Developer: Dontnod Entertainment
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Graphic Adventure
Rating: M
Price: 4.99 (or 19.99 for 5 entire season of 5 episodes)
The games are over and all the cards are on the table. Max is churning in lethal waters now, having exposed several truths about the residents of Arcadia Bay. Chloe is out of the picture and now Max must tackle The Dark Room alone. In doing so, she risks pushing her Rewind power to its breaking point. As the anticipated super-tornado finally enters the scene and all of her problems are converging into one ultimate oblivion, it seems she might not have a choice in the matter. The mettle of both Max and the player are tested in “Polarized,” this final installment of Life is Strange.
STORY
Here it ends. “Polarized” did what most stories do that involve time-travel or time-manipulation. It inevitably throws everything into utter chaos. Humor takes a back seat in the series finale, as every conflict we’ve known up until now is either dwarfed by the new, encroaching terrors, or directly feeds into them. Max must tackle deception, loss, defeat, uncertainty, and fear from all angles. These are not things that can be fixed or combated with a simple rewind. To give Jefferson the justice he deserves, Max has to fall back on some ludicrous maneuvers, going so far as to Inception her power upon itself, weaving through multiple flashbacks in the hopes that she can hold out long enough to create a future where everybody makes it out alive.
Max in The Dark Room
“Polarized” explores several new settings. Rather, it takes all of the old ones and corrupts them into serendipitous, nightmare versions of the ones with which we are familiar. We must navigate the girl’s dormitory from several different points-of-view, the halls menacingly dark and scrawled with words of hatred. The locker rooms have transmuted into a maze where any lights that shine on us threaten to destroy us. The Two Wales diner is filled and surrounded with the hundreds of souls we failed to save from destruction. So on and so on.
Not to mention the hideous existence of The Dark Room, which doesn’t even need a “nightmare” rendition to leave an impression of terror on those familiar with its history.
Character development is a tricky subject in this installment, because things can happen in so many different ways. Romantic developments can be prompted for both Warren and Chloe. Professor Jefferson deepens our already keen understanding of his sick sociopathy. We discover the fate of Nathan Prescott and exactly how he feels about everyone he’s been involved with. Chloe refers to her step-father for the first time as a step-father, without treating him like a beast, mostly because he steps up to the plate and receives more character development in this installment than any which came before it. Then of course there’s the staple relationship between Max and Chloe, which can go a couple different directions, but all of which deepen their emotional personalities. Chloe especially can transform dramatically as she learns of herself in the alternate reality and all of the things Max has endured to try and keep Chloe alive.
The pacing is breakneck, with twists and turns around every corner. Even when there’s not a lot of action, the tension is maintained through profound anticipation and uncertainty towards a character’s fate. This is predominantly observed in talks with Jefferson during our stay in The Dark Room.
CONTENT GUIDE
Surprisingly, “Polarized” might be the least vulgar episode of the entire series. That being said, there’s still more profane words and hateful statements than most other items we’ve reviewed. Not only do characters frequently degrade and curse at themselves and one another, but there are entire scenes in which hallways are scrawled in statements like “Go to Hell” and “You’re a b***h.”
The storm as it approaches Arcadia Bay.
There’s a hearty amount of violence and death in Episode 5, not all of which is intentional on anybody’s behalf. The apocalyptic storm alone can be responsible for several deaths which Max might help prevent, including people getting crushed by debris and electrocuted. Several people have the opportunity to get bludgeoned or shot. During the “nightmare” sequence, we can witness the initial jump of somebody falling to their deaths, though they fall into light so we never see their end.
Regarding sexual material, there’s almost nothing outside of The Dark Room. In this location Max is drugged, sprawled out half-conscious, and subject to the perverted musings of her professor and assailant. As in the previous episode, The Dark Room has several vague photographs of previous victims, some of which are sexual in nature, others of which are just generally disturbing. Besides The Dark Room, there are options for Max to kiss both a male and female character later in the story.
The only showcases of drug-related paraphernalia are in staged flashbacks from previous episodes where Chloe talks about smoking, and an old mission from Episode 2 where Max needed to collect beer bottles in a junkyard. There’s also the same sedative as seen in Episode 4, which is used to keep Max docile during her stay in The Dark Room.
There’s no outstanding spiritual content in Episode 5. The only relevant material would be the clinch revelation on one character’s part that we can’t escape our fates. It is not our place to play God.
In terms of other negative material, players should be aware of the sheer amount of accusatory remarks in the game. During the nightmare sequence, Max will receive various text messages from people both dead and alive who blast her for the decisions she’s made. They are not gentle remarks, and I found myself as the player feeling distress at how unfair and cruel the comments were. In another scene, Max is harassed by the souls of everyone “destined to die” because of her rewind power, and they make Max doubt her fundamental character and decisions.
Positive material is probably thicker in this final episode than at any other point in the series, as it is the part of the story where conflicts are resolved. Consequently, there are many moments where immorality is defeated through Max’s efforts to thwart her enemies. Some characters die, while more are apprehended by authorities. Max is given the opportunity to compromise her safety to protect and help people endangered by the super tornado. Chloe is able to overcome hatred for her father and realize the selfishness she’s displayed throughout the entire narrative. Themes of determination, compassion, and other benevolent actions pervade the final installment.
GAMEPLAY
In direct opposition to its lack of use in Episode 4, the player is called on to make excessive use of the Rewind power to move the story forward. Combined with a more advanced hide-and-seek mechanic like those we’ve seen in previous episodes, Episode 5 is perhaps the most reliant on gameplay that isn’t point-and-click. During the impending storm at the end of the episode, the player is given several challenges to try and rescue people from danger, most of which require intelligent use of the power in order to save everybody.
PRESENTATION
Let’s begin with the bad. Firstly, the lip-syncing never did catch up with what I’d considered to be a decent standard. Through all five episodes, this trait has always been lacking. However, this time it was less noticeable, as the voice-acting took an abysmal fall into cheesy territory. Most of my complaint here is regarding the hyper-emotional way in which Max talks to everybody. This is compounded when she’s talking to Chloe, who uses much of the same tonality and feverish, dramatic romping.
Max, trapped in the nightmare of time, reviewing one section of her history with Chloe.