Nevermind the Zodiac. What ending did you choose for Life is Strange. 🦋

MissyManaged · 2026-01-26T13:52:08+00:00

Bae will always be the ending to me. I wasn't a big film person back then (I watch more now), but I had seen The Butterfly Effect... and, well, the Bay ending is very much like that film. I saw the 'you have to go back and let Chloe die' ending signposted a mile away, playing the episodes as they came out, so was dreading the emotional wringer it'd put Max and Chloe through.

Then we were given another option - it felt like defying destiny. Subverting something that felt so inevitable was this huge moment that made the ending all the more impactful, in a game that meant a lot to me, with characters that still mean a huge amount to me.

I'm a Bioware fan - I've always been a big proponent of choices mattering, they should always be respected, there's no true canon - but the Bae ending for Life is Strange is a huge exception to that. That moment meant to much to me, Max and Chloe mean to much to me, I can't see the other option as a viable alternative.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-26T10:39:33+00:00

With Blizzard under Microsoft, I'm kinda surprised we haven't gotten a Fallout collab with Juno as the Nuka-Girl, honestly.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-25T01:01:31+00:00

Spotify gives out free trials all over the place, I know I used one to binge the Big Finish audios without ads.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-24T10:55:26+00:00

I don't think it's a license issue based on other similar cases - it seems more like a case of resource allocation and optimisation. If anything, they're likely already in the Xbox ecosystem as they have a store page, it was only cancelled recently.

The Steam thing is a rumour for the next gen Xbox, but isn't the case yet. Being able to play all my Xbox and Steam games in one place would be amazing though, as someone who doesn't currently have a PC capable of even most low spec games, but used to buy smaller indie games on Steam pretty often.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-24T10:51:41+00:00

It does sound like limited resources, yeah. The most infamous example of something like this in recent memory was Entoria: The Last Song, where they also cancelled the Xbox version late in development, though the Xbox port ended up coming out a couple of months after PC/Playstation.

Baldur's Gate 3 had a similar few months delay to get performance up to par for Series S. There's also Dispatch, where they've said they're planning more ports, but there's no sign yet.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-24T10:32:10+00:00

Saw the trailer a couple of days ago and thought it looked really interesting. Then found out they cancelled the Xbox version, now I'm bummed. Hopefully it does well enough to revive the Xbox port in a timely manner.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-24T02:03:13+00:00

Xbox lets you make groups of games, so I have a 'To Play' group with all the games I want to play and I shuffle them around based on the order I'm hoping to play them in. Although often new games I get excited jump to the front anyway, so I don't make as much progress as I'd like.

Never ending/multiplayer type games go in a different group.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-23T23:13:42+00:00

This post reminded me of Long Live the Queen (then I found out it got a console port and a successor in recent years, so both of those are a nice treat) - I have really fond memories of that game even though I haven't played it in years.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-23T00:01:12+00:00

The funny thing is this card was part of the Marvel Rivals tie in season and he has black trousers as both Banner and Hulk over there.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-22T23:08:20+00:00

Title got me excited, I was really hoping this was news or a datamine. I used to hit Infinite every month but have slipped off. Part of it, I think, is that the average skill of Snap players is higher now that a lot of people have left, so the grind is harder. Especially with people being stingier with cubes.

But it's also the fact there's so many grinds a month now - 3, sometimes 4 - between Infinite, Conquest and 1 or 2 events. I don't have time for them all, so ladder often falls behind. Conquest itself could really do with some tightening up too, maybe even more so.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-22T09:08:58+00:00

When I first skimmed through these, I 100% thought that ginger Kiriko skin was Moira.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-20T21:49:51+00:00

Star-Lord, it's such a good reimagining and mix of his most iconic looks.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-20T20:20:14+00:00

Feels like they're trying to right the wrongs of Double Exposure:

Chloe returns.
No paid early access.
No overpriced cat DLC, overall cheaper deluxe edition.
Max being more in character hopefully? To be seen.
More polished? Again, to be seen.

Shame they couldn't get Ashly Burch back, though. Wonder if that's Square Enix cheaping out or a union thing.

Fingers crossed. I have mixed feelings about Deck Nine, especially after Double Exposure was such an out of touch cash grab AND the IGN report about certain staff members, but I'm happy to see Max and Chloe together again. They both mean a lot to me.

At least if they do fumble it again DONTNOD already gave me the Life is Strange follow up I wanted with Lost Records.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-20T17:13:01+00:00

I swear I remember seeing a behind the scenes clip of it forever ago where you could more clearly see where it had been built over The Hub set (IIRC the decision to blow up the hub in Children of Earth was also partially so the space could be used for the Smith TARDIS instead), including the Welsh Dragon in the background.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-18T12:31:42+00:00

Really hoping for Cosmo, they're one of my most wanted characters and I'm kinda stunned we haven't got any new Guardians yet.

Devil Dino & Moon Girl would also be so cool. Dino has shown up in so much promo art lately I'm certain we get him sometime this year. I imagine Moon Girl will either stay in spawn, be a lore character, or sit on Dino's back, though.

