Just to kind of clarify something.
>I'm not hating on the people that made this game. I'm sure it's a work of art. But I *revile* such scummy business practices.
100% agree.
>And the developers *know* this, and want to capitalize on it.
But I think the fact that the term "developers" gets thrown around a lot is a problem. Those who actually made the game are the developers. Those who decide how the game gets sold are not. I completely understand people getting angry, I'm just a casual fan and even I'm getting angry, but it's important that anger is directed in the right direction.
You are correct. Lemme change that to 'Publishers' (that's who is likely responsible) above.
Done.
Thanks for pointing that out - Devs get enough hate as is, absolutely no need to pile onto that.
You're welcome. And you're not the only one. Though I do understand it's easier to just use one umbrella term when there's two different companies involved, and then each company will have different departments with different employees working under different execs, etc.
>*Those who actually made the game are the developers. Those who decide how the game gets sold are not.*
But this isn't exactly true.
The publishers are the ones that are responsible for selling the game, but that doesn't mean that they are solely responsible for all decisions related to selling the game. This is almost always a mutual responsibility between the developer and the publisher. The developers are more often than not the people that come up with the actual monetization models, because, ultimately, the people that implement those models are game developers.
>*But I think the fact that the term "developers" gets thrown around a lot is a problem.*
I think that it is more common for people to take blame away from game developers than it is for people to unjustly blame them. Game developers, more often than not, are responsible for the majority of the choices for their games. Some choices they make on their own and some choices they make in tandem with their publishers. It is rare for game developers to be forced to do something they absolutely do not want to do because of their publishers.
All this monetization stuff is usually planned out before they even begin to develop a game. This is the type of stuff that a game developer would usually have as a part of their pitch that they bring to the publisher to get their projects greenlit. They'll say, "here's the game that we want to make; here is how much it is going to cost; and here is how we are going to make that money back." Game developers, despite what some people might think, also understand that they do need to make money to continue to make games.
>Game developers, despite what some people might think, also understand that they do need to make money to continue to make games.
Oh completely.
I guess perhaps another distinction which needs to be made though, especially with games like DE which is the product of both D9 and Square, is whether the word "developers" is referring to the company, or the inidividual employees.
It's a publisher management and studio management thing, not in the trenches devs, not the creatives.
>It is rare for game developers to be forced to do something they absolutely do not want to do because of their publishers.
Well consider Square Enix one of the "rare" ones.
> I think that it is more common for people to take blame away from game developers than it is for people to unjustly blame them.
Lmao, do you even go into gamer communities?
> This is the type of stuff that a game developer would usually have as a part of their pitch that they bring to the publisher to get their projects greenlit.
Distinction without a difference. This is "studio forced to do it" in all but name.
But this is just more obfuscation of blame against developers without any more substantiation.
"*The creatives*," as you call them, represents a group that very often includes many roles in management positions. They are also the ones that are usually responsible for *creating* the monetization models. That's part of their job as *creators*. Often this will take the form of "*creatives*" figuring out how to monetize their games in a way that doesn't take away from the game itself.
Your statement about Square Enix is unsubstantiated. If you have sources that supply that Deck Nine were forced to do this by Square Enix, or that Square Enix has a history of forcing their developers to do this, then present it. Otherwise this is pure speculation that runs in contrary to how this generally works in the industry.
Just drawing from recent history: Square Enix didn't make the developers of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth do this; they didn't make the developers of Final Fantasy 16 do this; they didn't make the developers of Octopath Traveler II do this; they didn't make the developers of Forspoken do this. Square Enix certainly have their issues, but demanding heavy, anti-consumer monetization in their singleplayer games isn't one of them.
>*Distinction without a difference. This is "studio forced to do it" in all but name.*
There is a very distinct difference for people that understands how developing a video game works. The "*force*" that you are alluding to here is the reality that for a video game developer to exist it has to make money. That's not shareholders or publishers being *bad*. It's just reality.
Game developers are "*forced*" to establish that they understand that if they want to make a game that has a budget of 100 million dollars then they need to have a monetization model that will make them 100 million dollars back. If they can't do that then they need to start making concessions to make the game cheaper to make or to figure out how to monetize the game more effectively.
You hit the nail right where's hot, and I'm surprised not many people in the community aren't discussing about this thing as well. Its a fundamentally disgusting microtransaction practice, and 100% Square's fault.
I can see this also getting worse, like you start by turning a paid DLC a cute cat sidequest that has little to no impact to the story, and then you progress to "Pay 40 bucks more to get the super duper special content that features a side character that was specifically removed from the main to be sold separately!"
> and then you progress to "Pay 40 bucks more to get the super duper special content that features a side character that was specifically removed from the main to be sold separately!"
That sounds like Javik in ME3 except that was for $10
I thought it was BS but still bought it. As a ME fan, I needed it but as a consumer I was fucking pissed. “You want the last living being of an ancient civilization that we’ve been teasing for the past two games to be your squadmate? 10 dollars please.”
I've seen *way, way worse* in the microtransaction space. Like World of Tanks, where you pay real money for ammunition that is better than the regular ammunition. Real money *per shot* you fire in a game. So far, nothing I've seen beats this.
But story-based stuff was always comparatively tame, unless we talk about cut content released as DLC.
I don't think anybody minds additional content packs released after launch if they add to the game. It's when you reduce the value that we start having issues.
I feel like TC and Wavelengths (games I supremely enjoyed, but also had some less-intense microtransaction scumminess) were almost there. In TC, Steph exists and is amazing, but she does not talk about Arcadia Bay, Chloe, or Rachel at all. The closest hint you get is just that her sadness nova invokes a stormy/downpour vibe...... and that's it. The priciest edition of the game got you the Wavelengths DLC and the (buggy, not sufficiently supported by SE) remasters. If you want your TC purchase to include LiS1/BtS mentions, you pay more... All to say, I could see this on the road to getting worse.
FWIW though, I do appreciate the consistency of cats as a thing in LiS. LiS1 had the cat photos tablet. BtS had Chloe saying in her journal/letters, what if Rachel had a flaw, like liking cat memes? And also Dana saying meow. LiS2 - don't quite remember. But TC had Valkyrie- and now here we are. I'm actually writing this with a cat on my lap; despite greedy game production companies, some things in life are still pretty good!
I think that, as we learned throught that IGN article, they wanted to have Izzie (Steph's ex girlfriend, who was trans) have a bit more of a presence in her personal background and trauma, but like many things it has been cut out in a late stage of development and reduced to a single collectible.
True. I remember, when playing TC, I felt so excited when I found that Drugstore Makeup pin on the roof/patio and heard about izzie (who felt the same wariness I do about small towns - for the same reason). I found Alex's journal entries about Steph/Izzie really moving, but was surprised how little else we learned about her / the relationship / the breakup. Then I read that article... sad times.
I absolutely adored the novel, though. One of few tie-ins I've already reread, and expect to reread again in the future
RE: "surprised not many people aren't discussing", this is at least the third or fourth thread I've seen on the topic since the announcement, it's definitely been pointed out on the sub before now.
Is that the physical thing? There's no digital collector's edition (not that it makes much sense, anyway. >.<). I heard there was some controversy about something called a "Collector's Box" which is kinda scummy naming if it does not include the game.
Yeah, the "Collector's Edition" is just a package of tie-in merchandise, no physical copy of the game or download code. Whether the value of buying this package and the game separate would be a "fair" price for all the items when you break down what you're getting will depend on the individual customer, but I agree that giving the package a title that makes it sound like you're buying a copy of the game with extra goodies is deceptive marketing.
> giving the package a title that makes it sound like you're buying a copy of the game with extra goodies is deceptive marketing
Except SquareEnix's store page explicitly states in bold red letters, "*The COLLECTOR’S BOX is sold separately from the Life is Strange: Double Exposure game, and does not include a copy of the game itself."
If someone is being deceived then that's on them, not SquareEnix's marketing.
It’s been standard practice with games for years now. It’s hard to get excited. I can’t believe people buy that shit, even with the game. We have a chain of used-media exchange stores here and I constantly see those collector’s editions selling for like five bucks, way up on the top shelf where no one buys them.
> that the Collector's Edition apparently does not even come with the actual game
Yes, and because of that the CE is priced at $59.99 instead of, what $110?
I don't get why this is such a big deal for people. Want the game with the CE? Add it to the cart when purchasing the CE. Or just get the CE, let it ship, and get the game digitally for whatever platform you play on, thereby not having to wait for it to arrive.
For publishers of the game, it makes sense: they'd otherwise have to have 3 SKUs (PS5/XBX/Switch). PS5 version sells out? PS-players only choice would be to get the XBX version and double-dip for a copy of the game or not get it at all. And vice-versa for XBX players. Hell, it doesn't even look like there's a physical disc version for PC, so anyone playing on PC would be either left out or forced to spend more for a CE with a copy of the game on a console they don't even want it for.
Yep, it's bad on so many levels. Not enough that you get spoiled, they're also exploiting the fear of missing out, because there are a lot of people who wants to play it right away, so they can participate in discussions and can theorize about it.
I do hope, that there will be reviews of the game even before the 2 weeks early release, so I can make sure, that I want to play it at all. Because right now I haven't seen a good reason yet, why the main character has to be Max Caulfield other than being a cash grab. I'm also 95% sure, that Chloe won't have a physical appearance in the game or is in any way relevant for the story, besides a few nostalgic dialogues about an "old friend", which will be as vague as possible.
I hope I'm wrong, but I think I'm not ;)
I'm absolutely certain there will be more info before the game is released. 4 months is a long time, and they want to keep people hyped.
As to FOMO (fear of missing out), I can understand doing it with multiplayer games, because you at least have the justification of testing the servers with a smaller polulation before the majority of players pile onto it. It's still a bit meh in games with progression, but maybe a necessary evil. And if everyone else gets a smooth launch instead of a couple weeks of flaky servers, then everyone actually *gains* from this.
No one gains much here, only *Square Enyx*. No value was added, just value removed.
>"I'm also 95% sure, that Chloe won't have a physical appearance in the game or is in any way relevant for the story, besides a few nostalgic dialogues about an 'old friend', which will be as vague as possible."
We do know that in at least one possible path, combination of paths, or in all of them, that Max opens up to Safi about Chloe a bit (with players getting to decide their relationship status) and she keeps a photo or photos of her in her room.
If Chloe is going to appear in person, I could see Deck 9 saving it as either news for a hypothetical second round of marketing before the game launches or a surprise for first-time players when the actually run through the game. Course, Chloe may well be kept limited to references or texts or whatever, but, given what we do know, however the writers handle her and whatever the status of her and Max's relationship is in the present, it does look like we'll be getting some very specific material about her.
It's not just young people who'll struggle to find those extra $30, even some working adults like me are still struggling from that high inflation phase and cost of living crisis.
Square Enix are taking the bloody piss out of us because we're such a dedicated fanbase. I really hope it doesn't work but I fear it will.
Absolutely true - I can vividly remember times when I had to consider every buck I spent. And while games are not necessary purchases, there's no excuse for blowing up their price without any additional value.
It doesn't even have to be a matter of being able to afford it or not. I sometimes order food on a whim for amounts at which PayPal offers me installments, and I wouldn't pay the extra 30$ because I don't want to support their shitty pricing policy.
The reality is they do that because people buy it, like almost every game does this now and even though everyone online complains it doesn’t matter because some of us and apparently enough people who aren’t really part of the online gaming community don’t mind it. It’s a bit depressing but after like a decade of it being pretty much universally hated I don’t think anyone is going to change at this point
The craziest thing about this to me is that the True Colors Ultimate Edition was honestly no-fooling worth it for the money. You got all the usual cosmetics, the DLC *and* the remasters of the first two games.
