The gaming series I’ve spoken about most here on the blog has got to be Life Is Strange, and yet, as much as I’ve said about it there always seems to be more. If you don’t have a clue what I’m going on about, and don’t feel up to dedicating yourself to reading an entire post about it, let me give you a crash course in the best game ever (then you can go and read the full posts, because trust me, you’ll want to):
Life is Strange is a 5 part episodic, narrative adventure game by DONTNOD Entertainment that was launched in parts throughout 2015. The game focuses on the life of Max, a young photographer who, through the course of one very troubling and confusing day, discovers that she has the power to rewind time itself. You control Max as she tries to save the lives of those closest to her and save the town from a devastating storm that is fast approaching – but each time Max rewinds and changes something in the past, the future is changed in ways that you couldn’t even imagine.
This is a game where every choice you make, every conversation you have and every moment you change will shape the way your game unfolds and will put you in the driver’s seat for some of life’s most difficult choices.
Without getting all emotional, Life is Strange is truly the reason why I’m sitting here today talking to you guys.
If my partner hadn’t bought it for me one weekend when I was feeling ill and I hadn’t played it I probably wouldn’t ever have started my YouTube channel because I wouldn’t have anything that I felt I NEEDED to share with people, and if I never started my YouTube channel then I probably never would have had the courage to start writing and my current reality wouldn’t exist. Life is Strange is nothing more than a game about how the smallest things can create ripples that run through time and space and that can change your life and the world around you forever, and for me, it did just that.
This brings us to The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, created once again by DONTNOD Entertainment.
It exists sort of as a bridging game between Life is Strange and Life is Strange 2 which is launching this week. The game takes everything that made Life is Strange a success and builds on it. It’s short, powerful, moving and intense. It’s also a nightmare to try to talk about and NOT spill the beans.
Captain Spirit is the perfect excuse for you to be a child again, however briefly.
It gives you the chance to look at the world through the same eyes that you once did, the eyes that could turn any task into a fantastic adventure and could see the magic in anything. Set almost exactly three years after the events of the first game, you are put in the shoes of a young boy named Chris and his superhero alter ego, Captain Spirit. Chris is a child trying to come to terms with the sudden death of his mother and living life with his deadbeat dad. The entire game takes place over a single Saturday morning when Chris decides to once and for all give Captain Spirit life and his imagination starts to alter reality. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is available for free on PC; PS4 and Xbox One and if you download and play it right now you’ll be done just in time for this week’s launch of Life is Strange 2 – the perfect game to play this weekend (you can thank me later).
Although Life is Strange 2 doesn’t directly follow on from Chris’s story the choices and actions you make while playing will be remembered and completing the missions in Captain Spirit will let you discover secret content when you start playing Life is Strange 2, and Chris himself will also be making an appearance. It’s not often that I find myself sitting at my computer watching the clock just so that I can buy a game the very moment it launches but after the pure magic that was Captain Spirit, I found myself doing exactly that this morning with Life is Strange 2.
Now I want to know from you, have you ever played a game that you felt changed your life? Share your story with me down below and let’s celebrate the small moments that create the biggest ripples.
