Life Is Strange (and its recent partner Life Is Strange: Before the Storm), an interactive graphic media game, treads the finest of lines between reality and construct. Devised so that the player chooses between given options within ‘real life’ scenarios, this gameplay is at certain times overly mimetic. This urgent tone and informal distance that the work creates with its players is very possibly an attribute to god complexes. When one can virtually be God, what are the ramifications thereof? Or do (video) games not influence their players? I would say they do, as movies and shows, two other highly consumed visual medias, have immensely dedicated and loving fans, and if (video) games are anything, they’re immersive films. So, do works especially like Life Is Strange act as cathartic outlets, or is there another option available? Featuring high levels of artistic design, Life Is Strange could potentially be seen as a gallery, perhaps. Or maybe it serves as a template for how to confront the monotony of life? More likely, its a mix of all these and more, which makes Life Is Strange a prevalent example of how multimedia games especially offer unending potential meanings and purposes. Games are games are games.
