Spoilers
The original Life Is Strange has lots of charm. I wrote about the game's impact on me in another post. True Colors was another deeply impactful game for me. The DLC for it, wavelengths was the one I found to be the most charming. Rather than adding to existing reviews for the mainline game, I want to discuss how this charming, little expansion has some of my favorite methods of storytelling.
Trapped
For those who played the original Life is Strange you will probably remember that one ending leads to destruction. If you are like me, you likely chose the destructive ending.
Steph was a refugee of sorts when arcadia bay was demolished. The story in wavelengths shows what happens to Steph after the calamity, after her home was destroyed.
The story is very focused. Steph just experienced something traumatic and is reflecting on it. Her experience is very similar to what many of us had in 2020. We were alone, losing people close to us and feeling emotions that were new and raw. Steph talks only to her friends through a video call -- she plays D&D with her friend Mikey. People leave her gifts but you never see them place them. These are all characters that you interact with in the mainline game, but they are mysteriously absent in this DLC.
I don't think of any of this absence is an oversight, rather I think of it as an intentional omission. The focus of this experience is on a person dealing with loneliness. Every chapter involves Steph looking at the dating app on her phone, hoping for some small spark of human connectgion.
Reflection
Wavelengths doesn't have many new assets, it reuses the record store, Steph's model, the radio station etc. from True colors. Unlike true colors it is limited in scope. It can be argued that because this is DLC it might have had limited budgets. Given the voice acting is still present, and several items and new areas of the store appear, I think it's more likely that the game exists in a single room was intentional. Putting the focus on a single space and person is a powerful way to shape narratives. When the world, characters, and props are limited it helps to maintain focus on the important aspects of the story.
Wavelengths focuses on Steph, she is the only character you play as, it teaches you about the friends she left behind, her lonelyness and missing her former bandmate, who Steph is hinted at to have a romantic past with her.
Truth be told, many of my favorite stories are ones that have a limited world, actors or locations. I dearly love the Myst series which contains games devoid of people and Twelve angry men is one of my favorite movies which takes place entirely in a single room.
Isolated But not Alone
The common mood in wavelengths would be the feeling of isolation. Steph's friends are having nearly every holiday with family and leave her gifts and messages to let her know they care, but she is still alone. In fact the only other character that she talks to is her friend from Arcadia Bay, Mikey. A lot of this hit home to me, being a queer woman myself, the message of having a supportive group of straight friends but still being alone for many holidays is a common feeling. The way that queer folk's famialies treat us can make holidays feel rather alone and sad, while all your straight friends are experiencing joy and connection.
American thanksgiving, christmas, and easter are holidays that I commonly do not feel welcome with my family. Sometimes I avoid them because I know the hurt it will cause me, and sometimes I go only to feel like I should not have. Recently I have started spending these holidays with other queer friends; my found family. This experience very closely mirrors Steph's: she has new friends in this little town that bring her gifts, invite her to holiday dinners, and check up on her. It shows how queer people build a new community for ourselves when the ones we were born into push us away.