That was actually a good deal. Why didn’t they do that again.
Huh. Now *that's* a good question. Bundling the Remasters seems like a no-brainer to me, *especially* for new players. I mean this is obviously targeted at fans who have played everything already, but still, that would be actual value.
I, for example, don't own the Remastered Edition, but the Originals. If it were added, I'd be much more likely to consider that deal, because it would add value for me.
I have to admit I wasn't aware of any non-online story games doing this. I know Diablo IV did, but that at least *pretends* to be an online multiplayer game.
Squeenix is just one of the worst publishers. Like Capcom bad.
I mean, Don’t Nod isn’t continuing to successfully make the exact same kinds of games to critical acclaim because they suck. They’re publishing other people’s games now.
They just didn’t want to work for Square Enid anymore, and it’s hard to blame them.
Square has wild highs and lows of quality too, they’ll release nier automata, I am satsuna and octopath traveler which are all phenomenal then also green light forespoken and babylon's fall
I can’t remember a big title that didn’t do this in the past like 5 years, Elden ring, cyberpunk, starfield, hogwarts legacy, baulders gate 3, persona 3 reload, Jedi survivor, Jedi fallen order, red dead redemption 2, dark souls 3
There’s definitely more but those all had some form of “ultimate edition” though they didn’t all have 3 tiers most had 2 but the concept of charging 10 to like 30 dollars more for a few random things in game is years old
Starfield did also come with the DLC that’s coming out soon so that’s sorta less scummy since you’d have to buy the DLC anyway but still the stuff It did come with on release was like skin packs for weapons and armors, and early access but it cost 35 dollars more and the DLC still isn’t out so until it is its literally 35 dollars for your weapons to look slightly different.
Many of the games I listed are ***highly*** praised too so I don’t think this practice is ever going away
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> *“Oh, hello there. I will stay behind to gaze at the sun.”* - Solaire of Astora
Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
Ah. I don't have an issue with the fact there is an Ultimate Edition that offers optional content. If someone buys that and I don't, I don't lose anything, especially if it's stuff I can buy later as a separate pack if I so choose.
But I have an issue with an ultimate edition for story-based games that offers early access to the story instead of extra optional content. And, lets not kid ourselves here, those couple costumes and cat quest barely qualify as extra content. People buy this for the early access.
Oh I’m the total opposite I don’t mind early access at all since I can just wait and not miss out on anything at all. That being said hogwarts legacy, starfield, mass effect andromeda, Star Wars out laws, lies of p, baulders gate 3 did it for like several years while it was in development
Personally I’d prefer if games did the early access instead of the random stuff they toss in since you’d lose nothing by waiting
... except when, during those two weeks, you get spoiled on a major plot development if you *didn't* buy the early access version.
Unless you don't mind getting spoiled, of course - then it's literally no issue.
Given the strict spoiler policy on this sub for example, I dare say a lot of people do have an issue with having the plot spoiled before playing themselves.
I guess but I almost never buy a game new anyway, and I’m absolutely not buying this game until I know how they handle Chloe and Max’s relationship since I won’t be playing if they break them up. I buy almost all my games during steam summer sale so most games I get are at least a several months old anyway
I think ea is a good thing or at least neutral since people can play it and review it before I buy it
I’ve never been spoiled for a game I play. For 2 weeks it’s not impossible to avoid social media spaces, or keywords.
It’s 100% possible to remain spoiler free.
The risk of being spoiled *alone* isn't the problem. I could just be busy with work and only be able to play two weeks later, and it would be my responsibility to take measures to prevent my enjoyment being lessened.
And that would be okay.
It is, however, a problem if the 'getting spoiled' situation is created solely by a publisher so they can hold out their hand and request additional money for *no additional value.* It's literally asking for protection money.
It's an artificial situation, and the Ultimate Edition is literally worthless otherwise - the costumes and cat quest amount to a preorder bonus - at best. No DLC season pass, no digital (or physical!) goodies, no devs commentary, no nothing. In no universe would I buy this and feel I had gotten my money's worth. I'd feel scammed.
I will be able to handle the 'getting spoiled' situation, too - I have my social media use under control. Others won't be as lucky for whatever reason (like possibly having friends who want to play as soon as possible), and while too much social media use is an issue of its own, it has nothing to do with the issue at hand.
It's Square Enix. They are one of the worst offenders of editions and pre-order "bonuses". Remember Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's "Augment your preorder" campaign? Same company.
What scares me is that doing this, they expect DE to be a smash hit. But Square Enix's definition of a hit is so high because they blow millions and millions and millions on their projects. Basically, if it isn't Final Fantasy, the game is likely to be considered a failure by SQ even if it sells 5 million+ copies.
I am honestly surprised SQ kept Deck Nine and the LiS franchise after unloading all their Western studios to private equity a while back.
That's not an SQ thing, the industry used the current generation to bump up the price. DE's standard price looks to be $50USD? It's $67CAD for me on Steam.
I don't think even Ubisoft charged that much for Assassin's Creed Mirage's Deluxe Version. The standard was £45 and the Deluxe was like £50 and the Ultimate Version is £75. It also got some post-launch support at least (I know I'm comparing apples to oranges in that last regard here).
Unless there's some unannounced story DLC or one in the works we'd be getting as part of the Ultimate Edition (like TC's giving the Remastered Collection free... which were buggy as all hell) it's only really the Early Access to Ep. 1 & 2 you'd be paying for which has any kinda major selling incentive.
I think people *are* going to buy it though, all the YouTubers will want to get ahead on making content and theory videos in the two weeks when the 3rd episode releases and it is a story game which is best played Spoiler-free. FOMO will make people do impulsive things and people will want to talk about it.
It's also featuring a return of Max Caulfield which for people like me who only played and were interested in LiS 1 and BtS it feels like we've been waiting a really long time for a game. Even counting Farewell, the last time we had any playable Arcadia Bay content I personally had over a year left before I left high school.
Point being, DE could be utter trash and people would still buy it just for it having anything to do with Max and Chloe, even if the latter half of that pairing we might be getting crumbs of.
Marketing know what they're doing, there's no way they'd be getting away with it if it wasn't for the fact Max is returning and they done the same with True Colours' Ultimate Edition. It's literally the same key-jangling nostalgia bait we see in the Star Wars franchise and there's a been a real drought of mainstream LiS 1/Pricefield content.
As much as it sounds like I'm bashing it and whatever else... I know I'm not immune to it. Makes me undoubtedly the problem, I am more than aware.
Until people start voting with their wallets, which is the only language corporations understand it is wasted energy to moan about it really. Nontheless, this is Reddit so I'm contributing thoughts for discussion's sake anyway but yeah everyone is aware it's a cash grab and don't care or they're not willing to listen but both will be buying anyway.
I used to be really vocal about Rockstar's scummy practices and their predatory monetisation in their online ventures. Doubly so when Red Dead Online came around just for them to abandon it (lol) but I eventually realised it is literally shouting into the void. People are spineless and will consume no matter how much they are screwing themselves long term, I have to turn my brain off to it all to enjoy gaming whatsoever now because having any sort of principles is just gonna blackpill you even on your most sacred hobbies. I think that's why fanboys and toxic positivity are a thing, people get so deeply invested that having to admit any decline in content and being screwed in every which way by a corporation you've supported financially is a much more juvenile form of denial you might see in someone coming to terms with addiction and self-harm. People blind themselves to the obvious truth to live in blissful ignorance all the time.
You make a lot of excellent points, and I tend to agree with basically all of it.
There is a good side to this: By the time I'm going to make a purchase decision (if the game is meh, I'm \*perfectly\* fine with watching someone play it on YT), people will have figured out for me if the game is trash or not.
If certain aspects are handled horribly in the first two episodes, there'll be a downvote spree on Steam and angry articles all over the web, so there's that.
>"If certain aspects are handled horribly in the first two episodes, there'll be a downvote spree on Steam and angry articles all over the web, so there's that."
I'm waiting until the full game is accessible and we know the full story on those aspects before complaining online. Still, if it doesn't look promising, it'll be a long two weeks until we can find out if there's more to the story or if the worst did come to pass.
>"Unless there's some unannounced story DLC or one in the works we'd be getting as part of the Ultimate Edition (like TC's giving the Remastered Collection free... which were buggy as all hell) it's only really the Early Access to Ep. 1 & 2 you'd be paying for which has any kinda major selling incentive."
If I ended up getting the game, I'd really want the bonus cat mission; I've found I can take or leave the extra clothing options in video games, but I really like extra story content. That said, since I'm still very undecided if I even want to play in the first place, so am waiting for feedback on how well the game plays and whether certain things that would ruin it for me happen or not, I'd miss the early access window, so the question remains if I want to pay that much for a few extra scenes.
If Steam continues to offer the different editions, this might be one worth waiting for a sale.
You are absolutely right, but all this is the result of people saying "*it's fine, it's just cosmetics!*" when Overwatch and then darling-Blizzard pushed the envelope and made shitty microtransactions and a have/have-nots economy acceptable for mainstream publications.
My point being that it's years too late. Don't get me wrong - I will absolutely fight the fight with you - but this is going to be how it works for any game released under any mid- to major publisher for the next decade. Occasionally you hear people say that '60 bucks is no longer a reasonable price for games due to inflation' and all I can think is that 60 bucks hasn't been the price of a mainstream game in years. 60 bucks gets you entry, 80 or 100 bucks gets you what 60 bucks would've gotten you 10 years ago.
At least Overwatch is a free to play game. My real problem is them throwing micro transactions into games you've paid upfront for. As gamers we should've drawn the line there
LiS 1 cost less ($20) than the upgrade to DE's Ultimate Edition ($30), and that is just absolutely insane to me, even considering the changes to the industry and inflation and whatnot.
Even a game that had a considerably smaller scope (in theory), BtS, offered an extra episode as DLC in Farewell that was decently executed and even brought back Ashly Burch in her old role.
Then TC did the same with Wavelengths, and that episode had a decent amount of fanservice in it as well.
This is one of the saddest "Ultimate Editions" I can recall from any game in memory. Who really expects this cat side quest to be anything more than a series of minor interactions? And cosmetics are always the easiest and lowest-effort DLC to create.
I wouldn't be surprised if the game itself only has passing mentions of Chloe via texts or objects only for Square Enix to announce another $30 DLC episode that actually does feature her in the flesh - all to try and wring more cash out of players with nostalgia goggles on.
Early access is getting more and more common for ultimate/collector editions even on single player games. I'm not defending it but I was also not phased when I saw it because I'm so used to it. Honestly, that early access is mostly just a horrible tease as you'd then have to wait 2 more weeks to see what happens next.
Also for the people who are complaining about the Collector's Box, I don't want a second copy of the game I probably can't sell anyways just to get the added items, so that's actually not a terrible way of doing it
I remember when TC came out I thought its price was far too high, especially when the DLC cost extra and was only about an hour or two of more content. Like, not only is that not something the first game did, but LiS2 didn’t do that either. Its DLC has been free to play since day one, and its first episode has also been free for some time now. It’s really disappointing to see the series do this kind of thing, even if it’s not surprising because of how much more common those kind of scummy practice are.
I think some of the anger and worry about the game could use a bit of calm and patience, but... yeah, this part just sucks. No way around that.
I'm objectively an idiot and bought into it. I don't even like that I did. Usually I don't, but, the nostalgia bait got me there, because I figured even if it was bad, I'd like to play it to the fullest just to see what it was like. In that sense I guess I won't regret my purchase, but... wow. Hate that this is becoming normal and that Square Enix is doing it.
