puke? muke?

Reflection on past playthrough

It took me some time to get into this game on my first try. In fact, I don't think I got out of Chapter 1 on my true first playthrough, which was on PS4. When I tried it again some years later on PC, I got into it right away, so perhaps I just needed some time to accept that this was not a game about Max and Chloe!

This game didn't hit me quite as hard, perhaps only because the themes and setting are less relatable to me personally. But I think on the whole, in an objective sense if you will, it is probably the better game. I think the decision-making element of the gameplay is much stronger in this one, and I absolutely love the dual approach of balancing Sean and Daniel's brotherly bond with teaching Daniel about morality. I miss the rewind power, but I respect the decision to go with something completely different on that front, and it does work much better thematically to have the powers be out of the player's control and their usefulness depend on Sean and Daniel's relationship.

Something that I think is particularly well observed (and which was very topical at the time this game was made) was the way in which making morally right decisions often didn't win the brothers any favour with the people around them. I don't recall specifics as it's some time now since I played LiS2, but I do remember how I tried to be a good brother at the start of the game, doing the right things and setting the right examples even in the face of judgemental, xenophobic assholes, but when the time came for the brothers to make a break for the Mexican border, I 100% took that chance. I saw no reward by the end of the game for acting fair or right. No matter how good these boys were and tried to be, the world was determined to see them a certain way. This game excellently captures the sad and stark reality of when the last straw breaks and a person becomes sick of trying to be the better person, tired of trying to prove the world wrong, because it makes no difference to how people treat them.

But I had taught Daniel well enough despite this choice - the brothers were separated but Sean got to Mexico and Daniel lived with his grandparents, so I don't feel like the ending was too bad for either of them in the end.

But now! It's time to be an asshole again! It's time to be the biggest bastard of an older brother and make the absolute worst decisions, much like Max Caulfield did when she decided to let Arcadia Bay be torn to shreds!

Let's see how this plays out...

Episode 1: Roads

It's so sad that the themes of this game are just as relevant 6 years on from its release. There's even a text exchange between Sean and Lyla where they are talking about Trump potentially winning the election in 2016. It's so horribly depressing to be playing this game again after he has been elected a second time.

There are so many decisions you can make in the first chapter! Way more than in LiS. I'm not sure if the outcomes vary hugely from the different decisions in the gas station but there certainly is the illusion of choice at least.

I know Brody's a good guy but Sean deciding to trust someone when the only thing he knows about him is that he photographs nude people is... questionable. I would have liked to have an interaction here where Sean could be like "Are you a pervert? Stop talking to me."

Boy, is it hard to play this game as an asshole... it just breaks my heart to upset Daniel. I could probably have been meaner or more of an asshole but it's very difficult!

Horrible decisions made this chapter:

Party prep - took Esteban's beer, stole from the money jar, deliberately didn't pack condoms

Gave Esteban three wrong tools while he was fixing the car until he just gave up (this was just hilarious to be fair)

Lying to Esteban about the booze money and then not hugging him (fuck I'm a monster)

Questioned Daniel after the altercation with the dickhead neighbour rather than confronting the neighbour

Stole the Chock-o-Crisp from the car and tried to steal money from the donation box

Let Daniel eat bad berries which made him sick (this game is so rough)

Didn't help Daniel climb over the log (but I caved and helped him down from the ledge...)

Made Daniel beg for food at the gas station and told him we couldn't have the puppy

Let Daniel have one go on the grab machine, then told him we needed to save money... then proceeded to steal bread and made Sean waste even more money on the grab machine (we won the toy though, I don't know if this is always fixed so you don't run out of money?)

Attacked the dickhead at the gas station and then kicked his head in and stole the camping gear (this isn't even an asshole move to be fair, although I had actually stolen something from the shop... he didn't know that though!!)

Told Daniel to turn the TV volume down and didn't put bubbles in his bath :(

Told Daniel I'd try to be honest rather than promising to lie again (in hindsight it might have been meaner to promise, because I sure as hell am going to lie to him again!)

