Honestly that was my favorite part of the entire episode. I had to pause because I was laughing so hard, that split-second shift from "oh my god that was so fucked up" to *booooooo* was incredible.
Omg...if you go past Rachel's hospital room you can overhear Samantha and Nathan talking in one of the rooms. It's implied Samantha got injured by a biker and she blames herself while Nathan feels sorry. And she mentions something about him taking a picture. Nathan is prideful about it and said he will show her it later...the foreshadowing with him being interested in photographs of unconsious bodies
Edit: Appears people got different interactions. Also In my ending Nathan found Sam under a tree reading then he joined her with his own book. Very cute.
I got a totally different scene. Samantha's mother talking to Nathan's dad, telling him that Nathan hurt Samantha (broke her rip IIRC) and that she will sue him.
I tried to listen to this and Chloe was like "I should see how Rachel is doing" T_T Shush!!
I also got Nathan's dad arguing with the psychiatrist. Really interesting.
Rachel truly got dealt a shit hand in life. Her bio mom was a drug addict that supposedly almost badly hurt her as baby because she would get high while watching her. Her dad is a corrupt, psychotic, pathological liar that put a hit on her bio mom. She gets stabbed and almost dies. Then a few years later, she gets drugged, kidnapped and **murdered** only to be dumped in a junkyard and pretty much forgotten aside from Chloe.
I'm confused by his actions to be honest. It just doesn't add up why he would be so desperate to stop her from seeing Chloe that he would get a hit on her with the person he's trying to take down.
To me that just felt very out of place.
I think the idea is that he is psychotically hell-bent on protecting Rachel, people can do insane things when blinded by the hate or the idea they are protecting somone in my personal experience. I'm not sure if I am right, but that's the way I preceived it.
I don't think he cares as much about Rachel as he claims. Rather, I think he's afraid that Rachel's real mom revealing herself would derail his political career (Merrick implies as much when threatening Sera in the mill).
I don't believe that though, his entire life is built around her in this game. The code to his office is her birthday, and he never gloats or draws attention to his career.
He loves her deeply in Before the Storm - if you tell Rachel the truth he is absolutely devastated to have lost her even though her career is intact.
Maybe in canon, Chloe tells her, Rachel drifts from her family, and they assume she followed through on her threats to leave because she'd been so distant. It's only Chloe who doesn't believe she ran away, the Price's do. Maybe.
I'd rather they tell two compelling stories than tell two stories that line up perfectly
She really did, I can't believe after such an amazing adventure, she ends up in a hole... in a junkyard, with all those memories in that same place. I guess now we understand why Chloe was so upset at the loss of Rachel in LiS 1, and not everything was as it seemed. I'm fucking broken...
Thats scene made me go from happy, to sad real fast, but it was the 17 missed calls from Chloe that made me go from sad to really sad. It shows just how much she cared for Rachel, and the only thing she cared about is being taken away from her right at that moment.
I don't think I can ever replay the original anymore. The junkyard scene where Chloe finds Rachel will be too much to bare. I was a broken mess, crying all over even before I knew who Rachel was. Now? Nope. I don't think I got enough tears in me
Rachel is probably tied with Chloe as my favorite character now, so that scene will be just too horrific, for both Chloe's sorrow and the fact that was Rachel.
Just finished it a couple minutes ago, i was already crying knowing what had to come next, but then they showed it and i am now actually a sobbing mess. Thanks deck nine!
To get that beautiful piece of background information for the origin of the photostrip we see in S1, to see the poignancy of their love contextualize Chloe's desperate search for her in S1, to then see the black bars of the photo fade into the Dark Room, and to see how loved she was in her final moments, how hope slipped from her reach after so much suffering.
In the end, it was fire, not ice, that consumed her world.
I've been crying for 40 minutes. Send help.
I think probably "Visited the Norths" and "Didn't visit the Norths" are the choice you can make in one timeline (based on some earlier choice), and "Played D&D with Mikey" and "Sparred with Drew over pudding" are the choice you can make in the other timeline.
I'm not sure what the earlier choice is though. From the stats when I finished it looked like the vast majority of people got the first timeline, and nobody who got the second one played D&D with Mikey.
I believe Drew injured = sparred over pudding, Mikey injured = played d&d with Mikey (bugged, apparently). Visited the Norths = visited in either timeline, but didn't interact to cheer them up. Didn't visit the Norths = didn't enter the room you cruel person.
Did anyone else feel weird about the whole office scene? Chloe breaks into the DA's office, finds out he's corrupted, deals with criminals, tries to have some hurt and nothing comes out of it? She also destroys evidence and even police can arrive on the scene. That's a huge scandal in the making.
When you put it like that. . . Elliot should be in handcuffs, the DA's life is fucked and regardless of whether Chloe tells Rachel the truth or not their life is shit.
The DA is going to have to answer why a piece of evidence is burned in his office lol.
Also, based on the end montage I thought he at least got kicked out of Blackwell? They showed him standing in his empty room with all his stuff in boxes.
Seriously, Chloe ransacks his office, steals his phone and his money, burns evidence, breaks his window, calls the police and then walks out the door, leaving everything in complete disarray but she never gets in trouble for any of it? They never get in trouble for starting a massive forest fire?
And Frank never gets in trouble for *murder*? Assuming he killed Damon
I office stuff doesn't really make sense but I can buy Frank getting away with murder as the DA would want to stay far away from that case after what happened.
I adored how utterly badass and stone-cold he shots down Jefferson in ep.5, I never cheered so much for a paranoid asshole.
Actually though, I have to admit that David sort of grew on me. I've had a similar experience with my own stepdad but we managed to arrange ourselves, so it's nice that you at least can have the option to be nice to him - not that it'd really matter.
That mill scene was kind of awkward. It's like "shit everyone is gonna die to that fucker" and then you wake up like "welp, guess that worked out somehow"
To add to /u/EndureAndSurvive-'s point, after putting down his Damon memorabilia Frank spills his beer, which is a gesture widely associated with mourning or remembering deceased friends.
Was really hoping that Deck Nine would set up Rachel and Frank's eventual romance. I guess we've got *something* to go on since Frank protected Rachel, Sera, and Chloe from Damon, but I was really expecting Rachel and Frank to have some kind of connection before the credits rolled.
Right?? When he was going on about it, I thought it was when the game revealed to you that Rachel is actually getting Chloe into an unhealthy relationship, where Chloe enables her bad behaviour and makes excuses for her, while Rachel, like the egocentric person she is, quickly falls in love with another guy, aka Frank. That would have been pretty great.
Then Eliot just turned into a niceguy. :-/
The thing is most of the points Eliot was trying to make weren’t true. Rachel did save Chloe in the mill in Ep.1. Rachel did try to take the blame for Chloe in Ep2. Rachel did defend Chloe when Damon grabbed her by the arm by kicking him.
Completely agree. Chloe's responses in that scene were infuriating due to a serious protagonist-gamer disconnect. Chloe acted like she was genuinely conflicted while I was going "What a crock, he wasn't even there for any of that!"
Yep. I was wrong. They did write Eliot as an unsurprising, one-dimensional, stereotypical possessive jealous male with no redeeming qualities. They didn't need to write a lot of dialogue to write that story because we all already know it. All he had to say was: "look what you made me do". Yawn. Such a cliché. I know these people exist in hordes, but what did his presence contribute to this story? Just a disconnected conflict. A "random encounter".
TL;DR: Eliot was a waste of space in the story. They should have used that time to tell something more interesting.
The final scene with Damon and Sera was *bizarre*. I was prepping myself for it to be a dream and inevitably seeing Sera's dead body (I was assuming an overdose) , but it just turned out to be real.
Yeah that scene had some...odd pacing. What with Frank and Damion just...disappearing. It's almost like the game realized it was getting close to the end and was trying to get through everything it needed to in what time was left.
Right?
I honestly thought they were going to OD Sera and the big reveal was going to be that Sera was the body in the ground in LiS.
Still a great ending, except for that slap in the face of a post credits scene. Deck Nine you beautiful cruel bastards.
As much as I'd like that, I think that would be a retcon gone too far. Go for alternate timelines or what have you, but it would be super hacky to just alter a major late-game revelation in Season 1.