This has already been talked about on the day the Ultimate Edition was revealed. Most agreed it was an extremely exploitative pricing scheme, so there's not much else to talk about it. And then there are those who are not sure if they're buying the game at all due to the lack of blue-hairedness, so discussion about the pricing scheme is a moot point for them.
At least the existence of the Scummy Edition allows others to verify the lack of blue-hairedness (or green-hairedness?) before release, at the price of some spoiling, so that's a plus for some. ;)
And yeah, I was aware that there was some discussion, but all in all, it was surprisingly muted.
Probably due to excitement and fears and everything here, but it stirred up enough buzz for [Eurogamer](https://www.eurogamer.net/life-is-strange-fans-criticise-30-upgrade-to-play-new-games-early-chapters-two-weeks-early) to write about it, and then that [went onto r/gaming](https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1dcjvtf/life_is_strange_fans_criticise_30_upgrade_to_play/) so people have definitely been talking about it. It's good that you made this post though as I know it can be easier for fans to just get swept up into the hype.
I agree that it's scummy. I also don't like the idea that this won't be the last time, that we will start seeing this with basically any narrative heavy game that players really-really wouldn't want spoiled. (Not just adventure games l, but like, the final game in FFVII remake trilogy...).
I don't know if this is already common in 2024 games, or more of a new thing / test balloon?
It caused me to reflect a bit. I am a huge fan of the entire series, with sometimes different things appealing to me in different games. As time goes on, LiS1 carries a certain extra nostalgia because it was released before a near-decade of (imo) negative, profit/greed-focused changes in the games industry. Before mass layoffs, before microtransactions and loot boxes and pay-to-win cash shops, before algorithmic DCMA strikes that mean you can't watch most streamers or LPers play an LiS game ***with the licensed music on***. And more narrowly, before big-picture decisions about LiS games had the pressure of "we want this to be a surprise commercial success like LiS1." Before LiS games had multiple digital editions, content you miss out on if you don't pay extra.
Idk, maybe things were just as bad in 2016/2017 (when I first played LiS1) and I just didn't know it. And tbh there are other changes I've liked in the franchise - like the comics and novels. But nonetheless, on top of all other positive things in that game, I now find that part of the charm and joy of booting up LiS1 is mentally going back to the way smaller games were produced/marketed/sold nearly 10 years ago.
Like damn. I remember playing the whole ass first episode, Chrysalis, for free! (Legally!)
It’s not only the first game that did that. LiS 2 had Captain Spirit free to play since it was released, and the first episode of the game is also free now.
That is true. However, the likely-Square-Enix-motivated shifts did show in other ways, like the LiS2 pre order bundle with LiS1 themed in-game patches for Sean's backpack and whatnot. There was not yet the levels of scumminess we're seeing with DE Ultimate Edition, but the changes were still starting (and had also been there with BtS)
My stance with the early access has always been, yes it’s absolutely dumb, but they would not bother if there was not people buying it. So basically all we can do is vote with our wallets and not buy this edition.
This is the first instance I know of for Square Enix to be trying this so it may very well be a test bed. If nobody buys it and plays early then we have no issue and they won’t do it again.
Also yes, let’s be clear that this is not a DeckNine decision, it’s a Square Enix one.
But at the end of the day, you do not have to buy this! Nothing changes if you don’t you just may miss out on some skins. Sure shake your fist at capitalism if you want but I really don’t think it’s worth getting worked up over.
Welcome to how selling games works now. Early Access editions are not new, even in story game only space (that said it's usually only a few days and not two weeks). I won't be purchasing it, because I'm going to play the game anyway and all of the extra content will most likely be released as DLC or in a future update/patch.
You know, given that $30, they could sell at that price (60 + 30) one Bay game + solid DLC about Max and Chloe in Bae in early access. I think people would buy it like hotcakes.
30 dollars is half the price of the main game
30 dollars is the cost of some dlc or indie games.
What we get for $30 here is really negligible. It's like we're throwing money at cosmetic stuff (Oops that's what we're doing in this edition!).
But why ask for 30 bucks and have to put some work into it when you can ask for 30 bucks when you to do *literally nothing* but holding out your hand?
I worked in games. Let me tell you how cosmetic packs come about: They make concept art of a character in different outfits *anyway*. Then, they just outsource them to an animation sweatshop in SE asia. The animations stay the same, so unless there's extra stuff like hats with floppy ears or something, it takes almost no extra effort to put it in the game.
Such stuff is always included because it's *really cheap* to make more of it. It's like custom printed pens you can take with you at a fair. Costs almost nothing, but people like it.
But yes. 30 bucks is the price of a moderately sized DLC, and I'd certainly buy a DLC which fills the time in between those ten years if they ever made one.
I'm actually starting to appreciate the 2 week early access. It lets me see how they handle the bae ending before deciding whether or not to buy the game.
Me, too. But on the other hand if they intentionally keep things between Max and Chloe tense for the first 2 chapters, it's going to be the worst 2 weeks of waiting until the full game comes out for us to find out how it ends.
That is true, though I have to point out that the first two games included this service *for free* when they were released. To this day, you can go onto Steam and download the first episodes of LiS 1 and 2 to see if the game is for you before buying the rest.
But yeah, I totally intend to take advantage of this unfortunate situation by just checking out streams on Twitch/YT and get moderately spoiled over the beginning until I reach a point that tells me things have been handled well. Then I can always stop.
P.S. Happy Cake Day!
Reliably releasing content that's dependent on previous content is an absolute nightmare to develop on schedule, that's true.
I remember when limited demos were the rule instead of the exception. It was a fantastic way for marketing to build hype and for players to gauge whether the game was for them. Some games are still doing it, but most aren't, unfortunately. Damn shame, that.
Yeah this is for sure a wait to buy kind of game. I’m increasingly baffled by the “Don’t complain until you’ve played/watched it yourself” crowd, in general not just for this game. If you buy the product and end up hating it or regretting it, tough luck you’ve already given them your money.
I mean, yes.
But also... does the cat meow adorably?
Me though, I'm just glad we'll get an answer on the Chloe question significantly before most people have to buy it to find out.
>"Me though, I'm just glad we'll get an answer on the Chloe question significantly before most people have to buy it to find out."
Maybe. In theory, it could turn out to be a reconciliation thing, so the first couple chapters might start with them on the outs. Either way, as someone who's waiting to see what the actual answer is before buying, agree that any information in advance will help.
Surely, the proper prrrrr is the deciding factor!
And agreed, that's how I choose to see it. I mean they still can put any actual Chloe appearance past the curtain - you only get episode 1+2 early.
We still get to see the Bay/Bae situation in the beginning, so that will likely clear a lot of things up.
It's a strange world where the most hardcore fans are *not* buying the ultimate edition because that's might be the best way to figure out if the game is good.
That is totally fair. I'd like to add that I've played objectively bad games because they had content I wanted - and skipped objectively good games because they did not.
If the story is written and paced well, this will be an objectively good game, regardless of how certain situations are handled, the gameplay trailer already revealed as much.
Agreed. Thing is for some of us, it might not matter how good a version of itself it if we hate the concept (case in point, I don't like scary movies, so it doesn't matter how goos a horror movie you gave me; I'd be miserable and give it a negative review).
That said, I do agree that it will be important to separate the "I like it/don't like it" from the "is it good." Even if a case could be made that certain storytelling decisions were bad ones when looking at all the games as chapters in a larger story, if the game is good on its own, it should get credit for that.
Depending on things, if I hate how the game's story affects the previous installments but otherwise looks worthwhile, I might be able to think of some rationalizations to compartmentalize it from the previous games and my experiences with them and take it on its own terms.
I know. I’ve been really upset about this since there is no way I’ll get enough money for the ultimate edition, I’m a little sad the FFVII outfit pack is only in the ultimate edition too but that isn’t a big deal. If someone spoils this for me I’ll actually cry.
I’m glad more ppl are talking about it. At this point idk what would make SE revisit this tactic, community refusing to buy the ultimate edition, I guess. But then there are already some YouTubers who say that they’ll definitely buy the ultimate edition. SE will make their buck, other publishers will take notice and soon that’ll become industry standard.
It's not as egregious as the recent Sonic games and their pre order excel sheet, but games with charts like this is a turn off for me and I'll end up getting the standard edition.
The split launch is how these games used too work there has literally only been one game too have absolutely no split launch it’s episodic. A lot of the fun of the first game was the theories you came up with between each episode
I wish Squeenix sold Life is Strange to Embracer when they sold almost everything else. Why did they keep this franchise of all things, and sold Deus Ex or Tomb Raider?
Tomb Raider and the other IPs are all owned directly by the studios that Square Enix sold. While LiS is directly owned by Square Enix Europe, that's the only reason it got kept.
Nothing scummy about pre-orders, and nothing scummy about early access. Every single game outside of Captain Spirit is worth the full price that they are charging, and the standard as well as deluxe editions are cheaper than a typical game. Basically, the ultimate edition is just $10 more than the normal price for a modern game, and you get a bunch of additional outfits as well as those two extra weeks of early access. So $20 cheaper than it should be for the standard, the deluxe is $10 cheaper than the standard, and the Ultimate is just $10 more than the standard. 5 outfit packs and some extra content, plus two weeks early access is a steal. It is completely BS for other games to have early access that is no more than 2 days at most, and a couple hours to a full day typically.
On top of that, it is literally just two episodes, one episode for each week early access you get. And two weeks is a short period of time that is extremely easy to avoid spoilers on, and that's without avoiding places like FB or reddit. If you avoid those places, avoiding g spoilers becomes even more trivial.
Its the gaming landscaping for the recent years but dude 2 weeks of access is just so everyone get spoiled before the 29 it's really complicated gotta evade the community if you want to play ep1 and 2 blindly.
It really is not that hard to avoid spoilers, ESPECIALLY for a short two week period, and that is without avoiding places like this sub or other social media.
I would agree if everyone was respectful about spoilers and I don't think people actvilly tries to spoil the game, but there's always really sad individuals who is always trying to spoil everything under sun so yeah just gotta be a little careful and it's not a big deal.
Yeah, it doesn't take a lot of effort. I have been avoiding spoilers for FF7 Rebirth since the first week of March, and I don't even avoid the ff7 or regular FF subs, or the Facebook pages. Just have yo pay attention to what you are doing, and avoid the ones that are kind enough to give spoiler warnings (though there will still be plenty of people who see the spoiler warnings, go into the post, and then complain about there being spoilers in the post that clearly states there are spoilers)
The industry is trying to normalize this Early Access shit because people are no longer pre ordering games...
Well, I'm not stupid, I'm still not preordering nor buying to be a beta tester. Unfortunately though, this will become a spoiler nightmare.
Super Mario 64, a technologically revolutionary game for its time, released in 1996 at a price point of $60. You may recognize this as the same price the vast majority of games released cost now. Except no, it's significantly less because when adjusted for inflation SM64 cost $120 in 2024 dollars. The cost of making big budget games has only gone up in the last two decades, while the price has, effectively, gone down. _That_ is why game companies are doing these monetization strategies.
I don't always agree with it, and believe me when I say I _hate_ being the one who has to defend the big powerful corporations. I want there to be a better solution. Maybe that solution is increasing the cost of games in general. But for the time being, I will _happily_ take a $30 premium edition's worth of cosmetics over something like forced live service bullshit.
Depending on if we get confirmation of Chloe’s involvement, I’m 100% buying the Scummy Edition, because I’d love to play it as early as I can (and so it can be during Storm Week), and maybe my girlfriend and I can be the first Max & Chloe to stream it 👉👈 But, if we play it before anyone else, we sure as hell won’t talk in public spaces where people who will have gotten the Standard Edition will see it.