Episode 2: Rules

Oh god. The episode where the dog dies. This was so upsetting to me I actually forgot it happened. RIP sweet Mushroom. I'm trying to think what the real point of being quite so heavy-handed with the dog dying was... did they really need to show us the little body? :(

This is quite a slow chapter for me. The dice game in the cabin really dragged and so did a lot of the scenes with Chris. This chapter also introduces more information about the character I hate the most in this game. Karen.

I will have to judge her properly once I replay the later chapters but I don't think I am going to like her any more on this playthrough. The story would make more sense if Sean and Daniel had different mothers; I'd find Karen more sympathetic if she had decided to leave very shortly after Sean was born. But raising him for 8 years and then having another kid, then taking off and leaving them both because you want to travel? What the fuck? Why would someone who thinks motherhood isn't for her stick around for 8 years and then have another kid? This is not a 'whoopsie I'm pregnant and young!!!' situation this is choosing to leave your 8-year-old son and your newborn baby! And she has the gall to ask her parents to help her sons in the aftermath of the shooting? Fuck her honestly. Fuck her.

Now that rant is out of the way, I am not entirely sure at the end of this chapter how I'm doing on Daniel's morality. There's a lot of factors at play. I missed out on a big asshole move (Chris being hit by the cop car) I think because I encouraged Daniel to use his powers too much... but the reason I did that is because I'm trying to cultivate the destructive low morality side he needs to cross the border with Sean at the end of the game! Hopefully there's still plenty of time to drive that morality score down even more if it's not low enough already (plenty more stealing to do!)

I'm looking forward to the next chapter, because if I remember correctly Daniel starts acting like a real little shit in it.

Horrible decisions made this chapter:

Threw snowballs at Mushroom and Daniel even when he asked me to stop

Didn't chastise Daniel for swearing (not an asshole move really, but I did tell him off for this in my first playthrough so I want to see what happens when I let him swear like a sailor)

Let Daniel kill the cougar (on the whole I think this was probably more traumatic for him than letting the cougar take Mushroom)

Was rude to Claire and Stephen at every opportunity, including refusing to pray with Claire (although that's not much of an asshole move really) and not doing any chores around the house

Told Daniel he shouldn't have used his powers to break Chris's fall

Listened to Cassidy sing for like 5 minutes but didn't give her any money

Bought the cheapest gift at the Christmas market (not really an asshole move considering these two are on the run with very little money... unfortunately I didn't realise when I did this there was the option to steal one, I would have gone with that if I'd known!)

Didn't let Daniel use his power to help Stephen

Allowed Daniel to continue letting Chris believe he had superpowers (I thought by doing this I'd get the ending of Chris being hit by the car... but Daniel intervened so I must have screwed up)

Episode 3: Wastelands

I like this episode a lot more than the last. I love seeing Daniel turn into a defiant little shit because even if you're trying to do a moral playthrough and trying to be as nice to Daniel as possible, it becomes quite hard not to have a bit of a go at him in this episode. It's great seeing his power develop into something truly frightening! You really feel the damage he could potentially do if Sean didn't have any influence over him. That scene by the river where he lifts the fallen tree out of the water is just amazing.

I love hearing Daniel swear too!! This is the first time I've encouraged him to do it. I know it's not 'right', but it feels justified somehow. I like that he imitates Finn's 'fuckin' A' all the time throughout the chapter! Daniel is one of the best and most believable kids I've seen in a video game.

The characters in this chapter are... not my favourites. The romance feels very forced in all honesty. The Finn romance feels really underbaked and I find Cassidy just... dull. Finn grew on me in this playthrough a little bit. I found Cassidy irritating with her 'oh this is sooo boring' attitude after working for like... 5 minutes. If you decide to leave society behind to 'be free' then unfortunately these are the kind of shit jobs you will have to do to make any money, Cassidy. You can't have it both ways. On the whole I found most of the characters quite annoying, I think the only character who felt to me like they weren't just hanging in the woods for hippie shits and giggles was Hannah.

I probably could have been more horrible in this episode if I'd done my research a bit. I keep forgetting I don't have the rewind power to reverse my 'too nice 'decisions. Cassidy was absent from the ending which means she wasn't injured, and Finn survived despite Sean not telling Daniel to use his powers (I think my brotherhood is too low to make Daniel listen to me anymore, so he intervened). Interestingly there is a 'shoot Merrill and Finn dies' outcome which apparently 0% of players have had?

