Latest news with #LifeIsStrange
The Guardian
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Cute dates, bisexual chaos and game-changing kisses: video games' best queer moments
Life Is Strange, as a series, is really characterised by a patented mix of earnestness and cringe for me – but you can't fault its determination to put queer characters front and centre. It has been variably successful at this – the messy relationship between shy, photography-obsessed Max and chaotic blue-haired Chloe in 2015's original Life Is Strange was left somewhat ambiguous, but Alex Chen in Life Is Strange: True Colors was openly bi and pretty laidback about it. My favourite queer moment from the series, though, came in last year's Double Exposure. Max Caulfield is now a grownup with a photography residency at a small-town college, and has finally figured herself out. She flirts confidently with Vince, the handsome but terrible it-boy on campus. But when it comes to Amanda, the exceedingly cool lesbian behind the bar at the local pub? She is so awkward it's painful. I loved this because it is my firm personal belief that all bisexual people are both terrified by and attracted to cool lesbians. If you get to the point when you take Amanda on a date, you are treated to one of the sweetest scenes I've ever seen in a game: they go to an imaginary gig. The women riff off each other, conjuring the most chaotic show imaginable with words and laughter. It is, along with Nathan Drake and Elena playing Crash Bandicoot together in Uncharted 4, the most believable relationship scene in games. (And yes, even after the date goes really well, Max still hesitates over kissing her.)Keza MacDonald, the Guardian's video games editor It has to be the relationship between Ellie and Dina in The Last of Us Part II. I know this one gets a lot of attention, but it's for good reason. There are so few queer stories in media that don't revolve around traumatic experiences. Acknowledging the struggles of any marginalised group is vital to sharing that perspective – but so is highlighting the joy. I think it's incredible that, in a game that deals with such heavy themes and tragic character development, these two were allowed to experience a joyful, supportive relationship. They could be people with flaws who made choices, instead of being defined solely by their queerness. The evolution of the narrative and eventual conflict between them was the result of Ellie's choices and actions – which made the story that much more impactful to Hufford, producer of (and voice of Ducky in) Date Everything!, out now When I was a teenager, I came across this game called Fable. I played through the tutorial. I wanted to spice it up. I used a cheat engine. I made my character really buff. It felt a little … wrong. Not because I cheated. But because I didn't look like that. Does this character still represent me? Am I allowed to do this? > Don't know. I got to the first town. I came across a merchant. I bought out everything he had. I regifted everything back to him. I saw a heart begin to form. Can I … really do this? > Guess so. I gave him the wedding ring. We got gay-married. We moved into this house I bought. And then I never touched the game again. – I was a closeted teenager. Everyone around me knew. Everyone but me of course. I was a chubby little kid. Everyone around me knew. And everyone kept reminding me. I can't help but laugh. Guilty for being swole in-game. But never for being gay-married. Funny how a teenage mind Boozayaangool of Tan Ant Games, developer of Building Relationships, out later this year My love for queer games exists at two ends of a spectrum. At one end is 'beautifully done nuance and subtlety' and at the other is 'delightful, wilful chaos'. This feels in keeping with being a gender-wobbly bisexual. In the realm of nuance and subtlety, my earliest love was playing Gone Home, and the slow discovery of your sister Sam's queerness, and the catharsis of her getting to live her life authentically after rejection by her parents. Then there was Unpacking, about making space for a new partner after the nightmare that was trying to fit your things around a boyfriend who wouldn't budge. Or most recently, there was the (spoiler alert) very natural growth of Henry and Hans's relationship in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, which has to be one of the most beautifully written romances in games in years. Of course, on the other side of the coin is mischief and honesty. Thirsty Suitors captures the messiness and interconnectedness of queer dating, and the fallout that can occur when someone is still figuring themselves out. When