Bay or bae? Ten years after Life is Strange’s final episode ended, the decision of having to pick between Chloe Price or Arcadia Bay still broke me after all these years.
The first Life is Strange is one of my favorite games of all time. It not only gave me a fantastic murder-mystery story with a time-travelling gimmick, it also showed me what it is to risk the end of the world for someone you love.
After my obsession with Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us, the next episodic game that piqued my interest was this Don't Nod game. It wasn’t exactly on my radar back then, but it only took one dubiously downloaded Episode 1 to hook me with its story. After Max put on her earphones and Syd Matter’s “To All Of You” started playing, I knew I was in for a great time.
Then the bathroom scene happened. Nathan shot Chloe Price, leaving her to die on the floor. Having to encounter this moment in a game (responsible for giving me a new music playlist to follow) was unexpected. There we see the game’s first steps into supernatural territory, where Max discovers her time powers and averts the death of Chloe, only to change the trajectory of their lives forever. And now the town of Arcadia Bay was at risk and the butterfly effect on the move.
Chloe Price and Max Caulfield’s relationship has been a major highlight for me in Life is Strange. It reminded me of a time where I’ve always wanted to meet the childhood friends that I lost over the years. Some moved away to other places in the world, while the others I just simply forgot. Max meeting Chloe years after resonated with me the most, so the sheer gut punch I had to endure when I realized I have to make “that” decision in the fifth episode still hasn’t left my memory a decade later.
I wasn’t prepared for it. I loved Chloe Price, but I also love the residents of the sleepy town of Arcadia Bay. I loved the pancakes in Two Whales Diner, the rowdy hallways of Blackwell University, and the many friends that I made who aspired to be something great. I couldn’t just take it all away.
But I also loved Chloe and Max’s relationship. The memories they made after their fleeting moments of reunion was nothing short of extraordinary. From playing along railroad tracks, messing up school bullies and finding a missing friend, it was definitely one of their their moments in life. Of course, as a player, I am only a mere bystander making the decisions for them, and while they are just mere digital avatars, their friendship felt real.
So imagine my surprise when the game leads you to believe that you can save everyone, only to make a decision that tears your heart apart. There was no ending where I had to pick one from the other, but I had to make a choice. After Ashley Burch’s impressive performance as Chloe Price, where she begged me to just sacrifice her life to save the town from a looming typhoon, I just had to do it and save Arcadia Bay. A classic trolley problem situation. I figured my time with Chloe Price was over, but I’m glad that I get to spend her last days with her true friend.
I had to go back through time, back to that exact moment in the school bathroom where Nathan murdered Chloe Price. I have no time-powers this time. I just have to let this moment happen, and risk losing Max’s best friend forever.
The song “Spanish Sahara” by Foals then begins to play as the game slowly heads to the credits. It broke me to tears. 16-year old me wasn’t prepared to lose a fictional friend in a videogame. I’ve had my fair share of videogame traumas like losing Aerith in Final Fantasy VII or Lee in Telltale’s The Walking Dead game; but losing Chloe Price hurts more because she had so much to live for, but the world keeps deciding to take her away.
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