Horrible decisions made this chapter:

Refused to talk to Daniel about Karen (rightly so)

Didn't make coffee for anyone or help Daniel with chores

Did nothing when Cassidy got slapped by Big Joe

Was absolutely shit at cutting buds (I was shit at this in my original playthrough too but I was actually trying that time)

Was mean/mocking to Daniel at every opportunity

Got wasted around the campfire and didn't go to sleep with Daniel

Didn't cover for Daniel's power when he used it to hurt Big Joe, allowing Finn to get punched

Kissed Finn after telling Daniel he was a bad influence on him (kissing Finn in itself is not an asshole move but I thought if Daniel knew about this it would piss him off for sure)

Ignored Cassidy and her obvious crush as much as I could

Agreed to the heist... and got caught (I was trying not to be caught but I fucked it up big time! I'm bad at bideo game ;_;)

Told Daniel not to use his powers to protect Finn (but he did anyway) and Daniel got shot

Episode 4: Faith

[I totally took a hiatus on this game for over a year... I'm back now in June 2026]

This chapter really drags. I wish there was a way to just... not have Karen involved at all. I felt like there weren't a whole lot of decisions to be made in this chapter which maybe is why it felt a but dull.

Faith healers are an absolute mystery to me every time I see them in any kind of media because they are just so American. Never in a million years would you get this happening in the UK.

The ending is dramatic though. I wish there was a way to get that dickhead loser with the gun killed too.

Horrible decisions made this chapter:

Wouldn't co-operate with the vision test

Attacked Joey with the grab bar to escape the hospital (I'm so so sorry my man ;_;)

Completely blamed Finn for the heist

Shut Karen down at every opportunity (I still maintain this is the RIGHT decision... I'm so sick of her tears, she literally walked out on her kids in favour of driving around in a truck, and now she's sad they want nothing to do with her)

Didn't give any money to Jacob

Let Daniel kill Lisbeth

Episode 5: Wolves

I tried to complete the earliest part of this chapter as quickly as possible because I wanted to get as far away as possible from Karen. So I missed out on some stuff there, but I was trying to channel that 'Sean and Daniel only care about themselves' energy.

There was an option to hurt the vigilantes which I totally missed!

It really doesn't feel like there's a lot of decisions in this chapter either. I feel like the path is already set by this point.

Horrible decisions made this chapter:

Didn't hug Karen goodbye (proud to be in the 3%) or leave her a note

Didn't intervene when the vigilantes started picking a fight with the Mexican couple

Didn't drink the coffee the cop made for me (petty but funny)

Asked Daniel to kill the cops during the breakout, which he did without any remorse

Crossed the border with Daniel and got the ending where they run a repair garage together in Mexico (probably the most satisfying ending; I like this a lot more than when Sean surrenders)

Overall I think I did a good job of making Daniel into a little asshole. I think it made for a more exciting game in a way, because you get to see the full extent of Daniel's power and how frightening it can be.

I do wish that there were some more variations on the ending, because ultimately whether you have taught Daniel to be a moral person or not is the only long-term game mechanic that actually influences the ending. How close the brothers are with each other doesn't affect it. It would have been extra interesting to see a split in the endings as follows:

Cross the border, high brotherhood, high morality - Daniel doesn't cross the border but helps Sean to cross safely, then goes to live with their grandparents and stays in touch with Sean via letters (Parting Ways ending). Good ending.

Cross the border, high brotherhood, low morality - Sean and Daniel cross the border together, leaving a pile of dead cops behind them, establishing a life in Mexico and using Daniel's powers to keep them both safe from criminals (Blood Brothers ending). Good ending.

Cross the border, low brotherhood, high morality - Daniel refuses to cross the border. The brothers fight and Sean attempts to cross alone, getting shot dead in the process. Daniel goes to live with his grandparents, growing up bitter and alone. Bad ending.