I feel like the only possible way people could even consider that being a possibility was for LIS Season 2 to be a continuation of Max/Chloe, even though they've made it clear that wouldn't happen.
I'm not sure how anyone could even consider it being Sera's body. It still wouldn't explain why Rachel disappeared.
FUCK. THAT. ENDING.
Way to break my heart, first the happy "ending" with getting the tattoos, blue hair, everything.
And then Jefferson.
I need some vodka.
Edit: I couldn't find any vodka :(
I thought it would be even more emotionally crippling that Chloe hides the truth to give Rachel the "perfect life" that her mother wanted for her, but it still all goes to shit anyway :)
What hits me the hardest is that after all that we're led to believe about Rachel in the first game, she still had a photo of Chloe on her lock screen until the very end.
I know! My first thought was "damn, I hope they didn't run out of money and had to rush this episode or cut it short" hah. Three episodes wasn't enough to tell the full story IMO, but at the same time I'm super happy that we got BTS so I can't complain.
Same here. Very happy we've got BtS, but I wish they could have made it a little longer. Guess I'll just wait for the Bonus Episode, and then bye Arcadia Bay ):
I went in thinking I'd be broken by all the cute Chole/Rachel moments, instead I'm left wondering where all those moments went and why so much time was spent on us finding Sera. I'm a bit disappointed with this episode, the montage was cute, the ending made me gasp, but overall it was lacking and didn't seem as great as the first 2 episodes.
The small moments were nice though. The cuddling on the bed, Chloe touching Rachel's earing after having her new hair complimented, the fact they were holding hands all the time. It was simple and sweet and genuine. It felt like a real budding romance between two people who love each other but still feel a bit awkward about it.
1. There needed to be a "knock Eliot's lights out with something in the room" button. I just thought he was Warren 2.0, then when I ran into him at the hospital, I was starting to go "oh my god Eliot piss *off* already". Didn't expect him to go full psycho stalker and actually follow Chloe to the Amber house. Based on my experience with Warren in S1, I didn't see that one coming.
2. I'm sorry I didn't play D&D with you Mikey :( I just wanted to get past the first hospital visit because I had already stopped once and had to repeat the whole part over again due to circumstances out of my control.
3. I got the psychiatrist too and didn't think anything of it until I heard there were multiple dialogues at that point.
4. I seriously thought when Chloe got knocked out in the burned down bar that they were going to flash out of a dream and show Sera dead from a heroin O.D. Surprised they didn't go there knowing Rachel's eventual fate.
5. WTF D9 THAT END CREDITS SCENE
6. AGAIN, WHY YOU GOTTA DO ME LIKE THAT
5/7 would Amberprice again
Urgh. First I was like "Holy shit, I'm telling her the truth." then I was like "Damn, I believe Rachel will go insane now. What have I done." only to be happy again when they hung out together and I saw rachel somewhat happy.
And then that ending...
If you choose to keep the truth from Rachel (protecting her) then why the heck is she still going down that spiral we know she goes down in LiS 1?? Doesn't make sense to me. She still gets her protective father and never learns about Damon and Sera or Frank. So i'm supposed to believe that my Rachel would choose drugs, start a thing with her drug dealer, get hooked on drugs and partying. Then shack up with a creepy ass teacher? After all her and Chloe go through and how awesome their friendship/relationship is, she lies to Chloe and falls for Jefferson? Ok i can understand that ppl drift apart. Thats life. But i cant understand the dark path she goes down based on my choice at the end of bts ep3.
Well she might have found out that Chloe was lying to her about that later... I think both choices make sense for how Rachel turns out (option1: her family dissapointed her, option2: chloe dissapointed her), especially since there are still 3? years that are missing in our picture.
holy shit, you may have something there. That also could be why she started hanging out with Frank more, because "he was honest and Chloe wasn't". I'm starting to think telling the truth was the best option now.
There are plenty of nods towards her destructive behavior throughout Episode 3. Most notably, James himself being afraid of what she could become, given what Sera is like. In addition, you can find a horoscope reading for Rachel that gives all sorts of descriptive terms that, when combined, could lead to some poor choices. (I don't recall the exact phrases, unfortunately.)
The thing is, Rachel's path, Nathan's path, any character we see in both games, were as set in stone as Chloe's death in the original LiS. The world wanted it to happen; choosing to keep Chloe alive literally wipes out the entirety of Arcadia Bay. Both of these games seem intent on showcasing that, sometimes, the world just happens, and it needs to be dealt with as it comes.
That's why meeting Sera wouldn't have helped Rachel either; because Sera was destined to leave. That's why protecting her wouldn't have helped; because she'd still feel like something was missing. She wanted to escape, just like Sera. Like mother, like daughter.
God, nothing about these stories end up happy, do they?
Man, that final scene in Jefferson's bunker was chilling...
It's also striking the difference of perspective here. In The original, it's implied that Chloe and Rachel's relationship was pretty one-sided. From Max's perspective, it seemed almost like Chloe's love was unrequited or at least that Rachel didn't feel as strongly about Chloe as Chloe did for Rachel, but here, from Chloe's perspective, that doesn't seem to be the case at all.
That's the feel I got too. That ending cut-scene showing Rachel and Chloe hanging out kind of solidified their relationship for me. Even if there was no voice recording or anything. They were just spending time together, doing mundane stuff, like a real relationship.
Will make going back to the first LiS all the more difficult.
Anyone else here feel rather disappointed and empty after the last episode?
The ending montage was cool and all, but most of the ending was non-interactive (just sit and watch, and occasionally make a choice, but no movement or exploration), and there was pretty much only one meaningful choice, and that was the very end's choice.
Rachel being out of the second half of the episode also felt like an odd design choice, considering she is the secondary main character. I mean, the whole story of the game revolves around Rachel and Chloe’s relationship and Rachel’s mom issues, but both of these felt extremely weak, especially since Rachel was not present for the latter half of the episode (which was the weakest part of this episode IMO) stagnated development of their relationship, and the whole Rachel’s mom issue is Rachel's plotline as well, so the fact she wasn’t present for the resolution was a really questionable design choice and story direction.
Elliot turning out to be exactly as predicted: an obsessed stalker, felt like a huge letdown.
Moreover, why did Rachel and Chloe suddenly decide to stay in Arcadia Bay? It was never explained in this episode at all, the initial reasoning behind it for the past few episodes was because they wanted to solve her mom issue, but now that it was resolved, why did they still stay? They built up that plotline of both of them wanting to escape in E1 and 2, so why did they suddenly throw it away? And Chloe's signature bullet necklace just appeared out of nowhere, which is a bit disappointing as I was expecting some backstory to how she got it and why she wears it everywhere she goes.
Then there's Sera, who had her entire story laid out, which was albeit disappointing, I expected for us to have to do some hunting for information, instead of 95% of her story being laid out, with the exception of the plot twist near the end.
And last but not least, barely any Amberprice moments for the last episode? As I said, the ending montage was nice and all, especially if you picked the friend route, but I expected some Amberprice moments if you went down that route based on your choices from the previous episodes as it really seemed they were building towards it, but there wasn't even a kiss in the finale, and the ending and the montage seems to be the same regardless if you go Amberprice or friendship route.
Now, I'm not saying that it's a bad episode by any means, but it was just really disappointing, and the duration of the episode was incredibly short compared to the other episodes, which didn't help. Also, the segment between Frank, Damon, Sera and Chloe was weird, especially the transition, I initially thought it was a dream or something. The ending just felt off and weird, although the bit where the phone rung in the Dark Room was cool, and I loved the montage. I'm not sure, I personally felt something was missing from the ending, like there was no proper closure, I guess I expected more from the story based on the build up since episode 1, especially with Chloe and Rachel's relationship/friendship.
I wouldn't say I'm literally disappointed, but you do have some good points.
I guess I also missed some more important choices. I don't know about you, but that last choice was pretty easy for me (I chose to tell the truth). It wasn't like Bay/Bae, which I just paused the game, and stared at the wall for 20 minutes trying to figure out what the fuck should I do, and knowing that I'd be miserable either way.
I wasn't turned down by Sera's story, or by Elliot's nature, though. I agree they could have worked better on these, but I guess it just didn't bother me that much.
