Background of Life is Strange: Before the Storm – Limited Edition
It’s not too long ago I posted my recommendation about Life is Strange: Before the Storm, and it’s no secret that I am a big fan of the series. I bought the season pass a few months before the release of the bonus episode featuring the return of the protagonist of the first game; Max. However, when I saw the limited edition of the physical release my wallet took control and before I knew it, this very edition was preordered.
It didn’t help that the preorder incentive of Life is Strange: Before the Storm was one of the better – And I have seen a lot of them, working at Gamestop. If you preordered the game you would receive two small vinyl figures featuring Rachel and Chloe in a stylized chibi version. So yeah, I really had no choice. I know that preorders are a sensitive subject for many people and a lot of you have strong opinions on the matter – and I respect that! I’m fortunate to live in a country where a preorder can be canceled at any time and if the game does not live up to my expectations based on reviews I will not pick it up.
I will be commenting on the figures in this review, but mind that they will not affect the score, as they are not a part of the limited edition per se. It should also be noted that at the time of writing the physical release of the game only comes in shape of the limited edition.
Specs
Dimensions
Width 13,5 cm, Height 17,5 cm, Depth 3,5 cm
Weight:
350 g
Format:
PS4
Price*
DKK: 349| EUR: 46,85 | USD: 57,57 | GBP: 40,95
*Please note that I live in Denmark and all the prices are based on this. Denmark is VERY expensive with their video games, so keep that in mind.
The box
The box of Life is Strange: Before the Storm – limited edition is nothing special, to be honest. Don’t get me wrong, it looks great and I have nothing against the doeface of Chloe but there’s is done little to make the box stand out beside the print. It contains the game and the content just fine while telling you what game is inside, but don’t expect fancy glossy parts or 3D effects.
Build quality
This limited edition is all about the content. This box is simple here to hold the content. It’s standard, thin cardboard folded like a box that can be opened in either end. The back contains all the information that you usually see on a regular plastic cover. Please move on, nothing else to see here 🙂
4/10
Box art
I have to admit I kind of like the box art’s simple use of black and white with added pink detail. We get grungy/punkish design show off the edgy personality of Chloe but with the pink color symbolizing the fragile girl behind the facade, further shown by the facial expression of Chloe on the box art.
It’s a good looking box, no doubt about it, but the fact that the box is tainted by the PEGI rating, the PS4 logo and information text on the back side. However as mentioned above this box is not a showcase by itself, but the front that is supposed to sell the game in the store. And at the price level, we can not expect much more than this.
5/10
Display quality
This box will not be displayed in my collection, but rather on my game cover shelf along with all the regular games. While you may like the art of the box it’s just a variation of the art on everything else in the box. So you might as well display the CD case, the game cover or the art book.
4/10
Life is Strange: Limited Edition Content
Soundtrack CD
It is so rare to see a physical soundtrack these days, being the LP and CD formats have been phased out for the last ~10-30 years. But when you buy a game where the soundtrack is one of the best aspects of the game AND they include a CD with 15 tracks from the game they earn a huge, fat thumbs up! The first game has a really really great soundtrack and while being really close the music of the second game doesn’t really reach the same level. But it is close! The genre is a melancholic indie rock with some ambiance thrown in here and there and the result is some moody music.
Quality 9/10 How can I not give a high score here? This is basically the same quality as the CD cases we spend so much money on back in the days. The music is great and the design makes it look sophisticated enough to show off in your CD collection… Am I the only one who still have one of those?
Relevance 10/10 A game with a great soundtrack include a soundtrack in the limited edition? Yup, that is relevant!
Art Book
The limited edition of Life is Strange: Before the Storm contains a fairly small, hardcover artbook. As mentioned before all the content of this edition variations of the same front design, and this is no exception. The artbook has 31 pages of various imagery from character design to environments from the locations of the game. It’s all fine most of the way, but I can promise you that you will page through this book in about 30 seconds and never return. It’s very much an uninspired artbook with little to no text beside the odd doodles and tags.
Quality 3/10 It’s always a plus when you get a great looking, hardcover artbook of games with a great and inspiring design. Besides the hardcore part, this one does not deliver. The paper is nice and thick with a semi-glossy look but the content is so dull that you will put it back in the box shortly after having a brief look inside. Meh.
Relevance 4/10 While I do love the Life is Strange games a lot it is not because of their design and graphics. In fact, the games are really not that good looking but survive mainly on the characters and the story. For me, this makes an artbook less relevant and I suspect that it is just added to increase the list of content. There is no love for the medium or stories to tell in this book – So why even bother?
Game Cover
The game case is a regular blue plastic ps4 game cover with the same art as the outer box of the limited edition. There is not much special about the case except for the text “Limited Editon” is carried over here and the barcode is missing from the back. Inside you find two flyers besides the disc. One for the utterly pointless Square Enix product registration (At least it helps them send segmented marketing your way!) and one for registration of the bonus episode “Farewell” starring Max from the first game. The disc contains all standard episodes of the season.
Preorder bonus vinyl figures
Admittingly these babes are the reason I bought this physical release of Before the Storm. I already own the game digitally on both PC and PS4, so I guess this makes it my third version. Jeez, I’m such a fanboy! When you preordered the game at certain vendors you got these two vinyl figures of Rachel and Chloe. They are depicted as anime-inspired chibis and are quite kawaii.
The two girls are delivered in a bag with a clear plastic stand for each, making them stand without problems. They can stand on their own or they can hold hands next to each other. As you can see from the images, the paint job is quite good on the girls, and there are some great details on the faces and outfits. Chloe stands about 10 cm tall and Rachel is ~2 mm shorter.
I really like these figures and it’s truly rare to see preorder bonuses that are more interesting and a better quality than the content of the special edition. If I have to mention a few issues there might be with the figures, then I suppose the chibi style is not for everyone, especially when the game does not use any sort of Japanese inspired art style. Also, I would love to have a version of Chloe with her blue hair and beanie, but as she does not sport that style in the prequel it’s not a fair criticism – But a guy can dream, right?
I will not rate these as they are not really a part of the limited edition, but if I had to we would be around the 9-mark. They are really good!
Verdict: Life is Strange: Before the storm – Limited Edition
As mentioned the awesome vinyl figures will not be a part of the final score of Before the Storms limited edition, as they were a preorder bonus. So when looking at the box as a whole, it is a bit of a bleak and boring edition. Besides the game, only the soundtrack really stands out and lifts the score to a mediocre level.
At the price level and the limited edition is the only physical edition at the moments makes it a fine purchase with the extra content added. However, based on the content and quality of the content there is nothing really standing out. To quote me; Meh.
The game is great, though. Read my recommendation here, for info on the game itself.
5
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