it comes to my own game, Crescent County, we absolutely come down on the side of chaos. There is often pressure to perform 'perfect' queer representation, but that robs characters of their bite and humanity. I completely understand the draw of pure wholesomeness, but we shouldn't sanitise ourselves for the sake of acceptability!Anna Hollinrake, creative director of Crescent County, out next year The thing about a lot of queer moments in the video game era I grew up in – which my child loves to refer to as 'the late 1900s' (my bones are dust) – is that it was the villains who were queer coded. Wholesome queer moments were as rare as a writer who can come up with a new and original 'as rare as' simile. That's why I loved Unpacking so much. On the face of it, the game is simply about unpacking your belongings as you move from place to place, but it's a masterpiece of show-not-tell. You move out of your parents' house, get room-mates, and eventually move in with your boyfriend, who immediately minimises your space and self expression. At that point I yelled to my wife 'SHE'S GAY!' But I often do that with characters I like, so she took no note. However, I was right. As the game progresses she meets a new partner, grows closer to them, and eventually they have a child together and you're unpacking the baby's bedroom. It finishes with the most wholesome lesbian representation I've ever seen in a video creator of Quantum Witch, out now
The Guardian
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Cute dates, bisexual chaos and game-changing kisses: video games' best queer moments
Life Is Strange, as a series, is really characterised by a patented mix of earnestness and cringe for me – but you can't fault its determination to put queer characters front and centre. It has been variably successful at this – the messy relationship between shy, photography-obsessed Max and chaotic blue-haired Chloe in 2015's original Life Is Strange was left somewhat ambiguous, but Alex Chen in Life Is Strange: True Colors was openly bi and pretty laidback about it. My favourite queer moment from the series, though, came in last year's Double Exposure. Max Caulfield is now a grownup with a photography residency at a small-town college, and has finally figured herself out. She flirts confidently with Vince, the handsome but terrible it-boy on campus. But when it comes to Amanda, the exceedingly cool lesbian behind the bar at the local pub? She is so awkward it's painful. I loved this because it is my firm personal belief that all bisexual people are both terrified by and attracted to cool lesbians. If you get to the point when you take Amanda on a date, you are treated to one of the sweetest scenes I've ever seen in a game: they go to an imaginary gig. The women riff off each other, conjuring the most chaotic show imaginable with words and laughter. It is, along with Nathan Drake and Elena playing Crash Bandicoot together in Uncharted 4, the most believable relationship scene in games. (And yes, even after the date goes really well, Max still hesitates over kissing her.)Keza MacDonald, the Guardian's video games editor It has to be the relationship between Ellie and Dina in The Last of Us Part II. I know this one gets a lot of attention, but it's for good reason. There are so few queer stories in media that don't revolve around traumatic experiences. Acknowledging the struggles of any marginalised group is vital to sharing that perspective – but so is highlighting the joy. I think it's incredible that, in a game that deals with such heavy themes and tragic character development, these two were allowed to experience a joyful, supportive relationship. They could be people with flaws who made choices, instead of being defined solely by their queerness. The evolution of the narrative and eventual conflict between them was the result of Ellie's choices and actions – which made the story that much more impactful to Hufford, producer of (and voice of Ducky in) Date Everything!, out now When I was a teenager, I came across this game called Fable. I played through the tutorial. I wanted to spice it up. I used a cheat engine. I made my character really buff. It felt a little … wrong. Not because I cheated. But because I didn't look like that. Does this character still represent me? Am I allowed to do this? > Don't know. I got to the first town. I came across a merchant. I bought out everything he had. I regifted everything back to him. I saw a heart begin to form. Can I … really do this? > Guess so. I gave him the wedding ring. We got gay-married. We moved into this house I bought. And then I never touched the game again. – I was a closeted