As so0meone who lives in the middle of nowhere, Hank actually is fairly realistic, there are some supremely one dimensional people out there just like that.
Totally, I have no doubt people like Hank exist and for the most part I like that Dontnod want to bring attention to that. I just think they could've gone about it in a much better way.
@@WilliamHella I respect and am interested in your opinions, but I feel very unclear about this criticism. Do you believe that every racist character must be balanced-out by proof of other motivations or more positive qualities to be sufficiently "complex"? Is it OK to have a character who is a racist villian without redeeming qualities, but their issue was simply not fleshing him out more? Like - what would a sufficiently "complex" racist villian look like, in your view? If this game had been created by a Chicano writing team who'd personally experienced violence at the hands of someone like Stamper, would they be required to make him seem more sympathetic in the game than he'd been IRL?
@@epicglitter7218 I think what WilliamHella's trying to say is that this character feels somehow unrelated to the main story. Like why he was there? How he's gonna be connected to the story and if not at all, that was his purpose? The whole game seems to be not as good written as the previous season. Because you have to make a causally connected events to create a relatable story, which I can't say with one episode out won't come somewhere in next episodes, but these characters and events feel a little bit disconnected and random. Yeah, there were 1D charachters in the first season but you felt like they are gonna be somehow important at some moment and charachters like Hank just are propably not.
I really hope Dontnod sees this and take notes because you've made a lot of valid points and criticisms which I totally agree with, and problably along with most of the LIS community/fans. Great video as always.
Great video, but instead of talking about all my points of agreement, I'm going to put forward a possible point of disagreement. While Esteban's death may not have hit us as hard as Kate's [attempted] suicide, the scene was not about feeling bad for Esteban - it was about understanding Sean and Daniel lost a goo father just as Chloe's recollection of William was about how she lost a good father. I didn't really feel for William personally until we met him in the alternate reality in Ep4. But that was okay because the game was more about Chloe than him.
Yeah I was on the same line of thought for awhile. I think one way of looking at Estebans death is that it isn't about him entirely, but more about Sean and Daniel's life ending forever at that moment. Realizing that they'll never be able to go home and have a normal life. Maybe that's where most of the emotions is supposed to be driven from but even then, that's still spoiled by the premise of the actual game.
Damn dude, the editing in this video is so smooth and well done! Really blew me away. Not to mention the actual analysis. Excellent job, man. Makes me want to step up my game 😁
Whoo, your video is finally up! I've been looking forward to this :) Regarding the politics section, I thought it was a really interesting, more mature, and more objective approach that you took by focusing on Hank's lack of complexity as a character rather than argue whether the racism was "realistic" or not. The road trip aspect was what made me worry how Dontnod would handle side characters, and unfortunately I agree that both Brody and Hank weren't given enough screentime/background. This was a real treat to watch! The alternate camera angles were so cool and I loved how you analyzed the musical evolution throughout the episode. And of course, the bit about Daniel's thoughts made me laugh ("MINECRAFT YEAAAHH FUCK TREES AMIRITE"). Awesome job as always!
Glad to see you have another video up! This is a massive comment lol, but mostly wanted to say that even despite disagreements this was once again an excellent video! Gave me a lot to think about & I'm really grateful for your work! Many things we definitely agree on, e.g., visually gorgeous, good environmental storytelling, didn't trust Brody. I'm hoping that they'll go in a different direction with the in-game morality system and the mechanics of "your choices influence Daniel." My hope/theory is for four types of endings that will relate to Daniel using/not using powers to get both brothers out of a bad situation: 1) you taught Daniel to survive (e.g. obtain food if you're starving, by any means necessary) + you bonded closely with Daniel, 2) you taught him to survive but were distant , 3) you taught Daniel to uncritically follow rules even if it endangers him/you/both + you bonded, 4) you taught him to always follow rules + you were distant. To me, this would pleasantly upend players' expectations that, e.g. not-stealing is always the "good" option and stealing is "bad" and might cause closer consideration of how your perspective, priorities, and options change when you're homeless vs. when you're comfortably at home with a game controller in hand. I am strongly in favor of DONTNOD continuing to approach political issues (like taking a stance against racism & police violence) and think they did a great job with this episode, and it hit me very hard emotionally when Esteban was murdered. I had other issues and concerns with the episode (found fourth-wall-breaking at Arcadia Bay insulting and very un-LiS-like, for example), and don't think it'll outshine LiS1, but I am interested to see where the story goes and especially to see whether certain details in Roads (like that plane!) will prove to be foreshadowing...
Thanks for your thoughts! I have similar theories to how the relationship will work out with the end of the game as well. I think Dontnod could do something pretty interesting with the concept, along with showing us that our "bad" choices might in the not be "bad"in the end but good in ways that we just can't see right now.
I've been waiting for this video for so looong!!! AND I LOVED IT. Thank you for making an analysis of LIS2 EP1, the way you explain everything is amazing dude :D
Once again, you’ve made an amazing video! You really deserve more recognition! I more or less agree with everything you said, and I can’t wait for episode 2. I have to start paying more attention to the music of the episodes, I didn’t know they put an ‘evolving’ aspect to it, that’s so interesting!
Man does it pay off to be patient. Great thorough analysis on episode 1, and even though I disagree on your viewpoint of Hank and the stance on "If you're going to do politics, do it right or don't do it all.", I still appreciate you taking the time to comb through all the different details about the game, be it the minor details of the brother's hair length changing over time, or the major ones, such as the different choices available at the gas station. I think politics in any space is an important topic that really needs to be discussed, as it not only is an important topic, but one that can't really be ignored, as well as a complex and diverse subject that can't be handled with a simple right or wrong outlook. Think of all the labels and stereotypes people assert on to others without truly knowing anything about them. Politics has a hand in that. And regardless of how you feel about Brody, he is right about one thing: Everything is political.
Thank you! I'm glad it was worth it :) Pretty much agree with everything you said, I was going to expand a little more on the politics in general discussion in an earlier version of the script but just took it out in the end.
@@WilliamHella I gotcha. I'd imagine Dontnod will expand further on other characters who racially profile as the game progresses and they make their way further across the country over to Mexico. Perhaps that will give you a chance to expand further on the next episode's scripts? :) Will patiently be awaiting the next one.
I’m so ready for the rest of this game. I loved your analysis on the video, pretty much every positive and negative you listed were my viewpoints on the first episode.
Amazing video as always. I want to say how much I (and probably most of Your viewers) appreciate and love how You spend Your time recording videos and the effort you put to make it look the best it can, and absolutely honest, I have to admit Your editing skills are awesome! I also enjoy watching Your videos cause they are full of content I agree with and I love, the professionalism and the high quality of the vidoes. Plus Your voice is so pleasant and enjoyable! Also, when you've pointed out taking screenshots throughout the game I swear I've been taking screenshots throughout Your video as You've been showing the beauty of the LiS'2 environment.
I actually thought that after having watched your video I might have added a few more things but you almost mentioned everything. Very well structured and well explained, I like it. Keep on the good work :)
Nice video. It allowed me to see that there was even a deeper context in the opening sequence and changed some of my predispositions about the game. Although I mostly agree with almost all points raised therein. But perhaps I'm one of those who disagree with the "relatability" of the main protagonists. Sympathize maybe, but relate - not yet. Sadly I'm one of those demographics that do not have a younger brother to care for (so I find Daniel, a little bit annoying at times, when trying to place myself in Sean's difficult situation) and I find it hard to place myself in the shoes of a fugitive on the run. I think Sean lacked the degree of character development and build-up that unlike in the first episode of the 1st season allowed me to slip almost immediately into the persona of Max. Having to reestablish your relationship with an old best friend is much more relatable than becoming a fugitive with your younger brother. Also the part where Sean constantly has to lie to Daniel is somewhat kinda irritating to me, because if I were in Sean's position, I would have immediately told Sean as to what happened back in Seattle (which game-wise would be a game-ender as the story would already end there). It would have made better sense to also get the player invested to join in the lying for example, if Sean and Daniel would have encountered another homeless kid who spoke with Daniel about the kid losing their dad, and then Daniel (emotionally) would talk to Sean about the kid's sad experience stating that he could not imagine their lives without their Dad. Sean then, and by extension the player, would feel the need to continue the behavior of continue hiding the truth from Daniel. Also, I felt that the 1st episode of the 2nd season, really was barren in terms of side character interaction. The side characters in the 1st episode like you said in the video was mostly one dimensional (Brody for me was one dimensional too, as he merely presents himself as an antithesis to the racist dude). I get it that it focuses mainly on the brothers' relationship but it would not have hurt to add more side characters to make the world at least a little more alive like in the first game, picnickers perhaps in the picnic grounds sequence, some cars when walking down the road, etc. because for me.... what made LiS 1 great was the people in it - the protagonists, and all other human elements therein. (Side character interactions gave me a little bit of a break from a Chloe overload - in this game you can't get away from Daniel) Lastly, non-exhibition of Daniel's power as a playable game mechanic and merely a means of advancing the plot detracts from what established the 1st season to be different from those made by Telltale. I get that it was driven by the nature of the story, but still, LiS2 now becomes more of a visual novel than a game at least to my perspective. Also, that very power in case of E1S1 Max, allowed me to stay interested in the main protagonist through gameplay in the opening sequence until they introduced the story component (best friend angle) that allowed me to stay hooked. That's basically how I feel and see the game but I completely understand why people liked it. But for me, it just doesn't quite fill the shoes that the first episode of the first season established. Here's to my hopes that episode 2 would be more subjectively favorable to my tastes (without being detrimental to others who liked the first episode)
Thanks so much! I really like the points you made as well. Especially on the relatability and the side character interactions. Those are huge topics that I’d like to type out my own thoughts on but that’ll take forever right now so I’ll talk about these in a future video :)
Great work man. Thought i would check the first few mins of the video considering its length. But i ended up watching the whole thing. Very well made stuff!
