Can Chloe and Rachel find a way out of Arcadia Bay?
The opening episode for Life is Strange prequel “Before the Storm” had me rooting for Chloe and Rachel, as well as despising Rachel’s dad for his passionate embrace with someone who wasn’t Rachel’s mother. But the consequences of Rachel burning a photo of him alight and ended up starting a forest fire, though the authorities haven’t yet caught the duo in their accidental arson, but Blackwell Academy sure noticed they were skipping school and Principal Wells expels Chloe.
We spend a bit more time in the Junkyard after, fixing up a broken-down truck in the hopes of escaping Arcadia Bay with Rachel. After, you’re contacted by Chloe’s drug dealer Frank who has a mission for you to break into one of the dorms and recover money that is owed. It doesn’t quite go to plan, but I’m sure there will be further consequences for whatever decision you make in the final episode.
There’s a moment where Chloe has to fill in a role for the school’s play of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and she shares a tender moment with Rachel on and later off stage (the latter is depending on your choices) but it was moving and cemented for me just how much I wish there was no tragedy to come for the couple. There’s even another dream sequence with Chloe’s dad warning her about fire, which is obviously a metaphor for Rachel.
The episode comes to a close around the dinner table at Rachel’s house. The elephant in the room (Rachel’s Dad’s affair) is dropped and before you know it, there’s a bombshell that left me reeling and wanting Episode 3 now. Overall, it’s a great episode full of emotions and difficult choices, suffice to say I know there’s going to be some even harder ones to make in the final episode as we head down the road of no return…
The Verdict
Episode 2 picks up the pace, reeling us in with a killer bombshell cliffhanger moment that could change everything for Chloe and Rachel. Let’s hope the wait for Episode 3 isn’t too far behind…