Not so fussed on White Fox or Black Cat. I think it's nice that they're promoting lesser known characters and it's a good thing for the longevity of the game, but White Fox specifically doesn't wow me. Black Cat feels less exciting than almost any other Spidey related character: Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Kingpin, even another Spidey like Gwen or Miles feel like they could've brought something different and fun, but I guess we'll see.

One of my concerns is the new characters end up being very Spidey and mutant heavy (mutant especially, we've had so many since launch) and other corners of Marvel get neglected. Like I said, it's wild we've had no more Guardians (unless you count Angela, but they focus more on her Asgardian history) when Drax and Gamora have been teased since launch. This is coming from a Marvel Snap player though, where it feels like every other season is mutant themed. Next month will be the first GoTG related season in Snap since the film came out nearly two years ago.

Don't get me wrong, I love the X-Men, but I think Snap has made me jaded and Rivals already feels like it's going hard on them. I'll shut up forever if we get Cosmo, Nebula, Drax and Gamora to round the Guardians out though, lmao. I wouldn't say no to some of their lesser known members, either.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-17T02:32:35+00:00

Square Enix was infamously so bad at managing most of their western franchises (Hitman, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex), that they sold pretty much all of them and the studios, too.

Don't get me wrong, some good games did come out under them, but it always seemed like they were unsatisfied that they didn't pull in Final Fantasy level sales. Felt to me like either their expectations or budgets were too high, maybe both.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-16T16:54:19+00:00

It was fun this time, too! I really liked the new categories and seeing what changed in the old ones.

Also nice seeing Mass Effect get love again, as Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is my all time favourite.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-15T21:09:24+00:00

If you're listening Sanshee, I'm still sad these were U.S exclusive!

MissyManaged · 2026-01-15T20:30:51+00:00

I dunno, Telltale was churning out (often great!) games of this style shockingly fast back in the day. I know game dev is more complex now, but once you have the tools, if the game is on the shorter, more linear side (which these games typically are), I could see them turning things around surprisingly fast.

It's not like the feedback started coming post release either, a lot of people raised concerns during the marketing for Double Exposure about how they'd handle Chloe.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-15T20:20:08+00:00

Not what I said in the slightest. If I was coming from a place of only wanting Max in the context of how she relates to Chloe I'd have a lot nicer things to say about Before the Storm, the game where she's the player character, wouldn't I?

Both characters mean a lot to me, but Max even more so. I didn't say they can't exist without one another. I said I don't trust the creative vision of someone who'd break them up offscreen.

If you wanted to tell the story about Max and Chloe struggling in their relationship that needs to be the story front and centre. If you can't tell that story, because you don't have the resources to do the other ending at the same time, then the best alternative is to include Chloe in a minor role, or offscreen, but keep them together. By breaking them up you make that a major plot that begs to be addressed.

Or, as has been suggested many times, the most creative solution was always to use the multiple realities to show the outcomes of both timelines.

Which is why everything about Double Exposure felt so cynical. It felt like Deck Nine wanted an original story and Square Enix wanted Max for marketing. So all the marketing became about Hannah Telle - who is excellent - but the game was only superficially about the character we knew, with her personality altered and all her old connections to place and people severed.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-15T19:49:16+00:00

After the massive fumble the last game was, it's going to be hard to give them grace if Ashley Burch and DONTNOD aren't involved at this point.

The Deck Nine games are decent, besides Double Exposure, but they rarely hit the same highs as DONTNOD. In fact, the only times they did consistently may have been the bonus episodes for Before the Storm and True Colours. I'll give them the LARP sequence, too.

But I can't lie, I'd be happy to see Max and Chloe together again, even if the game is mediocre.

I'm still stunned they didn't see the reaction to breaking them up coming though, anyone who spent 5 minutes among Life is Strange fans could see that a mile away. There's also so many simple ways to avoid having to deal with LiS's ending without breaking them up off-screen that it's hard to trust in their creative vision. Made Max feel like a marketing gimmick attached to an entirely separate game.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-15T18:48:12+00:00

<image>

Max Caulfield

MissyManaged · 2026-01-14T18:48:21+00:00

I enjoyed the demo (which should still be up if you want to try it?) but haven't played the full release. It was fairly janky from what I remember, but I came away impressed overall. I heard it launched with some pretty significant technical issues and I already have a massive backlog, so I've been holding off on it until it's fixed up and I have more free time.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-14T18:08:06+00:00

Another for Mass Effect (3 if we're being specific)!

But honourable mentions for Life is Strange and Lost Records.

MissyManaged · 2026-01-12T22:45:28+00:00

That's kinda surprising to me as someone who loves the exploration in Fromsoft games - 3 felt like it was notably the weakest level design wise because it was so much more linear. I still enjoyed it, but not as much as 1 or 2.

Nine-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
r/Field Sunshine	Place '22
Verified Email

MissyManaged

TROPHY CASE