When a studio appears to be like to remaster an older title from its repertoire, absolutely the minimal expectation is that the brand new model appears to be like and maybe performs higher than the unique, taking advantage of fashionable {hardware} and, the place applicable, integrating new options to align with fashionable gameplay sensibilities. Granted, the outcomes have typically been fairly fluctuating; on one facet, you’ve bought astounding artistic endeavors just like the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, which arguably improves on the unique video games in each conceivable means, however on the opposite there are examples like Silent Hill HD Collection that undoubtedly function reminders of why some video games ought to simply be left effectively alone.
Life is Strange: Arcadia Bay Collection sits someplace within the center. It showcases two robust entries from the burgeoning franchise — Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm — of their entirety, however its launch on Switch does little greater than spotlight each video games’ shortcomings, primarily by way of presentation and visuals. It’s a group that’s truthfully troublesome to suggest for those who’ve already skilled Don’t Nod’s creation. If you’re fully new to the franchise, then this is an sufficient method to expertise two stable narrative-driven video games.
For the uninitiated, Life is Strange stars Maxine “Max” Caulfield, a seemingly regular 18-year-old who returns to Arcadia Bay after a while away. At the beginning of the sport, Max experiences a imaginative and prescient throughout class, after which she discovers that point itself will be manipulated at will, enabling her to revise sure choices and occasions that don’t go fairly as deliberate. Max exams her newfound powers out by saving an previous childhood pal, Chloe Price, from sure demise, kickstarting a narrative of friendship that’s not afraid to sort out darkish subject material.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm, however, takes place earlier than the occasions of the primary sport and stars a 16-year-old Chloe Price, specializing in her relationship with schoolmate Rachel Amber. At three episodes (plus the bonus DLC episode ‘Farewell’) in comparison with the marginally bulkier 5 within the first sport, Before the Storm is undoubtedly a extra streamlined expertise, slicing out a number of the extra monotonous puzzle-solving in favour of conversations and dialogue selections. Instead of rewinding time, you’ve now bought the flexibility to ‘backtalk’, which could not be as instantly interesting as time manipulation, but it surely’s a enjoyable means of enjoying with the assorted dialogue selections obtainable to you, and the idea arguably fits Chloe’s extra risky nature fairly effectively.
Both video games’ narratives have their excessive and low factors, however we’d be tempted to say that Before the Storm nearly edges the primary one merely due to its shorter size and the ensuing focus. The first sport comprises a number of situations the place you’ll want to seek out particular gadgets or resolve puzzles, and these truthfully do nothing however convey the entire tempo to a gradual crawl. Before the Storm comprises these sections too, however they’re fortunately fewer and much between by comparability.
In phrases of presentation, going again to the primary two Life is Strange video games after enjoying by way of Life is Strange: True Colors will be jarring. While there are definitely elements of the presentation which were up to date and improved, the Arcadia Bay Collection merely doesn’t really feel like a premium 2022 launch for the Switch. Textures typically look muddy, property pop out and in of existence, and cargo instances are ludicrously lengthy; you’re taking a look at a mean of 30 seconds each time you progress from one scene or location to the following. 30 seconds doesn’t sound offensive by itself, however the frequency with which it happens makes for an extremely irritating expertise.
Looking on the character fashions — Max and Chloe particularly — these have been altered sufficient that they nonetheless appear like the unique characters, however there’s simply one thing a bit off about them, virtually like if you see an actor and their stunt double standing side-by-side. They look impressively comparable, however on the similar time, not the identical. It’s an odd spectacle to behold, however one which we think about most individuals will not discover until you are evaluating the 2 side-by-side.
Similarly, lip-syncing and facial movement seize for the primary sport was one other side of the remaster that Square Enix put lots of give attention to within the run-up to launch, and whereas it’s positively been improved to a sure diploma, it’s nonetheless nowhere close to the standard demonstrated in Life is Strange: True Colors. There’s an ‘uncanny valley’ really feel to the entire thing, the place the animation principally follows the dialogue fairly effectively, however there can be frequent situations the place it falls out of whack, pulling you out of the second.
Having mentioned all that, the precise moment-to-moment gameplay is superb for probably the most half. The body charge isn’t good, but it surely runs pretty constantly all through the sport. The audio stays as robust because it ever was, with glorious music selections and dialogue that, whereas in want of some TLC by way of the precise script, nonetheless works effectively; you actually really feel such as you’re attending to know the protagonists on a fairly deep stage due to each their inside monologues and dialogue exchanges.
Ultimately, whereas Life is Strange: Arcadia Bay Collection is billed as a full remaster of two fairly robust video games, it doesn’t really feel prefer it lots of the time. It makes us surprise why remaster developer Deck Nine was tasked with this when it might have simply simply ported the video games throughout in a extra easy method and put extra of its sources into making one thing solely new. With the remastered video games launching on different platforms earlier this 12 months, the time it’s taken for them to lastly arrive on the Switch feels a bit wasted. If you’ve not performed these video games earlier than, the Switch model is a sound choice for those who can put up with the loading instances and visible high quality, however we got here away from it disenchanted.
Conclusion
Life is Strange: Arcadia Bay Collection is an odd launch in that it does not actually really feel just like the video games have been remastered in any respect. Certain elements of the presentation have been improved, such because the lip-syncing and general color tone, however on the similar time you have bought some fairly unforgivable presentation drawbacks like texture and asset pop-in, muddy environmental visuals, and absurdly lengthy load instances. Considering how lengthy it is taken for this assortment to reach on Switch, we truthfully anticipated higher. Nevertheless, these video games are price experiencing for the narrative alone, so for those who’ve by no means performed both and you haven’t any different method to entry them, this nonetheless comes with a lightweight advice.
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