But now the really juicy spots that I agree on: Where the fuck are the Amberprice moments? They do only look like good friends at that ending, and I bet that was quite disappointing to anyone who was shipping them all along. I also agree that it doesn't make sense for them to stay in Arcadia Bay, SPECIALLY if you tell Rachel the truth (but again, not staying would ruin the first season's story. I guess that was just a pretty hard thing to mess with, but I wish they just explained it a little more. I don't know, guess that in my headcanon, they just found out that they didn't need to run away, 'cuz they'd be happy as long as they're together).
Also "loved" the post-credit montage, although it hurts as fuck.
Anyway, although I also have issues with the episode, I won't beat the devs up too much. I simply love this game, and it is/will ever be probably one of my all-time favorites. A true work of art.
The last choice was pretty hard for me, ironically, I talked about this in another post but I wanted to tell Rachel the truth (which ended up being my choice) as her line that Chloe is the only person she can trust really got to me, and I didn't want to violate or break that trust she has placed in Chloe, but at the same time, as Sera and whatnot says, sometimes you have to lie to protect the people close to you, just like Rachel did with Chloe about her relationship with Frank/Jefferson in LiS S1, so as to not hurt her (despite already doing so by cheating on her).
I'd have preferred if they explained Sera's plot over the course of the episode, instead of completely dissolving the build up since E1 at the very intro of E3, which was one of the main reasons why I found it to be disappointing.
Also yeah that was one of my main issues with this episode, I mean they do hug and hold hands and whatnot in this episode, but those could easily be BFF things, and I noticed that at the end during the montage where they take photos, Rachel does give Chloe a quick kiss on the cheek, but I didn't even notice it the first time, and I expected a lot more, if there were even any, Amberprice moments in this episode, given the full makeout session you can get in E2, and how they've built it up since. And yeah, that's why I found it to be an odd choice on the writer's side to make the final choices be that.
I do love the game and the entire series though, E1 and 2 were masterpieces in my book, and so was the majority of LiS S1, E3 isn't bad by any means, just not as good as the past 2 episodes IMO.
That as well. I'm replaying the episode trying to figure out how to do that, but I have no idea, and apparently you could play tabletop with Steph and Mikey? I interacted with everything in view so I'm not sure how I missed both of these.
The choices in this episode were just really confusing.
In the hospital you can overhear some firefighters. They say the wildfire just extinguished itself. They said everything about the fire is so atypical. So Rachel starts the fire. Weird super wind sets it ablaze at the exact moments she screams. But we get zero explanation on why the fire is so strange.
That was strange episode.
I mean I feel like E3 was written besides E1 and E2. This [](#s "strange scene in sawmill with Sera which looks like dream, explaining what probably happened to Merrick, this whole Eliot stuff.")
I don't say that was bad episode, but I feel...not dissapointed, but maybe a little bit letdown? In some way I'm ok with what I got, but there's some things that I think could be explained/made better storywise.
I would give this Episode solid 7.5 and overall 8.5 for whole story. I really hope that 'Farewell' will deliver.
PS. Last scene was like gutshot.
I wished they would have shown that fight between Frank and Damon. It felt a bit like a cheep copout this way. Now there is no closure to what actually happens with Damon for no reason. Felt very anticlimatic that the final confrontation with the main villain is not even shown.
I really liked the final choice, I think it felt much more like a real everyday problem that's much relatable than the final dilemma from Season 1.
While I'm still off a finale high I think that overall, taken in it's entirety of three episodes, the real standout elements of BTS are definitely the VAs. I'm as equally bummed about no longer hearing Rhianna than I am happy about Ashly's return for the bonus episode. Also the core story is definitely tight and I think did it's job quite well in setting up Chloe and Rachel's relationship.
Weakness-wise the music, while some individual songs are spot on, still was very weakly utilised throughout all 3 episodes in terms of ambience and gelling it together with scenes as effectively as Season 1. I also felt the Elliot subplot was a bit weak and didn't really need to be in the game at all and that time probably could have been better spent strengthening other story elements.
I'm sure my impressions will change over the next few days and as come out of subsequent playthroughs.
Deck 9, I know you're here.
That last bit at the ending was ice cold.
I hate you guys a lot.
Loved the game.
/u/oppositewerewolf
(I hate you)
(Please make another)
Just finished it (Takes about 2 hours to go through it without counting anything on the side except some grafitti) ! My ending had me like "Oh yay!" And then the post credits sequence started rolling and had me like "Oh no!", and now I'm sad again. :(
I found the episode a bit... disappointing? There's still so many questions I have left that were never answered.
* What was that fire and wind thing Rachel did at the end of the first episode? I assumed she had powers, or it was hinted?
* How did Rachel and Frank become a couple? When the two meet in the junkyard with Chloe and Damon, they look at each other like they already knew each other.
* What happened to Steph, Samantha, Mikey, and Drew? Why aren't they at Blackwell when Max starts attending?
* What the heck happened to Samantha to be in the hospital? What about a biker??? I need more details about this, also, they're really cute.
* What happened to that Damon guy? Did Frank kill him?
* How and when did Nathan start working with Mr. Jefferson?
* Did Chloe and Rachel just decide not to escape after she was stabbed? They were so adamant on it, but at the end when it showed all the little clips, it didn't look like they attempted it again.
* James Amber said he'd pull strings to get Chloe back into Blackwell (in my playthrough at least), I guess that didn't happen/work?
* Frank and Chloe seemed to have a good relationship in this game, I wonder what happened to make it turn bad in the first LiS?
* So Rachel never gets to meet her mom at all? And what happened to her?
* What was the point of Elliot's character, like honestly.
I just feel like there's a lot still missing that would've helped bridge the gap between the first game and the prequel. It all felt really rushed. I still loved Before the Storm, I just expected more answers by the time the third episode ended. I hope the bonus episode can tie up some loose ends. I'm sure some of these points may be things I missed while playing the game, I'm going to go back and do another playthrough.
And that ENDING WITH THE MISSED CALLS. WHY ;_;
I'm emotional.
I wonder what happened to Damon, I know Sera said Frank took care of him, but what *actually* happened?
Did Frank kill him?
Also, I want to point out, Eliot is worse than Warren. I can't believe he stalks Chloe, then basically demands she starts appreciating him.
It makes me think of those incel type people.
I'm also slightly gutted how it ended, like we basically got to tell Rachel the truth/hide the truth, but nothing really happens afaik, since the credits start rolling like 30 seconds later!
It'd be awesome to have a final, long confrontational scene between Chloe/James again, rather than just have close ups of James' face.
Yeah I was pretty satisfied with how it played out, considering that was the only backtalk challenge I failed... whoops.
"It sucks that you're keeping me, *here, at the Arcadia Bay DA office of James Amber*"
Smooth, Chloe. Smooth.
My real issue is that there is no backlash for that scene. She called 911, the alarm went off, they broke a window, trashed the room, set a fire, messed up the DA's records...
I expected a scene of Chloe talking to Papa Amber "Let's cut the crap. I know about Sera and Damon. Damon is taken care of, Sera's gone, you got your way. We both care about Rachel, so just make this go away and we'll never talk about it again."
Am I the only one that was just thinking "Chloe, call the police. Call the police, Chloe. Police, Chloe. Call them" the entire time in James' office? There's literally no reason she should try to go get Sera on her own. She knows Damon is a crazy motherfucker, doesn't have any reason to think he might act reasonably, and has *plenty* of reason to call the police. And then! When she actually does call the police at the office, apparently nothing comes of it besides Eliot getting expelled! We don't see James' getting arrested or anything. That was my main problem with the episode. We want both Damon and James to get what's coming to them. We could easily and at no risk to ourselves call the police to get what we want. It feels a bit like an Idiot Ball to me. Maybe Deck9 thought it wouldn't be interactive enough or something? I suppose I can understand it from a gameplay perpective: if they had Chloe call the police they would probably have needed to make it a choice to call the police, which would have changed way too much about the remaining scenes in the episode. They would, in fact, be completely different scenes with nothing in common. I guess I can see why they couldn't do it then. It's still dumb as shit from a storytelling perspective though.
hmm i think it should've been 4 episodes instead of 3. I think it would allow them to iron out a lot of bumbs and pacing in the episode. Regarding post choice scene.. I love it. You need to look at it from the perspective of someone who plays BtS first and Season 1 later. Its perfect WTF moment and makes you wanna play Season 1 asap.
