Board 8 > Life Is Strange (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

So I just started this game today, knowing absolutely nothing about it. (I thought it was an indie RPG from like 2008, but it says it's from 2015, it's an adventure-style game, and it's by Square-Enix. Maybe I was thinking of Cave Story?) Its camera angle is gonna wreak absolute havoc on my motion sickness. Wish it were done with static sprites instead of 3D character models, but you have to play with what you're given, I guess.

It was a dark and stormy night, and goddamn it is painful to walk this slowly. Thankfully there's a run-option later. Max is a pretty solid protagonist so far. Really like her journal, where we realize why she puts up with this douchebag teacher - she's in love with his work or something. Not such a fan of the real-time conversations. They feel more immersive, but because the controls are so distracting and clunky, I feel this absurd time pressure that doesn't belong. I also feel like the world is almost too detailed; there's virtually nothing of substance in that classroom, yet I investigated double-digit number of times, and the clunky controls make it a real chore to examine everything.

On the other hand, I love the conceit. I feel like backwards time travel is a fairly reliable source of great storylines, and the reversal part is best part of the graphics by far, thus far. We've has also quickly taken advantage of the time travel to come up with some quick answers to the teacher (the daguerreotype and the allusion to John Lennon). Pretty dope scene with Max putting on her headphones for the first time, too. And with the murder, now there's urgency.

I hope that not snitching was the right choice. After viewing both, it isn't clear which one is "correct," so I'm going with the non-snitch option. I guess it's a gameplay contrivance that we can't rewind past certain points, but it makes sense from a game perspective so no hate.

Gonna be hard to take notes on this game without being able to type with the game open. That also is gonna annoy me.
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the art of the selfie
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SeabassDebeste posted...

Maybe I was thinking of Cave Story?

Cave Story is a platformer not an RPG

so no lol

Tag, I'm glad you seem to be enjoying it so far even if you've only just started. Don't feel like you need to take copious notes if it'll annoy you, though. I imagine most fans of the game would be able to follow along with less so prioritize your own enjoyment!
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thanks

note-taking usually makes a game more enjoyable to me as i'm able to focus on all the things i like about it and mull them over

the bigger impediment to my enjoying the game is likely to be the camera (which hurts my head) and the controls - but hopefully the story is more immersive than the medium!
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Yesssss

One of ussssss
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I know I could alt-tab out of the game just fine when I played it
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Life is sTrAnGe
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I feel like a lot of your issues are more getting used to the medium - it's clear you haven't played this kind of game before. that's not excusing any of it but I bet you adjust shortly. you move slow but the environments aren't huge so it balances out.

you're going to get into this, I'm pretty sure. the opening is a lot of table setting that pays off later.
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So, I've continued a little bit to the Outside World.

The courtyard is fairly vast and there are tons of people, thinly sketched so far - a jock who wants Max to join him at a party and to bring her cheerleader friend; the nerdy chick with a drone who probably sees Max as a romantic rival; skater dude whose acceptance of Max indicates 'you're not a poser'; a teacher that we like apparently, who does not want a police state; the loser fat Hispanic dude who's literally sketchy; and snobby Asian dude who's a real gatekeeper about photography history. The biggest takeaway here is that everyone loved Rachel, but she was so cool she was above the Vortex folk and Victoria.

The game gives us a few chances to flex of our superpowers during this stretch - and we primarily use them to curry favor with others (a skateboarding trick name, a drone package name, and the like). I think it's a fairly accurate assessment of our psychology that we tend to like people who think like us, or who take the effort to get to know us. It's used uncritically here, but it's hard to fault Max, since she's already used her powers to save someone. That said, outside the dorm is a chance to use our powers for some petty revenge. Victoria is fantastic here - calling Max a "selfie ho" and telling Max to "go fuck your-selfie." Which means we're gonna leverage some sprinkler and ruin her shirt. Despite how awesome it is to watch Max kick Victoria while she's down, we wind up comforting her for now.

The dorm is a more intimate setting with plenty of opportunity for snark. Each bedroom has a whiteboard outside it, and each whiteboard can be examined. Posters here are even denser than outside. My favorite note is when Max claims that a set of posters really represent her school - and they're advocating "Meat is Murder" and a party that's "Bi Weekly and Bi Friendly." There's a sign that says 'NO BOYS ALLOWED,' which gives Max the chance to snort, "As if." Max's own whiteboard, for now, is a blank slate. (Max seems to be well-liked though; Juliet is pretty flattered when Max knows her name, and of course Jefferson's a big fan of her.)

