作者彙整: Elise Favis

On their way toward Mexico, brothers Sean and Daniel have had harrowing experiences change their lives and complicate their relationship. This episode continues following the ups and downs of their bond as the boys take refuge at a hippie camp and marijuana farm. It’s a wild premise, but new characters are boxed-in stereotypes and the episode struggles with poor pacing.

While the last episode focused on harnessing control over Daniel’s telekinesis power, this episode is more about embracing freedom and individuality. Among the hippies, Sean is discovering more about himself, and his younger brother resents him for it. Your decisions, particularly how you interact with Daniel, have been crucial this whole journey, and this episode is a fascinating culmination of the web of choices with a thrilling conclusion. However, the road to that end is sloppy and forgettable.

It starts off on a good foot, with a flashback taking place three months prior to the incident that led the brothers to flee home. I enjoyed trying to make amends with Daniel after treating him unfairly, as well as understanding the weight Sean bears by acting as a second parent after their mother’s departure. The flashback does a good job of showing some of the roots of the boys’ relationship, giving the impression that their core bond can overcome anything.

Unfortunately, the middle parts of the episode aren’t as compelling. The setting, which takes place in a Californian forest and on a weed farm, is much more interesting than the events that occur within it. You spend most of your time doing painfully boring tasks; washing dishes, carrying water tanks, and trimming marijuana buds. That last chore is performed through a minigame where you perform timed button presses to continue onto the next plant. The minigame isn’t interesting, and the chatter from other characters during it is equally mundane.

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I continue to care deeply for Sean and Daniel, but their new hippie friends are forgettable, predictable, and painfully stereotypical. They are a group of dreadlocked young adults with tragic backstories who follow alternative lifestyles, but they come across superficial rather than deep. Two antagonists who run the weed farm are problematic as well, fitting neatly into their cruel archetypes without offering anything more substantial. They’re villains who are nothing more than narrative devices to push the story toward conflict.

Despite poor characters, I enjoyed some of the thematic moments of the episode, including its juxtaposition between freedom and oppression. Sean tries to tell himself he feels free, but the monotony of the weed farm feels like a prison. Daniel also struggles with who he is and what he wants, and the two butt heads about it throughout the episode. While Daniel wants more time with his brother, you can decide whether Sean goes along with that or follows his own path. Both choices come with big consequences, and the growing rift between the brothers is intriguing and dangerous – especially since Daniel’s gift is uncontrollable during emotional turmoil.

The episode also does a great job of handling Sean’s sexuality and letting players decide how (or if) he explores it. You can choose from two different love interests: a young girl named Cassidy or a young man named Finn. You can opt out of both, but pursuing a relationship brings added complexity and tension to the final scene. Furthermore, because Sean has identified as straight his whole life, exploring his sexuality through Finn can, for now, only go so far. This creates some agency for the player without sacrificing Sean’s established sexual identity – something we don’t see often in video games. Sean’s queerness is a fascinating layer that Dontnod balances realistically as the young boy fumbles through his journey of self-discovery.

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While the last episode lacked gripping choices, this episode is the exact opposite – at least in the last 20 minutes. Your choices, not just from this episode but from the journey as a whole, impact an explosive cliffhanger with multiple variables. I can’t spoil anything, but I was glued to the screen during these moments, though I was also disappointed that it took so long for the episode to get there.

Sean and Daniel’s relationship continues to be the best part of Life is Strange 2. Will they continue to grow apart or will they find common ground despite their differences? I’m eager to leave behind the hippies and weed farm, and see what comes next for the Diaz brothers.

Score: 7.25

Summary: This new chapter in the Diaz brothers’ journey has an explosive conclusion, but suffers from painfully stereotypical characters and poor pacing along the way.

Concept: Sean and Daniel continue their tumultuous journey to Mexico while making a pitstop at a camp run by hippies

Graphics: Beautiful redwood trees and gorgeous Californian landscapes make this episode aesthetically pleasing

Sound: A blend of folk and indie music continues to bring a good balance of emotion to heartfelt scenes

Playability: Navigating through environments, playing quick-time event minigames, and drawing in Sean’s notebook are all easy to control

Entertainment: Despite a thrilling conclusion, this episode suffers from imbalanced pacing and annoying characters

Replay: Moderately High

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Building a fictional language from scratch is an ambitious feat. While a handful of games (like Far Cry Primal and Skyrim) twist made-up tongues into their narratives, you don’t have to learn them yourself. Heaven’s Vault, a new adventure game from the makers of the mobile title 80 Days, centers entirely on teaching you a hieroglyphic language and successfully packages it into a fascinating world.