Yes finally got to watch after a long day of work! i've got to say the editing and the writing fro this video was amazing!! i have to say your make so awesome videos. i didn't notice the music till i say this but you are right its ok and i want to see more of what they will do with it but i did love season ones music more. there is so much i agree with in these videos i can't list them all but you do really make people think about the game in different ways and its why we love you, keep making amazing videos :).
Great video! The wait was worth it for such an in-depth analysis of the game, I personally really enjoyed episode 1 and I'm really exited to see what will happen in episode 2.
Sorry, but topics like homelessness, gun abuse, police brutality, racial profiling, global warming suicide, mental health and the nation-wide depression that happened in November 2016 is not what I would call "politics". It's reality. Contemporary reality. And that we are now at a point where we want none of that in our entertainment is DEFINTELY a new development. And I think it's shocking. If people had always reacted like this to contemporary messages that artists put in their works, our culture would essentially be empty. Imagine the music from the 60's - some of the best that was ever made in my opinion - without messages about real life, about the issues that people faced and cared about during this time. That was celebrated. It was deep. But nowadays I feel like people would rather put their fingers into their ears and hum really loud. They complain about it being "forced" or "preachy" or "shoved down their throats". You can't have a woman do stuff in that movie! That's equality! Equality is politics! We don't want politics! Oh, this game implies that racists exist? But that's politics! None of that! And then we complain about pop-culture feeling empty, meaningless and uninspired.
You could compare Esteban’s death to Sarah from The Last Of Us: the shock and outrage of a little girl dying so early in the apocalyose, but also how it shapes Joel 20 years later. I feel like Esteban’s death was used as a way to give us a good picture on how it affects both brothers. First being Sean throughout the entire 1st episode, and then Daniel at the end and into episode 2.
@@WilliamHella I had a question .... literally everyone is talking about that life is strange 2 is not as good as life is strange 1 where my opinion lies that the creators might have something in their mind that they are doing....after all life is strange 1 was the biggest game that dontnod came up with....what is your opinion ??
Oh wow 50 minutes i didn't expect that. I really love the editing and other efforts you put into your videos, that is a thing that i love about them, there is so much detail in it just like in Captain Spirit / Life is Strange 2. I guess it is time to leave my opinion on Episode 1 down here: I do have to agree on some of the points you made throughout the video, if not all of them. Esteban's death for example happened way to soon to have an emotional impact on me, instead it left me wondering what just happened and why it happened as it felt a little bit forced and could have been avoided so easily. But without his death i guess the whole concept of the roadtrip wouldn't have made sense either so it needed to happen for the plot. While politics weren't a huge issue for me personally, especially in the first part of the game, i can understand why most people dislike the political themes in Life is Strange 2 as games are played for escapism by most people and having political themes thrown at you in games in a blatant way can break the atmosphere and ruin the game for many people who would rather not have to deal with it. So while it wasn't a big deal with me, Hank's behaviour was a little bit over the top so i totally understand people who didn't like that. Personally, my issue with Life is Strange 2 is the lack of supernatural elements that contribute to gameplay like in the first game. In Life is Strange you had the rewind mechanic and were able to use it in many different ways as Max to either solve puzzles, save someone etc. There were also all the other supernatural parts like Max getting visions, seeing spirit animals and so on which really made the gameplay and sequences interesting as you feel like you are in the middle and control of it. You witness it from the POV of the character that is given the supernatural power and it helps connect to the character you are playing as in my mind. In Life is Strange 2 you don't have that as the power isn't really given to you, aka the player to give you a new gameplay mechanic to make it more interesting and i don't relate to Sean the same way i relate to Max. While i love both Characters, i feel like the choice of giving that aspect to a 9 year old boy who is designed to be an artificial intelligence for what i assume most of the game just seems disappointing to me. My thoughts and feelings about this might change as Episode 2 gets released and we might get exactly what i think Episode 1 lacked so far compared to Season 1. Thanks for putting all that effort into your video William, i really enjoy watching these and listening to your thoughts. I am looking forward to what Episode 2 brings to the table and hope it is something good.
Hey thanks so much! Agree with a lot of what you said, especially the supernatural element, which I'm pretty sure will make a return in the next episode. Obviously it'l bee a lot different than the first season considering the power and who holds the power. But I'm really interested to see how they'll include it.
That's also what i've been wondering for a while now. I hope he will still post them soon but considering it's already been 5 years since the finale released...
very enjoyable to watch and listen thx a lot for the effort :) great point in time to reflect on ep 1, right before ep2 launches I know you have to cut the content somewhere but I'm impressed that you didn't mention the music on the motel's TV :O It might not have fit completely but it was such a great gimmick/easteregg and maybe it actually fit (make everything feel right one last time right before it actually falls apart) to let them watch hotdog man together anyways it made me watch that scene even longer, because I was wondering which track would come next
Thank you! And yeah I enjoyed that moment and the song as well but it didn't stand out to me personally. Can't wait to hear more music in future episodes though!
Hey man your channel is a treasure. Your videos are so in depth and thought through I just love them. You just get Life is Strange and what it’s so damn impactful. If you’re in need of original music for your channel, hit me up man.
Hey thanks so much! I've seen some of your videos in the past actually, loved your Dreams of William and Max and Chloe covers. Really great stuff. Will definitely keep you mind if I ever need some original music
I really think that in order to truly understand the message that this game is trying to send, we're gonna have to play all episodes and disect what each of them focused on. Just like in season 1 where the focus of the story drasctically changed from episode 3 since depending on the player's choices, Max can end up seeing Chloe as a love interest rather than just her best friend. Either way I think you did a great job portraying the first episode. Looking forward to what you'll have to say about the rest!
I've been waiting so long for this! It's been so long since I've found a channel where I just cannot wait for a new video to show up in my feed, and here it is, another great video. :) A agree on so many parts, and the music too. It's okay, but what I really liked was the song at the end of the episode. I am listening to it from time to time, and I really think it's great and fitting to the situation. (Have you ever been thinking about making a The Last of Us video?) Keep up the great work, already looking forward to the next video :D
Thank you! Regardless of my thoughts on the music in general, the track at the end and the track the plays when Sean and Daniel are sitting down are the ones I like the most :) I haven't thought about making videos for other games yet, but if I do TLOU would absolutely be one of them. Can't wait for Part II!
I still have a lot of questions, like... Why the hell policeman pointed a gun, but not a taser? Like, no one had a gun and no one was threatening anyone with the gun, so this part was kinda stupid for me. Btw, that is some hella good content! Keep it up!
Opinion: + Same great work on the major characters. The brotherhood dynamic is engaging. Daniel is precious. And, thankfully the main character's inner dialogue is good as ever. + Fantastic environmental details and art style. Also great improvements on graphics. + Making choices that affect Daniel's behavior is a very interesting gameplay mechanic. I really hope it will work out well later in the game. + The original soundtrack by Jonathan Morali is sooo great. I couldn't stop listening to it since playing ep1. - However, the licensed tracks felt unremarkable compared to obstacles, to all of you and santa Monica dream of S1E1. - The work on the secondary characters is surprisingly mediocre (except for Lyla) compared to S1. I really hope captain spirit's comeback will change that. ( and maybe a Lyla comeback ? ) - I am super into episodic release for life is strange. It's one of the reasons it made S1 great. Each ep gave players time to think, reflect and make theories. But the wait for this one is atrocious and it is so long that i catch myself forgetting or caring less about what happened in ep1. Ep2 has officially the longest wait period for release in a LIS game. - Political themes are clumsily tackled imo. Something that I loved about S1 is that its political and social themes were represented in a form of choices like euthanasia and other interesting scenarios. That encourages thoughtful conversations between players, asking each other what they chose and why they did so. S2 is politically biased right off the bat and it felt forced and not so subtle.
Great points! I'd say that personally I don't mind the wait. However long it takes, I just want a good episode. But I understand the frustration that comes with this.
Yup. Very, Very much worth it. I can definitly say its the best video ive seen all year and one of the best of 2018. This is some of your best work! 👏👏
Great job,and I agree episode 1 deffinetly got me interested to see where the story is headed. I really like Sean and Danielle so far,especially Daniel he's a cutie pie. I will say the incident at the gas station did take me by suprise, in the store I made sure to not steal anything and pay for the items I did get. So when the owner confronted us outside and asked if we stole anything I figured that was gonna be our"your actions will have consequences"moment if we did steal. So I thought I did the right thing,but that's not how it went even so I didn't steal the camping equipment either durring the escape. We'll see where that choice leads and I hope it was the right thing,I know I showed Daniel what was right at least. I can't wait for episode 2 and for Chris and Daniel to become buddies,playing super heroes,it's gonna be adorable.