Cross the border, low brotherhood, low morality - Sean and Daniel cross the border together, leaving a pile of dead cops behind them, then end up leading separate lives. Daniel falls into a life of crime using his powers, while Sean continues to survive alone. Bad ending.

Surrender, high brotherhood, high morality - Sean serves 15 years in prison and Daniel has a normal life with their grandparents. They reunite after Sean's release and go camping together (Redemption ending). Good ending.

Surrender, high brotherhood, low morality - Daniel refuses to allow Sean to surrender and uses his powers to try and get them both across the border, getting Sean killed in the process. He lives a hardened life alone in Mexico (Lone Wolf ending). Bad ending.

Surrender, low brotherhood, high morality - Sean and Daniel both agree to surrender. Sean serves 15 years in prison while Daniel lives with their grandparents. When Sean is released, he considers visiting his grandparents and Daniel but decides against it. Neutral ending.

Surrender, low brotherhood, low morality - Sean surrenders while Daniel refuses, and Daniel uses his powers to kill the cops and cross the border alone. Sean serves time in prison while Daniel falls into a live of crime using his powers, and eventually gets himself shot and killed. Bad ending.

Granted, this does just increase the number of bad endings... but hey, choosing to be shitty to your little brother should result in bad endings!

This game had such an effect on me. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is that this game did that was just so special, it just feels like the right balance of 'cosy and warm' and 'bleak and eerie' in all the ways I love.

Aesthetically I find this game really stimulating. I love the way the screen looks when you reverse time, particularly the blotchy red visual when you go as far back as it is possible to go, which is just so visceral and I can feel it in my brain. I love Max and Chloe; this game made me care about them so much so quickly, better than any of the other LiS games. I think LiS2 is also an incredibly strong game but it took me a lot longer to warm to Sean and Daniel. I never really cared for Alex in LiS:TC at all. Nothing has come close to the original for me. The language of this game may be utterly cringe to some but it is so nostalgic to me. I have seen people heavily criticise this aspect of the game saying 'kids don't talk like that' but they seriously did. LiS is set in 2013; I would have been 19 at this time - the same age as Chloe. The way they speak takes me right back to being at school, 'hella' this, 'bro' that... this is just how me and my friends spoke about everything all the time.

In my very first playthrough of LiS, I just went with my gut and did what I felt was right, both morally or narratively. I saved Kate, tried to be nice to everyone I saw, and agonisingly chose to sacrifice Chloe in the end. For my second playthrough, I tried to experiment a bit with different choices and do things differently. I let Kate die, was as horrible to Victoria as possible (10/10 would do this every playthrough) and chose to sacrifice Arcadia Bay.

So this brings me to my third playthrough. Ultimately all of the choices you make in this game boil down to just two endings, both of which I have seen (except Pricefield! Must play again for this...) so this time I am playing the game in a way I very rarely play any role-playing video game - being as big an asshole as I can! Think 'I have these powers which I can use to undo mistakes/bad decisions but I just... won't' vibes.

So far I am having a LOT of fun. Chapter-by-chapter review below...

Chapter 1: Chrysalis

I have to mention again how this game is just so beautiful to me. Each time I see the storm it gives me chills. I'm fortunate to live in a part of the world where extreme weather events of any kind are a rarity. I have never seen this level of weather-induced destruction; to see a storm of that size and what it does to the Bay is darkly fascinating to me.

Horrible decisions made in this chapter:

Not letting Daniel sketch me

Ignoring Kate/not bothering to check in with her

Covering Victoria in paint (this is the only correct decision actually)

Noseying at Dana's pregnancy test in her room right in front of her

Taking a photo of David and Kate instead of intervening

Ransacking Madsen's garage with absolutely no effort to cover my tracks (doing this was HILARIOUS)

Not attempting to hide when David returned home

Blaming Chloe for the weed (only 1% of players are asshole enough to do this!)