(As a complete aside that's not entirely unrelated, I watched Groundhog Day last night. As you'd expect, Murray also starts out uncritical of the power of knowledge he's gained over others, and he uses them explicitly to manipulate and seduce. But the way he winds up discovering the rewards of benevolence - that's pretty damn cool.)

So we're delivering a USB drive to Warren, but we've got to do some other stuff first. Dana's stolen the flash drive and left a note, so we have to go to her room - but her roommate Juliet is having issues with her. To pacify Juliet, we have to break into Victoria's dorm to retrieve some evidence. It's perhaps the most explicitly game-y portion of the game so far, with the pick-up-and-deliver feeling a little mechanical. But I love it, because I love video games, you know? Also, Victoria's room is dope as hell. She quotes Gandhi outside her room (LOL). Max is begrudgingly awed by Victoria's riches. The insight into Victoria's petty, alpha-bitch mind is also great - she's set her sights on both Rachel (presumably for being better at everything) and Juliet (for stealing the guy she had her sights on).

Aside from the dizzying camera (and some uncanny valley from the characters - everything seems good except for something with their eyes and teeth), I'm enjoying the cinematic style and aesthetic feel of the game. It's quite a nice scene when Max plops down on the fountain to reflect, or when she just strums a few notes on her guitar.
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Consequential decisions (let me know if I've missed any):

* Signed a petition
* Let the creeper sketch us
* Watched a skateboarder do the nose slide or whatever
* Befriended Brooke, the chick with a crush on Warren
* Decided to be nice to Victoria
* Watered the plant
* Did not fuck with Victoria's stuff
* Talked nicely to Dana about the pregnancy rumor

Selfies taken

* Mirror in Max's dorm

We've also seen the results of consequential decisions! Mom texts us about our non-snitching response to the Principal earlier, and we find the sketch of our face on social media.

To be continued. Looking forward to meeting this oh-so-desirable boyfriend, and Warren.

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Random asides:

* BLACKWELL SCIENCE GAMER'S GROUP: Cosplay and Women Welcome

* Rachel banged Mr. Jefferson, or so the rumors say.

* I can't fucking wait to meet Chloe, but it looks like that's still a bit off.

* Max being a (defensive) fan of FF: Spirits Within caught me off guard!
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SeabassDebeste posted...

* Max being a (defensive) fan of FF: Spirits Within caught me off guard!

Max the best

Also "Go fuck yourselfie" is the single best line in the game imoooooooo
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the 3 best parts of being nice to victoria:

* victoria's apology: "Sorry for the go fuck yourselfie."

* max admitting that it was funny

* the fact that you know you wanna be friends with someone who comes up with the line 'go fuck yourselfie'
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I'm enjoying how much you're enjoying Victoria.
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Victoria was probably my favorite character!

(Tag)
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team dunk on Victoria right here
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update tomorrow!
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transcience posted...

team dunk on Victoria right here

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hell yeah victoria
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Not a ton of progress last night on the Strange Life front.

Our mission is to delivered the flash drive to Warren (who definitely has an unrequited crush on Max, alas). But first, we confirm that Zach really is a douche as he kicks a ball at Awkward Alyssa and then blows off Max while she walks by him. Jerkass security guy David continues to be a jerkass, so we rescue Kate from him.

The parking lot is fairly barren, with flyers everywhere. My favorite part is that when we draw on the dusty window, we officially turn it into a dusty window, while the game manages to spark my ire successfully with a truck taking up two handicapped spots. We console Juliet about Victoria's schemes and then move to watching Warren try to control his mammoth crush... which ends with the unhinged murderer dude whose name I forget reappearing. Ick.

Anyway, this is Chloe! It's unclear why Max ghosted her, and Chloe is rightfully bitter. Seems that since her days of cavorting with Max and drawing comics, she's become a major stoner, dropped out of school, taken Rachel as a lover (and printed those flyers), and associated her stepdad with a Nazi. Just the typical path of an adolescent in suburban ennui - drugs, apathy, lesbianism, Godwin's Law. We go absolutely ham on tearing her room apart, looking for clues, or something.

After that, a bit of poking around Chloe's house. The most notable thing by far is that there are dog tags with the name of David Madsen - I believe the security guy from the campus here, but Max seems surprisingly un-freaked-out about this. So he's probably not entirely plot-insignificant. We'll dig in to repair our camera soon.