Hey your new Video is already done? Jee that was fast ;) As always my friend, a real pleasure to watch. The editing is awesome btw. Do you think, you will love Season 2 as much as Season 1? Because i am not all that hyped i sadly need to say, but i hope it gets better. Oh and happy new year :)
I think you kinda misunderstand the point of Brody. You are supposed to not know whether or not you can trust him. Why else would the developers make him look at nude pictures the first time you see him? You are kinda left in the dark whether or not he really is an open-minded dude who's interested in people that are considered freaks... or just a creep. But eventually you are at a point in the story where it doesn't matter anymore. You say it's unreasonable for the kids to trust this guy and go into his car? Maybe, but reason doesn't really apply anymore when you are literally running for your life. So you have to take the chance and the game keeps you in a little bit of suspense whether or not Brody is really trustworthy. I think this worked really well, since I still wasn't sure whether he'd want to take advantage of the kids until I read his goodbye letter and realized that apperantly he was gone now and he was really a cool dude. Anyway you are supposed to not know whether you can trust him. Or anyone. Because this is the life of these kids now. That's the suspense of it.
Fair enough I guess, I think I'll need to see how Dontnod handle similar side characters like Brody in future episodes to really understand what they're trying to do in those situations.
As much as I was frustrated/disappointed in Before the Storm, they REALLY focused on the facial expressions/body language, and I think that was a big highlight. DontNod seems better at lighting and environments. But it was a NICE change of pace to see their character models/animation AND the environments evolved even further. Anyway, great video, loved exploring the highs and lows of this episode.
This was a well edited & put together video, I love it. I generally enjoy the first episode and agree with everything that was said especially with the politics. It either needs to be handled differently or kinda dialed down.
Thank you as always for the awesome content. You have a great eye for detail. For example I would have never seen that minor shadow bug. Well, nothing is perfect and maybe these minor things will be fixed with future patches. As for the main complaint: After I played LiS season one over a year ago with heavy spoilers, I've decided to avoid every trailer or preview about LiS before playing, except some spoiler-free reviews. Playing Before the Storm completely blind was a blast and even though the story has it's flaws, it still hit me like a ton of bricks. I don't know what Square Enix was thinking here but there might be a clash of marketing vs. player/user experience...or publisher/product-owner vs. developer...I'm a software developer myself and I know this conflict too damn well. About the politics...sensitive, highly subjective and often emotional (sadly) topic, especially in recent years. I've also read some comments about "politics should stay out of metal music" and stuff like that in the past. And I think this is bullsh%t. Art is and always was connected to politics in some way. And a video game like LiS is art. Even if some people rage about the exposed political themes, I don't think that it would be the right way to force yourself to make exclusively "whateverIsYourPoliticalOpinion-proof" art to possibly approach a wider audience and make more money. And I guess people who really enjoy games like Life is Strange are not too much on the conservative side anyway. That being said, LiS was also always something to think about, an experience that causes (or should cuase) self-reflection and thoughts about the world around you. And that makes a lot of sense with political topics. LiS2 is - by now - not a game that's mostly about politics, even if politics play a more important role than before. So no reason to freak out. I (as a European far left piece of sh%t) like it. But yeah the whole "Hank situation" or stuff in general escalates a little quickly, which makes it look a little artificial. Which leads me to the last of my notes I took while watching your video: About the flaws, especially in the characters: I can fully agree but like you said, I can still remember the reactions when LiS1 Episode 1 first launched...the opinions about that were pretty mixed...too many stereotypes, too boring, something for angsty high school girls blah blah blah. Nothing is perfect and after LiS1, the expections on season 2 are pretty damn high. I'm looking forward to the upcoming episodes. Again thanks for the video, can't wait for more!
Thank you so much! Agree with a lot of what you said. I originally had a bigger section dedicated to talk about politics in video games in general and basically it just said everything you said. That art is political, that politics has been in video games for ages just as it's in all media and that "I don't want politics in video games" is itself a political stance. But it didn't really fit the rest of the video so I just cut and rewrote a lot of it. Nice to know other people share the same views!
Thank you! And yeah that's something I've been wanting to mention since the first episode of Before the Storm came out but just never really had an opportunity to include it somewhere.
This video is so well made that I subscribed and I agree with many points in your video. However, I have to disagree with Brody’s analysis. During the gas station segment, I was completely on my guard not wanting to talk to anybody and when Daniel went to talk to Brody, I immediately interrupted. However, after the events with Hank, I was happy to see him in his car. While I do think going into his car under normal circumstances is a horrible idea, it seemed like we didn’t have any choice. When it turns out that he knows our past and is completely tustwrthy, it was like a breath of fresh air. That’s just my opinion though.
Thank you! And yeah I can see where you're coming from on Brody. On my first play through I went up to Brody and talked to him but I did discover in other playthroughs that Daniel can start talking to him and you can interrupt them. Or not even talk to Brody at all which becomes a bit strange later. So everyone can have a different introduction to him as a character and that may play apart in how you view him. But even then to me I wished we could've talk to him and learn a little more about him in the gas station.
You killed it again William, such an awesome analysis!! I love your style of videos so much, congrats on doing such awesome work with this one. I'm so interested in what you're saying, that it only feels like it's been 10 mins since I clicked on the thumbnail haha Okay, I wish I could discuss all of what you said but there's so much 😂 I didn't notice the little wolf icons changing depending on who the choice affects, that's really cool! For sure though the choices in the episode are more complex and there's more combinations of choices you can come up with, so I hope they have a good impact in future episodes. What you said about the music was really interesting, I didn't realise how they were evolving it as the episode goes on. I agree with you though, I'm not as keen on the music for this game so far because it does feel darker than the first game. But we know a lot of time is supposed to pass between now and the final episode. So hopefully (really hopefully 😂) by the end, or at least at some point, they'll be in happier states of mind and so the music could become a bit lighter and more nostalgic again? For sure Chris will make the story a bit lighter in the next episode and hopefully the shock of Esteban's death won't be as much of a feature. I agree again about their whole promotional situation, it doesn't really help when it's such a pivotal thing in the episode that's referenced so much. We've known about it for a while in the build up so it's not so much of a shock. With textures, for some reason I tend to prefer the textures from the first game and Before the Storm? They're still amazing in LiS 2 for sure. It might be mainly because of the facial expressions in BTS like you said, because to me they're very important in telling the story. Maybe I just love how simple but beautiful the first games were, or maybe it's a bit of nostalgia. I only played them for the first time this year but still idk 😂 With Brody and trusting him, I agree they trusted him a lot in the circumstances but at the same time I don't think they had much of a choice. Considering what had just happened they needed to get away asap, stay in the area and there'd be no time to rest, they'd probably get caught by Hank or the police. I feel a similar way about Sean running off from the scene of the police shooting. Idk whether realistically he would've decided to run, because it's making him out as guilty to the authorities. As much as they can't explain too well what happened, it seems a better option than trying to evade police on foot with Daniel and the game hinges on that. I mean he was in shock when it happened so he wouldn't be thinking clearly, but it does seem like handing yourself in would be a sensible thing to do even now. So I hope more side characters bring that up in future episodes, just so that they entertain the idea a bit better. But yeah the politics side of things too is a difficult one, because not wanting those topics in video games is perfectly understandable. But at the end of the day Life is Strange reflects life, so like in the first game I feel politics needs to be in there to some extent... after the way you've put it, I can see they need to definitely use more subtlety. I reckon seeing how they get powers involved again will be one of the most important things in episode 2, I really hope they come up with some really neat ways to make it relate to the story and the overall fun you can have in the game. I'm also really interested as to whether they've taken onboard the general reaction to episode 1? With the big gap between episodes they might have changed certain things. It's not exactly ideal for them to be waiting so long to release the second one, it kinda makes the season lose momentum a little and I kinda wonder why they didn't line up the release of episode 1 with Halloween, because the episode's also set around that time of year. But I'm hoping the season will only get better from now on, I'm really looking forward to it and your future videos too of course :) 💛💛
I'm sorry if i'm being rude, but when are you going to post in-dept videos on the next Life Is Strange 2 episodes? It's been 5 years and i would love to hear your opinions on the other episodes😅
Why do I feel like Hank will end up becoming like David in later episodes and Brody will become Mr Jefferson 🤔. Since the big rumor going around right now is Chris will becoming along with us on our adventure in episode 2, I just hope the final decision in this game won’t be deciding if we want to sacrifice Chris or sacrifice Daniel. I would probably just stop playing because I would refuse to choose.
I really like this video. Thank you for doing this. 🙂 But unfortunately I don't agree with you in a lot aspects. For example my biggest issue with episode 1 of LIS2 was completely different. LIS 1 begins with freaking stormy dream and this part plus part where you save Chloe empowered whole LIS1 for me. But I'm missing that in LIS2. LIS2 is currently just story. Good and narrative story, but just story. And I'm missing something more, something interesting, something... I believe you got the point here... Anyway thank you again for good video! 🙂 I'm really looking forward to episode 2 review once it come out! (And sorry for my English...)
I'm glad you like it. But as for me I'm done with Life is Strange 2. Ep1 made me not want to finish the story.. this is the people we meet, and Leave behind on a Road trip I don't see any of them coming back into the story which means there is no Connecting too or getting to know anyone for long.. some people say that one guy that gave both the kids a ride and set them up in a motel is a bad guy why he gone and possible not coming back. As much as they say LIS1 is continue going the same places meeting the same people at least we got to know them.
The fact that you’re “done with LiS2” over 1 episode is just really..dumb. I didn’t like Season 1 episode 1 AT ALL when it first released. It wasn’t until the later episodes came out that I actually began loving the game and I look back on Chrysalis fondly right now. I’m sorry but you being done with a game that is only 1/5 of it’s story is just silly.
@@mal3nko It is my choice how I feel about it. 1, it's a Travel to a place adventure game nothing more, nothing less. 2, So why should I care about anyone except the two boys? 3, Hance I'm Done. Do whatever.
