If you are a fan of the Life Is Strange Series, chances are you enjoy intense story-rich games, where choices matter and plot twists are essential. Nowadays though, it’s hard to find a game based on a good story, mostly because of developers and publishers, focusing on making the majority of gamers happy with BR games (no hate, I enjoy playing Apex Legends ?)!
Life Is Strange is undeniably the “boss” of story-rich & choices-matter genre of games, and there are a few good reasons for it. A breathtaking story, beautiful graphics, and extremely emotional choices, were the essential ingredients of this game’s success.
I decided to make a list of my favorite games that match the “Life Is Strange” concept, in terms of choices-matter and story-rich elements. The games to follow are not in any particular order.
What Remains of Edith Finch, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: Giant Sparrow
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Release Date:25 Apr, 2017
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
What Remains of Edith Finch is an adventure game developed by Giant Sparrow and published by Annapurna Interactive in 2017. Maybe one of the best story-telling games ever released, this game will definitely give you endless emotional rollercoasters with its intense and interactive storyline.
The game revolves around the character of Edith Finch, last one alive in the Finch family line, which has a perceived curse that causes each member of Finch generation to die in unusual ways. Edith has returned to explore her family’s home, in which she was never allowed to fully-explore before, right after her mother passed away. She finds stories about her relatives and their deaths, by visiting their bedrooms. With each death, the player will experience the view that the deceased person had, before and on the time they died.
What Remains of Edith Finch was welcomed positively from the critics, who praised its story and presentation. It won British Academy Games Award for Best Game 2017, and won the Best Narrative category at both the 2018 Game Developers Choice Awards and The Game Awards 2017, among other awards and nominations.
The Walking Dead: The Final Season, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Skybound Games
Release Date: August 14 , 2018
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
The Walking Dead is a five-part game series. taking place in the same universe as Robert Kirkman’s famous comic series. A rich story with interesting characters and the feeling of “doing the right thing” overwhelms the player, while he struggles for survival and tries to hold on his human nature in this “undead” nightmare, through some incredibly well-written characters.
The story starts, with you playing as Lee Everett. A man who was a convicted criminal before the apocalypse, who tries to be a better man in the present world of destruction. He goes through hell and below to secure his safety, along with an orphaned little girl, named Clementine. As the seasons pass by, Clementine will become the main character.
During your journey through the story, you will be introduced to many characters, intense situations and really hard decisions to make. Every choice you make affect the story and the people around you. Keep in mind that it is not a game for the faint-hearted, as you will face strong language and deeply sad moments.
If you have read the comics, in season 4 you will go through Michonne’s adventures, while she was away from Rick and the rest of the group.
The Wolf Among Us, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Release Date: October 11, 2013
Platforms: PC / Mac, PS4 / PS3 / PS Vita, Xbox One / Xbox 360, Android / iOS
Allow me to say that The Wolf Among Us is the best Telltale game. The game was developed by the same team that led “The Walking Dead Series” to the win of 2012 Game of the Year. The Wolf Among Us was based on the Eisner Award winner, Fables comic book series with the same name.
The story follows Bigby Wolf, the Sheriff of Fabletown, located in New York City. Fabletown is a hidden hotspot of “fairytale creatures”, located in 1980s New York City. The mystery begins when Bigby receives a call to save a prostitute from an intoxicated Woodsman. He managed to save her, but that was just the start of a bloody chain of reactions!
The gameplay revolves around choices and world exploration. Your choices have long-last to permanent consequences and you will need to search around and find objects that might be clues. Beware though, there are quick time events that you will need to act fast and these actions will also affect the story flow.
The Last of Us: Remastered, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release Date: June 14, 2013
Platforms: PS4
The Last of Us Remastered is an action-adventure survival horror video game, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is actually an enhanced version of 2013’s The Last of Us and it was released for PS4 worldwide in July 2014.
The game had minor gameplay additions, enhanced graphics, and upgrades including increased draw distance, an upgraded combat mechanic and higher frame rate. The remastered version also includes the single-player DLC episode, Left Behind. Reviewers embraced the upgrades, enhancements, and additions, leading it to become a commercial success, selling over one million copies within the first month of release.
The concept is set 20 years after an outbreak of the Cordyceps fungus that destroyed much of the human habitats. The single-player story follows Joel and Ellie, on a dangerous trip through the post-apocalyptic United States, and the struggle that they face trying to find a way to cure this madness through Ellie, that is immune to the virus. The multiplayer lets up to eight players engage in cooperative or competitive game matches.
Vampyr, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: DONTNOD Entertainment
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Release Date:June 5, 2018
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Vampyr is an action role-playing game, developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Focus Home Interactive. Developers of the game traveled to London, to research the background stories with the help of history books and documentaries.
The story revolves around Jonathan Reid, a surgeon that returned in his homeland, London, from the First World War. One night, he regains consciousness in a mass grave. The memories of his life and his consciousness remain, but he quickly realizes he has been transformed into a vampire, with no memories of what happened to him. As a doctor that dedicated his life to save and heal people, Reid is facing the darkness of his bloodlust that needs to be satisfied, in order to last long enough to uncover the mystery behind his turning.
The gameplay is set up around quests given by the citizens that Reid interacts with. The player will be constantly reminded of Reid’s need for blood and the player will be asked to choose his hunger-victims and the ones that he will spare. You will build relationships with the characters that you meet and the choices you make have consequences. Combat varies, from melee combat to ranged shooting and supernatural vampire powers.
The Council, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: Big Bad Wolf
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Release Date: April 13, 2018
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
The Council is a five-episode interactive mystery adventure video game, that was the “first child” that Big Bad Wolf development company released. The Council stands off the rest “choices-matter” games, as it has many RPG elements like a leveling and skills system. The game received overall good critics, especially on Xbox One.