Consequential decisions

- Saved the purple-haired girl from a football hitting her in the head
- Stuck up for Kate, who was getting bullied by the security guy
- Drew on the dusty window
- Opened Chloe's box, spilling stuff everywhere
- Opened the window in Chloe's mom's room (I wasn't able to help the bird though? Couldn't figure this out.)

The Spoils of Diplomacy

- Victoria says THANKS BUT WE'RE STILL NOT FRIENDS.

- Should I be Team Victoria or Team Chloe? Victoria has showed a lot more panache, but Chloe has been hyped for a long time and clearly has more to explore. I don't think Team Alyssa is an option right now. I might be friends iwth her IRL, but Max appears to be way out of her league.

- I'm guessing Warren will inevitably wind up paired with drone-girl. For all the buildup, he hasn't shown much yet. Chloe already seems leagues more itneresting.
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Do you think women become lesbians out of boredom?


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I do, because they only get bored if they don't spend enough time communing with Jesus

(i just tossed it in there because it happens to be one of the ways chloe has 'changed' wrt how max remembers her. obviously the death of her dad and the fact that her stepfather's a security guard play more into her 'fuhrer' nickname than suburban ennui, for example)
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I didn't even realize that Victoria or Chloe was a thing. I dunked her and continued to do so at every opportunity.
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friendship ended with transcience

victoria is my best friend now
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pxlated posted...

transcience posted...

team dunk on Victoria right here

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I know who to blame if you end up not liking this game!
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Tag
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Also Warren sucks
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StifledSilence posted...

pxlated posted...

transcience posted...

team dunk on Victoria right here

Not intended to change your mind, just proudly confessing I tomahawk slammed.
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warren is a creeper, I friendzoned him hard at every opportunity
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I like Warren but into the friend zone he goes. I like it too much.
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The pace is plodding, but I'm progressing!

So down the stairs we go. All around, essentially, are signs of a household in decay. The only anything that seems new is the sporty car. Oh, and the guns. Otherwise, sepia tones overwhelm us. Max still recognizes virtually all the furniture, and Chloe's mom is still a waitress. The books on the occasional shelf haven't been touched in years. We head outside, and Max wonders sadly whether anyone since Chloe's dad has used the grill. My favorite part here is sitting on the swing - which triggers memories of a conversation long ago. They were such BFFs!

Oh, and to make things "better," the new dad is David Madsen. (I thought photos confirmed that the stepdad wasn't David Madsen. Obivously, I was wrong!) The description of the fascist state definitely makes more sense. This dude keeps cameras trained on zones in his own house, which is creepy enough - but it's far worse when we knock over some stuff reaching for some files on a high shelf. Apparently, Madsen has been stalking Kate for some time now, convinced that she "knows something." The angles of the photos strongly suggest that he's already implemented some Big Brother tools at school and is looking to legitimize or expand them. I'm not ready to write it off as pointless paranoia just yet, since life is strange and all, but yeesh. Anyway, there's a fun little puzzle to grab the tools, involving a washing machine and a cardboard box.

Back in Chloe's room, we attempt to assemble the camera but Max is about as adept with manual labor as I am. But Chloe discovers that we were the ones who saved her ass from Nathan. (Seriously, how was I supposed to recognize that?) We take a pic of Chloe dancing - I love Max's dainty little shaking of her Polaroids.

In comes our third confrontation with David Madsen in the very short span I've already played this game. I actually fail to get in the closet the first time due to the stupid lamp (thanks, frustrating game!) but I manage to hide properly the second. I wind up outing myself anyway to take the joint it - better to absorb the blow as someone who needs only see the guy on campus, outside of class, rather than being terrified in her own home.

After that, Chloe's all over us, but Max asks Chloe to keep it in her pants. So she takes us somewhere else to loosen us up.

Consequential decisions
* Did not save the knocked over stuff in the garage
* Turned off all the lights and closed all the windows I opened
* Stuck up for Chloe vs her dad
* Didn't realize that you were supposed to rewind time to save the bird. :(

Thoughts

* On the swings, we recall the conversation between Max and Chloe so long ago. From the beginning, Max says she wants to get far away. Chloe insists, "Far away? From me? Thanks a lot." She's always been insecure about being left alone. I know that feel. :(

* Madsen is incredibly unlikable, and while the game has done a good job with establishing him as a jerk, I'd say we've had too much of him for now. "I ordered! -- I asked you..." goes his phone call. "Oh."