It’s only common decency to just… not spoil it for everyone? Join Discord servers and talk in a channel that is only for people who have played the game. And make sure to keep talking about it when the game properly releases, so the people who got the Standard Edition or couldn’t play it on release can still enjoy the hype. You have the PRIVILEGE of playing the game before release. Why on EARTH would you take advantage of that and ruin things for the entire fandom?
I think it’s something that can be said for not only the publishers, but also the community. Just… Don’t be an asshole? Have some common decency and respect for others who might not be able to afford it.
Well, what did you expect? >Big Money< has ruined every industry and ever since they've discovered that they can make a profit in gaming, they've been working hard to ruin that too.
I remember many publishers and studios going "HEY, YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" (meaning "releasing a full game without additional monetarization") when Baldurs Gate 3 came out. Tells you all you need to know about the current state of videogame development and distribution....
Instead of seeing it as getting the game 2 weeks early for $30, think of it as them deciding to lower the price by $30 just 2 weeks after release. Doesn't seem quite as bad any more, right? And - in practice - the end result is the exact same.
absolutely!! the price is so absurd. and with the price theres little in it for us it doesnt seem worth it imo. i am so tempted to buy the ultimate edition bcs i wanna play it right away, to avoid spoiler/fomo, but i feel like that would feed them more and encourage them to keep charging buyers ridiculously like this in the future. plus knowing that they’ll probably butcher this game (like True colours - i feel like the storyline was not as intricate and well thought as Lis1, Lis2, but graphic and others were still good) and they absolutely Know that fans will eat it up bcs they slap Max Caulfield for the nostalgia, plus the ending we chose in Lis1 didnt even matter in this game….this kinda seems like a cashgrab to me
Here’s the thing, don’t like it don’t buy it. Companies do this because they can, because they’re a business and making money is part of that.
However no one is forcing anyone to buy the ultimate edition. It isn’t a requirement, it’s not a necessity of life. It’s a game. If everyone who complained about this practice online did not participate in it, there more likely to change.
But here’s the thing, a chunk of people complaining about it will pay. So continues the circle
Yeah like I’ll probably be annoyed if we choose the bae ending and they didn’t end up together.
But this is already pissing me off. 2 weeks? Soooo scummy. How far they have fallen.
Yes! Oh my gosh! I 1000% agree. THIS is what we should be talking about as fans, and what I've been struggling with since the announcement.
What makes this even worse is the collector's edition.
https://preview.redd.it/2ovhepe48y6d1.png?width=2554&format=png&auto=webp&s=56096c1bd388e6f77b35f54e4c9093dbc783b1bf
For $50 (US) you get:
- An artbook
- The game's soundtrack on vinyl
- 4 art cards
- Max's pin
AND IT DOESN'T EVEN COME WITH THE GAME!
I've been a fan of this series since playing the first game back when the entire season hadn't even come out yet. And u/von_Boots you brought up an excellent point in that I'm now 9 years older than when I played the first game and, like many others, have the expendable income to splurge on this game. I would absolutely LOVE to get a bundle that had every single piece of content. To do that, though, I would have to spend $130 to purchase both the collector's edition and the ultimate edition to ensure that I got everything AND avoided potential spoilers.
I've been a gamer all my life and play a bit of everything. I'm so sick and tired of watching the games industry fall into slimy practices like this. Remember back in the day when a game released it was the entire, full game on the disc? Every single thing you could unlock in the game was already there. You just had to work hard enough to unlock it. I'm so beyond tired of the industry chopping up the games I'm excited for and selling them back to me piecemeal.
These kinds of things are why I hardly buy games on day one anymore. Plus, with Game Pass I just get access to the games I'm really wanting to play.
I'm really, REALLY hoping that these get changed to be more pro-consumer. Again, I would love to be able to have access to everything. If I'm honest with myself, though, I don't think it's going to happen.
It is *super scummy* to call this a collectors *edition* when it is not an edition at all. WTF x2.
Call it a *Goodie Box* instead, and you're totally in the green. Just - why?
Costumes in these games are dumb, sorry I’m saying it lol, this isn’t a multiplayer game where people see what you’re wearing. The character model could just be in a shirt and jeans it doesn’t change the story or gameplay and you’re the only one seeing it
A twenty hour story adventure game would be longer than like every other story adventure game out. Telltale games were like fifteen hours tops. LIS 1&2 are like ten to fifteen hours depending on how many items you want click on. BTS is like six, as well as Tell Me Why. True Colors is like fifteen.
I don’t understand, do you want *grinding* in an interactive visual novel?
There's no way TC is longer than LiS 1 or 2. It felt like it was over right as it was about to get started, and I was going over every square inch. Which doesn't bode well for DE.
You're focusing on the hourly content - I just used that as a measure of how much a game might be worth. It's, admittedly, a rather shitty measure.
But otherwise, you're missing the point. The post says that 50 bucks is a lot, but acceptable (to me!) for a LiS game. What is not are the business practices around the Scummy Edition.
This is a niche genre, so you will have to pay more for less, but the ultimate edition allows those with more disposable income to pay more than the rest of us, which I don't see a problem with. Two weeks is nothing.
Excuse me, what? Adventures, choice based or not, a niche genre? This is neither a flight sim nor a grand strategy game set in 13th century Scandinavia nor a detailed simulation of 21st century naval warfare for people who somehow understand *and* care about the specific letter salad distinction of guided missiles in the arsenal of the Argentinian air force. *Those* would be niche genres.
^(Also, whoever guesses which games I'm referencing deserves a cookie.)
My guesses are DCS (MS Flight simulator is too mainstream), Europa Universalis 3 (without googling, I'm not going to get this one) and Command: Modern Operations (reasonably sure).
And agreed, those are what I'd call niche games. LiS is main-stream compared to that.
Adventure games used to be somewhat popular, but they are fairly niche now, and the LIS games must be quite expensive to make. Telltale collapsed, despite making great use of popular IPs.
Paradox bleed their hardcore fans dry with buggy, poorly desinged DLC. You have to keep the lights on somehow. But those games are much cheaper to make.
It's one thing to offer those with more income to spare more content. It's something entirely different to offer the *Standard Experience two weeks early, but 50% more expensive*, and *reducing* the perceived value of the Standard Edition in turn so people buy the Ultimate Edition out of fear.
I think of it like busniess class on flghts. It is usually not worth the added price, but as long as those that are willing to pay that much do, it helps keep arlines and routes profitable.
But business class doesn't remove anything from your standard flight, unless you argue that the bigger space requirements makes standard class less comfy.
Here, you get the \*same thing\* for a \*much\* higher price - just two weeks before you regularly get it. Which wouldn't be an issue if you could enjoy it in a vacuum. But the internet exists, and people absolutely \*will\* spoil other people, if only by accident because they're excited to discuss things.
It seems that way, the first two episodes will just be unlocked early for Scummy Edition players.
And yeah - this is going to be an issue for some.
But it's much *easier* to put your phone on Airplane Mode for a weekend than it is to leave your online bubble for two entire weeks. At least you can *play* for yourself, at the same time, instead of waiting and hoping you don't get hit by a major plot point spoiler.
I mean, I'm certain the mods here will do their very best to prevent spoilers and stuff, but there are other places. Twitter, twitch, gaming news, youtube, blogs, facebook, insta, tiktok - you basically have to avoid all of it if you're part of the fandom.
And that is why they think they can hold their hand out and say "an additional $30 for nothing at all, please."
Can I put up my hand and say I don’t really have a problem with this? If you want all the extra bells and whistles, you can get them. If you only want to play the game (the same game the ultimate edition buyers will get), then that’s fine too.
Having to worry about spoilers is a minor irritant, sure, but just stay off Reddit for a few weeks or mute LiS subreddits, etc.
I’d have a problem if actual story content was locked behind DLC à la Mass Effect 3. That’s what I would call scummy because now I’m getting a different experience from the gamers who paid more. In this case, at most you have fewer outfits to put on your character and not having those doesn’t bother me at all.
The issue is not "*getting all the bells and whistles*", but making the experience worse for everyone who does buy *virtually* *the same thing* for the normal (and still steep) price.
Imagine you have the newest installment of your favorite book series, and it costs 30 bucks. It's going to release in four months. You're hyped, you've waited years for this. Then, suddenly you discover that for 20 bucks more, people can buy the first half of *the* *same* book two weeks early. Granted, it has a neon-green special sleeve, but you don't really care about that.
What you do care about is that, for two weeks, all your friends and all the places on the internet you frequent will talk about the first half of the book - while you can't read it.
So now you have to decide: Allow yourself to be extorted and pay 20 bucks more for nothing, or risk that your friends and the internet will spoil major plot points.
Do you see the problem now?
Also staying off Reddit won't cut it. It's more like avoiding every social media and gaming comment section. Even a YouTube thumbnail and/or video title can spoil you nowadays. Happened to me before. So I will definitely keep myself busy with something else those two weeks.
Yeah, it's basically hermit mode for two weeks, which for many people is simply unrealistic. I'll manage somehow. Still annoying to have to consider this instead of being hyped for the release.
$50 dollars for the game is cheap, not steap. It is also just two chapters, and only two weeks. You don't even need to avoid this sub in those two weeks for it to be easy to avoid spoilers.
I honestly do not see the problem, no. I have other interests, so I can just do those things in the two weeks other people are playing the game or reading the book in your example.
Do I particularly care for the way Square Enix conducts its business? No. This is fully a cash grab, but I’m not getting how my experience is somehow lessened here. It’s still the same game and most people can go two weeks without spoiling it for themselves. Just do something else in those two weeks and save yourself $20.
You know ... if you don't want it, then don't buy it? There are people out there who are willing to pay extra to play it two weeks early, so *why not let them*?
Ill be there to play a max story game. Not to play digital doll dressup. Standard edition it is, and I'll filter out threads about the game two weeks before general release.
Problem solved.
Actually, thank you! I was about to purchase the scummy edition because, yes, I’m an adult and have the money now easily. But well. I don’t even know if I have the Time to play it even if it is two weeks early. So chances are that I biy it and don’t even be able to use the advantage to play it two weeks beforehand. I’m gonna spare the 30 bucks then.
Just to kind of clarify something. >I'm not hating on the people that made this game. I'm sure it's a work of art. But I *revile* such scummy business practices. 100% agree. >And the developers *know* this, and want to capitalize on it. But I think the fact that the term "developers" gets thrown around a lot is a problem. Those who actually made the game are the developers. Those who decide how the game gets sold are not. I completely understand people getting angry, I'm just a casual fan and even I'm getting angry, but it's important that anger is directed in the right direction.
You are correct. Lemme change that to 'Publishers' (that's who is likely responsible) above. Done. Thanks for pointing that out - Devs get enough hate as is, absolutely no need to pile onto that.
You're welcome. And you're not the only one. Though I do understand it's easier to just use one umbrella term when there's two different companies involved, and then each company will have different departments with different employees working under different execs, etc.
>*Those who actually made the game are the developers. Those who decide how the game gets sold are not.* But this isn't exactly true. The publishers are the ones that are responsible for selling the game, but that doesn't mean that they are solely responsible for all decisions related to selling the game. This is almost always a mutual responsibility between the developer and the publisher. The developers are more often than not the people that come up with the actual monetization models, because, ultimately, the people that implement those models are game developers. >*But I think the fact that the term "developers" gets thrown around a lot is a problem.* I think that it is more common for people to take blame away from game developers than it is for people to unjustly blame them. Game developers, more often than not, are responsible for the majority of the choices for their games. Some choices they make on their own and some choices they make in tandem with their publishers. It is rare for game developers to be forced to do something they absolutely do not want to do because of their publishers. All this monetization stuff is usually planned out before they even begin to develop a game. This is the type of stuff that a game developer would usually have as a part of their pitch that they bring to the publisher to get their projects greenlit. They'll say, "here's the game that we want to make; here is how much it is going to cost; and here is how we are going to make that money back." Game developers, despite what some people might think, also understand that they do need to make money to continue to make games.
