Important Notes
Important Notes for Life is Strange (Original 2015)
Warnings & Pitfalls
- Save Often: The game auto-saves at key moments, but manual saves are your safety net. Always create a hard save before a major choice or entering a new area. The rewind power can undo recent actions, but it doesn't protect against irreversible plot decisions or bugs.
- Rewind Limitations: Your time-rewind ability works only within a single scene or conversation. Once you progress to a new chapter or area, previous decisions become locked. You cannot rewind across episodes.
- Photo Opportunities: Each episode has optional collectible photos for Max's journal. Missing them means you cannot unlock the achievement/trophy and miss bonus journal entries. Photos are missable if you advance the story without taking them.
- Choice Buttons Are Immediate: During dialogue, you have a limited time to decide (your cursor or button prompt). Take time to read all options, but don't pause too long—the game expects a response. If you don't choose, it may default to silence or inaction, which can affect outcomes.
- Environmental Puzzles: Some puzzles (e.g., fixing the camera in Episode 2, the bottle-counting in Episode 3) can be frustrating. Use your rewind power liberally to experiment without consequence.
- No Difficulty Settings: Life is Strange has no difficulty modes. The challenge comes from narrative consequences, not combat. There's no way to make puzzles easier unless you use a guide.
- No Grinding Required: This is a story-driven game. You cannot grind for resources, experience, or items. All progress is narrative. Don't waste time trying to farm interactions—they are finite.
- Final Chapter Decisions: The ending of Episode 5 presents a single, binary, irreversible choice that determines the conclusion. Save before this moment to see both outcomes without replaying the entire episode.
- Major Character Fates: Choices in Episode 2 (e.g., assisting Kate) and Episode 3 (e.g., taking the blame) can lock you out of certain resolutions for characters. These cannot be undone later.
- Relationship Status: Your interactions with Chloe, Warren, and others affect their trust and availability. A missed dialogue option can close off a future path permanently.
- Journal Entries & Optional Photos: Missing a collectible photo or not reading a particular note can leave your journal incomplete, which cannot be fixed later without restarting the episode.
- Collectible Photos: Each episode has 10 optional photos to take with Max's camera. They are often hidden in corners, on desks, or after specific interactions. Refer to a collectible guide per episode to avoid missing them.
- Journal Entries: Some journal entries appear only after certain actions (e.g., reading a letter or inspecting an item). If you skip these, the journal entry is permanently lost for that playthrough.
- Optional Conversations: Many NPCs have extra dialogue if you interact with them at the right moment or with the right item. Missing these means you lose backstory and flavor.
- Achievements/Trophies: Some achievements require completing the game in a specific way (e.g., 100% photos). Others are tied to making opposite choices in different playthroughs.
- Dynamic Text Messages: Max's phone may receive texts from characters based on your earlier decisions. These are time-sensitive; if you ignore the phone for too long, you may miss a message.
- Episode 2 Bottle Hunting: Finding the five bottles in the junkyard can be tricky because they are scattered and camouflaged. Use the rewind to re-scan the area after looking away. This is the most common difficulty spike.
- Episode 3 Stealth Section: Sneaking around the Prescott dormitory requires timing. You can rewind if caught, but it can be frustrating. Memorize guard patrol patterns.
- Episode 4 Alternate Reality Puzzle: Navigating the alternate timeline and piecing together clues may require backtracking. Use your journal to track leads.
- Episode 5 "Nightmare" Sequence: The final episode has a surreal, stressful sequence of constant choices. It's designed to be overwhelming. Save often and take breaks if needed.
- Single-Player Only: Life is Strange is a purely single-player experience. There are no online multiplayer components, leaderboards, or anti-cheat software. Mods are community-made but not officially supported.
- Achievement Unlocking: Using console commands or save editors may disable achievements on some platforms (e.g., Steam). Use with caution if you care about unlocking them legitimately.
- Manual Save Slots: The game allows multiple manual save slots. Use them to create checkpoints before each major decision, collectible photo, and at the start of each chapter.
- Auto-Save Limitations: Auto-saves overwrite the same slot. If you rely only on auto-save, you cannot go back to a previous decision. Always keep a manual save from earlier in the episode.
- Episode Selection: Once you complete an episode, you can replay it from the main menu, but this reset your choices for that episode only. Be careful—replaying an episode overwrites your current playthrough's choices unless you have a separate save.
- Cloud Saves: On PC and consoles, cloud saves are supported. Ensure your platform has syncing enabled to avoid losing progress when switching devices.
- You Can Rewind Almost Anything: Many players don't realize they can rewind not just dialogue but also environmental interactions (e.g., breaking an object, moving a chair). Experiment freely.
- Photograph Mode Is Not Just for Collectibles: Use the camera to take screenshots of memorable moments or clues. It doesn't affect the story, but it enriches your journal.
- Check Your Journal Often: The journal updates with clues, character profiles, and maps. Missing a journal entry can leave you stuck later.
- Don't Rush Kate's Conversation: In Episode 2, your talk with Kate on the rooftop is the most critical moment in the game. Take your time, listen, and choose carefully. Many players regret a hasty answer that leads to a bad outcome.
- Your Best Friend Is the Rewind Button: If a choice feels wrong, rewind immediately. The game encourages trial and error.
- Exploration Rewards: Always search every desk, locker, and drawer. You'll find notes, photos, and secrets that deepen the lore.
- The Ending Is Not a 'Good' or 'Bad' Binary: The final choice is deeply personal. Know that neither ending is canonically superior; pick the one that feels right for your story.
- Play in Order: The episodes are best played sequentially. Jumping around breaks the narrative flow and choice persistence.