (I was amused by the bit where Daniel went 'I don't want to be Bigfoot; I want to be a wolf! We could be wolves!' and Sean went 'uh, yeah, I... I guess we could,' presumably disconcerted by the fact that his brother had hit on his least socially acceptable fantasy.) I'm sorry you never made it to that party, Sean. Jenn was definitely into you; she was wearing cat ears!
I knew the shooting was coming - I'd seen it before in the twenty-minute gameplay preview - but playing through it myself still made me go cold. I sobbed at Sean's reaction when he regained consciousness and realised that his entire life had collapsed in an instant. (That one moment in the preview was when I knew I was probably going to get extremely into this game.)
I really like being able to see Sean's thoughts on the things in his backpack. One that particularly struck me was when he looks at his ID card: 'We might need to get some fake IDs at some point... I have no idea how.' This poor kid is in so far over his head.
I got so upset reading Lyla's text messages after the incident. She's so worried! She can't sleep! She loves Sean so much and it's really endearing. I'm a little sad that the 'on the run' storyline means we're unlikely to get many scenes with her in person, although hopefully we'll stay in touch with her by phone. (Good thing you packed your charger, Sean.)
I also really like the 'haven't talked in a while man but I just saw a shitload of cops near your house so let me know if you're cool' message from an unknown number; what a realistic little detail!
I thought the 'this action will have consequences' butterfly in the original Life Is Strange was stressful, but it's got nothing on the 'this action will INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR NINE-YEAR-OLD BROTHER AS A PERSON' wolves. We're almost certainly going to run out of money and starve because I don't want to set a bad example by stealing in front of Daniel. (Stealing the chocolate bar from the car didn't even occur to him! I was really expecting him to ask 'can we please take it?' and was taken aback when he asked 'can we please buy one at the next store?' instead. You're a good kid, Daniel. I will try very hard to keep you that way.)
I'm so invested in this already.
I've played for a couple of hours, but I realise that's not necessarily a helpful measure when you can either play quickly, rushing from objective to objective, or play slowly, taking the time to look at everything. I'm a very slow player when it comes to Life Is Strange. I've just reached the 'setting up camp by the river' sequence.
I'm pleased to report that Life Is Strange 2 is giving us the furry representation so sorely lacking in many videogames.
First impressions of Life Is Strange 2:
Sean and Lyla's no-boundaries friendship is very, very cute. I love that they're comfortable enough around each other for her to grab his hand and write on it.
Sean and his father also have a really cute relationship. (Sean thinking 'I wish Dad were here' and then getting pissed off with himself for thinking it really upset me.)
Sean himself is pretty cute (I love him trying to practise being sexy in the mirror), and I embrace him regardless of his furry proclivities. He feels very realistically teenage, I think, particularly in his 'frequently frustrated, reluctantly loving' relationship with his little brother. His drawings are beautiful, too!
I genuinely love that Sean is a furry. It feels like a very real character trait, and, well, it's not the sort of characterisation detail you see every day. (I was amused by the bit where Daniel went 'I don't want to be Bigfoot; I want to be a wolf! We could be wolves!' and Sean went 'uh, yeah, I... I guess we could,' presumably disconcerted by the fact that his brother had hit on his least socially acceptable fantasy.) I'm sorry you never made it to that party, Sean. Jenn was definitely into you; she was wearing cat ears!
I knew the shooting was coming - I'd seen it before in the twenty-minute gameplay preview - but playing through it myself still made me go cold. I sobbed at Sean's reaction when he regained consciousness and realised that his entire life had collapsed in an instant. (That one moment in the preview was when I knew I was probably going to get extremely into this game.)
I really like being able to see Sean's thoughts on the things in his backpack. One that particularly struck me was when he looks at his ID card: 'We might need to get some fake IDs at some point... I have no idea how.' This poor kid is in so far over his head.
I got so upset reading Lyla's text messages after the incident. She's so worried! She can't sleep! She loves Sean so much and it's really endearing. I'm a little sad that the 'on the run' storyline means we're unlikely to get many scenes with her in person, although hopefully we'll stay in touch with her by phone. (Good thing you packed your charger, Sean.)
I also really like the 'haven't talked in a while man but I just saw a shitload of cops near your house so let me know if you're cool' message from an unknown number; what a realistic little detail!
I thought the 'this action will have consequences' butterfly in the original Life Is Strange was stressful, but it's got nothing on the 'this action will INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR NINE-YEAR-OLD BROTHER AS A PERSON' wolves. We're almost certainly going to run out of money and starve because I don't want to set a bad example by stealing in front of Daniel. (Stealing the chocolate bar from the car didn't even occur to him! I was really expecting him to ask 'can we please take it?' and was taken aback when he asked 'can we please buy one at the next store?' instead. You're a good kid, Daniel. I will try very hard to keep you that way.)
I'm so invested in this already.