Heaven’s Vault tells the story of young archeologist Aliya and her companion robot Six. After a roboticist goes missing somewhere in the Nebula, you must travel to distant moons searching for him. Each clue you unearth on these moons, whether it’s an artifact or an inscription, leads you closer to answers not just about the roboticist, but also about Aliya, the world she lives in, and its rich lore. With every new piece of history I found, I was eager to see where it would lead me next.

The most significant discoveries during an excavation are inscriptions marked onto monuments, statues, weapons, and more. When you find one, Aliya opens her notebook and attempts to translate it. At first, the only way to decipher these hieroglyphs is with the help of context clues around you or with blind guesses. Aliya suggests a handful of meanings, and you can select some to ascribe to specific glyphs in the phrase. For example, you may choose “fire” if you notice the inscription is written atop a fireplace. 

As you progress, you start learning the language yourself. I was able to identify parts of phrases as recognizable glyphs for words like “goddess” and “death” that I had translated before, which was a satisfying feeling. The language puzzle recurs often, but it never feels all that repetitive since each new glyph is a learning experience.

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Even wrong translations aren’t a lost cause, since you can always change your mind later and modify it. Errors can even help narrow down your options. For example, inserting several wrong guesses into a long phrase leads Aliya to cross them out and switch them for new guesses instead. You don’t always know if you’re right or wrong immediately, bringing ambiguity to your research. I thought this was a neat touch that adds realism to the experience.

The moons you frequent are beautiful, with varying biomes like deserts and forests. Some are civilized, like Aliya’s old home filled with bustling marketplaces. Others are long-abandoned, with many secrets hidden inside crumbling infrastructures and temples. Despite no one living there now, it gives the incredible feeling that you’re treading over the land of ancient civilizations. The constant chatter between Aliya and Six also brings entertainment to exploration, since their strained relationship involves a lot of snide comments and sarcasm.

Visiting these moons is enjoyable, but small technical issues surface to break the immersion. During certain cutscenes, the camera fixed on a wall instead of someone’s face. Another time, Six’s body disappeared when he spoke. Moving around can also be tiresome, since Aliya moves so slowly. Heaven’s Vault is meditative in tone and pace, but even with that in mind, my patience wore thin. These issues are unfortunate, but they never got severe enough to kill my curiosity for Aliya’s adventure.

You use your ship to travel between moons, but poor controls make it cumbersome to maneuver, especially over long journeys. First, you plot a course on a map, and then you steer it through rivers in the skies (which are literally paths made of water) to head to your next destination – a long process that grows tiresome. You can fast-travel to some civilized moons, but since most of your time is spent on abandoned ones, this shortcut feature is limited.

Between exploring ruins, you meet a cast of vibrant characters who help guide you towards your next destination, like a sleazy artifacts trader and a friendly scholar. However, watch what you say around others; some may cut off business with you if you’re rude. While this made them feel like real people, it irked me when it would happen with no warning.

Heaven’s Vault is both ambitious and beautiful. It conjures a world rich with life; I enjoyed learning about the different cultures and religions of those dead and alive. Despite the long travel segments and a handful of bugs, I don’t hesitate to recommend Heaven’s Vault. The impressive language-learning mechanic largely succeeds, and with a world brimming with detail, it makes this adventure an exciting one.

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Score: 8

Summary: This adventure game centers around teaching you a hieroglyphic language and packages it into a fascinating world.

Concept: Learn a hieroglyphic language as you discover mysteries of ancient civilizations

Graphics: Areas like deserts and forests look gorgeous, and the contrast between 2D characters and 3D environments is striking

Sound: Beautiful violin and piano music play as you explore different moons

Playability: Despite some poor controls when maneuvering your ship and slow movement in general, the game plays smoothly in all other areas

Entertainment: Heaven’s Vault features great characters, exciting places to discover, and a thrilling mystery to piece together

Replay: Moderately High

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