Great commentary! I love your videos. My personal reaction to the political aspects were more positive though; as an American of color who lives in the Pacific Northwest, where these games take place, it was nice to be able to relate somewhat to what the characters went through. Since Trump won, many have been noticeably less concerned with concealing their own racist beliefs. I loved that the game portrayed this, despite knowing it would anger some. Complexity in characters is good, but I’m conflicted about making racist characters too sympathetic. In real life, that’s often what it’s like from the perspective of the person being harassed. Racism is in and of itself irrational. I’m looking forward to your thoughts on the rest of the game!
Thanks for sharing you perspective :) I do give credit to Dontnod for wanting to include these themes in the first place. I remember reading somewhere that Dan Houser, one of the two guys behind the Grand Theft Auto franchise was "relieved" that they weren't releasing GTA6 in the current political climate, which I think tells you something about how crazy things have gotten and how a lot of people are apprehensive at talking about and including politics in media, whereas Dontnod just dives head first into it. Pretty gutsy of them.
-i just done uploading a video and 1 notif poped up...yay! you're back, great video as always, but you forgot to mention 1 thing in common between LiS, BtS and LiS 2, yup...a dead father, what's up with that? seems like LiS series really hate a father figure, there is one alive but he's kinda dick (James Amber). -and about DONTNOD spoilling things, i dont understand to ppl who watched LiS 2 trailer and teaser but they still didnt take some money from the jar back at Sean's home, so weird, because if you took it, there will be no consequences and because they are going to need that money more than ever. -and how the heck did you noticed that 33:44 damn what a good eye -and lastly i have a question for you "do you think that sean was overeacting to the situation? (with running away)" because they are just kids and i think they will be fine because they are innocent . for me LiS S1 is still the best, i remember got excited when i play the first episode and it gave alot of mixed feelings until now, happy, sad, calm, cringy, fluff and alot of them, dont get me wrong i dont hate LiS 2 i like it and RDG did awesome as Daniel's VA, but the upgrades on LiS 2 you mentioned on the video still not enough for me, i like LiS 2 but not much and its just on ep.1 who knows maybe its going to get more interesting as the story progress, hehe
Thank you! I watched your Santa Monica Dream video which was really cool, nice job! And yeah, I was going to expand on this in the video but didn't because it was too convoluted to explain. The gameplay video also spoils the entire premise of getting party supplies. I'm not really thinking about the party, but more or less what's going to help me on my journey, which is not at all what Sean would think. Maybe this is an invalid complaint since the premise of the entire game would still spoil that scene anyway. But that also bothered me a bit. And to the overreacting question, no I don't think it was. I explained this a little further in another comment so I'll just copy paste what I said: People are not rational beings at all times, especially not in highly emotional situations and especially not when they’re 16. I think it’s completely believable that Sean would have a million things running through his head at the time, like the thought his father was dead, the thought he might go to prison for what happened with Brett, the thought that he would be separated from Daniel and the thought that his normal life was gone forever (or at least a very long time). He would absolutely be terrified of all of that, just like anyone would be. So he made the decision to run. Was it the best decision? Probably not, but again we’re not rational beings in these kinds of situations.
@@WilliamHella ah i see, now i remember reading that comment hahaha, and thanks my latest video is not that good (i think) it was just simple editing and camera manipulations but thank you for the kind words and cant wait for your next video, have a good day sir ^_^
YAY! Politics! Woo! My unironic favorite part of this review. I totally disagree with some of your conclusions (I think the racism is actually very well done and not any more political than anything in LIS) but that's because I think the justification that he saw them as criminals in the paper was enough for me. He's a racist but he's using other matters to justify it. Also, he chides Daniel for bringing Sean on this reckless trip.
First off, this is pretty good video, but I'm going to maybe disagree pretty strenuously with the idea that Hank should've been a multi-dimensional character as seen through Sean's eyes. Doing this might make Hank less one dimensional but it would also rob the player of the experience of how racism is experienced from the PoV of a victim of racism. I get the desire to have multidimensional characters, but it's really hard for me to believe Sean would explore that side of them in any believable way as the actual target of their spite. This is a way that being a minority and playing one as the protagonist isn't the same experience as the one faced by affluent white teen that gets to float above being the personal target of racist strangers. For instance, in Max's case the only people that target her are people she knows, and so she gets to explore the multi-dimensional facets of their characters, but it's not the same for racism - its involves being hit out of left field by strangers you'll never know and will never know you. Trying to make it into something like what Max experiences moves it further away from the actual experiences of people that have to deal with racism. I view attempts to turn racism as experienced through the eyes of its victims into a multi-dimensional, nuanced character building exercises as a way of making those experiences nothing like they are in real life - if Sean had explored this I'd understand the roots of Hank's racism more and the experiences of it's victims, Sean and Daniel, less. The world is full of games/journalism/books that explore the roots of racism and paint multi-dimensional pictures of racists, but games in particular almost never show racism through the eyes of it's victims - and that experience isn't one you understand by multi-dimensional character analysis of it's perpetrators. For instance harassing non-white teens outside stores and accusing them of shoplifting was a pretty common event when I was growing up in Texas - it happened often enough and it was blatantly obvious that the only criteria for these episodes was being Latino. None of the store security officers or clerks that did these things to my friends were multi-dimensional figures as experience by them - they were all, exactly like Hank, one dimensional racists. Some people suck, and when they're being racist assholes in the direction of my friends and peers, I'm not really that interested in learning about their multi-dimensional personalities - this is a privilege afforded people on the outside looking in, that isn't true for those on the inside experiencing it - and it's hard for me to see why Sean would want to see this part of Hank either. People like Hank are people to get away from and interact with as little as possible, not to be studied and understood, when they're actively targeting you. It's hard to examine the roots of racism and preserve the fidelity of the experience of it's victims with only one PoV, and adding another PoV almost always robs the experience of the first.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Always worth the wait. My favorite LIS Analysis channel.
Thank you
As so0meone who lives in the middle of nowhere, Hank actually is fairly realistic, there are some supremely one dimensional people out there just like that.
Totally, I have no doubt people like Hank exist and for the most part I like that Dontnod want to bring attention to that. I just think they could've gone about it in a much better way.
@@WilliamHella I respect and am interested in your opinions, but I feel very unclear about this criticism. Do you believe that every racist character must be balanced-out by proof of other motivations or more positive qualities to be sufficiently "complex"? Is it OK to have a character who is a racist villian without redeeming qualities, but their issue was simply not fleshing him out more? Like - what would a sufficiently "complex" racist villian look like, in your view? If this game had been created by a Chicano writing team who'd personally experienced violence at the hands of someone like Stamper, would they be required to make him seem more sympathetic in the game than he'd been IRL?
@@epicglitter7218 I think what WilliamHella's trying to say is that this character feels somehow unrelated to the main story. Like why he was there? How he's gonna be connected to the story and if not at all, that was his purpose?
The whole game seems to be not as good written as the previous season. Because you have to make a causally connected events to create a relatable story, which I can't say with one episode out won't come somewhere in next episodes, but these characters and events feel a little bit disconnected and random. Yeah, there were 1D charachters in the first season but you felt like they are gonna be somehow important at some moment and charachters like Hank just are propably not.
Your videos are like an event, there are no videos I look forward to like your Life is Strange ones, top notch work!
Thank you!
I really hope Dontnod sees this and take notes because you've made a lot of valid points and criticisms which I totally agree with, and problably along with most of the LIS community/fans. Great video as always.
Thank you so much!
Great video, but instead of talking about all my points of agreement, I'm going to put forward a possible point of disagreement.
While Esteban's death may not have hit us as hard as Kate's [attempted] suicide, the scene was not about feeling bad for Esteban - it was about understanding Sean and Daniel lost a goo father just as Chloe's recollection of William was about how she lost a good father. I didn't really feel for William personally until we met him in the alternate reality in Ep4. But that was okay because the game was more about Chloe than him.
Yeah I was on the same line of thought for awhile. I think one way of looking at Estebans death is that it isn't about him entirely, but more about Sean and Daniel's life ending forever at that moment. Realizing that they'll never be able to go home and have a normal life. Maybe that's where most of the emotions is supposed to be driven from but even then, that's still spoiled by the premise of the actual game.
Damn dude, the editing in this video is so smooth and well done! Really blew me away. Not to mention the actual analysis. Excellent job, man. Makes me want to step up my game 😁
Awesome video. Really enjoyed it as well as the points you made. PS the editing is awesome
Thanks :)
50 minutes, bruh :D
For all the time it took I had to make it worthwhile :)
@@WilliamHella I understand :) awesome, I'll watch it tonight.
Whoo, your video is finally up! I've been looking forward to this :)
Regarding the politics section, I thought it was a really interesting, more mature, and more objective approach that you took by focusing on Hank's lack of complexity as a character rather than argue whether the racism was "realistic" or not. The road trip aspect was what made me worry how Dontnod would handle side characters, and unfortunately I agree that both Brody and Hank weren't given enough screentime/background.
This was a real treat to watch! The alternate camera angles were so cool and I loved how you analyzed the musical evolution throughout the episode. And of course, the bit about Daniel's thoughts made me laugh ("MINECRAFT YEAAAHH FUCK TREES AMIRITE"). Awesome job as always!
Thank you! And yeah Im glad the political section came out the way it did.
Glad to see you have another video up! This is a massive comment lol, but mostly wanted to say that even despite disagreements this was once again an excellent video! Gave me a lot to think about & I'm really grateful for your work!
