Life is Strange: Before The Storm, the awaited Life is Strange prequel, will be launched on August, 31rd. This time the main character will be Chloe. We’ll know as her story with Rachel as the events that led to Life is Strange. Jeff Litchford, Deck Nine Games Vice President, has spoken to us and has told us a lot of secrets behind Life is Strange: Before the Storm. Enjoy the interview.
What is the story at the beginning of Life is Strange: Before the Storm? Where is Chloe in her life at this point?
Before the Storm takes place three years prior to the first game. Both Chloe’s father and her best friend Max have unexpectedly left her. She finds herself alone and struggling to overcome the challenges in front of her. Armed with her brutal wit and an endless ability to get in trouble, Chloe is burning every bridge at home and at school.
Along comes Rachel Amber, the opposite to Chloe is almost every way. But when a secret is uncovered that threatens to destroy Rachel’s world, it is to Chloe that she turns to for strength.
The main theme of Life is Strange was the possibility of turning back time and changing our decisions. Are we going to find similar possibilities in Life is Strange: Before the Storm? Or will our decisions will be irreversible?
In the original game, the power of rewind gave you the ability to study the consequences of your choices and make informed decisions about how you wanted to progress. This careful weighing of options completely fit the character of Max. In Before the Storm, Chloe doesn’t have that luxury. As she crashes like a wrecking ball through her life she must live with the consequences.
In Before the Storm, Chloe doesn’t have that luxury. As she crashes like a wrecking ball through her life she must live with the consequences.
Can you tell us what kind of relationship will have Rachel and Chloe at the beginning of the story? How is it going to evolve?
Before the Storm is about that one person that changes everything in your life. Most people can likely look back through the years and find someone who connected with them at a meaningful and complex time and helped give them the strength to move forward.
For Chloe, that person is Rachel Amber and it comes as a complete surprise. These two girls have nothing in common, at least that’s what they initially think. How their relationship evolves is something we’ve put in your hands, because your choices have consequences.
In the videos released so far, we’ve seen that we’re going to meet Frank, David and Joyce. Anyone else? Are any other fellows from Blackwell Academy going to reappear?
Some of the charm of returning to Arcadia Bay is discovering the old characters that have made it into the game and meeting the new ones. I don’t want to give out a full list that might spoil that experience for some players
Will we find out some more secrets of Arcadia Bay; like the meaning of totems or the significance of animals?
‘Strange elements’ were very overt in Season 1 as it was showing the consequences of Max continually upsetting the timeline with her rewind power. In this game we’ve decided to be more subtle with how we represent strangeness, as such we’ve focused more on symbology and dreamscapes.
What will be the main plot of Life is Strange: Before the Storm? Is it going to focus on the characters or are we going to find a bigger threat, like we did in Life is Strange?
The focus of the plot is on that one person who changes everything for you. For Chloe, that person is Rachel. But at the same time, for Rachel, that person is Chloe. Thrown together unexpectedly, these two young woman find themselves no longer alone and together they must confront each other’s demons and find a way to overcome them.
Will we be able to play as any other character besides Chloe?
It was important to us to maintain a narrative consistency throughout the game, so you will only play as Chloe. There is a bonus episode, called Farewell, where you do get to play as Max.
Will Life is Strange: Before the Storm be set exclusively in Arcadia Bay, or are we going to be introduced to new places?
The game begins with Chloe visiting an old abandoned saw mill up in the hills that’s been claimed by the locals, where an illegal concert is taking place. She’s there to see a favorite band and nothing will stand in her way.
This is an example of some of the new places that we will introduce to the players as they play the game. At the same time, it’s also important to return to locations that are familiar to players and let them see what they were like three years prior.
Will any new gameplay mechanics be introduced to the game? Will Life is Strange: Before the Storm going to be linear or more like and open-world game?
It wouldn’t be appropriate for Chloe to have a power three years prior to the original story, so we chose instead to focus on what fans are most vocal about; believable characters facing real problems. We have made sure to carry across the design philosophy that your choices will have major consequences to how the game plays out.
At this point in her life, with her father and Max gone, Chloe is a wounded and flawed character – we decided to explore that part of her personality as we developed gameplay that is appropriate to her. We really look forward to sharing this new gameplay with everyone soon.
Will Life is Strange: Before the Storm’s story overlap with LiS at any point, or will it exist entirely as a prequel?
We very consciously chose to tell the story as a prequel. For fans who have played the first game, they will massively enjoy the chance to return to some familiar locations and interact with some beloved characters. We’ve also created new places to be explored and some exciting new characters for you to meet.
The decisions players had to make in Life is Strange were very difficult and important. Will Life is Strange: Before the Storm present the player with equally challenging choices?
Meaningful choices with major consequences is a hallmark of the Life is Strange brand. We absolutely are sharing the journey with our players, helping them to craft their version of the story. Of course, the game has multiple ending based on the player’s choices.
Meaningful choices with major consequences is a hallmark of the Life is Strange brand. Of course, the game has multiple ending based on the player’s choices.
Will Life is Strange: Before the Storm perform any differently on Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro?
We have 4k HDR support for those platforms.
Thank you so much. We’re looking forward to play Life is Strange: Before the Storm and we hope it’s a really big success. Good luck.
Thank you for the great questions. I really enjoyed getting to share my thoughts with you and I would be happy to answer more as you get a chance to play the game. Thank you for your interest in Before the Storm and Deck Nine. All the best, Jeff.
As you can see, Jeff Litchford has answered many doubts we had around Life is Strange: Before the Storm. However, at the same time he has raised new ones. What kind of characters are we going to meet? How will be doing the ones we already know? What consequences will our decisions have?
We’ll have to wait a bit more, until August 31rd to discover what secrets Life is Strange: Before the Storm hides in Xbox One.