teenager. Everyone around me knew. Everyone but me of course. I was a chubby little kid. Everyone around me knew. And everyone kept reminding me. I can't help but laugh. Guilty for being swole in-game. But never for being gay-married. Funny how a teenage mind Boozayaangool of Tan Ant Games, developer of Building Relationships, out later this year My love for queer games exists at two ends of a spectrum. At one end is 'beautifully done nuance and subtlety' and at the other is 'delightful, wilful chaos'. This feels in keeping with being a gender-wobbly bisexual. In the realm of nuance and subtlety, my earliest love was playing Gone Home, and the slow discovery of your sister Sam's queerness, and the catharsis of her getting to live her life authentically after rejection by her parents. Then there was Unpacking, about making space for a new partner after the nightmare that was trying to fit your things around a boyfriend who wouldn't budge. Or most recently, there was the (spoiler alert) very natural growth of Henry and Hans's relationship in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, which has to be one of the most beautifully written romances in games in years. Of course, on the other side of the coin is mischief and honesty. Thirsty Suitors captures the messiness and interconnectedness of queer dating, and the fallout that can occur when someone is still figuring themselves out. When it comes to my own game, Crescent County, we absolutely come down on the side of chaos. There is often pressure to perform 'perfect' queer representation, but that robs characters of their bite and humanity. I completely understand the draw of pure wholesomeness, but we shouldn't sanitise ourselves for the sake of acceptability!Anna Hollinrake, creative director of Crescent County, out next year The thing about a lot of queer moments in the video game era I grew up in – which my child loves to refer to as 'the late 1900s' (my bones are dust) – is that it was the villains who were queer coded. Wholesome queer moments were as rare as a writer who can come up with a new and original 'as rare as' simile. That's why I loved Unpacking so much. On the face of it, the game is simply about unpacking your belongings as you move from place to place, but it's a masterpiece of show-not-tell. You move out of your parents' house, get room-mates, and eventually move in with your boyfriend, who immediately minimises your space and self expression. At that point I yelled to my wife 'SHE'S GAY!' But I often do that with characters I like, so she took no note. However, I was right. As the game progresses she meets a new partner, grows closer to them, and eventually they have a child together and you're unpacking the baby's bedroom. It finishes with the most wholesome lesbian representation I've ever seen in a video creator of Quantum Witch, out now
The Star
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
'Lost Records': A 90s summer mystery with alternate endings
BERLIN: In Lost Records: Bloom & Rage , players journey back in time to 1995. Don't Nod Entertainment, the development studio behind the game is known for story-driven games such as Life Is Strange (2015) and Vampyr (2018), and here it's focusing on friendship and nostalgia in its new mystery adventure. The game, which takes place in two parts, tells the story of teenagers Swann, Nora, Autumn and Kat in the 1990s, during which time Kat disappeared. Twenty-seven years later, a mysterious package leads the friends back to their hometown of Velvet Cove. Kat has never been found. What really happened back then gradually comes to light. In the game, you slip into the role of Swann. Her faithful companion as a teen is a VHS camcorder, which she uses to roam Velvet Cove and document her everyday life with her friends. The four form a punk band, experience formative moments, and find themselves in situations that test their friendship. You repeatedly have to make decisions for Swann that directly influence conversations, relationships, and the course of the story. You usually have up to three options to choose from. As you jump back and forth between the two timelines, a dark secret slowly reveals itself. Along with Swann, the other characters in the game also seem realistic and well-developed. Their personalities and development contribute significantly to the emotional depth of the story. Added to this is a well-crafted soundtrack and a nostalgic 1990s soundtrack. The game's high level of detail and contemporary visuals are also impressive. Warm and vibrant colours create a special atmosphere during the eight to ten hours of gameplay. This can even be extended by accessing individual scenes using the menu, making different decisions, and subsequently discovering the story's alternative endings. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is available for €40 (RM 193) /US$40 (R M169) for the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series and PCs. The age rating is 12 years. – dpa