Many things we definitely agree on, e.g., visually gorgeous, good environmental storytelling, didn't trust Brody.
I'm hoping that they'll go in a different direction with the in-game morality system and the mechanics of "your choices influence Daniel." My hope/theory is for four types of endings that will relate to Daniel using/not using powers to get both brothers out of a bad situation: 1) you taught Daniel to survive (e.g. obtain food if you're starving, by any means necessary) + you bonded closely with Daniel, 2) you taught him to survive but were distant , 3) you taught Daniel to uncritically follow rules even if it endangers him/you/both + you bonded, 4) you taught him to always follow rules + you were distant.
To me, this would pleasantly upend players' expectations that, e.g. not-stealing is always the "good" option and stealing is "bad" and might cause closer consideration of how your perspective, priorities, and options change when you're homeless vs. when you're comfortably at home with a game controller in hand.
I am strongly in favor of DONTNOD continuing to approach political issues (like taking a stance against racism & police violence) and think they did a great job with this episode, and it hit me very hard emotionally when Esteban was murdered. I had other issues and concerns with the episode (found fourth-wall-breaking at Arcadia Bay insulting and very un-LiS-like, for example), and don't think it'll outshine LiS1, but I am interested to see where the story goes and especially to see whether certain details in Roads (like that plane!) will prove to be foreshadowing...
Thanks for your thoughts! I have similar theories to how the relationship will work out with the end of the game as well. I think Dontnod could do something pretty interesting with the concept, along with showing us that our "bad" choices might in the not be "bad"in the end but good in ways that we just can't see right now.
your videos never cease to amaze me, keep us posted!
Thanks so much!
Finally!!!!! Boi I missed you. But damn 4 months? Like the second episode release date LMAO also happy new year
Happy New Year! And yeah the wait on this video was ridiculously long. Will address soon :)
worth the wait tho
@@Afroskelett yeah, 49 minutes, I just noticed, that's really cool! It's almost several regular videos long!))
Omg! Glad youre back :,) i've been waiting for this since you announced it on twitter
I've been waiting on RUclips to process it FOREVER. But we got there in the end :)
I've been waiting for this video for so looong!!! AND I LOVED IT. Thank you for making an analysis of LIS2 EP1, the way you explain everything is amazing dude :D
Thanks so much! glad you liked it :)
Once again, you’ve made an amazing video! You really deserve more recognition! I more or less agree with everything you said, and I can’t wait for episode 2. I have to start paying more attention to the music of the episodes, I didn’t know they put an ‘evolving’ aspect to it, that’s so interesting!
Thank you! Can't wait for episode 2 either :)
@@WilliamHella Will you be posting a video on Episode 2 soon?
Man does it pay off to be patient. Great thorough analysis on episode 1, and even though I disagree on your viewpoint of Hank and the stance on "If you're going to do politics, do it right or don't do it all.", I still appreciate you taking the time to comb through all the different details about the game, be it the minor details of the brother's hair length changing over time, or the major ones, such as the different choices available at the gas station. I think politics in any space is an important topic that really needs to be discussed, as it not only is an important topic, but one that can't really be ignored, as well as a complex and diverse subject that can't be handled with a simple right or wrong outlook. Think of all the labels and stereotypes people assert on to others without truly knowing anything about them. Politics has a hand in that. And regardless of how you feel about Brody, he is right about one thing: Everything is political.
Thank you! I'm glad it was worth it :) Pretty much agree with everything you said, I was going to expand a little more on the politics in general discussion in an earlier version of the script but just took it out in the end.
@@WilliamHella I gotcha. I'd imagine Dontnod will expand further on other characters who racially profile as the game progresses and they make their way further across the country over to Mexico. Perhaps that will give you a chance to expand further on the next episode's scripts? :) Will patiently be awaiting the next one.
That's some top notch editing right there, loved it!
Thank you!
I love every video you make. Great job!
Thank you!
5:05 "I'm gonna skip that part" (Sean looks)
5:07 "And continue the story" (Sean continues walking)
Idk if that was intentional lol
I'll admit, sometimes moments like that are intentional. Sometime they're complete accidents, really cool accidents!
I’m so ready for the rest of this game. I loved your analysis on the video, pretty much every positive and negative you listed were my viewpoints on the first episode.
Amazing video as always. I want to say how much I (and probably most of Your viewers) appreciate and love how You spend Your time recording videos and the effort you put to make it look the best it can, and absolutely honest, I have to admit Your editing skills are awesome! I also enjoy watching Your videos cause they are full of content I agree with and I love, the professionalism and the high quality of the vidoes. Plus Your voice is so pleasant and enjoyable!
Also, when you've pointed out taking screenshots throughout the game I swear I've been taking screenshots throughout Your video as You've been showing the beauty of the LiS'2 environment.
Thanks for the kind words! Means a lot
I actually thought that after having watched your video I might have added a few more things but you almost mentioned everything. Very well structured and well explained, I like it. Keep on the good work :)
Thanks so much!
This might be the very best video essay on a game i've ever seen. Great job!
That means a lot, thanks
I am so happy to see you back just finnished rewatching one of your old videos before you sent this (:
Hey thanks! I hope you like the new one
I really bloody enjoyed this episode despite its short comings.
Me too!
I love your analysis, format, and style. Keep up the great work.
Thanks so much!
Nice video. It allowed me to see that there was even a deeper context in the opening sequence and changed some of my predispositions about the game. Although I mostly agree with almost all points raised therein.
But perhaps I'm one of those who disagree with the "relatability" of the main protagonists. Sympathize maybe, but relate - not yet. Sadly I'm one of those demographics that do not have a younger brother to care for (so I find Daniel, a little bit annoying at times, when trying to place myself in Sean's difficult situation) and I find it hard to place myself in the shoes of a fugitive on the run. I think Sean lacked the degree of character development and build-up that unlike in the first episode of the 1st season allowed me to slip almost immediately into the persona of Max. Having to reestablish your relationship with an old best friend is much more relatable than becoming a fugitive with your younger brother.
Also the part where Sean constantly has to lie to Daniel is somewhat kinda irritating to me, because if I were in Sean's position, I would have immediately told Sean as to what happened back in Seattle (which game-wise would be a game-ender as the story would already end there). It would have made better sense to also get the player invested to join in the lying for example, if Sean and Daniel would have encountered another homeless kid who spoke with Daniel about the kid losing their dad, and then Daniel (emotionally) would talk to Sean about the kid's sad experience stating that he could not imagine their lives without their Dad. Sean then, and by extension the player, would feel the need to continue the behavior of continue hiding the truth from Daniel.
Also, I felt that the 1st episode of the 2nd season, really was barren in terms of side character interaction. The side characters in the 1st episode like you said in the video was mostly one dimensional (Brody for me was one dimensional too, as he merely presents himself as an antithesis to the racist dude). I get it that it focuses mainly on the brothers' relationship but it would not have hurt to add more side characters to make the world at least a little more alive like in the first game, picnickers perhaps in the picnic grounds sequence, some cars when walking down the road, etc. because for me.... what made LiS 1 great was the people in it - the protagonists, and all other human elements therein. (Side character interactions gave me a little bit of a break from a Chloe overload - in this game you can't get away from Daniel)
Lastly, non-exhibition of Daniel's power as a playable game mechanic and merely a means of advancing the plot detracts from what established the 1st season to be different from those made by Telltale. I get that it was driven by the nature of the story, but still, LiS2 now becomes more of a visual novel than a game at least to my perspective. Also, that very power in case of E1S1 Max, allowed me to stay interested in the main protagonist through gameplay in the opening sequence until they introduced the story component (best friend angle) that allowed me to stay hooked.
That's basically how I feel and see the game but I completely understand why people liked it. But for me, it just doesn't quite fill the shoes that the first episode of the first season established. Here's to my hopes that episode 2 would be more subjectively favorable to my tastes (without being detrimental to others who liked the first episode)
Thanks so much! I really like the points you made as well. Especially on the relatability and the side character interactions. Those are huge topics that I’d like to type out my own thoughts on but that’ll take forever right now so I’ll talk about these in a future video :)
49 MIN OF YOU??? YAS! Heeeey you're back! Missed ya! Always look forward to your insightful content!!!
Hey thanks so much
Always excited to watch your new analysis and reviews! Thanks for your hard work I loved it, can’t wait for the rest!
Thank you!
Always love hearing your analysis and opinions on the Life is Strange series, great video!
Thanks!
Ohh man i missed this. :D Great Job, Well Said, Standing Ovation. We need more of this quality.
Thank you!
Great work man. Thought i would check the first few mins of the video considering its length. But i ended up watching the whole thing. Very well made stuff!
Thank you! Glad you liked it :)
Yes finally got to watch after a long day of work! i've got to say the editing and the writing fro this video was amazing!! i have to say your make so awesome videos. i didn't notice the music till i say this but you are right its ok and i want to see more of what they will do with it but i did love season ones music more. there is so much i agree with in these videos i can't list them all but you do really make people think about the game in different ways and its why we love you, keep making amazing videos :).
Thanks so much man! I'm glad you liked it :)
I can’t wait till the 2nd episode releases 😭
Me too!
You made my day! Thanks man. Great work. Keep what you doing, cos its awesome!!
I'm glad, thank you! :)
I will definitely see it after my studies.. ^^~
Thank you...
Great video!
The wait was worth it for such an in-depth analysis of the game, I personally really enjoyed episode 1 and I'm really exited to see what will happen in episode 2.
Thanks so much! Glad you liked it :) Can't wait for the next episode either.
