Life is Strange is one of those rare experiences that was once thought possible only in the pages of unlauded literature or on the celluloid flicker of some low-key movie that you happened upon solely by chance or recommendation. The game taken at face value seems to offer little new, and it is easy to dismiss Life is Strange as simply another indie.
Don't make that mistake.
Life Is Strange is a deeply personal experience. It is the story of a few people, a few choices and the consequences born from those. Also reversing time.
Right from the start Life Is Strange puts you into a world in motion. Events are already underfoot, disasters on the horizon that cannot be stopped and that may only be, with the very best of luck, endured cast long shadows. Posters of a missing girl adorn walls, vicious teenagers eagerly await the slightest provocation to lash out at you, and the obligatory psychotic school bully is packing heat and is out for blood. It is sex and psychopaths and pregnancies all wrapped into the sort of story John Green might write after a marathon of Back to the Future and a lost bet.
Life Is Strange is a non-combat experience and progress is made by solving puzzles and having conversations. The unique mechanic at play here is your ability to turn back time. More than once did I play through a series of events only to rewind time to find a better way to do things. Struggling with a dilemma does not get easier when you can see both events spiral out to different circumstances. Do you accept this version, or will you reverse time again to make it better? Is doing the right thing now worth the consequences it will have tomorrow? Can you truly save anyone at all? Is there even a right thing anymore?
In short, Life Is Strange is a remarkable experience. It is one of the few games I have enjoyed wholeheartedly. It is by far the greatest non-combat game I have ever played and is well worth sinking about an hour of your time into. The writing is superb and the progression of gameplay feels comfortable and well paced. The only drawback to an otherwise pristine experience is the frankly abysmal lip-syncing, and as far as smudges go that is hardly game breaking.
Experience it right now.