This is YA, and it hits literally every YA trope beat for beat, and it’s to the game’s disservice that I didn’t know this going in, because I am 26 and not 16 and as such the constant wave of high school drama and adults just don’t understaaaaand and catty protagonist monologue made me want to throw my computer off the roof and go back to playing games with some modicum of maturity. I think if I’d been aware of just how juvenile this was going in I could at least have judged it relative to other YA, but as I have no desire to relive high school being suddenly thrown into it and forced to roleplay a teenager was highly unpleasant and I ended up resenting how immature and dramatic everyone was. (That said, the rabid fandom this game has among teenagers should probably have tipped me off.)
There’s also the fact that this is the dumbed-down, drained-of-all-social-commentary YA version of Twin Peaks, and commits the cardinal sin of reminding me of the superior work over and over. You should really just go watch the first 1.5 seasons of Twin Peaks instead of playing this; it’s an infinitely more rewarding experience.
Finally, “Life Is Strange,” is a terrible title.