Life is Strange: How Before the Storm solidified Chloe’s significance as a character
Life is Strange 2 announced another episode, but what about Life is Strange: Before the Storm’s protagonist, Chloe Price, makes her a significant video game character?
Although Life is Strange: Before the Storm came out in 2017, it was a solid prequel that led to the release of Life is Strange 2. Chloe Price, who is arguably the face of the series, made her only playable appearance in Before the Storm.
In the game, you take a little trip into her past as she befriends Rachel Amber, the mysterious girl who receives numerous mentions in the main game. The tale is not only about Chloe and Rachel’s relationship, but also about Chloe herself as she tries to deal with the loss of her father.
Her importance as a video game character all lies in her relatability factor. Yes, there have been numerous video game characters who have that label, but not many are as realistic as she is.
There are a lot of people who have been in Chloe’s shoes in some form and may even handle their issues the same way as she does. Also, there’s nothing fancy about her as she has no powers, no combat (except with her epic trash talking), etc.
She’s a character who covers a ton of areas of emotion, feeling, and personality. Although she is highly expressive, she also has a calmer side as well.
Her constant shift in thoughts and feelings is almost a metaphor for human life itself. Essentially, Chloe is like multiple people crammed into one video game character and her unpredictable amygdala contributes to this.
There are times throughout Life is Strange: Before the Storm where she doesn’t really know how she should feel. Normally a happy person, Chloe has tangled with the two-headed monster known as anger and sadness.
This could’ve been avoided if it weren’t for the family tragedy that haunts her throughout both the main game and the prequel. On top of this, her best friend, Max Caufield (main game protagonist and a great character in her own right), left Arcadia Bay. Chloe was essentially left alone.
Sure, she had people she knew and may be acquainted with, but Max was her one true friend until she meets Rachel. Chloe’s loneliness as a character just adds to her pyramid of feelings as well as her importance.
The reason loneliness is such a critical emotion for her is that it is arguably the most contradicting part of the limbic system. Some video game characters handle loneliness well, while others handle it like Chloe, who can behave in unpredictable ways.
The aforementioned Max is highly relatable as well for her laid-back nature, but nobody in the game is as emotionally vague as Chloe. In Life is Strange: Before the Storm, another thing you notice about the blue-haired audacious teen is her awkwardness.
There were quite a few times where she showed a sense of social awkwardness, which isn’t visible as much in the main game when she’s an adult. This is especially true with her first encounters with Rachel, who is the popular girl around the school and the town.
It’s rare to find a character who can have such an electric personality, while also carrying an awkwardness that brings her back down to earth. Most cases, when someone is an expressive personality, they have no discomfiture; this isn’t the case with her.
In the middle of her whirlwind personality is her signature sense of humor. This is a huge aspect of Chloe’s character.
We as humans love to laugh, and sometimes, by making wisecracks, it eases any life wounds we may have. She has done this throughout both games but mostly in Before the Storm.
Her silliness was a great way for the character to shine a light on her mindset, which has been creeping its way into the abyss. Her humor is the one area that gives her some semblance of comfort and happiness.
In the main game, she carries this comedic personality as well but is more of a co-protagonist NPC to Max. In Life is Strange: Before the Storm, the personality and thoughts of Max’s fiery best friend come into full view, including the funny stuff.
The humor trait of Chloe is one that remains consistent throughout both games. This, even with so much darkness swirling around her head.
Max and Rachel are highly memorable in their own right. These two, although never cross paths, separate themselves from the several other characters along with Chloe.
Max has her kind, quiet and sometimes nonchalant approach to things which make her somewhat of a leader of the three. Rachel, with her unique ability to keep a calm, yet expressive personality, while also carrying a swagger, makes her memorable as well.
Out of all of the main characters, Max is the most composed, even when situations seem to be a little sticky at times (well, a lot of times). It’s the relaxed mindset of the “Rewind Goddess” that helps keep things together in the crazy world of Life is Strange.
More from Opinion
- Baldur’s Gate 3 patch #5 introduces game-changing epilogue and modes
- Fallout TV series: A canonical odyssey into the post-apocalyptic universe
- Bethesda’s Starfield faces Steam criticism with developer responses
- Nacon’s Revolution 5 Pro for Playstation: Is it worth it?
- Embracer layoffs: A deep dive into the impact on the gaming industry
On the other side, Rachel is fairly strong-willed, but cracks during several moments in the game. Nonetheless, she still delivers a smooth dose of swagger at the right times during the game, giving her the “cool” badge. She’s also quite an eloquent character as well, which is somewhat of her signature trait.
Rachel also delivers arguably the best quote in the game. Essentially, she states, and I paraphrase, that “life is one big collective idiot.” Funny enough, this sounds like it could be an alternative name for the series.
At the end of the day though, it’s Chloe who is the most distinctive out of the three whether it’s the roller coaster persona or the recognizable appearance. And although we were introduced to her in the original game, Life is Strange: Before the Storm taught us more about her in more ways than one.
Next. Life is Strange 2 Episode 2: Rush finally gets a release date. dark
Again, relatability is the key word here and she checks a lot of boxes. Converge everything that goes into Chloe’s mentality, behavior, and personality, and what you have is one of the most powerful and underrated video game characters of this generation.