Life is Strange: Before the Storm wound up being one of my favorite surprises of 2018, and now Deck Nine Games’ surprisingly great adventure game is finally wrapping up with the release of its bonus episode: Farewell. Unlike the rest of the prequel, which starred Chloe Price as she started to lean into becoming a rebel, this takes place in a much more innocent time that has her hanging out with the first game’s protagonist, Max Caulfield.
The bonus episode trades in the life-or-death drama for some pirate shenanigans, as Max and Chloe discover that they had previously buried a time capsule when they were eight. This leads to players having to figure out their own pirate puzzle (which involves going into the terrifying Price attic), and it’s just a fun framework for the entire episode. It’s only fitting that such a bonus that relies heavily on nostalgia, would also feature longing for the past as a theme. Beyond the pirate backdrop, Farewell also provides a pivotal moment in both Chloe and Max’s lives since it takes place right before Max moves to Seattle. It’s a telling look at the moments where their childhoods began to end, and their shift to adulthood took place. It all ends with a scene that players of the first season are familiar with due to its own flashbacks, and that means there isn’t much of a happy ending to hope out for. There’s no rewriting history here, and both characters have to go through some personal str...