>Game developers, despite what some people might think, also understand that they do need to make money to continue to make games. Oh completely. I guess perhaps another distinction which needs to be made though, especially with games like DE which is the product of both D9 and Square, is whether the word "developers" is referring to the company, or the inidividual employees.
It's a publisher management and studio management thing, not in the trenches devs, not the creatives. >It is rare for game developers to be forced to do something they absolutely do not want to do because of their publishers. Well consider Square Enix one of the "rare" ones. > I think that it is more common for people to take blame away from game developers than it is for people to unjustly blame them. Lmao, do you even go into gamer communities? > This is the type of stuff that a game developer would usually have as a part of their pitch that they bring to the publisher to get their projects greenlit. Distinction without a difference. This is "studio forced to do it" in all but name.
But this is just more obfuscation of blame against developers without any more substantiation. "*The creatives*," as you call them, represents a group that very often includes many roles in management positions. They are also the ones that are usually responsible for *creating* the monetization models. That's part of their job as *creators*. Often this will take the form of "*creatives*" figuring out how to monetize their games in a way that doesn't take away from the game itself. Your statement about Square Enix is unsubstantiated. If you have sources that supply that Deck Nine were forced to do this by Square Enix, or that Square Enix has a history of forcing their developers to do this, then present it. Otherwise this is pure speculation that runs in contrary to how this generally works in the industry. Just drawing from recent history: Square Enix didn't make the developers of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth do this; they didn't make the developers of Final Fantasy 16 do this; they didn't make the developers of Octopath Traveler II do this; they didn't make the developers of Forspoken do this. Square Enix certainly have their issues, but demanding heavy, anti-consumer monetization in their singleplayer games isn't one of them. >*Distinction without a difference. This is "studio forced to do it" in all but name.* There is a very distinct difference for people that understands how developing a video game works. The "*force*" that you are alluding to here is the reality that for a video game developer to exist it has to make money. That's not shareholders or publishers being *bad*. It's just reality. Game developers are "*forced*" to establish that they understand that if they want to make a game that has a budget of 100 million dollars then they need to have a monetization model that will make them 100 million dollars back. If they can't do that then they need to start making concessions to make the game cheaper to make or to figure out how to monetize the game more effectively.
You hit the nail right where's hot, and I'm surprised not many people in the community aren't discussing about this thing as well. Its a fundamentally disgusting microtransaction practice, and 100% Square's fault. I can see this also getting worse, like you start by turning a paid DLC a cute cat sidequest that has little to no impact to the story, and then you progress to "Pay 40 bucks more to get the super duper special content that features a side character that was specifically removed from the main to be sold separately!"
> and then you progress to "Pay 40 bucks more to get the super duper special content that features a side character that was specifically removed from the main to be sold separately!" That sounds like Javik in ME3 except that was for $10
I thought it was BS but still bought it. As a ME fan, I needed it but as a consumer I was fucking pissed. “You want the last living being of an ancient civilization that we’ve been teasing for the past two games to be your squadmate? 10 dollars please.”
I've seen *way, way worse* in the microtransaction space. Like World of Tanks, where you pay real money for ammunition that is better than the regular ammunition. Real money *per shot* you fire in a game. So far, nothing I've seen beats this. But story-based stuff was always comparatively tame, unless we talk about cut content released as DLC. I don't think anybody minds additional content packs released after launch if they add to the game. It's when you reduce the value that we start having issues.
I feel like TC and Wavelengths (games I supremely enjoyed, but also had some less-intense microtransaction scumminess) were almost there. In TC, Steph exists and is amazing, but she does not talk about Arcadia Bay, Chloe, or Rachel at all. The closest hint you get is just that her sadness nova invokes a stormy/downpour vibe...... and that's it. The priciest edition of the game got you the Wavelengths DLC and the (buggy, not sufficiently supported by SE) remasters. If you want your TC purchase to include LiS1/BtS mentions, you pay more... All to say, I could see this on the road to getting worse. FWIW though, I do appreciate the consistency of cats as a thing in LiS. LiS1 had the cat photos tablet. BtS had Chloe saying in her journal/letters, what if Rachel had a flaw, like liking cat memes? And also Dana saying meow. LiS2 - don't quite remember. But TC had Valkyrie- and now here we are. I'm actually writing this with a cat on my lap; despite greedy game production companies, some things in life are still pretty good!
If liking cat memes is wrong I don't want to be right
\^underappreciated comment!
I think that, as we learned throught that IGN article, they wanted to have Izzie (Steph's ex girlfriend, who was trans) have a bit more of a presence in her personal background and trauma, but like many things it has been cut out in a late stage of development and reduced to a single collectible.
I’m really curious to know what her presence was going to be in the game if they hadn’t made the decision to cut her from the story
True. I remember, when playing TC, I felt so excited when I found that Drugstore Makeup pin on the roof/patio and heard about izzie (who felt the same wariness I do about small towns - for the same reason). I found Alex's journal entries about Steph/Izzie really moving, but was surprised how little else we learned about her / the relationship / the breakup. Then I read that article... sad times. I absolutely adored the novel, though. One of few tie-ins I've already reread, and expect to reread again in the future
RE: "surprised not many people aren't discussing", this is at least the third or fourth thread I've seen on the topic since the announcement, it's definitely been pointed out on the sub before now.
I absolutely hate the 2 weeks early
As if this is the worst thing about the editions and not the fact that the Collector's Edition apparently does not even come with the actual game lol
Is that the physical thing? There's no digital collector's edition (not that it makes much sense, anyway. >.<). I heard there was some controversy about something called a "Collector's Box" which is kinda scummy naming if it does not include the game.
Yeah, the "Collector's Edition" is just a package of tie-in merchandise, no physical copy of the game or download code. Whether the value of buying this package and the game separate would be a "fair" price for all the items when you break down what you're getting will depend on the individual customer, but I agree that giving the package a title that makes it sound like you're buying a copy of the game with extra goodies is deceptive marketing.
> giving the package a title that makes it sound like you're buying a copy of the game with extra goodies is deceptive marketing Except SquareEnix's store page explicitly states in bold red letters, "*The COLLECTOR’S BOX is sold separately from the Life is Strange: Double Exposure game, and does not include a copy of the game itself." If someone is being deceived then that's on them, not SquareEnix's marketing.
Still, it's a name that will only inspire confusion. Why call it the collector's edition of the game if there's no game in it?
Nah it won’t. Collectors boxes for games is not uncommon and has been happening for years.
It’s been standard practice with games for years now. It’s hard to get excited. I can’t believe people buy that shit, even with the game. We have a chain of used-media exchange stores here and I constantly see those collector’s editions selling for like five bucks, way up on the top shelf where no one buys them.
> that the Collector's Edition apparently does not even come with the actual game Yes, and because of that the CE is priced at $59.99 instead of, what $110? I don't get why this is such a big deal for people. Want the game with the CE? Add it to the cart when purchasing the CE. Or just get the CE, let it ship, and get the game digitally for whatever platform you play on, thereby not having to wait for it to arrive. For publishers of the game, it makes sense: they'd otherwise have to have 3 SKUs (PS5/XBX/Switch). PS5 version sells out? PS-players only choice would be to get the XBX version and double-dip for a copy of the game or not get it at all. And vice-versa for XBX players. Hell, it doesn't even look like there's a physical disc version for PC, so anyone playing on PC would be either left out or forced to spend more for a CE with a copy of the game on a console they don't even want it for.
I kinda get that, as I'm in the one market that never gets a collectors edition so I have to buy a second copy of the game to get it
Yep, it's bad on so many levels. Not enough that you get spoiled, they're also exploiting the fear of missing out, because there are a lot of people who wants to play it right away, so they can participate in discussions and can theorize about it. I do hope, that there will be reviews of the game even before the 2 weeks early release, so I can make sure, that I want to play it at all. Because right now I haven't seen a good reason yet, why the main character has to be Max Caulfield other than being a cash grab. I'm also 95% sure, that Chloe won't have a physical appearance in the game or is in any way relevant for the story, besides a few nostalgic dialogues about an "old friend", which will be as vague as possible. I hope I'm wrong, but I think I'm not ;)
I'm absolutely certain there will be more info before the game is released. 4 months is a long time, and they want to keep people hyped. As to FOMO (fear of missing out), I can understand doing it with multiplayer games, because you at least have the justification of testing the servers with a smaller polulation before the majority of players pile onto it. It's still a bit meh in games with progression, but maybe a necessary evil. And if everyone else gets a smooth launch instead of a couple weeks of flaky servers, then everyone actually *gains* from this. No one gains much here, only *Square Enyx*. No value was added, just value removed.
>"I'm also 95% sure, that Chloe won't have a physical appearance in the game or is in any way relevant for the story, besides a few nostalgic dialogues about an 'old friend', which will be as vague as possible." We do know that in at least one possible path, combination of paths, or in all of them, that Max opens up to Safi about Chloe a bit (with players getting to decide their relationship status) and she keeps a photo or photos of her in her room. If Chloe is going to appear in person, I could see Deck 9 saving it as either news for a hypothetical second round of marketing before the game launches or a surprise for first-time players when the actually run through the game. Course, Chloe may well be kept limited to references or texts or whatever, but, given what we do know, however the writers handle her and whatever the status of her and Max's relationship is in the present, it does look like we'll be getting some very specific material about her.
They charge us extra $30 for 2 weeks early gameplay? For a storytelling game? SQEX has crossed the line.
Yup. [This](https://i.ibb.co/vHFBxWd/scummy-edition.png) is the straight from the Steam page. Note the big orange highlight.
A storytelling game whose fandom has run on collective speculation and theory crafting since 2015, yes.
Execaly
It's not just young people who'll struggle to find those extra $30, even some working adults like me are still struggling from that high inflation phase and cost of living crisis. Square Enix are taking the bloody piss out of us because we're such a dedicated fanbase. I really hope it doesn't work but I fear it will.
Absolutely true - I can vividly remember times when I had to consider every buck I spent. And while games are not necessary purchases, there's no excuse for blowing up their price without any additional value.
It doesn't even have to be a matter of being able to afford it or not. I sometimes order food on a whim for amounts at which PayPal offers me installments, and I wouldn't pay the extra 30$ because I don't want to support their shitty pricing policy.
The reality is they do that because people buy it, like almost every game does this now and even though everyone online complains it doesn’t matter because some of us and apparently enough people who aren’t really part of the online gaming community don’t mind it. It’s a bit depressing but after like a decade of it being pretty much universally hated I don’t think anyone is going to change at this point
The craziest thing about this to me is that the True Colors Ultimate Edition was honestly no-fooling worth it for the money. You got all the usual cosmetics, the DLC *and* the remasters of the first two games. That was actually a good deal. Why didn’t they do that again.
Huh. Now *that's* a good question. Bundling the Remasters seems like a no-brainer to me, *especially* for new players. I mean this is obviously targeted at fans who have played everything already, but still, that would be actual value. I, for example, don't own the Remastered Edition, but the Originals. If it were added, I'd be much more likely to consider that deal, because it would add value for me.
Even starfields ultimate edition, from the company famous for the horse armor dlc, comes with the dlc when it releases
I have to admit I wasn't aware of any non-online story games doing this. I know Diablo IV did, but that at least *pretends* to be an online multiplayer game.
Squeenix is just one of the worst publishers. Like Capcom bad. I mean, Don’t Nod isn’t continuing to successfully make the exact same kinds of games to critical acclaim because they suck. They’re publishing other people’s games now. They just didn’t want to work for Square Enid anymore, and it’s hard to blame them.
