Recent reviews by justfrog

whole lot cheaper (and better) than therapy

This review contains spoilers

Serving as a preview experience for the new entry in Dontnod Entertainment’s Life is Strange series, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is a graphic adventure game where you play as a young boy named Chris Eriksen. After losing your mother, you live alone with your Dad, Charles, who has started binge drinking as a result of this loss.

The gameplay feels exactly like Life is Strange since it’s all being run through the same engine. With a third-person view you look around the rooms in this cabin, looking at notes left on the bathroom mirror, doing the laundry that your mourning father forgot about, and even venturing into the dark room with the evil, scary, and villainous furnace.

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is not a difficult game since you don’t really have anyway of losing. In Life is Strange there were moments where you wouldn’t be able to reverse time and the result of a scene would therefore be permanent. Since this is only a one hour preview experience for Life is Strange 2, there aren’t any moments like this. As long as you can look around the house, you can finish the game with ease.

I love the graphical style that Dontwood is so well known for. It’s realistic but still animated and I think they will forever stand the rest of time. I think the lighting is beautiful and the character design just feels perfect for the story. I love that they designed a unique personality and style for each action figure that either fought with Captain Spirit, or against him. The game is beautiful and I’m once again impressed with the designers and game developers.

Normally I’d complain about a game being under an hour long but since this a free preview it has no reason to be. It’s shorter than the average Life is Strange episode but it feels just right. Personally, I didn’t feel like the game was prolonged and boring but it also didn’t just end abruptly. I enjoyed every minute.

Episodic games like the ones made by Dontwood tend to lack replay value, unless you’re a die hard Life is Strange fan who needs every achievement and see the result of every choice, like I am. However, I don’t see myself coming back to this game anytime soon since I’m satisfied with what I played. After a while, I might come back and play through it again once the memory of the game isn’t so fresh in my mind.

The cabin that Chris and his dad, Charles, live in is so homey and warm well also feeling so depressing in an emotionally exclusive way. The visuals are bright and warm inside, and the snow outside is fun instead of annoying and cold. Everything is viewed through the eyes of a child and as a result, the exploration and navigation of the game feels so happy and intriguing.

Voice acting in Dontwood games is always either really good or very mediocre. These “meh” moments of dialogue come only from specific characters. But since this game only has three speaking roles, I found the dialogue to be adequately voiced overall with some moments that felt so fitting for the characters. Charles, voiced by Nick Apostolides, delivered some amazing performances in the later sections of the game. The drunken anger that he spewed towards Chris was heartbreaking and real. Especially the line, “You’re just... just like your mom. Every time I look at you... every time you talk... I just... I see her face... why? And if it wasn’t for you... she would’ve never taken the car that day... never...”

The soundtrack was perfect, it is Dontwood who made this game after all, and features only one licensed track that plays in various important cutscenes. They chose to feature the song “Death With Dignity” by Sufjan Stevens and I think it is perfect. Being very familiar with the song beforehand made certain moments even more emotional since there were already personal connections I had with the music as it was playing over a heartbreaking or adorably happy scene.

In the game, you start of in Chris’ bedroom after just waking up. In this room you draw your superhero persona known as Captain Spirit. The choices you make here affect what you’ll have to look for in the house to put the costume together. I’d just recommend going with whatever costume you think is more fitting for Chris’ character. You can also see that Chris has weak but budding superpowers that he practices throughout the game. After breakfast, Chris asks his already drinking father if they can go pick up a christmas tree later. Charles agrees but only if they left after the basketball game was over. You play through childlike adventures in the meantime (that I’d rather not spoil) and after the game is finally over, you see your dad has passed out in his chair. Waking up angrily, Charles yells at his son enough to worry the neighbour going for a walk. After another emotional conversation with his drunk dad, Chris runs out of the house, crying. He plans to escape and hideaway by himself in his treehouse superhero lair but the ladder snaps halfway up, leaving Chris in midair, falling backwards into the snow. He levitates. Excitedly looking over to his neighbours, we see the main characters of Life is Strange 2, Sean and Daniel Diaz.

I loved this game and I think that anyone who’s planning on playing Life is Strange 2, should experience this first.


7.5/10

I fell probably ~30-40 feet into a ravine and upon landing Lightning McQueen said kachow. nice

This ♥♥♥♥ hasn't even finished downloading and I'm already crying

One of the best "choice-based" games I've ever played, and hands down the best soundtrack in any video game. Didn't expect Bright Eyes to start playing.

Don’t play this game if you’re under 18. It’s not safe.

it came out in 2013 and is still the newest entry in the series

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