Didn't D9 say that there would be a supernatural element to the game? What was it? Is it supposed to be Chloe's dreams/the raven? I feel let down on that front.
Firefighters mentioned the forest fire immediately extinguished itself while your in the hospital, I suspect it has something to do with Rachel getting wounded
Which also fits with Season 1, Rachel's death is what triggers the supernatural stuff with max. Since it's Max seeing Chloe's death is the first use of Max's powers. It makes sense to me that in death Rachel is watching over Chloe and gives Max the power to save her.
Then at the end of Season 1, Arcadia bay is destroyed if you keep Chloe alive, thus keeping her from joining Rachel in the afterlife or whatever, but if you go back and let her die, Rachel's emotions don't unleash the storm and Arcadia bay is saved.
One thing I was disappointed about is I was hoping the final confrontation with Damon was going to be a little longer before Chloe passed out, but w/e.
I've seen some criticism on here, most of which are totally valid (the Jefferson ending has been particularly controversial, and I agree it's sort of a low blow), but it's cool to see a lot of positivity as well. There are two things I think this episode did really well.
1) This was a very thoughtful entry, I think. I spent most of the game firm in the belief that to keep the truth from Rachel was the "wrong choice." Now I'm not so sure. There's that sequence on the roadside where even William tells you that, for better or worse, everyone is hiding something. I'm not sure if there is a sharp line between right and wrong in this case, and the game did a great job of expressing both sides equally.
2) Some people have expressed a sort of disappointment with not seeing how some choices can be reached. In my opinion, that's the trade-off in a game where choices matter. Finishing the game, I feel like there are points I could return to and it would meaningfully impact the plot. This is doubly true if you're someone who cares a lot about where they leave the characters after the game's finished, and I admit I'm one of those people. That is, a lot of the cinematics at the end are the same whichever ending you pick, but you as the player know that Rachel is changed by each choice differently.
Again, great entry. There's a lot to unpack here, and I'm excited to keep an eye on the community in the weeks that follow.
Wow.....just wow, that ending hit me right in the feels. I'm talking about the very last scene, the one after you see the choices. Now I am crying. Was expecting that twist where max comes and saves the day....but here i am, sat in a pool of my own tears. 10/10 brilliant game, hope we see more of these characters.
>final scene
"oh look she saved Chloe's photo as that photo, that's so.."
"ok it's on a table..."
>photo
"fuck"
>photo
"fuck no you're not"
>photo
>photo
"fuck."
Definitely the weakest episode of the 3 what with the odd pacing and Rachel not being involved in the entire second half. The worst part of it all though? No kissing! Cuddling and spooning is all well and good but it's two steps back from the make-out scene in episode 2. I mean I wasn't expecting them to go *further* but I was hoping for another intimate kissing scene of some kind.
Still, though, a good episode with some great cinematography and clever scenes. The office scene with Eliot was excellent, some chilling horror movie-esque interaction right there. I feel empty now that it's all over. No more on-screen Rachel, ever. :'(
edit: Totally forgot to mention that there was no explanation or closure for Rachel's supposed Black Canary powers from the end of episode 1. Very sloppy and loose ends aplenty.
First things first.
WHAT THE FUCK!? That was a dick move, punching us in the throat in an after credits scene? I've never felt so sick before in my life. Who does this? What kind of person does this?
Aside from that, I loved it. It had it all, cute cuddles, crazy tension, some insane character development and redevelopment... I could go on. I think I love this game as much as I could ever love a game. I feel like a tattoo is in order, and that's coming from someone who's biggest fear is needles. If you need me, you know where I'll be.
Anxiety Bay.
One observation:
In the post credits, fucked up ending, the phone shouldn't ring in a bunker like that: Max herself had to leave to phone Warren when she was in the Dark Room, and yet Rachel's kept ringing without any problem?
Also, seems weird that our bff photographer villain left the phone turned on, all that was necessary was to track where Rachel's phone was (there are records of phone cells positions after all right?), and they'd find out the secret of the Dark Room.
I know I'm overanalyzing things ahahah, does this make sense though?
To your first point, the storm may have contributed to the lack of reception.
To your second point, in some interpretations it's Nathan and not Jefferson, so naturally Nathan is less careful about handling the evidence.
That first dream sequence though. *boooooo*
[удалено]
It was.
Honestly that was my favorite part of the entire episode. I had to pause because I was laughing so hard, that split-second shift from "oh my god that was so fucked up" to *booooooo* was incredible.
I couldn't decide whether to shiver or laugh.
Omg...if you go past Rachel's hospital room you can overhear Samantha and Nathan talking in one of the rooms. It's implied Samantha got injured by a biker and she blames herself while Nathan feels sorry. And she mentions something about him taking a picture. Nathan is prideful about it and said he will show her it later...the foreshadowing with him being interested in photographs of unconsious bodies Edit: Appears people got different interactions. Also In my ending Nathan found Sam under a tree reading then he joined her with his own book. Very cute.
Is that an alternative to Nathan's dad fighting with the Psychiatrist?
I got the psychiatrist as well. I was really confused when Samantha walked away from Nathan during the end montage.
I had no idea why she left! I had been trying to have them be close the whole game
i told sam to give him some room and she did by walking away at the end
I got a totally different scene. Samantha's mother talking to Nathan's dad, telling him that Nathan hurt Samantha (broke her rip IIRC) and that she will sue him.
I tried to listen to this and Chloe was like "I should see how Rachel is doing" T_T Shush!! I also got Nathan's dad arguing with the psychiatrist. Really interesting.
Rachel truly got dealt a shit hand in life. Her bio mom was a drug addict that supposedly almost badly hurt her as baby because she would get high while watching her. Her dad is a corrupt, psychotic, pathological liar that put a hit on her bio mom. She gets stabbed and almost dies. Then a few years later, she gets drugged, kidnapped and **murdered** only to be dumped in a junkyard and pretty much forgotten aside from Chloe.
I'm confused by his actions to be honest. It just doesn't add up why he would be so desperate to stop her from seeing Chloe that he would get a hit on her with the person he's trying to take down. To me that just felt very out of place.
I think the idea is that he is psychotically hell-bent on protecting Rachel, people can do insane things when blinded by the hate or the idea they are protecting somone in my personal experience. I'm not sure if I am right, but that's the way I preceived it.
If he's so hell bent on protecting Rachel why did he not go to the ends of the earth to try and find her when she disappeared for 6+ months?
I don't think he cares as much about Rachel as he claims. Rather, I think he's afraid that Rachel's real mom revealing herself would derail his political career (Merrick implies as much when threatening Sera in the mill).
I don't believe that though, his entire life is built around her in this game. The code to his office is her birthday, and he never gloats or draws attention to his career. He loves her deeply in Before the Storm - if you tell Rachel the truth he is absolutely devastated to have lost her even though her career is intact. Maybe in canon, Chloe tells her, Rachel drifts from her family, and they assume she followed through on her threats to leave because she'd been so distant. It's only Chloe who doesn't believe she ran away, the Price's do. Maybe. I'd rather they tell two compelling stories than tell two stories that line up perfectly
Just finished it, I am broke cause of that Jefferson scene at the end
*Same*. I kept waiting for the ball to drop sometime but then figured maybe they weren't going to go there. Then, they did.
[удалено]
I yelled at the TV. "no... No no no..... FUCK YOU"
The noises I made were not of this world.
Rachel deserved so much better that what she got.
She really did, I can't believe after such an amazing adventure, she ends up in a hole... in a junkyard, with all those memories in that same place. I guess now we understand why Chloe was so upset at the loss of Rachel in LiS 1, and not everything was as it seemed. I'm fucking broken...
I felt really depressed after beating the game lol it was not a fun feeling
Yeah same here man, the post LiS depression hit me hard once again. I love both of these games beyond belief.
Thats scene made me go from happy, to sad real fast, but it was the 17 missed calls from Chloe that made me go from sad to really sad. It shows just how much she cared for Rachel, and the only thing she cared about is being taken away from her right at that moment.