Quality content :) thanks for the great work
Thanks so much
Sorry, but topics like homelessness, gun abuse, police brutality, racial profiling, global warming suicide, mental health and the nation-wide depression that happened in November 2016 is not what I would call "politics". It's reality. Contemporary reality. And that we are now at a point where we want none of that in our entertainment is DEFINTELY a new development. And I think it's shocking. If people had always reacted like this to contemporary messages that artists put in their works, our culture would essentially be empty. Imagine the music from the 60's - some of the best that was ever made in my opinion - without messages about real life, about the issues that people faced and cared about during this time. That was celebrated. It was deep. But nowadays I feel like people would rather put their fingers into their ears and hum really loud. They complain about it being "forced" or "preachy" or "shoved down their throats". You can't have a woman do stuff in that movie! That's equality! Equality is politics! We don't want politics! Oh, this game implies that racists exist? But that's politics! None of that!
And then we complain about pop-culture feeling empty, meaningless and uninspired.
You could compare Esteban’s death to Sarah from The Last Of Us: the shock and outrage of a little girl dying so early in the apocalyose, but also how it shapes Joel 20 years later. I feel like Esteban’s death was used as a way to give us a good picture on how it affects both brothers. First being Sean throughout the entire 1st episode, and then Daniel at the end and into episode 2.
That's a good observation! I really need to replay the last of us someday. I miss that game.
Happy new year and yaaa you are the coolest life is strange guy ever...
Thanks aha :)
@@WilliamHella I had a question .... literally everyone is talking about that life is strange 2 is not as good as life is strange 1 where my opinion lies that the creators might have something in their mind that they are doing....after all life is strange 1 was the biggest game that dontnod came up with....what is your opinion ??
Wooow! Finally!!!))) Glad you made it! Happy new year, and keep it going!))
Thanks! Happy new year :)
4k resolution for a 50 minute video...
I'm in love with your computer.
Oh wow 50 minutes i didn't expect that. I really love the editing and other efforts you put into your videos, that is a thing that i love about them, there is so much detail in it just like in Captain Spirit / Life is Strange 2. I guess it is time to leave my opinion on Episode 1 down here:
I do have to agree on some of the points you made throughout the video, if not all of them. Esteban's death for example happened way to soon to have an emotional impact on me, instead it left me wondering what just happened and why it happened as it felt a little bit forced and could have been avoided so easily. But without his death i guess the whole concept of the roadtrip wouldn't have made sense either so it needed to happen for the plot.
While politics weren't a huge issue for me personally, especially in the first part of the game, i can understand why most people dislike the political themes in Life is Strange 2 as games are played for escapism by most people and having political themes thrown at you in games in a blatant way can break the atmosphere and ruin the game for many people who would rather not have to deal with it. So while it wasn't a big deal with me, Hank's behaviour was a little bit over the top so i totally understand people who didn't like that.
Personally, my issue with Life is Strange 2 is the lack of supernatural elements that contribute to gameplay like in the first game. In Life is Strange you had the rewind mechanic and were able to use it in many different ways as Max to either solve puzzles, save someone etc. There were also all the other supernatural parts like Max getting visions, seeing spirit animals and so on which really made the gameplay and sequences interesting as you feel like you are in the middle and control of it. You witness it from the POV of the character that is given the supernatural power and it helps connect to the character you are playing as in my mind.
In Life is Strange 2 you don't have that as the power isn't really given to you, aka the player to give you a new gameplay mechanic to make it more interesting and i don't relate to Sean the same way i relate to Max. While i love both Characters, i feel like the choice of giving that aspect to a 9 year old boy who is designed to be an artificial intelligence for what i assume most of the game just seems disappointing to me. My thoughts and feelings about this might change as Episode 2 gets released and we might get exactly what i think Episode 1 lacked so far compared to Season 1.
Thanks for putting all that effort into your video William, i really enjoy watching these and listening to your thoughts. I am looking forward to what Episode 2 brings to the table and hope it is something good.
Hey thanks so much! Agree with a lot of what you said, especially the supernatural element, which I'm pretty sure will make a return in the next episode. Obviously it'l bee a lot different than the first season considering the power and who holds the power. But I'm really interested to see how they'll include it.
Where are the videos of the episodes 2 and 3? :(
That's also what i've been wondering for a while now. I hope he will still post them soon but considering it's already been 5 years since the finale released...
very enjoyable to watch and listen
thx a lot for the effort :)
great point in time to reflect on ep 1, right before ep2 launches
I know you have to cut the content somewhere but I'm impressed that you didn't mention the music on the motel's TV :O
It might not have fit completely but it was such a great gimmick/easteregg and maybe it actually fit (make everything feel right one last time right before it actually falls apart) to let them watch hotdog man together
anyways it made me watch that scene even longer, because I was wondering which track would come next
Thank you! And yeah I enjoyed that moment and the song as well but it didn't stand out to me personally. Can't wait to hear more music in future episodes though!
@@WilliamHella there were several songs on the tv, but yeah ^^
Can't wait either :)
Love this kind of videos by you. I learned new things about the game. Thank you for that!
Thanks! I'm glad it did that :)
Hey man your channel is a treasure. Your videos are so in depth and thought through I just love them. You just get Life is Strange and what it’s so damn impactful. If you’re in need of original music for your channel, hit me up man.
Hey thanks so much! I've seen some of your videos in the past actually, loved your Dreams of William and Max and Chloe covers. Really great stuff. Will definitely keep you mind if I ever need some original music
I really liked this game, im really looking forward to Episode 2.
Bae > Bay. :3
@@Myrskylintu yeess :3
Me too!
@@WilliamHella thanks 4 the heart
I love you chloe. Bae over bay forever
very very good video William :)
really good work, thank you
Thank you!
amazing work William you never disappoint
Thank you
I really think that in order to truly understand the message that this game is trying to send, we're gonna have to play all episodes and disect what each of them focused on. Just like in season 1 where the focus of the story drasctically changed from episode 3 since depending on the player's choices, Max can end up seeing Chloe as a love interest rather than just her best friend.
Either way I think you did a great job portraying the first episode.
Looking forward to what you'll have to say about the rest!
Thanks so much! Absolutely agree with needing to wait for the rest of season.
I've been waiting so long for this! It's been so long since I've found a channel where I just cannot wait for a new video to show up in my feed, and here it is, another great video. :)
A agree on so many parts, and the music too. It's okay, but what I really liked was the song at the end of the episode. I am listening to it from time to time, and I really think it's great and fitting to the situation.
(Have you ever been thinking about making a The Last of Us video?)
Keep up the great work, already looking forward to the next video :D
Thank you! Regardless of my thoughts on the music in general, the track at the end and the track the plays when Sean and Daniel are sitting down are the ones I like the most :)
I haven't thought about making videos for other games yet, but if I do TLOU would absolutely be one of them. Can't wait for Part II!
I still have a lot of questions, like... Why the hell policeman pointed a gun, but not a taser? Like, no one had a gun and no one was threatening anyone with the gun, so this part was kinda stupid for me.
Btw, that is some hella good content! Keep it up!
Thanks!
Amazingly well made video, I love it!
Thank you!
Opinion:
+ Same great work on the major characters. The brotherhood dynamic is engaging. Daniel is precious. And, thankfully the main character's inner dialogue is good as ever.
+ Fantastic environmental details and art style. Also great improvements on graphics.
+ Making choices that affect Daniel's behavior is a very interesting gameplay mechanic. I really hope it will work out well later in the game.
+ The original soundtrack by Jonathan Morali is sooo great. I couldn't stop listening to it since playing ep1.
- However, the licensed tracks felt unremarkable compared to obstacles, to all of you and santa Monica dream of S1E1.
- The work on the secondary characters is surprisingly mediocre (except for Lyla) compared to S1. I really hope captain spirit's comeback will change that. ( and maybe a Lyla comeback ? )
- I am super into episodic release for life is strange. It's one of the reasons it made S1 great. Each ep gave players time to think, reflect and make theories. But the wait for this one is atrocious and it is so long that i catch myself forgetting or caring less about what happened in ep1. Ep2 has officially the longest wait period for release in a LIS game.
- Political themes are clumsily tackled imo. Something that I loved about S1 is that its political and social themes were represented in a form of choices like euthanasia and other interesting scenarios. That encourages thoughtful conversations between players, asking each other what they chose and why they did so. S2 is politically biased right off the bat and it felt forced and not so subtle.
Great points! I'd say that personally I don't mind the wait. However long it takes, I just want a good episode. But I understand the frustration that comes with this.
Finally I can't believe it, I thought you stopped with RUclips.
No way! This video just took forever to make :)
WilliamHella I‘m half way through it, it‘s amazing so far you‘ve done a good job :) I will Write an in depht comment when I‘ve finished the whole vid.
Very nice made vid once again William :) finally got the time to watch it haha
Thank you :)
Damn this is a big one. Looks like worth the wait! Cya in 45 min
Yup. Very, Very much worth it. I can definitly say its the best video ive seen all year and one of the best of 2018. This is some of your best work! 👏👏
Thank you so much Rasmus! Means a lot :)
Great job,and I agree episode 1 deffinetly got me interested to see where the story is headed. I really like Sean and Danielle so far,especially Daniel he's a cutie pie. I will say the incident at the gas station did take me by suprise, in the store I made sure to not steal anything and pay for the items I did get. So when the owner confronted us outside and asked if we stole anything I figured that was gonna be our"your actions will have consequences"moment if we did steal. So I thought I did the right thing,but that's not how it went even so I didn't steal the camping equipment either durring the escape. We'll see where that choice leads and I hope it was the right thing,I know I showed Daniel what was right at least. I can't wait for episode 2 and for Chris and Daniel to become buddies,playing super heroes,it's gonna be adorable.