Chapter 2: Out of Time

Before I get into my horrible decisions for this chapter, I want to have a rant about the absolute grade-A asshole that is David Masden. I know this is the writers' intention, but honestly finding out in the end that he isn't actually the antagonist just makes me hate him even more because it makes it even harder to justify his fucked up behaviour. I hate Joyce for marrying him and expecting Chloe to just get on with him even though he literally hits her, enforces rules about who she can bring into the house that she has lived in longer than him, and intimidates a vulnerable girl who is being bullied by her classmates. I do not buy that he is a 'good man at heart' and I don't believe that Joyce can be a nice woman if this is the man she chose to marry and bring into her grieving daughter's home not even 2 years after Chloe's dad died. In this chapter, Joyce defends David when Max tells her he hit Chloe by saying he has served his country in war and therefore Chloe shouldn't aggravate him. Fuck Joyce honestly! I feel like she is portrayed in the narrative like this sweet gentle soul who is just trying her best and she's such a great mom (I suppose we are seeing her through Max's eyes) but her decisions surrounding her own grieving and incredibly troubled daughter suggest otherwise. Chloe is dealing with losing her dad and then her best friend (Max), and Joyce thinks this is an appropriate time to just move a new man into the house who is so unabashedly in conflict with Chloe? Couldn't they just have dated until Chloe moved out? You're a fucking adult Joyce, not a teenager, put your fucking daughter's needs first please.

Also, it kind of goes without saying really, but Kate Marsh's story is just so upsetting. Going into her room to return her book and seeing all the little details reflecting how depressed she has become is just so haunting. I feel that narratively, her committing suicide has the bigger impact on the story and allows you to really feel the cost of a choice which you cannot rewind.

Horrible decisions made in this chapter:

Agreeing to a date with Warren (yes romancing Warren counts as a horrible decision)

Not erasing the link to the video Victoria wrote on the mirror

Telling Kate not to go to the police, and being doubtful of everything she told me about the Vortex Club party

Ignoring Kate's phone call

Not trying to shoot Frank (I consider this an asshole choice because it means risking Chloe's life)

Not saving Kate on the roof (and instead trying to make it all about me... I picked the 'I was bullied too' option and my god what an asshole that option makes you sound)

Chapter 3: Chaos Theory

I feel like this chapter drags a bit. Not one of my favourites. I love the creepy omen shit in this chapter though; the dead birds are particularly unsettling.

I am aware of the slightly ableist ending to this chapter (which gets a lot worse in Chapter 4) but I still remember my first reaction to it and how it moved me to tears. I did not see it coming. Such a stark contrast to Chloe's life in the main timeline and a reminder that things can indeed always be worse. A good twist if not very ham-fisted.

Horrible decisions made in this chapter:

Stealing the 'handicapped fund' (That is so fucked up honestly?! Most unhinged thing I have done this playthrough)

Not kissing Chloe (yes this is a horrible decision! I will have to play a fourth time to get the Pricefield kiss ;_;)

Getting Pompidou hit by a truck

Randomly siding with David in the argument between him and Chloe after getting him sacked from his job and being on his ass the entire game so far (Chloe was PISSED)

Not warning the homeless woman

Chapter 4: Dark Room

The whole 'help me to die' plot that follows on from the end of Chapter 3 is quite uncomfortable narratively, which of course it is supposed to be, but I think it is excessive. The purpose of this in the story is to show Max that every action comes with consequences, even the well-intentioned ones (in particular ones that involve protecting Chloe in some way). This part of the chapter is brutal and gets the point across more than enough without the euthanasia element, which I found to be very on-the-nose and rubbed excessive salt in the already agonising wound that was seeing Chloe and her family like this. On top of this, it sends out a very questionable 'being dead is better than being disabled' message which is... not cool.

Once we get beyond the alternate universe subplot, I think this is a really great chapter. Up to this point, that game feels like mostly good light-hearted fun with a few gritty parts thrown in. This is the chapter where all the cutesy fun dies.

In my first playthrough, I found the reveal that Rachel was actually dead just devastating, and I cried alongside Chloe. All the signs throughout the game had been pointing so heavily towards Rachel being dead that I felt it just had to mean she wouldn't be, so to find out after everything Max and Chloe have been through in pursuit of the truth that Rachel was indeed dead the whole time and that she had been killed in such an undignified, upsetting way, then buried in the same junkyard she used to hang out with her best friend in the whole time we had been there... it just ruined me. She was this huge sparkling presence in Chloe's life and for Chloe to have to see her in the ground like that just... there are no words.