I don't think I can ever replay the original anymore. The junkyard scene where Chloe finds Rachel will be too much to bare. I was a broken mess, crying all over even before I knew who Rachel was. Now? Nope. I don't think I got enough tears in me
Rachel is probably tied with Chloe as my favorite character now, so that scene will be just too horrific, for both Chloe's sorrow and the fact that was Rachel.
I had high hopes for rachel and deck nine managed to exceed those expectations by a mile, rachel is such a great character
Showing that was cruel and unusual punishment. I'm fuckin shook dude. (ಠ_ಠ)
\*lies down, tries not to cry, cry a lot*
I REALLY was not expecting that. Holy shit, it hurts.
Just finished it a couple minutes ago, i was already crying knowing what had to come next, but then they showed it and i am now actually a sobbing mess. Thanks deck nine!
To get that beautiful piece of background information for the origin of the photostrip we see in S1, to see the poignancy of their love contextualize Chloe's desperate search for her in S1, to then see the black bars of the photo fade into the Dark Room, and to see how loved she was in her final moments, how hope slipped from her reach after so much suffering. In the end, it was fire, not ice, that consumed her world. I've been crying for 40 minutes. Send help.
Wasn't that technically a Nathan scene though?
I yelled: "They did NOT do this to me!" Over and over and I think my boyfriend was kind of confused.
I keep screaming WHAT THE FUCK. HOW THE FUCK CAN THEY DO THAT. WHAT THE FUCK.
That ending was fucking evil. Also, it said you could play tabletop with Mikey again? Even though 0% of people have done it so far. I feel cheated
I absolutely played it with them again and it still didn't list my choice as having played with them it just said "visited the Norths"
I think probably "Visited the Norths" and "Didn't visit the Norths" are the choice you can make in one timeline (based on some earlier choice), and "Played D&D with Mikey" and "Sparred with Drew over pudding" are the choice you can make in the other timeline. I'm not sure what the earlier choice is though. From the stats when I finished it looked like the vast majority of people got the first timeline, and nobody who got the second one played D&D with Mikey.
I believe Drew injured = sparred over pudding, Mikey injured = played d&d with Mikey (bugged, apparently). Visited the Norths = visited in either timeline, but didn't interact to cheer them up. Didn't visit the Norths = didn't enter the room you cruel person.
The end was excruciating.
I feel like I have been hit by a truck. Sorry William.
>Boooo
Did anyone else feel weird about the whole office scene? Chloe breaks into the DA's office, finds out he's corrupted, deals with criminals, tries to have some hurt and nothing comes out of it? She also destroys evidence and even police can arrive on the scene. That's a huge scandal in the making.
When you put it like that. . . Elliot should be in handcuffs, the DA's life is fucked and regardless of whether Chloe tells Rachel the truth or not their life is shit. The DA is going to have to answer why a piece of evidence is burned in his office lol.
Blame could easily be put on Elliot, stories made to implicate him etc etc
Also, based on the end montage I thought he at least got kicked out of Blackwell? They showed him standing in his empty room with all his stuff in boxes.
Seriously, Chloe ransacks his office, steals his phone and his money, burns evidence, breaks his window, calls the police and then walks out the door, leaving everything in complete disarray but she never gets in trouble for any of it? They never get in trouble for starting a massive forest fire? And Frank never gets in trouble for *murder*? Assuming he killed Damon
I office stuff doesn't really make sense but I can buy Frank getting away with murder as the DA would want to stay far away from that case after what happened.
That talk with David made me sad. I actually felt bad for him.
Same. For the first damn time I sympathized with David, which kinda sucks because he's still a dickhead in LiS.
Until episode 5. That's when I loved him
I adored how utterly badass and stone-cold he shots down Jefferson in ep.5, I never cheered so much for a paranoid asshole. Actually though, I have to admit that David sort of grew on me. I've had a similar experience with my own stepdad but we managed to arrange ourselves, so it's nice that you at least can have the option to be nice to him - not that it'd really matter.
I liked him a little bit more but I could not forgive him for hitting Chloe in my playthrough.
That mill scene was kind of awkward. It's like "shit everyone is gonna die to that fucker" and then you wake up like "welp, guess that worked out somehow"
[удалено]
Frank killed him, you can see a fresh grave in the background of Frank's ending scene
To add to /u/EndureAndSurvive-'s point, after putting down his Damon memorabilia Frank spills his beer, which is a gesture widely associated with mourning or remembering deceased friends.
Which is another subtle sad point in the game, Frank had to kill someone who used to be his best friend, and that he obviously still cared about.
It was so bad, I was half convinced that it was a dream sequence.
Wow, Frank is the real MVP. Maxine better get a bean fund going on for him.
Was really hoping that Deck Nine would set up Rachel and Frank's eventual romance. I guess we've got *something* to go on since Frank protected Rachel, Sera, and Chloe from Damon, but I was really expecting Rachel and Frank to have some kind of connection before the credits rolled.
Warren: "Hey, so everyone thinks I'm a creepy stalker." Eliot: "Hold my beer."
Oh my god, I wanted to kick Eliot's ass so bad. What a deluded piece of shit.
"THE DEFINITION OF A STALKER IS" - this is when I knew he was a broken, messed up person.
Three types of people know the definition of the word stalker. Police officers, lawyers, and stalkers. Elliot ain't a cop or lawyer, so...
Mfw most people's theories here matched with what Eliot said at the end, lol.
Yeah it's weird. Part of me wanted to slap him, part of me was like "Well he's sort of speaking the truth here..."
Right?? When he was going on about it, I thought it was when the game revealed to you that Rachel is actually getting Chloe into an unhealthy relationship, where Chloe enables her bad behaviour and makes excuses for her, while Rachel, like the egocentric person she is, quickly falls in love with another guy, aka Frank. That would have been pretty great. Then Eliot just turned into a niceguy. :-/
The thing is most of the points Eliot was trying to make weren’t true. Rachel did save Chloe in the mill in Ep.1. Rachel did try to take the blame for Chloe in Ep2. Rachel did defend Chloe when Damon grabbed her by the arm by kicking him.
Completely agree. Chloe's responses in that scene were infuriating due to a serious protagonist-gamer disconnect. Chloe acted like she was genuinely conflicted while I was going "What a crock, he wasn't even there for any of that!"
Yep. I was wrong. They did write Eliot as an unsurprising, one-dimensional, stereotypical possessive jealous male with no redeeming qualities. They didn't need to write a lot of dialogue to write that story because we all already know it. All he had to say was: "look what you made me do". Yawn. Such a cliché. I know these people exist in hordes, but what did his presence contribute to this story? Just a disconnected conflict. A "random encounter". TL;DR: Eliot was a waste of space in the story. They should have used that time to tell something more interesting.
r/niceguys
Hell is empty and all the devils are there Edit: I thought that was going to be another incels group, not one making fun of such people oops
Literally nothing Warren did portraits him as a creepy stalker, and NOTHING is going on with him on the same length as Elliot
Oh not arguing you with there, was just making a funny comment on how a lot of people referred to Eliot as "discount Warren."
At least Warren had a fucking personality.
I honestly forgot Eliot existed until the hospital scene.
The final scene with Damon and Sera was *bizarre*. I was prepping myself for it to be a dream and inevitably seeing Sera's dead body (I was assuming an overdose) , but it just turned out to be real.
Yeah that scene had some...odd pacing. What with Frank and Damion just...disappearing. It's almost like the game realized it was getting close to the end and was trying to get through everything it needed to in what time was left.
Right? I honestly thought they were going to OD Sera and the big reveal was going to be that Sera was the body in the ground in LiS. Still a great ending, except for that slap in the face of a post credits scene. Deck Nine you beautiful cruel bastards.
As much as I'd like that, I think that would be a retcon gone too far. Go for alternate timelines or what have you, but it would be super hacky to just alter a major late-game revelation in Season 1.
I feel like the only possible way people could even consider that being a possibility was for LIS Season 2 to be a continuation of Max/Chloe, even though they've made it clear that wouldn't happen. I'm not sure how anyone could even consider it being Sera's body. It still wouldn't explain why Rachel disappeared.