Thanks! Also can't wait for Episode 2 :)
Hey your new Video is already done? Jee that was fast ;)
As always my friend, a real pleasure to watch. The editing is awesome btw.
Do you think, you will love Season 2 as much as Season 1? Because i am not all that hyped i sadly need to say, but i hope it gets better.
Oh and happy new year :)
Thanks so much
I think you kinda misunderstand the point of Brody. You are supposed to not know whether or not you can trust him. Why else would the developers make him look at nude pictures the first time you see him? You are kinda left in the dark whether or not he really is an open-minded dude who's interested in people that are considered freaks... or just a creep. But eventually you are at a point in the story where it doesn't matter anymore. You say it's unreasonable for the kids to trust this guy and go into his car? Maybe, but reason doesn't really apply anymore when you are literally running for your life. So you have to take the chance and the game keeps you in a little bit of suspense whether or not Brody is really trustworthy. I think this worked really well, since I still wasn't sure whether he'd want to take advantage of the kids until I read his goodbye letter and realized that apperantly he was gone now and he was really a cool dude. Anyway you are supposed to not know whether you can trust him. Or anyone. Because this is the life of these kids now. That's the suspense of it.
Fair enough I guess, I think I'll need to see how Dontnod handle similar side characters like Brody in future episodes to really understand what they're trying to do in those situations.
I missed your videos my dude!!!
I missed uploading video regularly! Hope you enjoy this one :)
midnight driving through the bayyyyyy to spend some time on the road
Coming up and I wish I could stayyyyyy, I've been sleeping alone
Such a good song :)
@@NiallJ I agree plus Brody was awesome gonna miss him 😖
@@thehyperionjanitor747 He was, hopefully he'll come back! He mentioned his blog so I'm pretty sure we'll be at least hearing from him again soon :)
@@NiallJ hopefully :D I'm so hyped for episode 2!
@@thehyperionjanitor747 Me too, I can't wait!!
As much as I was frustrated/disappointed in Before the Storm, they REALLY focused on the facial expressions/body language, and I think that was a big highlight. DontNod seems better at lighting and environments. But it was a NICE change of pace to see their character models/animation AND the environments evolved even further. Anyway, great video, loved exploring the highs and lows of this episode.
Thanks so much! Hopefully D9 might give DN some tips in the animation department.
9:33 Evil Daniel LOL . Btw i love this video ;)
This was a well edited & put together video, I love it. I generally enjoy the first episode and agree with everything that was said especially with the politics. It either needs to be handled differently or kinda dialed down.
Thank you!
Thank you as always for the awesome content. You have a great eye for detail. For example I would have never seen that minor shadow bug. Well, nothing is perfect and maybe these minor things will be fixed with future patches. As for the main complaint: After I played LiS season one over a year ago with heavy spoilers, I've decided to avoid every trailer or preview about LiS before playing, except some spoiler-free reviews. Playing Before the Storm completely blind was a blast and even though the story has it's flaws, it still hit me like a ton of bricks. I don't know what Square Enix was thinking here but there might be a clash of marketing vs. player/user experience...or publisher/product-owner vs. developer...I'm a software developer myself and I know this conflict too damn well.
About the politics...sensitive, highly subjective and often emotional (sadly) topic, especially in recent years. I've also read some comments about "politics should stay out of metal music" and stuff like that in the past. And I think this is bullsh%t. Art is and always was connected to politics in some way. And a video game like LiS is art. Even if some people rage about the exposed political themes, I don't think that it would be the right way to force yourself to make exclusively "whateverIsYourPoliticalOpinion-proof" art to possibly approach a wider audience and make more money. And I guess people who really enjoy games like Life is Strange are not too much on the conservative side anyway. That being said, LiS was also always something to think about, an experience that causes (or should cuase) self-reflection and thoughts about the world around you. And that makes a lot of sense with political topics. LiS2 is - by now - not a game that's mostly about politics, even if politics play a more important role than before. So no reason to freak out. I (as a European far left piece of sh%t) like it. But yeah the whole "Hank situation" or stuff in general escalates a little quickly, which makes it look a little artificial. Which leads me to the last of my notes I took while watching your video:
About the flaws, especially in the characters: I can fully agree but like you said, I can still remember the reactions when LiS1 Episode 1 first launched...the opinions about that were pretty mixed...too many stereotypes, too boring, something for angsty high school girls blah blah blah. Nothing is perfect and after LiS1, the expections on season 2 are pretty damn high. I'm looking forward to the upcoming episodes. Again thanks for the video, can't wait for more!
Thank you so much! Agree with a lot of what you said. I originally had a bigger section dedicated to talk about politics in video games in general and basically it just said everything you said. That art is political, that politics has been in video games for ages just as it's in all media and that "I don't want politics in video games" is itself a political stance. But it didn't really fit the rest of the video so I just cut and rewrote a lot of it. Nice to know other people share the same views!
So about episode 3 on BTS?
Still on the backburner, not sure when I'll come back to it.
@@WilliamHella Looks like you've developed a toxic relationship with it ;)
Great video as usual. It's cool that you pointed out the marketing of square enix and how it kinda ruined moments of the episode
Thank you! And yeah that's something I've been wanting to mention since the first episode of Before the Storm came out but just never really had an opportunity to include it somewhere.
@@WilliamHella yeah though honestly i think with bts it was a total desastre how the spoiled everything
yeah this is a great video, i really agree with everything you said. And the beckground looks really cool.
Thanks so much :)
Its allmost been a year since you uppladed are you ok?
William is back
Back again 👍👍👍
This video is so well made that I subscribed and I agree with many points in your video. However, I have to disagree with Brody’s analysis. During the gas station segment, I was completely on my guard not wanting to talk to anybody and when Daniel went to talk to Brody, I immediately interrupted. However, after the events with Hank, I was happy to see him in his car. While I do think going into his car under normal circumstances is a horrible idea, it seemed like we didn’t have any choice. When it turns out that he knows our past and is completely tustwrthy, it was like a breath of fresh air. That’s just my opinion though.
Thank you! And yeah I can see where you're coming from on Brody. On my first play through I went up to Brody and talked to him but I did discover in other playthroughs that Daniel can start talking to him and you can interrupt them. Or not even talk to Brody at all which becomes a bit strange later. So everyone can have a different introduction to him as a character and that may play apart in how you view him. But even then to me I wished we could've talk to him and learn a little more about him in the gas station.
BtS facial animation is only better in set moments. Overall S2 is better.
You killed it again William, such an awesome analysis!! I love your style of videos so much, congrats on doing such awesome work with this one. I'm so interested in what you're saying, that it only feels like it's been 10 mins since I clicked on the thumbnail haha
Okay, I wish I could discuss all of what you said but there's so much 😂
I didn't notice the little wolf icons changing depending on who the choice affects, that's really cool! For sure though the choices in the episode are more complex and there's more combinations of choices you can come up with, so I hope they have a good impact in future episodes.
What you said about the music was really interesting, I didn't realise how they were evolving it as the episode goes on. I agree with you though, I'm not as keen on the music for this game so far because it does feel darker than the first game. But we know a lot of time is supposed to pass between now and the final episode. So hopefully (really hopefully 😂) by the end, or at least at some point, they'll be in happier states of mind and so the music could become a bit lighter and more nostalgic again?
For sure Chris will make the story a bit lighter in the next episode and hopefully the shock of Esteban's death won't be as much of a feature. I agree again about their whole promotional situation, it doesn't really help when it's such a pivotal thing in the episode that's referenced so much. We've known about it for a while in the build up so it's not so much of a shock.
With textures, for some reason I tend to prefer the textures from the first game and Before the Storm? They're still amazing in LiS 2 for sure. It might be mainly because of the facial expressions in BTS like you said, because to me they're very important in telling the story. Maybe I just love how simple but beautiful the first games were, or maybe it's a bit of nostalgia. I only played them for the first time this year but still idk 😂
With Brody and trusting him, I agree they trusted him a lot in the circumstances but at the same time I don't think they had much of a choice. Considering what had just happened they needed to get away asap, stay in the area and there'd be no time to rest, they'd probably get caught by Hank or the police.
I feel a similar way about Sean running off from the scene of the police shooting. Idk whether realistically he would've decided to run, because it's making him out as guilty to the authorities. As much as they can't explain too well what happened, it seems a better option than trying to evade police on foot with Daniel and the game hinges on that. I mean he was in shock when it happened so he wouldn't be thinking clearly, but it does seem like handing yourself in would be a sensible thing to do even now. So I hope more side characters bring that up in future episodes, just so that they entertain the idea a bit better.
But yeah the politics side of things too is a difficult one, because not wanting those topics in video games is perfectly understandable. But at the end of the day Life is Strange reflects life, so like in the first game I feel politics needs to be in there to some extent... after the way you've put it, I can see they need to definitely use more subtlety.
I reckon seeing how they get powers involved again will be one of the most important things in episode 2, I really hope they come up with some really neat ways to make it relate to the story and the overall fun you can have in the game.
I'm also really interested as to whether they've taken onboard the general reaction to episode 1? With the big gap between episodes they might have changed certain things. It's not exactly ideal for them to be waiting so long to release the second one, it kinda makes the season lose momentum a little and I kinda wonder why they didn't line up the release of episode 1 with Halloween, because the episode's also set around that time of year.