* Chloe on gun control: "I believe I should control the guns."
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Such a good game.

I wasn't sure if the game was for me when I first started either but by the end of the first chapter I was hooked.
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I do think they went a little over the top and on the nose with Madsen at parts, you don't need to rub his jerkwadness all over me for me to understand that he's a jerk.
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Chapter 1 beated and whoaaaaaaaaaaa that was nuts.

Each episode will be a day, I presume? I believe that the game starts on Monday, and it looks like there are five episodes, so it'll end on Friday with the storm? No need to answer.

Probably start Episode 2 tomorrow!
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episode 1 is all setup. now the fun begins
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Episode 2 is most definitely my favorite of them.
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bump. lots to update when i get the time.
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are you starting to like it more?
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So, Tuesday. I'm not quite done yet - just getting seated in class. But tons to cover here.

This game is really cinematic when it wants to be. Granted, it's mainly in the cutscenes. The only other game I've played with this sense of cinematography was MGS3, though of course that game is an action game, with lots of James Bond-esque inspiration to draw upon. Life Is Strange's second episode has us opening with a beautiful melody as we wake up in bed, first hitting an alarm clock in the darkness before we open our eyes.

So we're up and out, and it looks like we've spent the previous night taking advantage of Warren's crush on us by pumping him for information on time travel and quantum physics - movies, websites, and books have all been pointing us in this direction. Also, according to our phone, we're gonna be meeting up with Chloe yeaaah baby. BTW Chloe's text game is so strong. Aside from NO EMOJIS, here's a sample:

u there hippe
what about that fucking snow
what about your new power
or have you gone back in time and figured it out

More of the game's sharp writing - our journal, in which we describe our situation as a "Groundhog Day-ja vue." TBH, reading Max's journal is almost more fun than the game itself. It certainly does a better job recapping than I do. With this in mind, I'll just focus on the points of interest.

1. The hallway is brimming with gossip and opportunities to save Alyssa some more. Max thinks that we should be better friends with Alyssa, but we're soooo far above that level now. (Our choices for best sci-fi movie include Back to the Future, Groundhog Day.) Notably, Max's whiteboard now has a big blank face on it, which cracks me up with its unexpectedness.

2. We're taking Kate's side, because I'm a huge fucking white knight. I figured that the cops would be unhelpful, but telling Kate to keep quiet and search for evidence makes her hate us. We even wind up taking her call while we're with Chloe, even though this means causing issues with Chloe. Plus, there were drugs at a party - I totally want in on the Veronica Mars setup!

3. Still #TeamVictoria, though so far I haven't gotten any chances to make choices that affect her. This week in petty bullying: making fun of Kate in the bathroom, trashing her friend - "You can hang out with Kate... or Max" - but perhaps least acceptably, buddying up with Nathan. You can do better, Vicky. At least she delivers this line: "Max thought we were gonna be buds... fucking ha ha!"

4. Also, Taylor is so great. She's the beta bitch to Victoria, but she still knows not to buddy up to Max. "Hi Taylor," we say to her. "Hi Taylor," she instinctively says, in as mocking a tone as possible. We subdue both her and Courtney, Victoria's other bitch, by using their knowledge against them.

5. In uncompelling but entertaining love-triangle-land, everyone knows about Brooke's crush, and she makes no secret of it. "You might make Brooke jealous," warns Alyssa. Max diplomatically demures: "I'll just pretend I have no idea what you mean." Meanwhile, Brooke herself is immensely self-satisfied when we explain that Warren is our friend and not our mother - "Warren loves talking metereology with me, since I'm one of the few who can talk back."

6. Meanwhile, poor Mr. Friendzone is getting shut down hard on his date attempt. Let's let Max take this one away: "He would want to marry me immediately... Or capture me for scientific experimenets... Or make me go to the drive-in with him."

7. That Samuel dude is a mega-fucking-creep, Jesus. Literally pics of Rachel in his masturbation-cave janitor's closet. That's on top of looking like a serial killer. Also creepy: sketch guy, still.