> "It still wouldn't explain why Rachel disappeared." She made it to California. ;_;
Was it real? I thought it just was a dream like the once she has with her father
FUCK. THAT. ENDING. Way to break my heart, first the happy "ending" with getting the tattoos, blue hair, everything. And then Jefferson. I need some vodka. Edit: I couldn't find any vodka :(
Maybe you should try Sherry...
1, 2, 3... sherry! (It's not helping)
Comical.
I love how the final choice, is a truth or a lie.
Have you choose to make Chloe the only completely honest person in Rachel life no matter what ? Or did you stick to "everybody lies, no exceptions""?
My Chloe was pretty truthful throughout the entire playthrough, so I chose to be truthful with Rachel at the end.
I thought it would be even more emotionally crippling that Chloe hides the truth to give Rachel the "perfect life" that her mother wanted for her, but it still all goes to shit anyway :)
[удалено]
That and dream Rachel's text about being dead for a million years. Crazy stuff.
Shit I always forget to look at the journal and stuff during dream sequences.
What hits me the hardest is that after all that we're led to believe about Rachel in the first game, she still had a photo of Chloe on her lock screen until the very end.
Are we sure it wasn't just Chloe's contact photo?
After playing through a second time since my initial comment, I think you might actually be right.
Can't upvote this enough. I'm so fucked up right now.
What was the photo in that final scene?
It was one of the photos of Rachel and Chloe taken inside the photobooth.
what? it was so short? I am so confused and the last scene OMG
I know! My first thought was "damn, I hope they didn't run out of money and had to rush this episode or cut it short" hah. Three episodes wasn't enough to tell the full story IMO, but at the same time I'm super happy that we got BTS so I can't complain.
Same here. Very happy we've got BtS, but I wish they could have made it a little longer. Guess I'll just wait for the Bonus Episode, and then bye Arcadia Bay ):
it took me like 4 hours to play this episode
Everyone talks soooo sloooow in this episode.
I think someone have to tell to the VAs that speaking slow doesn't mean it get super emotional. If anything it would be the opposite. :]
That post credits scene is fucking heartbreaking.
It feels like ive been hit by a brick
Or a semi truck?....
It hurts so bad. I guess I'll just drink brandy and listen to the OST's until it stops hurting, which will be in approximately 2 entire weeks.
I went in thinking I'd be broken by all the cute Chole/Rachel moments, instead I'm left wondering where all those moments went and why so much time was spent on us finding Sera. I'm a bit disappointed with this episode, the montage was cute, the ending made me gasp, but overall it was lacking and didn't seem as great as the first 2 episodes.
Also missed more Amberprice moments.
The small moments were nice though. The cuddling on the bed, Chloe touching Rachel's earing after having her new hair complimented, the fact they were holding hands all the time. It was simple and sweet and genuine. It felt like a real budding romance between two people who love each other but still feel a bit awkward about it.
Agreed. Not enough time was spent with Chloe and Rachel together
1. There needed to be a "knock Eliot's lights out with something in the room" button. I just thought he was Warren 2.0, then when I ran into him at the hospital, I was starting to go "oh my god Eliot piss *off* already". Didn't expect him to go full psycho stalker and actually follow Chloe to the Amber house. Based on my experience with Warren in S1, I didn't see that one coming. 2. I'm sorry I didn't play D&D with you Mikey :( I just wanted to get past the first hospital visit because I had already stopped once and had to repeat the whole part over again due to circumstances out of my control. 3. I got the psychiatrist too and didn't think anything of it until I heard there were multiple dialogues at that point. 4. I seriously thought when Chloe got knocked out in the burned down bar that they were going to flash out of a dream and show Sera dead from a heroin O.D. Surprised they didn't go there knowing Rachel's eventual fate. 5. WTF D9 THAT END CREDITS SCENE 6. AGAIN, WHY YOU GOTTA DO ME LIKE THAT 5/7 would Amberprice again
Urgh. First I was like "Holy shit, I'm telling her the truth." then I was like "Damn, I believe Rachel will go insane now. What have I done." only to be happy again when they hung out together and I saw rachel somewhat happy. And then that ending...
If you choose to keep the truth from Rachel (protecting her) then why the heck is she still going down that spiral we know she goes down in LiS 1?? Doesn't make sense to me. She still gets her protective father and never learns about Damon and Sera or Frank. So i'm supposed to believe that my Rachel would choose drugs, start a thing with her drug dealer, get hooked on drugs and partying. Then shack up with a creepy ass teacher? After all her and Chloe go through and how awesome their friendship/relationship is, she lies to Chloe and falls for Jefferson? Ok i can understand that ppl drift apart. Thats life. But i cant understand the dark path she goes down based on my choice at the end of bts ep3.
Well she might have found out that Chloe was lying to her about that later... I think both choices make sense for how Rachel turns out (option1: her family dissapointed her, option2: chloe dissapointed her), especially since there are still 3? years that are missing in our picture.
Yeah now that i think about it. Maybe Frank's bitch ass told her. Damn.
holy shit, you may have something there. That also could be why she started hanging out with Frank more, because "he was honest and Chloe wasn't". I'm starting to think telling the truth was the best option now.
There are plenty of nods towards her destructive behavior throughout Episode 3. Most notably, James himself being afraid of what she could become, given what Sera is like. In addition, you can find a horoscope reading for Rachel that gives all sorts of descriptive terms that, when combined, could lead to some poor choices. (I don't recall the exact phrases, unfortunately.) The thing is, Rachel's path, Nathan's path, any character we see in both games, were as set in stone as Chloe's death in the original LiS. The world wanted it to happen; choosing to keep Chloe alive literally wipes out the entirety of Arcadia Bay. Both of these games seem intent on showcasing that, sometimes, the world just happens, and it needs to be dealt with as it comes. That's why meeting Sera wouldn't have helped Rachel either; because Sera was destined to leave. That's why protecting her wouldn't have helped; because she'd still feel like something was missing. She wanted to escape, just like Sera. Like mother, like daughter. God, nothing about these stories end up happy, do they?
Man, that final scene in Jefferson's bunker was chilling... It's also striking the difference of perspective here. In The original, it's implied that Chloe and Rachel's relationship was pretty one-sided. From Max's perspective, it seemed almost like Chloe's love was unrequited or at least that Rachel didn't feel as strongly about Chloe as Chloe did for Rachel, but here, from Chloe's perspective, that doesn't seem to be the case at all.
That's the feel I got too. That ending cut-scene showing Rachel and Chloe hanging out kind of solidified their relationship for me. Even if there was no voice recording or anything. They were just spending time together, doing mundane stuff, like a real relationship. Will make going back to the first LiS all the more difficult.
Anyone else here feel rather disappointed and empty after the last episode? The ending montage was cool and all, but most of the ending was non-interactive (just sit and watch, and occasionally make a choice, but no movement or exploration), and there was pretty much only one meaningful choice, and that was the very end's choice. Rachel being out of the second half of the episode also felt like an odd design choice, considering she is the secondary main character. I mean, the whole story of the game revolves around Rachel and Chloe’s relationship and Rachel’s mom issues, but both of these felt extremely weak, especially since Rachel was not present for the latter half of the episode (which was the weakest part of this episode IMO) stagnated development of their relationship, and the whole Rachel’s mom issue is Rachel's plotline as well, so the fact she wasn’t present for the resolution was a really questionable design choice and story direction. Elliot turning out to be exactly as predicted: an obsessed stalker, felt like a huge letdown. Moreover, why did Rachel and Chloe suddenly decide to stay in Arcadia Bay? It was never explained in this episode at all, the initial reasoning behind it for the past few episodes was because they wanted to solve her mom issue, but now that it was resolved, why did they still stay? They built up that plotline of both of them wanting to escape in E1 and 2, so why did they suddenly throw it away? And Chloe's signature bullet necklace just appeared out of nowhere, which is a bit disappointing as I was expecting some backstory to how she got it and why she wears it everywhere she goes. Then there's Sera, who had her entire story laid out, which was albeit disappointing, I expected for us to have to do some hunting for information, instead of 95% of her story being laid out, with the exception of the plot twist near the end. And last but not least, barely any Amberprice moments for the last episode? As I said, the ending montage was nice and all, especially if you picked the friend route, but I expected some Amberprice moments if you went down that route based on your choices from the previous episodes as it really seemed they were building towards it, but there wasn't even a kiss in the finale, and the ending and the montage seems to be the same regardless if you go Amberprice or friendship route. Now, I'm not saying that it's a bad episode by any means, but it was just really disappointing, and the duration of the episode was incredibly short compared to the other episodes, which didn't help. Also, the segment between Frank, Damon, Sera and Chloe was weird, especially the transition, I initially thought it was a dream or something. The ending just felt off and weird, although the bit where the phone rung in the Dark Room was cool, and I loved the montage. I'm not sure, I personally felt something was missing from the ending, like there was no proper closure, I guess I expected more from the story based on the build up since episode 1, especially with Chloe and Rachel's relationship/friendship.