The Council takes place in 1793, with Louis de Richet, being the main character. Louis is a member of a secret society The Golden Order, a high-profile group in search of occult artifacts. Louis is invited to Lord Mortimer private island, in order to search his mother, Sarah, that has gone missing in the area. As you search for his mother, you will start to connect the lines of her disappearance to secrets of world domination!
Your choices and character growth truly matter. You will need to make hard decisions that will have permanent consequences. Despite the RPG elements, the narrative part of the game is what makes the difference, but you can choose to focus on either or both.
Dreamfall Chapters, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: Red Thread Games
Publisher: Red Thread Games
Release Date: July 21, 2017
Platforms: PC / Mac / Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Dreamfall Chapters is a five-episode adventure game with interactive gameplay, world exploration, and puzzle mini-games. It’s actually a sequel to The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. Dreamfall Chapters was developed by Red Thread Games, which wrote and directed the previous two games.
The concept takes place in 2220 CE and follows the story Dreamfall. The main character, Zoë Castillo, had discovered a criminal conspiracy that plans to enslave both Stark and Arcadia, the two parallel universes that the game is set in, by stealing their people’s dreams. At the end of Dreamfall, Zoë managed to disrupt the conspirators’ plans, but she was betrayed and left in a coma and now we follow her to the struggle of getting her pieces together.
The gameplay revolves around exploration puzzles and dialogue. There is no combat so the narrative part of the game is the protagonist. You will have to make many choices throughout the game that have an impact on the later story events, but they do not affect the ending. The game includes a recap of the previous games. If you don’t plan on playing the previous releases, you will understand the plot without playing the other chapters.
Beyond: Two Souls, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release Date: October 8, 2013
Platforms: PS4 / PS3
Beyond: Two Souls is an interactive drama and action-adventure game, developed by Quantic Dream and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as an exclusive for PS3 and PS$ consoled. It was later announced, that a PC version will be released in late 2019, along with Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human. The game also premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, marking the second time the film festival recognized a video game.
There are two protagonists, Jodie Holmes, and an entity named b, a separate soul linked to Jodie since her birth, that gives Jodie supernatural powers. The story follows Jodie and Aiden through the entire early Jodie’s life, and their efforts to discover the meaning of Aiden’s existence and the harsh situations that this “entity” can cause.
The gameplay is all about choices you make and how these choices affect the story. You will have to control Aiden and her actions as well, and you can also play the game in co-op mode, in which one player controls Jodie, and the other one controls Aiden!
Planet of Apes: The Last Frontier, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: Imaginati Studios
Publisher: The Imaginarium
Release Date: August 24, 2018
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Android
Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier is a choices-matter narrative adventure game, based on the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, developed by Imaginati Studios and published by The Imaginarium, in August of 2017. In mid-September, it was announced that the game would have a multiplayer aspect where several players could vote on the choices being made.
Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier is set around a year after Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and is and a group of apes who previously followed Koba, an evolved bonobo with a strong hatred for humans. The apes take refuge in the Rocky Mountains, in order to protect the group from the ape vs human war. Unfortunately, the apes are forced to descend into a human-owned valley when the winter came, but the supplies were limited.
Players will be able to control 14 humans and apes throughout the game, who can live or die based on your decisions, which can lead to multiple endings, 3 to be exact. However, there are several twists within the 3 endings, depending on the characters that live and die, and the other core choices made throughout your gameplay.
Ken Follet’s The Pillars of Earth, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: Daedalic Entertainment
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Release Date: August 15, 2017
Platforms: PC / Mac / Linux, PS4, Xbox One, iOS
Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth is a point-and-click adventure video game developed and published by Daedalic Entertainment. Based on Ken Follett’s 1989 award-winning novel and world-bestseller, the game narrates the story of Kingsbridge village events.
The game takes place in the 12th century, in the land of England. At that time, the country suffered from poverty and war victims. That’s when Kingsbridge, a small town, had the idea of building a cathedral, in order to protect their belongings and residents. We follow the story of Phillip, Aliena, and Jack. Three whole different personalities that were brought together, in order to build one of the most iconic cathedrals in history.
As an interactive point and click game, you will have the usual interactions with objects and other characters. You will talk to NPCs, solve puzzles and minigames. The game also features an inventory screen accessed by the right mouse button, where you can store objects gathered from the world, which can then be used to solve puzzles and make progress in the story.
Undertale, Games Like Life Is Strange
Developer: tobyfox
Publisher: tobyfox
Release Date: September 15, 2015
Platforms: PC / Mac / Linux, PS4 / PS Vita
Even though graphics and aesthetics are basic factors of making this list, I couldn’t exclude this masterpiece-in-pixels. Undertale arrived with a wealth of overwhelmingly positive reviews, and it awed the uninitiated with the fact that these graphics could offer such an intense experience. It’s cliché, but Undertale is one of those rare game gems, that what it lacks in graphics, it more than over delivers in gameplay.
The story takes place in the Underground, a place where monsters were banished to after war broke with humans. A human child manages to fall Underground and starts to meet some of the banished monsters, that will prompt the child to kill or not to kill monsters on her exploration adventure! Sure thing is that the choices you will make on monsters will form the story in many ways.
The gameplay is not we are used to on “new-age-choices-matter” genre. Players control a child and complete objectives in order to progress through the story. You will need to solve puzzles, engage in battles with monsters and bosses using STG combat and leveling skills. Your choices mostly revolve around killing or not, and that’s what makes a huge difference in the flow of your story.
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Cthylla, The Great Old One
Heavily devoted to FPS games, but I still enjoy a well-written story game or survival games that include crafting. I really enjoy gaming with friends, but my friends usually play other kinds of games, so I'm mostly a solo-queue player and totally used to it.
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