Time of India
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
10 excellent games you would be embarrassed to play around non-gamers
Image via: Crystal Dynamics/Eidos-Montréal In the universe of gaming, one thing is certain, not every game is created equal, especially in the view of the uninitiated. Some have pioneered the essence of design and storytelling; yet others will have you fumbling for the pause button and excuses when caught mid-game. Here are 10 games you may very well be proud of playing, but only behind closed doors. 1. Tomb Raider Ara Croft's reboot aimed to redefine the character as a serious and gritty survivor. What we received, however, was a wonderful action-adventure, largely resembling a really late-night adult film. The problem? Each scream uttered by Lara following a climb, fall, or blow definitely does not go well in shared company-and not everyone would enjoy witnessing your outburst. 10 Great Games You'd Be EMBARRASSED to Play Around Non-Gamers 2. Yakuza Series Yakuza is half an undergoing crime drama and half a fever dream. One moment you are doing battle in the underworld, the next you are in a rhythm game or watching women in bug outfits catfight. The tonal whiplash is both the charm and reason for only using headphones. 3. Stellar Blade It is fast and showy, but Eve's outfit comes off with revealing suit-like levels of jiggly physics that would have felt dated ten years ago. Underneath the cheesecake, there is a good game, but once they unlock Eve's "suit," judgmental side eyes, even from fellow gamers, will erupt. 4. Dragon's Crown The Sorceress in particular provides an anatomy lesson on the over-exaggerated side of things. You'll be embarrassed just selecting characters. And while it's an entertaining game, your rational defense for playing is about to die when anyone walks into the room and asks you just what you are playing. 5. Life Is Strange For all its emotional depth and social commentary, "Life Is Strange" bears some of the most excruciating dialogue in gaming. Sure, it tugs on your heartstrings; now try explaining to someone why you're crying over a high-school-breakup simulator rather than merely shutting your console off. 20 PS5 Games That Are Hidden Gems You Missed 6. Bayonetta Series Bayonetta is powerful, witty, but unapologetically odd. Clothes made of hair-letting the hair fly off during combat to summon demons-have got some feminists applauding, others crying "exploitative," while folks walking in at the wrong time will ensure a "damn, what are you playing?" 7. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 The story is epic, the world is wide, and the characters are they hard to ignore. Pyra could break your heart. This fantastic RPG is almost unplayable in public, seeing its characters as if they've been lifted from a fan-service sketchbook. 8. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain A mute assassin who "breathes through her skin" and looks good in strands of clothing pieces. The genius hiding behind stealth gameplay in a Kojima production is often questioned with thick jokes about why on earth your sniper comrade has to be dressed in almost odd dress while committing to warfare. 9. Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball It is a vacation simulator for those who have never left childhood. Physics that provide a bouncing effect are probably better than the actual game mechanics. This is not something you play; you just keep it hidden beneath a pile of more respectable titles. 10 Games With Good Gameplay But DISAPPOINTING STORY 10. Final Fantasy X-2 The sequel to one of the most cherished RPGs in history starts with a J-pop concert and never looks back. Dress spheres, awkward massage minigames, and never-ending "girl power" energy make this one a guilty pleasure even amongst die-hard fans. Not all embarrassment is bad. Some of these defy conventions while others embrace irreverence. One thing for certain, if you're popping any of these on, be sure to lock the door and lower the volume. Because sometimes the cringe is just too loud to ignore, no matter how deep or brilliant the game. Get IPL 2025 match schedules , squads , points table , and live scores for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR . Check the latest IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.