But I'm hoping the season will only get better from now on, I'm really looking forward to it and your future videos too of course :) 💛💛
No worries, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I'm sorry if i'm being rude, but when are you going to post in-dept videos on the next Life Is Strange 2 episodes? It's been 5 years and i would love to hear your opinions on the other episodes😅
Hey bro I missed you!!
Thanks my dude
@@WilliamHella alright happy new Year
Brett is the reason it escalated to where it did
I'd say Sean also had a hand in escalating the situation as well, especially depending on your choices.
I just mean that brett made something out of nothing
He could have just walked away and put his clothes in laundry like a normal person 😂
He was like 20 ft from his house
@@WilliamHella wrong.
Why do I feel like Hank will end up becoming like David in later episodes and Brody will become Mr Jefferson 🤔. Since the big rumor going around right now is Chris will becoming along with us on our adventure in episode 2, I just hope the final decision in this game won’t be deciding if we want to sacrifice Chris or sacrifice Daniel. I would probably just stop playing because I would refuse to choose.
Really like your videos. Keep it up even if it isn't LIS
Nice vid bro!
I really like this video. Thank you for doing this. 🙂
But unfortunately I don't agree with you in a lot aspects.
For example my biggest issue with episode 1 of LIS2 was completely different. LIS 1 begins with freaking stormy dream and this part plus part where you save Chloe empowered whole LIS1 for me. But I'm missing that in LIS2. LIS2 is currently just story. Good and narrative story, but just story. And I'm missing something more, something interesting, something... I believe you got the point here...
Anyway thank you again for good video! 🙂
I'm really looking forward to episode 2 review once it come out!
(And sorry for my English...)
Thanks! I get it's very different, but I think it makes up for it in a lot of ways as well :)
so excited to watch this!
I'm glad you like it. But as for me I'm done with Life is Strange 2. Ep1 made me not want to finish the story.. this is the people we meet, and Leave behind on a Road trip I don't see any of them coming back into the story which means there is no Connecting too or getting to know anyone for long.. some people say that one guy that gave both the kids a ride and set them up in a motel is a bad guy why he gone and possible not coming back. As much as they say LIS1 is continue going the same places meeting the same people at least we got to know them.
The fact that you’re “done with LiS2” over 1 episode is just really..dumb. I didn’t like Season 1 episode 1 AT ALL when it first released. It wasn’t until the later episodes came out that I actually began loving the game and I look back on Chrysalis fondly right now. I’m sorry but you being done with a game that is only 1/5 of it’s story is just silly.
@@mal3nko It is my choice how I feel about it. 1, it's a Travel to a place adventure game nothing more, nothing less. 2, So why should I care about anyone except the two boys? 3, Hance I'm Done. Do whatever.
Fair enough you didn’t want to finish LiS2 but I personally think you missed out on this awesome journey of a game.
Great commentary! I love your videos. My personal reaction to the political aspects were more positive though; as an American of color who lives in the Pacific Northwest, where these games take place, it was nice to be able to relate somewhat to what the characters went through. Since Trump won, many have been noticeably less concerned with concealing their own racist beliefs. I loved that the game portrayed this, despite knowing it would anger some. Complexity in characters is good, but I’m conflicted about making racist characters too sympathetic. In real life, that’s often what it’s like from the perspective of the person being harassed. Racism is in and of itself irrational.
I’m looking forward to your thoughts on the rest of the game!
Thanks for sharing you perspective :) I do give credit to Dontnod for wanting to include these themes in the first place. I remember reading somewhere that Dan Houser, one of the two guys behind the Grand Theft Auto franchise was "relieved" that they weren't releasing GTA6 in the current political climate, which I think tells you something about how crazy things have gotten and how a lot of people are apprehensive at talking about and including politics in media, whereas Dontnod just dives head first into it. Pretty gutsy of them.
Worth the wait!
Awesome!
When exactly is the second episode coming ?
January 24 :)
Omg... I have not played it yet...…. Conflict of interest of watching b4 or playing b4
I spoil basically everything in this video, so play it first if you're interested in it!
-i just done uploading a video and 1 notif poped up...yay! you're back, great video as always, but you forgot to mention 1 thing in common between LiS, BtS and LiS 2, yup...a dead father, what's up with that? seems like LiS series really hate a father figure, there is one alive but he's kinda dick (James Amber).
-and about DONTNOD spoilling things, i dont understand to ppl who watched LiS 2 trailer and teaser but they still didnt take some money from the jar back at Sean's home, so weird, because if you took it, there will be no consequences and because they are going to need that money more than ever.
-and how the heck did you noticed that 33:44 damn what a good eye
-and lastly i have a question for you "do you think that sean was overeacting to the situation? (with running away)" because they are just kids and i think they will be fine because they are innocent
.
for me LiS S1 is still the best, i remember got excited when i play the first episode and it gave alot of mixed feelings until now, happy, sad, calm, cringy, fluff and alot of them, dont get me wrong i dont hate LiS 2 i like it and RDG did awesome as Daniel's VA, but the upgrades on LiS 2 you mentioned on the video still not enough for me, i like LiS 2 but not much and its just on ep.1 who knows maybe its going to get more interesting as the story progress, hehe
Thank you! I watched your Santa Monica Dream video which was really cool, nice job!
And yeah, I was going to expand on this in the video but didn't because it was too convoluted to explain. The gameplay video also spoils the entire premise of getting party supplies. I'm not really thinking about the party, but more or less what's going to help me on my journey, which is not at all what Sean would think. Maybe this is an invalid complaint since the premise of the entire game would still spoil that scene anyway. But that also bothered me a bit.
And to the overreacting question, no I don't think it was. I explained this a little further in another comment so I'll just copy paste what I said:
People are not rational beings at all times, especially not in highly emotional situations and especially not when they’re 16. I think it’s completely believable that Sean would have a million things running through his head at the time, like the thought his father was dead, the thought he might go to prison for what happened with Brett, the thought that he would be separated from Daniel and the thought that his normal life was gone forever (or at least a very long time). He would absolutely be terrified of all of that, just like anyone would be. So he made the decision to run. Was it the best decision? Probably not, but again we’re not rational beings in these kinds of situations.
@@WilliamHella ah i see, now i remember reading that comment hahaha, and thanks my latest video is not that good (i think) it was just simple editing and camera manipulations but thank you for the kind words and cant wait for your next video, have a good day sir ^_^
eta on the e2 vid? wanna hear you tear it apart
No ETA at the moment, had to step away from youtube for a bit unfortunately. But you'll hear me talk about it eventually :)
@@WilliamHellaI hope you are doing well and i hope to hear you talk about it soon. Your videos are great!
Holy moly
I loved this video but you should move a little farther from the Mic.
Thanks, I always suck at judging how far I should be from the mic. Should be an improvement in the next video :)
So cant hank get arrested for hurting a minor?
I found the spoiler by the developers really sad :(
FINNALY!!!!!!!!! 😭😂😊🙃
He riSeS!👌👌👌
YAY! Politics! Woo! My unironic favorite part of this review. I totally disagree with some of your conclusions (I think the racism is actually very well done and not any more political than anything in LIS) but that's because I think the justification that he saw them as criminals in the paper was enough for me. He's a racist but he's using other matters to justify it. Also, he chides Daniel for bringing Sean on this reckless trip.
Hey
Hey Chloe!
First off, this is pretty good video, but I'm going to maybe disagree pretty strenuously with the idea that Hank should've been a multi-dimensional character as seen through Sean's eyes. Doing this might make Hank less one dimensional but it would also rob the player of the experience of how racism is experienced from the PoV of a victim of racism.
I get the desire to have multidimensional characters, but it's really hard for me to believe Sean would explore that side of them in any believable way as the actual target of their spite. This is a way that being a minority and playing one as the protagonist isn't the same experience as the one faced by affluent white teen that gets to float above being the personal target of racist strangers. For instance, in Max's case the only people that target her are people she knows, and so she gets to explore the multi-dimensional facets of their characters, but it's not the same for racism - its involves being hit out of left field by strangers you'll never know and will never know you. Trying to make it into something like what Max experiences moves it further away from the actual experiences of people that have to deal with racism. I view attempts to turn racism as experienced through the eyes of its victims into a multi-dimensional, nuanced character building exercises as a way of making those experiences nothing like they are in real life - if Sean had explored this I'd understand the roots of Hank's racism more and the experiences of it's victims, Sean and Daniel, less. The world is full of games/journalism/books that explore the roots of racism and paint multi-dimensional pictures of racists, but games in particular almost never show racism through the eyes of it's victims - and that experience isn't one you understand by multi-dimensional character analysis of it's perpetrators.
For instance harassing non-white teens outside stores and accusing them of shoplifting was a pretty common event when I was growing up in Texas - it happened often enough and it was blatantly obvious that the only criteria for these episodes was being Latino. None of the store security officers or clerks that did these things to my friends were multi-dimensional figures as experience by them - they were all, exactly like Hank, one dimensional racists. Some people suck, and when they're being racist assholes in the direction of my friends and peers, I'm not really that interested in learning about their multi-dimensional personalities - this is a privilege afforded people on the outside looking in, that isn't true for those on the inside experiencing it - and it's hard for me to see why Sean would want to see this part of Hank either. People like Hank are people to get away from and interact with as little as possible, not to be studied and understood, when they're actively targeting you. It's hard to examine the roots of racism and preserve the fidelity of the experience of it's victims with only one PoV, and adding another PoV almost always robs the experience of the first.