So, you're a Pricefielder and your virtual girlfriend broke up with you…
I get it, breakups are painful. I lost my love of my life when my plane crashed in the artic and I was frozen for 70 years. Then I was awoken, witnessed my Peggy die of old age and I had a weird, short-lived fling with her great-niece. After that, not unlike Max Caulfield, I traveled back in time to be with my Peggy again. (Please, don't ask about Bucky. That's a sensitive topic for me.) So, yes, I get longing that transcends space and time.
But sometimes you have to move on.
I know you love Chloe Price very much. She's a great, fun character. The perfect, how do say, "Chaotic Lesbian"? And Max and Chloe are a wonderful couple. They are a big reason why I played through LiS 1 three times. I love to see them be happy and gay together!
But maybe that's not an interesting story?
In preparation for Double Exposure I caught up with the Life is Strange comics from Emma Vieceli, Claudia Leonardi and Andrea Izzo. You probably think "What! Not only did Captain America play the games, he read the comics, too?" Yes! We didn't had electronic games in the Forties, but I love videogames now. They are such an interesting medium to tell stories in. I especially love the games where you don't have to shoot anyone. And of course I love comics! Big fan since that Superman guy appeared in Action Comics #1.
Here's the thing: I like the LiS comics. All my favorite characters are back being happy, cute and are even doing a cool road trip after they finally got out of the uninteresting LA storyline. We get to see Chloe und Max together and at the end of the story they live a fulfilled life. Before that we get to see Rachel and Chloe together in a different dimension, being also super cute. I don't regret reading those comics. They're from fans for fans with a lot of interesting ideas and concepts that I already see reappearing in Double Exposure.
But those comics are so boring to read!
There's barely any conflict and barely any stakes. No bad guys, no villians, no really deep problems, nothing that makes them interesting. It's six issues of sweet fan service. A fan service that feels like nothing. Barely anything substantial happens in them. I would never recommend them to a non LiS fan. I just hope the True Colors comics from Zoe Thorogood are a better read.
Now imagine a similar Life is Strange game without any conflicts. That's boring! Stories need conflict! I watched multiple seasons of the time travel/history drama Outlander and even perfect couple Claire and Jaimie went through some conflicts and rough patches, too!
I think I know what it is: This fandom is obsessed with Chloe. Like I said, she's a great character, but also she's a huge, pardon my french, bitch. A super annoying and insecure girl constantly pissed about everything. Ugh, no. That's what you're into, really?
Life is Strange is more than Pricefield. We even had two great games with LiS 2 and True Colors that were not about Chloe and Max! And isn't Max allowed to kiss other girls? Is a developer not allowed to tell new stories with old characters? Are fictional characters and real-life developers not allowed to move on from the past?
Speaking of videogame developers: Did you know that in one ending of LiS 1 Chloe can die? And that this ending is a choice in not only Life is Strange 2 and Wavelenghts, but also in Double Exposure? And because of that the developers are being forced to write a story around a character that has the possibility of being dead. Gosh darn, that's quite a Schrödinger's cat, I'm telling you! Game development is already hard enough, but trying to do basically a whole seperate game with a living Chloe running around would have make things unnecessary hard for the devs. So, what's the solution? Find a way to have Chloe not in the game. I know what's in the game is not how you would have preferred it, but it is what it is. You don't have to like it...
But you don't have to be mean about it.
The LiS fan community is on the brink of turning into a toxic cesspool like it happened with other fandoms. Some of you have already harassed developers at Deck Nine who probably had nothing to do with Chloe not being in the game. You don't want to be like the Star Wars fans hating on cool and interesting stuff like The Last Jedi or The Acolyte. Neither do you want be like the Silent Hill fans hating the new Silent Hill 2 Remake, which seems to be a pretty good game. (Sadly, hating new Silent Hill stuff is not new for them. They we're neglected by Konami and for a long time only got bad HD re-releases and Silent Hill pachinko machines. They can't remember a time when they were not depressed. For them, it's always like this.)
But you can be better, dear Life is Strange fans.
Just look at Remedy fans! They were waiting thirteen years for a sequel to Alan Wake and finally got one last year! The Remedy fandom is one of the most uplifting and positive fandoms I experienced. They're always stoked about new games by Remedy and are okay with changes to lore and characters.
As Captain America I get trying to hold on to the past. The past is comfortable. Change is scary. It takes time to get used to new things.
But change doesn't have to be a bad thing. It brings new opportunities.
To quote Max herself from Double Exposure: "There's so much more to your life than just the past. It's hard, but try to move on."