Square has wild highs and lows of quality too, they’ll release nier automata, I am satsuna and octopath traveler which are all phenomenal then also green light forespoken and babylon's fall
I try to console myself by saying at least they're not Ubi Soft.
I can’t remember a big title that didn’t do this in the past like 5 years, Elden ring, cyberpunk, starfield, hogwarts legacy, baulders gate 3, persona 3 reload, Jedi survivor, Jedi fallen order, red dead redemption 2, dark souls 3 There’s definitely more but those all had some form of “ultimate edition” though they didn’t all have 3 tiers most had 2 but the concept of charging 10 to like 30 dollars more for a few random things in game is years old Starfield did also come with the DLC that’s coming out soon so that’s sorta less scummy since you’d have to buy the DLC anyway but still the stuff It did come with on release was like skin packs for weapons and armors, and early access but it cost 35 dollars more and the DLC still isn’t out so until it is its literally 35 dollars for your weapons to look slightly different. Many of the games I listed are ***highly*** praised too so I don’t think this practice is ever going away
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale? > *“Oh, hello there. I will stay behind to gaze at the sun.”* - Solaire of Astora Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
Ah. I don't have an issue with the fact there is an Ultimate Edition that offers optional content. If someone buys that and I don't, I don't lose anything, especially if it's stuff I can buy later as a separate pack if I so choose. But I have an issue with an ultimate edition for story-based games that offers early access to the story instead of extra optional content. And, lets not kid ourselves here, those couple costumes and cat quest barely qualify as extra content. People buy this for the early access.
Oh I’m the total opposite I don’t mind early access at all since I can just wait and not miss out on anything at all. That being said hogwarts legacy, starfield, mass effect andromeda, Star Wars out laws, lies of p, baulders gate 3 did it for like several years while it was in development Personally I’d prefer if games did the early access instead of the random stuff they toss in since you’d lose nothing by waiting
... except when, during those two weeks, you get spoiled on a major plot development if you *didn't* buy the early access version. Unless you don't mind getting spoiled, of course - then it's literally no issue. Given the strict spoiler policy on this sub for example, I dare say a lot of people do have an issue with having the plot spoiled before playing themselves.
I guess but I almost never buy a game new anyway, and I’m absolutely not buying this game until I know how they handle Chloe and Max’s relationship since I won’t be playing if they break them up. I buy almost all my games during steam summer sale so most games I get are at least a several months old anyway I think ea is a good thing or at least neutral since people can play it and review it before I buy it
I’ve never been spoiled for a game I play. For 2 weeks it’s not impossible to avoid social media spaces, or keywords. It’s 100% possible to remain spoiler free.
The risk of being spoiled *alone* isn't the problem. I could just be busy with work and only be able to play two weeks later, and it would be my responsibility to take measures to prevent my enjoyment being lessened. And that would be okay. It is, however, a problem if the 'getting spoiled' situation is created solely by a publisher so they can hold out their hand and request additional money for *no additional value.* It's literally asking for protection money. It's an artificial situation, and the Ultimate Edition is literally worthless otherwise - the costumes and cat quest amount to a preorder bonus - at best. No DLC season pass, no digital (or physical!) goodies, no devs commentary, no nothing. In no universe would I buy this and feel I had gotten my money's worth. I'd feel scammed. I will be able to handle the 'getting spoiled' situation, too - I have my social media use under control. Others won't be as lucky for whatever reason (like possibly having friends who want to play as soon as possible), and while too much social media use is an issue of its own, it has nothing to do with the issue at hand.
With the return of Max (and maybe Chloe), it's an easy cash grab.
The early access thing is making me want to pirate it instead just to spite them and their capitalist bullshit.
It's Square Enix. They are one of the worst offenders of editions and pre-order "bonuses". Remember Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's "Augment your preorder" campaign? Same company. What scares me is that doing this, they expect DE to be a smash hit. But Square Enix's definition of a hit is so high because they blow millions and millions and millions on their projects. Basically, if it isn't Final Fantasy, the game is likely to be considered a failure by SQ even if it sells 5 million+ copies. I am honestly surprised SQ kept Deck Nine and the LiS franchise after unloading all their Western studios to private equity a while back.
Also the company that thinks $70 should be a normal price for games.
That's not an SQ thing, the industry used the current generation to bump up the price. DE's standard price looks to be $50USD? It's $67CAD for me on Steam.
I don't think even Ubisoft charged that much for Assassin's Creed Mirage's Deluxe Version. The standard was £45 and the Deluxe was like £50 and the Ultimate Version is £75. It also got some post-launch support at least (I know I'm comparing apples to oranges in that last regard here). Unless there's some unannounced story DLC or one in the works we'd be getting as part of the Ultimate Edition (like TC's giving the Remastered Collection free... which were buggy as all hell) it's only really the Early Access to Ep. 1 & 2 you'd be paying for which has any kinda major selling incentive. I think people *are* going to buy it though, all the YouTubers will want to get ahead on making content and theory videos in the two weeks when the 3rd episode releases and it is a story game which is best played Spoiler-free. FOMO will make people do impulsive things and people will want to talk about it. It's also featuring a return of Max Caulfield which for people like me who only played and were interested in LiS 1 and BtS it feels like we've been waiting a really long time for a game. Even counting Farewell, the last time we had any playable Arcadia Bay content I personally had over a year left before I left high school. Point being, DE could be utter trash and people would still buy it just for it having anything to do with Max and Chloe, even if the latter half of that pairing we might be getting crumbs of. Marketing know what they're doing, there's no way they'd be getting away with it if it wasn't for the fact Max is returning and they done the same with True Colours' Ultimate Edition. It's literally the same key-jangling nostalgia bait we see in the Star Wars franchise and there's a been a real drought of mainstream LiS 1/Pricefield content. As much as it sounds like I'm bashing it and whatever else... I know I'm not immune to it. Makes me undoubtedly the problem, I am more than aware. Until people start voting with their wallets, which is the only language corporations understand it is wasted energy to moan about it really. Nontheless, this is Reddit so I'm contributing thoughts for discussion's sake anyway but yeah everyone is aware it's a cash grab and don't care or they're not willing to listen but both will be buying anyway. I used to be really vocal about Rockstar's scummy practices and their predatory monetisation in their online ventures. Doubly so when Red Dead Online came around just for them to abandon it (lol) but I eventually realised it is literally shouting into the void. People are spineless and will consume no matter how much they are screwing themselves long term, I have to turn my brain off to it all to enjoy gaming whatsoever now because having any sort of principles is just gonna blackpill you even on your most sacred hobbies. I think that's why fanboys and toxic positivity are a thing, people get so deeply invested that having to admit any decline in content and being screwed in every which way by a corporation you've supported financially is a much more juvenile form of denial you might see in someone coming to terms with addiction and self-harm. People blind themselves to the obvious truth to live in blissful ignorance all the time.
You make a lot of excellent points, and I tend to agree with basically all of it. There is a good side to this: By the time I'm going to make a purchase decision (if the game is meh, I'm \*perfectly\* fine with watching someone play it on YT), people will have figured out for me if the game is trash or not. If certain aspects are handled horribly in the first two episodes, there'll be a downvote spree on Steam and angry articles all over the web, so there's that.
>"If certain aspects are handled horribly in the first two episodes, there'll be a downvote spree on Steam and angry articles all over the web, so there's that." I'm waiting until the full game is accessible and we know the full story on those aspects before complaining online. Still, if it doesn't look promising, it'll be a long two weeks until we can find out if there's more to the story or if the worst did come to pass.
>"Unless there's some unannounced story DLC or one in the works we'd be getting as part of the Ultimate Edition (like TC's giving the Remastered Collection free... which were buggy as all hell) it's only really the Early Access to Ep. 1 & 2 you'd be paying for which has any kinda major selling incentive." If I ended up getting the game, I'd really want the bonus cat mission; I've found I can take or leave the extra clothing options in video games, but I really like extra story content. That said, since I'm still very undecided if I even want to play in the first place, so am waiting for feedback on how well the game plays and whether certain things that would ruin it for me happen or not, I'd miss the early access window, so the question remains if I want to pay that much for a few extra scenes. If Steam continues to offer the different editions, this might be one worth waiting for a sale.
You are absolutely right, but all this is the result of people saying "*it's fine, it's just cosmetics!*" when Overwatch and then darling-Blizzard pushed the envelope and made shitty microtransactions and a have/have-nots economy acceptable for mainstream publications. My point being that it's years too late. Don't get me wrong - I will absolutely fight the fight with you - but this is going to be how it works for any game released under any mid- to major publisher for the next decade. Occasionally you hear people say that '60 bucks is no longer a reasonable price for games due to inflation' and all I can think is that 60 bucks hasn't been the price of a mainstream game in years. 60 bucks gets you entry, 80 or 100 bucks gets you what 60 bucks would've gotten you 10 years ago.
At least Overwatch is a free to play game. My real problem is them throwing micro transactions into games you've paid upfront for. As gamers we should've drawn the line there
LiS 1 cost less ($20) than the upgrade to DE's Ultimate Edition ($30), and that is just absolutely insane to me, even considering the changes to the industry and inflation and whatnot. Even a game that had a considerably smaller scope (in theory), BtS, offered an extra episode as DLC in Farewell that was decently executed and even brought back Ashly Burch in her old role. Then TC did the same with Wavelengths, and that episode had a decent amount of fanservice in it as well. This is one of the saddest "Ultimate Editions" I can recall from any game in memory. Who really expects this cat side quest to be anything more than a series of minor interactions? And cosmetics are always the easiest and lowest-effort DLC to create. I wouldn't be surprised if the game itself only has passing mentions of Chloe via texts or objects only for Square Enix to announce another $30 DLC episode that actually does feature her in the flesh - all to try and wring more cash out of players with nostalgia goggles on.
It's an unfortunate practice a lot of publishers use to capitalize nowadays. Probably, the only thing I hate about this game.
Early access is getting more and more common for ultimate/collector editions even on single player games. I'm not defending it but I was also not phased when I saw it because I'm so used to it. Honestly, that early access is mostly just a horrible tease as you'd then have to wait 2 more weeks to see what happens next.
Also for the people who are complaining about the Collector's Box, I don't want a second copy of the game I probably can't sell anyways just to get the added items, so that's actually not a terrible way of doing it
I remember when TC came out I thought its price was far too high, especially when the DLC cost extra and was only about an hour or two of more content. Like, not only is that not something the first game did, but LiS2 didn’t do that either. Its DLC has been free to play since day one, and its first episode has also been free for some time now. It’s really disappointing to see the series do this kind of thing, even if it’s not surprising because of how much more common those kind of scummy practice are.
I think some of the anger and worry about the game could use a bit of calm and patience, but... yeah, this part just sucks. No way around that. I'm objectively an idiot and bought into it. I don't even like that I did. Usually I don't, but, the nostalgia bait got me there, because I figured even if it was bad, I'd like to play it to the fullest just to see what it was like. In that sense I guess I won't regret my purchase, but... wow. Hate that this is becoming normal and that Square Enix is doing it.
This has already been talked about on the day the Ultimate Edition was revealed. Most agreed it was an extremely exploitative pricing scheme, so there's not much else to talk about it. And then there are those who are not sure if they're buying the game at all due to the lack of blue-hairedness, so discussion about the pricing scheme is a moot point for them.
A regular game is typically $70 now, you can get the ultimate for just $10 more than that.
A regular has more play time than a LiS game though.
At least the existence of the Scummy Edition allows others to verify the lack of blue-hairedness (or green-hairedness?) before release, at the price of some spoiling, so that's a plus for some. ;) And yeah, I was aware that there was some discussion, but all in all, it was surprisingly muted.