8. Getting onto the bus, it's a montage of suburban decay. This episode shows us the decline of fishermen, the incoming douche-y truck drivers, the sad truth that even a junkyard sanctuary can be violated.
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9. Chloe is an incredibly fleshed out character. She's got the attitude and it's legit; she's got the look and the toughness down. There's a reason she's been victimized so much - she's impulsive and reckless. (Max is literally bleeding after demonstrating her powers in the diner, and you're still pushing her to use them so you can shoot around?) She's contagious and she makes you feel good about yourself when she's good to you and she has amazing highs, and it's crushing when she loses the sanctuary of the junkyard.

But she's needy to the point of childishness, and her emotional and physical vulnerabilities are always at the forefront of the game. Her voice-acting is a little off-putting in its tone and speed of delivery, but when you think about it, it fits Chloe perfectly. She always sounds somewhat monotonous and muted, to show off her too-cool-for-school 'tude, yet the words come out quickly, because she's intrinsically insecure. It's nuts how upset she gets when we take the call from Kate, and a beautiful rush of endorphins when she thanks us for pulling the trigger on Frank. "My powers may not last forever," says Max. "That's all right," Chloe assures her, "We will."

Let's let the wonderful Max explain: "I'm not a fan of Chloe's petulant side. She tried to make me feel like an ass, but screw that. Kate was so happy I answered I actually felt worse for her. Chloe has to know I can have two friends at once..."
10. It might be too late to salvage David Madsen, but he's considerably less of a douche to Max this episode. Plus, he has Chloe's mom and the cop at the diner vouching for him. He might wind up being right - after all, he's the only photographer in the game, other than our lovely protagonist.

11. Fuck the bottle fetchquest. That was some serious bullshit - took me like half an hour with no noticeable benefit.

Decisions

* Watered the plant.
* Told Kate to call the cops.
* Befriended Victoria's bitches.
* Answered Kate's phone call.
* Tried to shoot Frank.
* Owned the joint to David Madsen the second time.
* Kept quiet to Mr. Jefferson.

Odds and ends

* "My guitar gently sleeps."
* Among Warren's recommendations for movies to watch is Pulp Fiction. I don't know about its relevance to time travel, but if I could rewind time I'd probably watch that movie once a day.
* "BEGONE, foul soft drink!"
* Max wants to read way more Bradbury and likes to quote Kerouac. Chloe geeks out about strange attractors. I love how the game is never critical of its characters' intellect and knowledge.
* "I SHOT MYSELF!" I laughed way too hard at this.

ONGOING MYSTERIES

* What's up with the snow and the tornado warning?
* What happened to Rachel Amber?
* What happened to Kate?
* How does Frank have the bracelet?

SPECULATION

* Professor Jefferson seems like a leading candidate for the disappearance of Rachel. He's extremely prominent, but he was rumored to be banging Rachel, and he insists that Rachel is nothing like Kate. He's also unhelpful if we mention Nathan with the gun, so he's not entirely pro-Max. Max's crush aside, dude is creepy as fuck.
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transience posted...

are you starting to like it more?

I'm not crazy about the "game-y" aspect of it - possibly my least favorite part of the game so far was searching for those bottles. That said, I love the concept, the characters (notably, Max/Victoria/Chloe), and especially the writing details - the texts are witty and feel authentic; the diary is spot on; Max's internal monologue as we observe stuff is brilliant.

The storyline is still a little up for grabs, but yeah, definitely finding the experience worth my time so far.
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bottles are ***the worst***

yeah, you're into this. just needed that second character that is on Max's level.
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Episode two so bad

End of episode two so amazingly good
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SeabassDebeste posted...

* Watered the plant.

Nooooooo
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I forgot about the dumb bottle quest but there were a fair amount of little things to do in the junkyard that made it worth it to walk all over it and explore it. The deer ghost thing, the Rachel/Chloe safe space, Max's musings, sitting on the deck for some thoughts, the cool snapshot of the bus, etc. The time rewind mechanic does feel like a chore sometimes, especially when it's like "thing falls, rewind time so you're ahead of it now". It feels less like gameplay and more like wasting time.
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Can confirm that Warren's 'physics knowledge' is bullshit btw
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David pissed me off incredibly because he falls so easily into the pattern of a typical abuser. "This guy is shit and I hate him." "Well now he did something decent, maybe he isn't as bad as I thought." "Oh, he did something even worse than the first thing."
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NATHAN DOSED HER
JEFFERSON MADE HER CRY
DAVID BULLIED HER

oh god this is it.
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I need an update ASAP
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