I really couldn't be happier with what we've been given. Deck Nine gets Life is Strange, but more than that, it capitalizes on the material to make it even better. By the end of this first episode, I was not only awe-struck, but a little misty. Completely blown away by the sheer quantity (four hours!) and quality of this first episode, I absolutely cannot wait for the next two installments in this three-episode series. I may know what's going to happen, but it's all about the details. This is more than a love letter — it's a brewing tempest of adolescent insight.

Before the Storm is a great prequel that manages to capture the essence of what Life is Strange is. With great characters, a beautiful story, the typical atmosphere and fantastic music this installment sometimes even surpasses the first game.

The writing is good enough, and the dialogue is acted well enough (especially by Rhianna DeVries as Chloe), that Before the Storm is a worthwhile experience. As an adult male, I’m probably about as far away from the game’s target demographic as one can get, and yet I still enjoyed it more than I didn’t. So if you were a fan of the first game and you want to learn more about its world and its characters, then you should definitely check out Before the Storm. But if you haven’t played Life is Strange yet, then I’d recommend you try that game first and then proceed from there.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a masterful prequel, then.

Before the Storm doesn’t feel like a proper prequel – it’s too short for that. For example, Rachel-Chloe relationship progresses too quickly and smoothly, they didn’t even have a big quarrel. Sure, writers did show just how much Rachel meant for Chloe, and we did get some nice family drama, but Rachel’s eventual disappearance and events that led to it are completely sidestepped, leaving kind of an empty feeling. [Issue#226, p.42]

Experience consisting of one very good, one excellent and one weaker episode. Somebody could be annoyed by obvious similarities to its predecessor, but catchy narratives and great characters dismiss these complaints. We grief just the oddly vague ending.

Very self-aware of being a prequel to a bestseller, Before the Storm puts fan service and farfetched melodrama above cohesive storytelling, resulting in a superficial and disappointing experience.