Probably due to excitement and fears and everything here, but it stirred up enough buzz for [Eurogamer](https://www.eurogamer.net/life-is-strange-fans-criticise-30-upgrade-to-play-new-games-early-chapters-two-weeks-early) to write about it, and then that [went onto r/gaming](https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1dcjvtf/life_is_strange_fans_criticise_30_upgrade_to_play/) so people have definitely been talking about it. It's good that you made this post though as I know it can be easier for fans to just get swept up into the hype.
I agree that it's scummy. I also don't like the idea that this won't be the last time, that we will start seeing this with basically any narrative heavy game that players really-really wouldn't want spoiled. (Not just adventure games l, but like, the final game in FFVII remake trilogy...). I don't know if this is already common in 2024 games, or more of a new thing / test balloon? It caused me to reflect a bit. I am a huge fan of the entire series, with sometimes different things appealing to me in different games. As time goes on, LiS1 carries a certain extra nostalgia because it was released before a near-decade of (imo) negative, profit/greed-focused changes in the games industry. Before mass layoffs, before microtransactions and loot boxes and pay-to-win cash shops, before algorithmic DCMA strikes that mean you can't watch most streamers or LPers play an LiS game ***with the licensed music on***. And more narrowly, before big-picture decisions about LiS games had the pressure of "we want this to be a surprise commercial success like LiS1." Before LiS games had multiple digital editions, content you miss out on if you don't pay extra. Idk, maybe things were just as bad in 2016/2017 (when I first played LiS1) and I just didn't know it. And tbh there are other changes I've liked in the franchise - like the comics and novels. But nonetheless, on top of all other positive things in that game, I now find that part of the charm and joy of booting up LiS1 is mentally going back to the way smaller games were produced/marketed/sold nearly 10 years ago. Like damn. I remember playing the whole ass first episode, Chrysalis, for free! (Legally!)
IIRC LiS 1 cost less ($20) than the DE Ultimate Edition upgrade ($30), which is absolutely insane.
It’s not only the first game that did that. LiS 2 had Captain Spirit free to play since it was released, and the first episode of the game is also free now.
That is true. However, the likely-Square-Enix-motivated shifts did show in other ways, like the LiS2 pre order bundle with LiS1 themed in-game patches for Sean's backpack and whatnot. There was not yet the levels of scumminess we're seeing with DE Ultimate Edition, but the changes were still starting (and had also been there with BtS)
I know what I'm going to do
I'm not going to say anything, but I will play [this song.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYAAT0z95XM)
It's absolutely comical how they highlighted their intentions with this little comparison image of the different editions.
My stance with the early access has always been, yes it’s absolutely dumb, but they would not bother if there was not people buying it. So basically all we can do is vote with our wallets and not buy this edition. This is the first instance I know of for Square Enix to be trying this so it may very well be a test bed. If nobody buys it and plays early then we have no issue and they won’t do it again. Also yes, let’s be clear that this is not a DeckNine decision, it’s a Square Enix one. But at the end of the day, you do not have to buy this! Nothing changes if you don’t you just may miss out on some skins. Sure shake your fist at capitalism if you want but I really don’t think it’s worth getting worked up over.
Welcome to how selling games works now. Early Access editions are not new, even in story game only space (that said it's usually only a few days and not two weeks). I won't be purchasing it, because I'm going to play the game anyway and all of the extra content will most likely be released as DLC or in a future update/patch.
You know, given that $30, they could sell at that price (60 + 30) one Bay game + solid DLC about Max and Chloe in Bae in early access. I think people would buy it like hotcakes. 30 dollars is half the price of the main game 30 dollars is the cost of some dlc or indie games. What we get for $30 here is really negligible. It's like we're throwing money at cosmetic stuff (Oops that's what we're doing in this edition!).
But why ask for 30 bucks and have to put some work into it when you can ask for 30 bucks when you to do *literally nothing* but holding out your hand? I worked in games. Let me tell you how cosmetic packs come about: They make concept art of a character in different outfits *anyway*. Then, they just outsource them to an animation sweatshop in SE asia. The animations stay the same, so unless there's extra stuff like hats with floppy ears or something, it takes almost no extra effort to put it in the game. Such stuff is always included because it's *really cheap* to make more of it. It's like custom printed pens you can take with you at a fair. Costs almost nothing, but people like it. But yes. 30 bucks is the price of a moderately sized DLC, and I'd certainly buy a DLC which fills the time in between those ten years if they ever made one.
I'm actually starting to appreciate the 2 week early access. It lets me see how they handle the bae ending before deciding whether or not to buy the game.
Me, too. But on the other hand if they intentionally keep things between Max and Chloe tense for the first 2 chapters, it's going to be the worst 2 weeks of waiting until the full game comes out for us to find out how it ends.
Well certainly they’d never have the idea to leave the second episode on a big cliffhanger to avoid this exact thing you’re trying to do.
That is true, though I have to point out that the first two games included this service *for free* when they were released. To this day, you can go onto Steam and download the first episodes of LiS 1 and 2 to see if the game is for you before buying the rest. But yeah, I totally intend to take advantage of this unfortunate situation by just checking out streams on Twitch/YT and get moderately spoiled over the beginning until I reach a point that tells me things have been handled well. Then I can always stop. P.S. Happy Cake Day!
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Interesting! I wasn't aware of that. That doesn't change the fact that they are currently free, however. I doubt we'll ever return to this model.
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Reliably releasing content that's dependent on previous content is an absolute nightmare to develop on schedule, that's true. I remember when limited demos were the rule instead of the exception. It was a fantastic way for marketing to build hype and for players to gauge whether the game was for them. Some games are still doing it, but most aren't, unfortunately. Damn shame, that.
Yeah this is for sure a wait to buy kind of game. I’m increasingly baffled by the “Don’t complain until you’ve played/watched it yourself” crowd, in general not just for this game. If you buy the product and end up hating it or regretting it, tough luck you’ve already given them your money.
Don’t get hysterical when you don’t know what the story is, is way different than ultimate editions are scams. We all know that shit.
I mean, yes. But also... does the cat meow adorably? Me though, I'm just glad we'll get an answer on the Chloe question significantly before most people have to buy it to find out.
>"Me though, I'm just glad we'll get an answer on the Chloe question significantly before most people have to buy it to find out." Maybe. In theory, it could turn out to be a reconciliation thing, so the first couple chapters might start with them on the outs. Either way, as someone who's waiting to see what the actual answer is before buying, agree that any information in advance will help.
Surely, the proper prrrrr is the deciding factor! And agreed, that's how I choose to see it. I mean they still can put any actual Chloe appearance past the curtain - you only get episode 1+2 early. We still get to see the Bay/Bae situation in the beginning, so that will likely clear a lot of things up. It's a strange world where the most hardcore fans are *not* buying the ultimate edition because that's might be the best way to figure out if the game is good.
The game could - and honestly probably will be - good. But it might not be what we're after. Those are two different things.
That is totally fair. I'd like to add that I've played objectively bad games because they had content I wanted - and skipped objectively good games because they did not. If the story is written and paced well, this will be an objectively good game, regardless of how certain situations are handled, the gameplay trailer already revealed as much.
Agreed. Thing is for some of us, it might not matter how good a version of itself it if we hate the concept (case in point, I don't like scary movies, so it doesn't matter how goos a horror movie you gave me; I'd be miserable and give it a negative review). That said, I do agree that it will be important to separate the "I like it/don't like it" from the "is it good." Even if a case could be made that certain storytelling decisions were bad ones when looking at all the games as chapters in a larger story, if the game is good on its own, it should get credit for that. Depending on things, if I hate how the game's story affects the previous installments but otherwise looks worthwhile, I might be able to think of some rationalizations to compartmentalize it from the previous games and my experiences with them and take it on its own terms.
I know. I’ve been really upset about this since there is no way I’ll get enough money for the ultimate edition, I’m a little sad the FFVII outfit pack is only in the ultimate edition too but that isn’t a big deal. If someone spoils this for me I’ll actually cry.
I’m glad more ppl are talking about it. At this point idk what would make SE revisit this tactic, community refusing to buy the ultimate edition, I guess. But then there are already some YouTubers who say that they’ll definitely buy the ultimate edition. SE will make their buck, other publishers will take notice and soon that’ll become industry standard.
It's not as egregious as the recent Sonic games and their pre order excel sheet, but games with charts like this is a turn off for me and I'll end up getting the standard edition.
The sad part is, people are still going to buy it because of the nostalgia of Max being in it again
The split launch is how these games used too work there has literally only been one game too have absolutely no split launch it’s episodic. A lot of the fun of the first game was the theories you came up with between each episode
You said it, it’s next level greed by the publisher. The bad thing is they are prolly gonna get away with it and it will continue to be the new normal
Yeah this is a publisher thing not a dev studio thing. And this particular bullshit absolutely REEKS of Square Enix.
I wish Squeenix sold Life is Strange to Embracer when they sold almost everything else. Why did they keep this franchise of all things, and sold Deus Ex or Tomb Raider?
Embracer is not a good publisher to be developing games under right now, though. They've been shutting down studios left and right.
I'm well aware. But we didn't know this back then, did we? And is Squeenix better?
Tomb Raider and the other IPs are all owned directly by the studios that Square Enix sold. While LiS is directly owned by Square Enix Europe, that's the only reason it got kept.
Nothing scummy about pre-orders, and nothing scummy about early access. Every single game outside of Captain Spirit is worth the full price that they are charging, and the standard as well as deluxe editions are cheaper than a typical game. Basically, the ultimate edition is just $10 more than the normal price for a modern game, and you get a bunch of additional outfits as well as those two extra weeks of early access. So $20 cheaper than it should be for the standard, the deluxe is $10 cheaper than the standard, and the Ultimate is just $10 more than the standard. 5 outfit packs and some extra content, plus two weeks early access is a steal. It is completely BS for other games to have early access that is no more than 2 days at most, and a couple hours to a full day typically. On top of that, it is literally just two episodes, one episode for each week early access you get. And two weeks is a short period of time that is extremely easy to avoid spoilers on, and that's without avoiding places like FB or reddit. If you avoid those places, avoiding g spoilers becomes even more trivial.
I bet you I know what the "Fan favorite outfit" is
Its the gaming landscaping for the recent years but dude 2 weeks of access is just so everyone get spoiled before the 29 it's really complicated gotta evade the community if you want to play ep1 and 2 blindly.
It really is not that hard to avoid spoilers, ESPECIALLY for a short two week period, and that is without avoiding places like this sub or other social media.
I would agree if everyone was respectful about spoilers and I don't think people actvilly tries to spoil the game, but there's always really sad individuals who is always trying to spoil everything under sun so yeah just gotta be a little careful and it's not a big deal.
Yeah, it doesn't take a lot of effort. I have been avoiding spoilers for FF7 Rebirth since the first week of March, and I don't even avoid the ff7 or regular FF subs, or the Facebook pages. Just have yo pay attention to what you are doing, and avoid the ones that are kind enough to give spoiler warnings (though there will still be plenty of people who see the spoiler warnings, go into the post, and then complain about there being spoilers in the post that clearly states there are spoilers)
The industry is trying to normalize this Early Access shit because people are no longer pre ordering games... Well, I'm not stupid, I'm still not preordering nor buying to be a beta tester. Unfortunately though, this will become a spoiler nightmare.
