By Sladjana Todorovic-Markovic

Life is Strange is an episodic series adventure game that was released in early 2015, developed by Dontnod Entertainment; the game is the emobodiment of teenage struggle. In this euphonious and visually pleasing time travel adventure, the user will play as a teenage girl who attends a photography specialized school and faces the every day struggle of youth along with drugs, violence, and suicide. The main character, Max Caulfield, is special due to her ability to rewind time; subsequently, this power comes in handy when a student goes missing, and it is up to Max and her best friend, Chloe Price, to find out where the student (Rachel Amber) is.

The motif of the game is based upon Chaos Theory also known as The Butterfly Effect.  The theory can only be explained as how one miniscule moment in time can have a greater than expected impact down the road. Although Max has the ability to rewind and go back in time to fix her mistakes, her final decisions still play an enormous role in this point and click adventure.  Depending on the players choices, the result could be chaos, not just for Max, but for others around her as well.

Life is Strange has a lot of top-notch qualities. The games visuals can almost be described as a high quality oil painting in motion. The soundtrack, one of the most heart-wrenching parts of Life is Strange, is unforgetable. It is touching, never out of place, and has the ability to evoke so much emotion during specific scenes that it can move the player to tears. The music does not take away from the game but has actually given it so much more life, not only does it match perfectly to the aesthetic of the game, but it feels nostalgic and reminiscent. Another great quality is the voice acting as it does not sound rehearsed or monotone; emotion can be heard behind every word. Some of the dialouge can be cringy at times with the teen slang, but it is bound to bring out a few laughs. The atmosphere of Life is Strange will send the player into a familiar but much different world.

One of the main downfalls of this game is the lip-synching. While the characters are speaking, their mouths do not match their faces. This is extremely disappointing and takes the emotion away when a serious or big reveal is about to happen.

Life is Strange grasps its players attention with suspense and anticipation. Because the game is an episodic series, it was hard being a big fan of it in the very begining. The episodes took one to two months or more to release. Fortunately for those who are impatient, all episodes of Life is Strange are currently out and available for purchase for about five dollars an episode or $19.99 for the whole season. Each episode will leave the player at the edge of their seat, even the last one. Life is Strange is available on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows.