I’ve been looking forward to the release of the Life is Strange Remastered Collection for Switch for some time, and was quite prepared for the (semi-)portable port to be something of ‘downgrade’ from the versions already available for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. I’m used to it, having put many (hundreds of) hours into the likes of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Dark Souls and Alien: Isolation on Nintendo’s console. But what met me upon restarting the exceptional original title in this narrative adventure series still came as a surprise.
Watch the release date trailer for Life is Strange on Switch below…
Make no mistake about it: this two-game release, containing both the breakthrough first game and its prequel series Before the Storm (plus its bonus episode, ‘Farewell’), is exactly the kind of visual experience that has Switch naysayers smiling gleefully, ready to swing into the comments with lines about why you’d want to waste your time on such an inferior version. Textures in the first game - which originally came out in 2015 with a simple but stylish aesthetic, all crisp lines and bold colours - can be muddy and glitchy, and characters move about like stiff marionettes, an impression only exaggerated by their skin tones appearing oddly wooden in select scenes. Apparently facial motion-capture was added to this release, but it’s not noticeable. Things are better in the prequel game, which pops with punchier contrast and greater depth to each scene, a better suggestion of this being a real place rather than a doll’s house recreation of one. Character models, too, appear to have a warmth to them that’s lacking in Life is Strange itself. Playing the two simultaneously, bouncing between episodes, the visual differences are jarring.
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Elsewhere, loading times are long - it takes a full minute to get from the menu for the first game’s episodes to the start of gameplay, and a few mid-game loads were so prolonged I wondered if the game had crashed (even the save/load camera icon on the corner froze for a bit). And this might be a me thing or something tied up with the remaster process itself, but I’m finding lining up interactive elements way more fiddly than my PS4 playthrough seven years ago, although memory’s a tricky thing and perhaps it was always this needlessly annoying. Nothing feels especially optimised, and everything’s rather rough about its edges, is what I’m saying. If you’re hoping for a game that really shines on your lovely OLED, this isn’t it, and I’d be surprised if the company that handled this port, the Cyprus-based Dragon’s Lake Entertainment, use this as a showcase for its talents (its logo is absent from the pre-title screen line-up of Square Enix, original devs DONTNOD Entertainment and Before the Storm makers Deck Nine).
It’s also worth noting that while the PC, PS4 and Xbox remasters are sold as remasters, and look the part in footage, this Switch release bears the name Life Is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection. ‘Remastered’ has fallen from its official title - and perhaps that’s a damage limitation move on the part of publishers Square Enix given just how ugly this thing looks at times. But looks aren’t everything, and if the loading times aren’t too bothersome for you, this modern classic of its kind (and its thoroughly decent prequel) remain worthwhile investments of your valuable time, if the price is right.
For those who’ve never played Life is Strange, I’d still recommend that if you’re able to, check it out on something other than Switch. But if this is your only option, the time-twisting tale of Max Caulfield and her remarkable ability to rewind what’s just happened before her (and our) eyes is special enough to make the shortcomings of this particular version just about fade into the background, so long as you’re willing to let them and your wallet agrees. The story moves at a surprisingly brisk pace as seen on a repeat playthrough - perhaps an impression brought about by this no longer releasing across five separate episodes (it’s the absence that makes the playtime feel longer, says nobody) - and while you can poke around into all manner of other people’s business and belongings, the second-time-around player will likely stick to a more streamlined path. Just because something’s highlighted doesn’t mean it’s worth your time (assuming you can line it up just right, too).
Max can rewind time almost whenever she likes, but there are crucial decisions to make in each episode that you can view the different outcomes of using her powers, and then progress following the result of your choosing - sometimes there’s no good or bad to pick, with this game’s story painted in several shades of grey. In the early game that’s relatively innocuous things like did you or didn’t you water the plant in Max’s dorm room, or take the blame for a joint being found at your pal’s place - but just as the game remembers those choices, so too does it log ones that have more dramatic effects not only on Max’s personal journey but also the lives and fates of her fellow Blackwell Academy students and other residents of Arcadia Bay. Before the Storm sees things from the perspective of Max’s friend Chloe, during a period where the pair are apart. Our protagonist instead spends time with the very same Rachel Amber whose disappearance represents a foundational mystery of the first game.
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This collection has all the original music of the first release, including tracks from Foals and alt-j, which is great to see - few games have a licensed soundtrack that fits its mood and themes quite as well as Life is Strange, even if there are a couple of incongruous picks along the way (I’m not sure any 18 year old would ever “thrash out” on their bed to a Sparklehorse number, even in the late Mark Linkous’s fuzziest moments, but then Chloe is Chloe). Often these songs play out over a pause in the action as Max takes a seat and takes stock of everything she’s witnessed - and even the title screen’s lilting guitar loop can stop you in your play for a bit (I’m certainly guilty of leaving it running a while after completing an episode). So while this port’s looks and movement may let you down, its tunes most certainly won’t.
At £32.99 on the Nintendo eShop, Life is Strange Arcadia Bay collection isn’t a bad package value wise - there’s two full games here, albeit ones that have long been available elsewhere, with replayability sewn through the fabric of each as your this-way-or-that progression leaves a trail of alternative routes behind it. And yet I’m leaning towards only recommending this, specifically on Switch, if it’s in a sale. For me, its presentation isn’t where it needs to be on the first game, and doesn’t do justice to a game (and series) that’s enchanted so many since 2015. Life is Strange deserves better than this, and so do Switch players who may have been better off with a direct port of 2015’s PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 release than this remaster that, ostensibly, isn’t.
Featured Image Credit: Square EnixTopics: Life Is Strange, Opinion, Square Enix, Nintendo Switch