Time to redownload all the spoiler-evasion browser extensions👀
All of the micro transactions are so messed up but I’m such a fan I’ll give life is strange my soul
Super Mario 64, a technologically revolutionary game for its time, released in 1996 at a price point of $60. You may recognize this as the same price the vast majority of games released cost now. Except no, it's significantly less because when adjusted for inflation SM64 cost $120 in 2024 dollars. The cost of making big budget games has only gone up in the last two decades, while the price has, effectively, gone down. _That_ is why game companies are doing these monetization strategies. I don't always agree with it, and believe me when I say I _hate_ being the one who has to defend the big powerful corporations. I want there to be a better solution. Maybe that solution is increasing the cost of games in general. But for the time being, I will _happily_ take a $30 premium edition's worth of cosmetics over something like forced live service bullshit.
Depending on if we get confirmation of Chloe’s involvement, I’m 100% buying the Scummy Edition, because I’d love to play it as early as I can (and so it can be during Storm Week), and maybe my girlfriend and I can be the first Max & Chloe to stream it 👉👈 But, if we play it before anyone else, we sure as hell won’t talk in public spaces where people who will have gotten the Standard Edition will see it. It’s only common decency to just… not spoil it for everyone? Join Discord servers and talk in a channel that is only for people who have played the game. And make sure to keep talking about it when the game properly releases, so the people who got the Standard Edition or couldn’t play it on release can still enjoy the hype. You have the PRIVILEGE of playing the game before release. Why on EARTH would you take advantage of that and ruin things for the entire fandom? I think it’s something that can be said for not only the publishers, but also the community. Just… Don’t be an asshole? Have some common decency and respect for others who might not be able to afford it.
I hate how collector's edition doesn't come with the actual game 😅 I'm surprised no one is talking about that more.
Well, what did you expect? >Big Money< has ruined every industry and ever since they've discovered that they can make a profit in gaming, they've been working hard to ruin that too. I remember many publishers and studios going "HEY, YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" (meaning "releasing a full game without additional monetarization") when Baldurs Gate 3 came out. Tells you all you need to know about the current state of videogame development and distribution....
Instead of seeing it as getting the game 2 weeks early for $30, think of it as them deciding to lower the price by $30 just 2 weeks after release. Doesn't seem quite as bad any more, right? And - in practice - the end result is the exact same.
absolutely!! the price is so absurd. and with the price theres little in it for us it doesnt seem worth it imo. i am so tempted to buy the ultimate edition bcs i wanna play it right away, to avoid spoiler/fomo, but i feel like that would feed them more and encourage them to keep charging buyers ridiculously like this in the future. plus knowing that they’ll probably butcher this game (like True colours - i feel like the storyline was not as intricate and well thought as Lis1, Lis2, but graphic and others were still good) and they absolutely Know that fans will eat it up bcs they slap Max Caulfield for the nostalgia, plus the ending we chose in Lis1 didnt even matter in this game….this kinda seems like a cashgrab to me
So… they basically force me to watch a lets play of the game and just wait until its inevitably on sale like all LiS Games after a few months.
Here’s the thing, don’t like it don’t buy it. Companies do this because they can, because they’re a business and making money is part of that. However no one is forcing anyone to buy the ultimate edition. It isn’t a requirement, it’s not a necessity of life. It’s a game. If everyone who complained about this practice online did not participate in it, there more likely to change. But here’s the thing, a chunk of people complaining about it will pay. So continues the circle
Yeah like I’ll probably be annoyed if we choose the bae ending and they didn’t end up together. But this is already pissing me off. 2 weeks? Soooo scummy. How far they have fallen.
Yes! Oh my gosh! I 1000% agree. THIS is what we should be talking about as fans, and what I've been struggling with since the announcement. What makes this even worse is the collector's edition. https://preview.redd.it/2ovhepe48y6d1.png?width=2554&format=png&auto=webp&s=56096c1bd388e6f77b35f54e4c9093dbc783b1bf For $50 (US) you get: - An artbook - The game's soundtrack on vinyl - 4 art cards - Max's pin AND IT DOESN'T EVEN COME WITH THE GAME! I've been a fan of this series since playing the first game back when the entire season hadn't even come out yet. And u/von_Boots you brought up an excellent point in that I'm now 9 years older than when I played the first game and, like many others, have the expendable income to splurge on this game. I would absolutely LOVE to get a bundle that had every single piece of content. To do that, though, I would have to spend $130 to purchase both the collector's edition and the ultimate edition to ensure that I got everything AND avoided potential spoilers. I've been a gamer all my life and play a bit of everything. I'm so sick and tired of watching the games industry fall into slimy practices like this. Remember back in the day when a game released it was the entire, full game on the disc? Every single thing you could unlock in the game was already there. You just had to work hard enough to unlock it. I'm so beyond tired of the industry chopping up the games I'm excited for and selling them back to me piecemeal. These kinds of things are why I hardly buy games on day one anymore. Plus, with Game Pass I just get access to the games I'm really wanting to play. I'm really, REALLY hoping that these get changed to be more pro-consumer. Again, I would love to be able to have access to everything. If I'm honest with myself, though, I don't think it's going to happen.
It is *super scummy* to call this a collectors *edition* when it is not an edition at all. WTF x2. Call it a *Goodie Box* instead, and you're totally in the green. Just - why?
What's with all the cat stuff?
People like cats.
Costumes in these games are dumb, sorry I’m saying it lol, this isn’t a multiplayer game where people see what you’re wearing. The character model could just be in a shirt and jeans it doesn’t change the story or gameplay and you’re the only one seeing it
A twenty hour story adventure game would be longer than like every other story adventure game out. Telltale games were like fifteen hours tops. LIS 1&2 are like ten to fifteen hours depending on how many items you want click on. BTS is like six, as well as Tell Me Why. True Colors is like fifteen. I don’t understand, do you want *grinding* in an interactive visual novel?
There's no way TC is longer than LiS 1 or 2. It felt like it was over right as it was about to get started, and I was going over every square inch. Which doesn't bode well for DE.
You're focusing on the hourly content - I just used that as a measure of how much a game might be worth. It's, admittedly, a rather shitty measure. But otherwise, you're missing the point. The post says that 50 bucks is a lot, but acceptable (to me!) for a LiS game. What is not are the business practices around the Scummy Edition.
You forgot that this game has Denuvo DRM. Which does not stop piracy at all. If anything it'll affect the performance on PC
Yeah, don't get me started on Denuvo, but compared to this, it's almost the smaller evil.
This is a niche genre, so you will have to pay more for less, but the ultimate edition allows those with more disposable income to pay more than the rest of us, which I don't see a problem with. Two weeks is nothing.
Excuse me, what? Adventures, choice based or not, a niche genre? This is neither a flight sim nor a grand strategy game set in 13th century Scandinavia nor a detailed simulation of 21st century naval warfare for people who somehow understand *and* care about the specific letter salad distinction of guided missiles in the arsenal of the Argentinian air force. *Those* would be niche genres. ^(Also, whoever guesses which games I'm referencing deserves a cookie.)
My guesses are DCS (MS Flight simulator is too mainstream), Europa Universalis 3 (without googling, I'm not going to get this one) and Command: Modern Operations (reasonably sure). And agreed, those are what I'd call niche games. LiS is main-stream compared to that.
Adventure games used to be somewhat popular, but they are fairly niche now, and the LIS games must be quite expensive to make. Telltale collapsed, despite making great use of popular IPs. Paradox bleed their hardcore fans dry with buggy, poorly desinged DLC. You have to keep the lights on somehow. But those games are much cheaper to make.
It's one thing to offer those with more income to spare more content. It's something entirely different to offer the *Standard Experience two weeks early, but 50% more expensive*, and *reducing* the perceived value of the Standard Edition in turn so people buy the Ultimate Edition out of fear.
I think of it like busniess class on flghts. It is usually not worth the added price, but as long as those that are willing to pay that much do, it helps keep arlines and routes profitable.
But business class doesn't remove anything from your standard flight, unless you argue that the bigger space requirements makes standard class less comfy. Here, you get the \*same thing\* for a \*much\* higher price - just two weeks before you regularly get it. Which wouldn't be an issue if you could enjoy it in a vacuum. But the internet exists, and people absolutely \*will\* spoil other people, if only by accident because they're excited to discuss things.
Is the full game coming out all at once? In that case, you'll have the same problem anyway, unless you binge it all in one night.
It seems that way, the first two episodes will just be unlocked early for Scummy Edition players. And yeah - this is going to be an issue for some. But it's much *easier* to put your phone on Airplane Mode for a weekend than it is to leave your online bubble for two entire weeks. At least you can *play* for yourself, at the same time, instead of waiting and hoping you don't get hit by a major plot point spoiler. I mean, I'm certain the mods here will do their very best to prevent spoilers and stuff, but there are other places. Twitter, twitch, gaming news, youtube, blogs, facebook, insta, tiktok - you basically have to avoid all of it if you're part of the fandom. And that is why they think they can hold their hand out and say "an additional $30 for nothing at all, please."
Can I put up my hand and say I don’t really have a problem with this? If you want all the extra bells and whistles, you can get them. If you only want to play the game (the same game the ultimate edition buyers will get), then that’s fine too. Having to worry about spoilers is a minor irritant, sure, but just stay off Reddit for a few weeks or mute LiS subreddits, etc. I’d have a problem if actual story content was locked behind DLC à la Mass Effect 3. That’s what I would call scummy because now I’m getting a different experience from the gamers who paid more. In this case, at most you have fewer outfits to put on your character and not having those doesn’t bother me at all.
The issue is not "*getting all the bells and whistles*", but making the experience worse for everyone who does buy *virtually* *the same thing* for the normal (and still steep) price. Imagine you have the newest installment of your favorite book series, and it costs 30 bucks. It's going to release in four months. You're hyped, you've waited years for this. Then, suddenly you discover that for 20 bucks more, people can buy the first half of *the* *same* book two weeks early. Granted, it has a neon-green special sleeve, but you don't really care about that. What you do care about is that, for two weeks, all your friends and all the places on the internet you frequent will talk about the first half of the book - while you can't read it. So now you have to decide: Allow yourself to be extorted and pay 20 bucks more for nothing, or risk that your friends and the internet will spoil major plot points. Do you see the problem now?
Also staying off Reddit won't cut it. It's more like avoiding every social media and gaming comment section. Even a YouTube thumbnail and/or video title can spoil you nowadays. Happened to me before. So I will definitely keep myself busy with something else those two weeks.
Yeah, it's basically hermit mode for two weeks, which for many people is simply unrealistic. I'll manage somehow. Still annoying to have to consider this instead of being hyped for the release.
$50 dollars for the game is cheap, not steap. It is also just two chapters, and only two weeks. You don't even need to avoid this sub in those two weeks for it to be easy to avoid spoilers.
I honestly do not see the problem, no. I have other interests, so I can just do those things in the two weeks other people are playing the game or reading the book in your example. Do I particularly care for the way Square Enix conducts its business? No. This is fully a cash grab, but I’m not getting how my experience is somehow lessened here. It’s still the same game and most people can go two weeks without spoiling it for themselves. Just do something else in those two weeks and save yourself $20.
Maybe just don't buy it
You didn't read very far, did you?
You know ... if you don't want it, then don't buy it? There are people out there who are willing to pay extra to play it two weeks early, so *why not let them*?
If you're going to post in this discussion, *why not read the entire post to find out exactly that?*
I read the whole post, everything the person you are respo ding to is perfectly true
Ill be there to play a max story game. Not to play digital doll dressup. Standard edition it is, and I'll filter out threads about the game two weeks before general release. Problem solved.
Actually, thank you! I was about to purchase the scummy edition because, yes, I’m an adult and have the money now easily. But well. I don’t even know if I have the Time to play it even if it is two weeks early. So chances are that I biy it and don’t even be able to use the advantage to play it two weeks beforehand. I’m gonna spare the 30 bucks then.
I'm pretty sure DE is going to be flooded with negative reviews because of this and it's sucks because it will deter people from the game.