The Star
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
A spectacular RPG has balletic combat and powerful twists
Narrative games mostly cater to the desire for victory or a flattering resolution, rarely placing the accent on an undigested loss. That is why Life Is Strange, The Beginner's Guide and The Last Of Us series have etched themselves deep into my memory. I can now add Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a stunning debut title whose story moves from a grandiose save-the-world premise to a smaller drama about a grieving family, to the list of video games that have left me emotionally shaken when I've reached the credits. Clair Obscur draws inspiration from Japanese role-playing games like Final Fantasy in addition to the viciously challenging Souls series, but it leavens those influences with a proud Gallic sensibility. (Fair warning: The irascible mimes in this game, by French developer Sandfall Interactive, are no joke.) In debonair fashion, Clair Obscur opens with Gustave, dressed in an elegant suit, standing in a rooftop garden and gazing toward a distant shore. There stands a monolith emblazoned with '34'. As Gustave throws a rock in its direction, his air of defiance slides into one of resignation. A 33-year-old woman dear to him is about to die. And he wants to bring her a rose. Flowers are arrayed everywhere throughout the Paris-like city of Lumière, where 33-year-olds are wearing floral necklaces on occasion of their Gommage, an annual ritual when a mysterious figure known as the Paintress will write the number on the monolith that triggers their disappearance. Gustave, 16-year-old orphan Maelle and a team of volunteers embark on an expedition to kill the Paintress and free the city from the ritual that causes people to evaporate and leave behind a swirling cluster of red petals in their wake. They are following in the footsteps of dozens of similar expeditions. But not long after leaving Lumière, Expedition 33 comes to near ruin when it encounters a cane-wielding gray-haired man and the army of monsters, known as Nevrons, at his disposal. Clair Obscur's art direction, voice acting and sumptuous score establish a fascinating world, and some of the game's fantasy aspects are cleverly undermined as the spirit of enchantment – the expedition's pursuit of an unambiguous goal – gives way to something messier, morally compromised and tragic. The end of each of the game's three acts arrives with escalating force. Though the twist at the end of Act 1 made me think of a key narrative manoeuvre in Game Of Thrones, I was fairly blindsided by the game's finale, so much so that I had tears in my eyes. Let's just say that there is a moment, in the ending I chose, where one of my favourite characters looks at her erstwhile companion and then slumps to the ground. The disappointment on her face may be the most haunting look I've seen on a video game character since the ripple of emotions played out on Ellie's face at the end of The Last Of Us Part I. Clair Obscur grew out of a prototype by Guillaume Broche, who taught himself to use Unreal Engine while working as a narrative lead at Ubisoft. He was interested in making a game with turn-based combat that explored the passage of time and teamed up with Tom Guillermin, a programmer at Ubisoft, to create an hourlong slice of gameplay. Incredibly, Broche met Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, who ended up becoming Clair Obscur's lead writer, through a vocal sample that she submitted through Reddit when he was searching for voice actors for his prototype. After Broche, Guillermin and François Meurisse founded Sandfall in 2020, setting up its headquarters in Montpellier, the team decided to scrap the original scenario of what was then called We Lost. Broche, Sandfall's creative director, was now interested in a story based around a monolith on which a number clocks down and causes people to disappear. The idea for structuring the game around expeditions came from a French fantasy novel, La Horde du Contrevent, which tells the story of groups of people setting out to discover the origins of a mysterious wind. 'We liked the idea of expeditions trying to overcome previously failed expeditions and finding their remains, their journals, their past stories,' Meurisse, Sandfall's producer, told me. Clair Obscur is a hard game in which it is best to not get hit. By listening for audio cues and looking for visual tells, players can evade or counter an enemy's attacks by precisely hitting the correct button. As someone not particularly drawn to games structured around turn-based combat, I was unexpectedly taken with the vigorous fighting mechanics that feature real-time elements. The timing window for dodging is more generous than that for parrying, but some attacks can only be parried. Even on the easiest difficulty level, it's important to come to grips with these mechanics. And it's fitting that Maelle and other characters often invoke the notion of a dance when they strike up a fight. When things go well, fights unfold like a piece of choreography. Each of the six characters whom players end up controlling has a different fighting style. Characters can equip up to six skills from their corresponding skill trees in addition to three 'pictos', or stat buffs, that can be used interchangeably between characters. After winning four battles with a particular picto equipped, any party member can also make use of that ability – for example, incurring twice the amount of burn damage when using a fire-based attack – provided they have enough 'lumina points.' If all of this sounds like it can lead to some heady decisions over character builds, that's absolutely correct. Away from the game, I found myself daydreaming about how best to gear up my party to tackle some of the more daunting boss fights. For the 54 hours that it took me to see Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 through to the end, it ably held my attention. Its world-building, character arcs and challenging gameplay are executed with no shortage of finesse. Expect this one to be a serious contender for game of the year. – ©2025 The New York Times Company (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was reviewed on a PlayStation 5 Pro. It is also available on the PC and Xbox Series X|S.) This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