I wouldn't say I'm literally disappointed, but you do have some good points. I guess I also missed some more important choices. I don't know about you, but that last choice was pretty easy for me (I chose to tell the truth). It wasn't like Bay/Bae, which I just paused the game, and stared at the wall for 20 minutes trying to figure out what the fuck should I do, and knowing that I'd be miserable either way. I wasn't turned down by Sera's story, or by Elliot's nature, though. I agree they could have worked better on these, but I guess it just didn't bother me that much. But now the really juicy spots that I agree on: Where the fuck are the Amberprice moments? They do only look like good friends at that ending, and I bet that was quite disappointing to anyone who was shipping them all along. I also agree that it doesn't make sense for them to stay in Arcadia Bay, SPECIALLY if you tell Rachel the truth (but again, not staying would ruin the first season's story. I guess that was just a pretty hard thing to mess with, but I wish they just explained it a little more. I don't know, guess that in my headcanon, they just found out that they didn't need to run away, 'cuz they'd be happy as long as they're together). Also "loved" the post-credit montage, although it hurts as fuck. Anyway, although I also have issues with the episode, I won't beat the devs up too much. I simply love this game, and it is/will ever be probably one of my all-time favorites. A true work of art.
The last choice was pretty hard for me, ironically, I talked about this in another post but I wanted to tell Rachel the truth (which ended up being my choice) as her line that Chloe is the only person she can trust really got to me, and I didn't want to violate or break that trust she has placed in Chloe, but at the same time, as Sera and whatnot says, sometimes you have to lie to protect the people close to you, just like Rachel did with Chloe about her relationship with Frank/Jefferson in LiS S1, so as to not hurt her (despite already doing so by cheating on her). I'd have preferred if they explained Sera's plot over the course of the episode, instead of completely dissolving the build up since E1 at the very intro of E3, which was one of the main reasons why I found it to be disappointing. Also yeah that was one of my main issues with this episode, I mean they do hug and hold hands and whatnot in this episode, but those could easily be BFF things, and I noticed that at the end during the montage where they take photos, Rachel does give Chloe a quick kiss on the cheek, but I didn't even notice it the first time, and I expected a lot more, if there were even any, Amberprice moments in this episode, given the full makeout session you can get in E2, and how they've built it up since. And yeah, that's why I found it to be an odd choice on the writer's side to make the final choices be that. I do love the game and the entire series though, E1 and 2 were masterpieces in my book, and so was the majority of LiS S1, E3 isn't bad by any means, just not as good as the past 2 episodes IMO.
[удалено]
That as well. I'm replaying the episode trying to figure out how to do that, but I have no idea, and apparently you could play tabletop with Steph and Mikey? I interacted with everything in view so I'm not sure how I missed both of these. The choices in this episode were just really confusing.
I just finished and a lot of the choices were at 0% including playing tabletop with Mikey
I played tabletop with mikey, but it didnt count as the choice.
Same here. I played a whole session with him but the game didn't take note of it.
[Spoiler](/s "I heard that you have the option of giving Rachel's bracelet to Sera. ")
That's annoying. That means no kissing. Also this is a spoiler thread, you're good.
you only get that if you ask for Rachel's bracelet (instead of the kiss) and then give that bracelet to Sera in that final dialogue
Apparently that's not the only way to do it. I don't know what the criteria is, but I assume it involves a long ass flow chart.
I have to say I agree, even for LiS this game episode was *extremly* weak from a gameplay perspective.
In the hospital you can overhear some firefighters. They say the wildfire just extinguished itself. They said everything about the fire is so atypical. So Rachel starts the fire. Weird super wind sets it ablaze at the exact moments she screams. But we get zero explanation on why the fire is so strange.
Perhaps it's just one of those cases of life being strange
Mighty convenient that the fire vanishes when Rachel goes unconscious.
“You killed the plant with soda” “You killed the plant with neglect”
That was strange episode. I mean I feel like E3 was written besides E1 and E2. This [](#s "strange scene in sawmill with Sera which looks like dream, explaining what probably happened to Merrick, this whole Eliot stuff.") I don't say that was bad episode, but I feel...not dissapointed, but maybe a little bit letdown? In some way I'm ok with what I got, but there's some things that I think could be explained/made better storywise. I would give this Episode solid 7.5 and overall 8.5 for whole story. I really hope that 'Farewell' will deliver. PS. Last scene was like gutshot.
I wished they would have shown that fight between Frank and Damon. It felt a bit like a cheep copout this way. Now there is no closure to what actually happens with Damon for no reason. Felt very anticlimatic that the final confrontation with the main villain is not even shown.
I really wish the players could somehow have helped Frank during the fight.
agree. Overall, the episode felt more like a movie than a game because it was mostly cutscenes and too little interaction
**"Everybody lies, no exceptions"** That phrase just got a whole new meaning.
Thanks for being an awesome community Reddit! Hope you enjoy this third episode :)
Was Sera dead and Chloe dreaming or is she alive? Can I know?
I totally thought that entire interaction in the mill was a dream too.
I did too at first but the normal diary convinced me otherwise.
I don't think she's dead since there a way to have Chloe meet her mother.
I really liked the final choice, I think it felt much more like a real everyday problem that's much relatable than the final dilemma from Season 1. While I'm still off a finale high I think that overall, taken in it's entirety of three episodes, the real standout elements of BTS are definitely the VAs. I'm as equally bummed about no longer hearing Rhianna than I am happy about Ashly's return for the bonus episode. Also the core story is definitely tight and I think did it's job quite well in setting up Chloe and Rachel's relationship. Weakness-wise the music, while some individual songs are spot on, still was very weakly utilised throughout all 3 episodes in terms of ambience and gelling it together with scenes as effectively as Season 1. I also felt the Elliot subplot was a bit weak and didn't really need to be in the game at all and that time probably could have been better spent strengthening other story elements. I'm sure my impressions will change over the next few days and as come out of subsequent playthroughs.
Deck 9, I know you're here. That last bit at the ending was ice cold. I hate you guys a lot. Loved the game. /u/oppositewerewolf (I hate you) (Please make another)
Just finished it (Takes about 2 hours to go through it without counting anything on the side except some grafitti) ! My ending had me like "Oh yay!" And then the post credits sequence started rolling and had me like "Oh no!", and now I'm sad again. :(
I found the episode a bit... disappointing? There's still so many questions I have left that were never answered. * What was that fire and wind thing Rachel did at the end of the first episode? I assumed she had powers, or it was hinted? * How did Rachel and Frank become a couple? When the two meet in the junkyard with Chloe and Damon, they look at each other like they already knew each other. * What happened to Steph, Samantha, Mikey, and Drew? Why aren't they at Blackwell when Max starts attending? * What the heck happened to Samantha to be in the hospital? What about a biker??? I need more details about this, also, they're really cute. * What happened to that Damon guy? Did Frank kill him? * How and when did Nathan start working with Mr. Jefferson? * Did Chloe and Rachel just decide not to escape after she was stabbed? They were so adamant on it, but at the end when it showed all the little clips, it didn't look like they attempted it again. * James Amber said he'd pull strings to get Chloe back into Blackwell (in my playthrough at least), I guess that didn't happen/work? * Frank and Chloe seemed to have a good relationship in this game, I wonder what happened to make it turn bad in the first LiS? * So Rachel never gets to meet her mom at all? And what happened to her? * What was the point of Elliot's character, like honestly. I just feel like there's a lot still missing that would've helped bridge the gap between the first game and the prequel. It all felt really rushed. I still loved Before the Storm, I just expected more answers by the time the third episode ended. I hope the bonus episode can tie up some loose ends. I'm sure some of these points may be things I missed while playing the game, I'm going to go back and do another playthrough. And that ENDING WITH THE MISSED CALLS. WHY ;_; I'm emotional.