Mr Jefferson becomes incredibly pantomime in Chapter 5, but that final camera shot in this chapter where he is looming over Max really gives me chills.

Oh, and I also have to mention the two moons and the beached whales, which are so sick. This game really nails the creepy end-of-the-world 'something is really off but we don't know why' vibes.

Horrible decisions made in this chapter (this chapter seems weirdly light on decisions?):

Didn't euthanise Chloe (is this an asshole decision? Probably not, but it does prolong Chloe's pain and the Prices' financial struggles)

Let Warren beat the ever-loving shit out of Nathan (felt good... debatable whether this is an asshole decision because he deserves it big time)

Let Chloe shoot Frank in the leg (I didn't realise he can die in this scene! I totally would have gone for that if I'd known)

Didn't warn Victoria (my original plan was to warn her because I read that doing that gets her killed by Jefferson but apparently that's only if she believes you... and I've been too much of an asshole to her already for that. I tried EVERY dialogue choice here and there was just no way she would believe me so I used rewind and went full nuclear on her instead because FUCK Victoria)

Chapter 5: Polarized

Jefferson is disappointing in this chapter. He is just way too over the top. I hate when villains undergo a complete personality change when you find out that they are the villain. He doesn't even feel like a character at this point.

What I love about this chapter is the eeriness. It takes a while to get going; the early part of this chapter really drags. But once the dream sequence starts I love that it is everything from the previous chapters coming to a head in the most creepy ways imaginable. The ocean of dead birds outside the classroom window gave me the biggest chills imaginable. The blood hitting the window. The blood spatter in Kate's seat. The whole backwards section. The numbers on the walls. On another note, I don't particularly like the sneak sequence... there's just too much of it and it's... a bit silly.

I have seen both endings in my previous two playthroughs. I didn't particularly like the 'Sacrifice Arcadia Bay' ending. To me it felt like the 'bad ending'; Max seemingly getting what she wants but in doing so creating even more chaos and destruction, much like she did when choosing to save Chloe's dad. It left me feeling that Max had not really learned any lessons, and would continue to put hers and Chloe's needs above everybody else's. Narratively, I felt like the 'Sacrifice Chloe' ending worked better, closing the loop of consequence which seemingly started the very moment Max saved Chloe, and it felt like a neater and more circular way to end the story. I felt like if Chloe had actually fought for her life and tried to persuade Max not to go back in time and let her die rather than encouraging her to do it, then sacrificing the Bay would have had more appeal to me and ultimately the choice would have felt a lot harder.

That was my initial take, but interestingly upon reading a few other opinions I realised that some people had a different interpretation entirely which made sacrificing the Bay seem a lot more appealing. The storm is the first scene we see in the game, long before we see Max unlock her powers, so this would suggest that the storm is set in stone regardless of Max acquiring her powers and therefore the decision to save Chloe does not create the butterfly effect that destroys the Bay. Also consistent with this is the fact that in the alternate timeline where Chloe is wheelchair-bound, in which Max has not had the encounter with Chloe in the bathroom, the same bad omens such as the beached whales are still happening. If you look at it this way, then sacrificing the Bay seems a lot more appealing, as this interpretation suggests that going back in time to allow Chloe to die in the bathroom in no way guarantees that the Bay will be saved from its fate.

Horrible decisions made in this chapter:

Telling David Chloe is dead (I consider this an asshole move because I'm about to attempt to go back in time again anyway, so there's not really any reason to tell him. Loved seeing him shoot Jefferson in the head though)

Not saving a single person as I made my way towards the diner (man... this was hard to do)

Electrocuting that guy and NOT REWINDING IMMEDIATELY ;_;

Telling Frank that Nathan killed Rachel with an overdose of drugs supplied by Frank himself (MAJOR asshole move busting out this level of detail to him... honestly I'm kind of disappointed Frank wasn't more distressed by this. He was way too amicable with me considering I killed his dog and Chloe shot him in the leg)

Kissing Warren (I know it's not quite up there with the others but still... he's fucking annoying)