In May, DONTNOD developers had a showcase at BAFTA for their highly succesful game Life is Strange. Recently footage of the event has been released on the Life is Strange YouTube page.
The event was hosted by Keza MacDonald, editor of Kotaku UK. Developers present were Co-Game Directors Michel Koch and Raoul Barbet as well as Producer Luc Baghadoust and Square-Enix designer Alejandro Arque Gallardo.
Shying away from the war elements of their previous game, Remember Me, the developers wanted to make an adventure game that was heavily based on making choices. The setting for Life is Strange seemed appropriate because the game follows teenagers who are in a transitional period of their lives.
Developers also discussed the archetypes they used for their characters.
Koch stated that these archetypes were used as entry points for the player. Everyone is familiar with bullies, nerds, and jocks, so the developers felt that the audience would immediately connect with these characters. However it is the goal of developers to continually surprise players by having the characters grow and evolve to feel more like real people.
They also discussed why they chose to tell an episodic story. Stating that the suspense makes the game so much more intriguing.
The studio is able to engage with the audience in between episodes looking at cosplays, fan art, and reddit comments. The overwhelmingly positive response the developers have received is definitely heightened while fans wait for another episode to be released.
While spoilers were kept to a minimum, only episodes one and two were discussed, their showcase was very informative about the choices the developers made when putting together Life is Strange, and how exactly their decision-making game mechanic works.
Be sure to follow Life is Strange on Twitter to find out when episode four will be released. I am certain we are all very excited for it!