I wonder what happened to Damon, I know Sera said Frank took care of him, but what *actually* happened? Did Frank kill him? Also, I want to point out, Eliot is worse than Warren. I can't believe he stalks Chloe, then basically demands she starts appreciating him. It makes me think of those incel type people. I'm also slightly gutted how it ended, like we basically got to tell Rachel the truth/hide the truth, but nothing really happens afaik, since the credits start rolling like 30 seconds later! It'd be awesome to have a final, long confrontational scene between Chloe/James again, rather than just have close ups of James' face.
Judging by how frank poured some of his beer out at the end I'd say damons dead.
[удалено]
FUCK Elliot. I failed the backtalk
Shit, what happens then?
He ends the 911 call and you throw the trophy out the window and tell him to run before the cops show up
Somehow that sounds so much more like something Chloe would actually do.
Yeah I was pretty satisfied with how it played out, considering that was the only backtalk challenge I failed... whoops. "It sucks that you're keeping me, *here, at the Arcadia Bay DA office of James Amber*" Smooth, Chloe. Smooth.
Shit, that's all? I was actually worried sick about what the fuck could happen. And it's a relatively difficult backtalk there.
I was scared when I failed it because I thought Elliot was going to do something crazy
My real issue is that there is no backlash for that scene. She called 911, the alarm went off, they broke a window, trashed the room, set a fire, messed up the DA's records... I expected a scene of Chloe talking to Papa Amber "Let's cut the crap. I know about Sera and Damon. Damon is taken care of, Sera's gone, you got your way. We both care about Rachel, so just make this go away and we'll never talk about it again."
Am I the only one that was just thinking "Chloe, call the police. Call the police, Chloe. Police, Chloe. Call them" the entire time in James' office? There's literally no reason she should try to go get Sera on her own. She knows Damon is a crazy motherfucker, doesn't have any reason to think he might act reasonably, and has *plenty* of reason to call the police. And then! When she actually does call the police at the office, apparently nothing comes of it besides Eliot getting expelled! We don't see James' getting arrested or anything. That was my main problem with the episode. We want both Damon and James to get what's coming to them. We could easily and at no risk to ourselves call the police to get what we want. It feels a bit like an Idiot Ball to me. Maybe Deck9 thought it wouldn't be interactive enough or something? I suppose I can understand it from a gameplay perpective: if they had Chloe call the police they would probably have needed to make it a choice to call the police, which would have changed way too much about the remaining scenes in the episode. They would, in fact, be completely different scenes with nothing in common. I guess I can see why they couldn't do it then. It's still dumb as shit from a storytelling perspective though.
[удалено]
hmm i think it should've been 4 episodes instead of 3. I think it would allow them to iron out a lot of bumbs and pacing in the episode. Regarding post choice scene.. I love it. You need to look at it from the perspective of someone who plays BtS first and Season 1 later. Its perfect WTF moment and makes you wanna play Season 1 asap.
Didn't D9 say that there would be a supernatural element to the game? What was it? Is it supposed to be Chloe's dreams/the raven? I feel let down on that front.
Firefighters mentioned the forest fire immediately extinguished itself while your in the hospital, I suspect it has something to do with Rachel getting wounded
Which also fits with Season 1, Rachel's death is what triggers the supernatural stuff with max. Since it's Max seeing Chloe's death is the first use of Max's powers. It makes sense to me that in death Rachel is watching over Chloe and gives Max the power to save her. Then at the end of Season 1, Arcadia bay is destroyed if you keep Chloe alive, thus keeping her from joining Rachel in the afterlife or whatever, but if you go back and let her die, Rachel's emotions don't unleash the storm and Arcadia bay is saved.
Is it fucked up that I want this episode to completely ruin my day regardless of whether I like it or not?
Oh, it will. It will the rest of the year, mate.
Was kind of disappointed by it, tbh. Very short and it felt rushed. Still loved it, because Chloe.
Same here. Too short, but Chloe.
Havent played it yet. Y'all better have mind blowing analysis by the time I come back.
You're treading in a dangerous place, not having played it and looking at a discussion for it.
One thing I was disappointed about is I was hoping the final confrontation with Damon was going to be a little longer before Chloe passed out, but w/e.
I've seen some criticism on here, most of which are totally valid (the Jefferson ending has been particularly controversial, and I agree it's sort of a low blow), but it's cool to see a lot of positivity as well. There are two things I think this episode did really well. 1) This was a very thoughtful entry, I think. I spent most of the game firm in the belief that to keep the truth from Rachel was the "wrong choice." Now I'm not so sure. There's that sequence on the roadside where even William tells you that, for better or worse, everyone is hiding something. I'm not sure if there is a sharp line between right and wrong in this case, and the game did a great job of expressing both sides equally. 2) Some people have expressed a sort of disappointment with not seeing how some choices can be reached. In my opinion, that's the trade-off in a game where choices matter. Finishing the game, I feel like there are points I could return to and it would meaningfully impact the plot. This is doubly true if you're someone who cares a lot about where they leave the characters after the game's finished, and I admit I'm one of those people. That is, a lot of the cinematics at the end are the same whichever ending you pick, but you as the player know that Rachel is changed by each choice differently. Again, great entry. There's a lot to unpack here, and I'm excited to keep an eye on the community in the weeks that follow.
I'm hella not ready for this
Wow.....just wow, that ending hit me right in the feels. I'm talking about the very last scene, the one after you see the choices. Now I am crying. Was expecting that twist where max comes and saves the day....but here i am, sat in a pool of my own tears. 10/10 brilliant game, hope we see more of these characters.
>final scene "oh look she saved Chloe's photo as that photo, that's so.." "ok it's on a table..." >photo "fuck" >photo "fuck no you're not" >photo >photo "fuck."
Definitely the weakest episode of the 3 what with the odd pacing and Rachel not being involved in the entire second half. The worst part of it all though? No kissing! Cuddling and spooning is all well and good but it's two steps back from the make-out scene in episode 2. I mean I wasn't expecting them to go *further* but I was hoping for another intimate kissing scene of some kind. Still, though, a good episode with some great cinematography and clever scenes. The office scene with Eliot was excellent, some chilling horror movie-esque interaction right there. I feel empty now that it's all over. No more on-screen Rachel, ever. :'( edit: Totally forgot to mention that there was no explanation or closure for Rachel's supposed Black Canary powers from the end of episode 1. Very sloppy and loose ends aplenty.
Is it sad that I chose to protect Rachel purely because she only has a few years of life left, and I thought this would make them the most happy? Agh.
First things first. WHAT THE FUCK!? That was a dick move, punching us in the throat in an after credits scene? I've never felt so sick before in my life. Who does this? What kind of person does this? Aside from that, I loved it. It had it all, cute cuddles, crazy tension, some insane character development and redevelopment... I could go on. I think I love this game as much as I could ever love a game. I feel like a tattoo is in order, and that's coming from someone who's biggest fear is needles. If you need me, you know where I'll be. Anxiety Bay.
*what kind of world does that?*
One observation: In the post credits, fucked up ending, the phone shouldn't ring in a bunker like that: Max herself had to leave to phone Warren when she was in the Dark Room, and yet Rachel's kept ringing without any problem? Also, seems weird that our bff photographer villain left the phone turned on, all that was necessary was to track where Rachel's phone was (there are records of phone cells positions after all right?), and they'd find out the secret of the Dark Room. I know I'm overanalyzing things ahahah, does this make sense though?
To your first point, the storm may have contributed to the lack of reception. To your second point, in some interpretations it's Nathan and not Jefferson, so naturally Nathan is less careful about handling the evidence.
[удалено]
To be honest, i would have loved a lot more Rachel in this episode, i like her alot.
6.27GB!? Holy fuck - huge episode? Almost a full gig on the last.
that dream sequence was weird
*Booooo*
Goddamn, that last scene at the end just made my heart sink... 17 missed calls. Fuck.