Comments on: Life is Hella Strange – NorCal’s Culture Shines in Life is Strange

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 06:26:00 +0000

They used “hella” wrong so many times in this game, it was cringe worthy. And I live north of Redding and do not consider it “basically Oregon”. Don’t know where you go that idea.

By: Toby T. King

Toby T. King — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 03:43:00 +0000

As someone who has lived in “NorCal” for over two decades, fuck this piece of shit game, fuck Northern California, and fuck every mouth-breathing retard who uses the word “hella”. Every pothead that begs on the street corners and pollutes the air with their fucking stink needs to be rounded up and gassed.

By: Sahrimnir

Sahrimnir — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 11:08:00 +0000

In reply to Sam Thompson.

I grew up in Malmö, the third biggest city in Sweden. This means I don’t really have any connection to NorCal culture or the word “hella”. I also don’t know what it’s like to grow up in a tiny “shithole” town. So maybe there is a lot of stuff I’m missing in this game. The big thing for me, though, is the characters. Those kinds of people aren’t specific to the NorCal area. Even though I grew up in a big city on a different continent, I can still recognize all these people (Warren reminds me a lot of myself when I was his age). So no, at least I don’t feel alienated by the narrative or deem it unrelatable. While I may not feel the strong connection to the environment that people from NorCal feel, I can still feel a strong connection to the characters.

By: Tatjana Vejnovic

Tatjana Vejnovic — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 20:53:00 +0000

In reply to Varm_kaffe. Hahaha. Thanks!

By: Varm_kaffe

Varm_kaffe — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 13:48:00 +0000

I will throw this article at whoever gives the game shit for “hella” from now on 😉

By: Vesna Vejnovic

Vesna Vejnovic — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:27:00 +0000

Great article! I never realized how real to life some of these games can be. It almost seemed as though the creator knew you when they developed the main character. Thank’s for taking me down memory lane with you.

By: Sam Thompson

Sam Thompson — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 19:21:00 +0000

Nice read. It’s interesting how much you found in common with the game, and how relatable it was with your own time spent growing up in this area. I think this is the best case scenario for the creatives behind the product. For someone to relate to the product on such a deep level, be able to make those connections, and articulate and evangelize them is a powerful thing. Many games are forced to rely on other less cerebral methods to connect to their potential audience, so the fact you made the connection, spent the time reflecting on the narrative choices to refine your opinion and then refine it through the lens of your youth is very powerful thing.

I do fear that the majority of folks that play the game will never experience the depth of connection you have with the product, but it’s a very interesting exploration of how socially or geographically relevant content and colloquialisms can impact players in how they connect with a product. The fear I would assume from a publishing perspective would be for the 2 or 3 % of players whom the product does directly connect with, how many players may be alienated by the narrative, or would they deem it unrelatable and not engage the product on a meaningful level. Are the references and connections vague enough to allow others that are not so intimately involved in NorCal culture to relate to the characters? Seems like a good topic for next year’s GDC to me 😎

By: Tatjana Vejnovic

Tatjana Vejnovic — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 06:48:00 +0000

In reply to Adam Garcia. Thank you!! I'll be doing the episode 2 review. :)

By: Adam Garcia

Adam Garcia — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 02:35:00 +0000

In reply to Tatjana Vejnovic. It's easily one of my favorite articles of the year so far. I look forward to reading your thoughts on the rest of the series and other games as well.

By: Tatjana Vejnovic

Tatjana Vejnovic — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 23:47:00 +0000

In reply to Adam Garcia. Thanks for your feedback, Adam. Glad it touched you and hit you in a nostalgic way too!

By: Adam Garcia

Adam Garcia — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 21:40:00 +0000

I like your article a lot. I really enjoyed the first episode of Life Is Strange and I was intrigued with the relationship between Chloe and Amber as well and I was wondering how far the game was willing to go in exploring it because it felt really refreshing and new for the video game medium in general. I really liked the music and the whole missing girl plot mixed with dimensional travel set in North Western U.S. reminded me of Twin Peaks, or maybe Alan Wake. I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds. Oh, and hanging in the room with indie rock reminded me of the 90’s– but in a good nostalgic way. I’m glad to hear the game captured a bit of realism.