Prequels have a historical past that goes again virtually so far as storytelling itself – and, one would assume, barely earlier than that, too. (Even Homer’s Iliad has a prequel, referred to as Cypria, which was most likely written within the late seventh century BC.) When we hear the phrase, although, we have a tendency to think about the George Lucas definition. That is, to gracelessly clarify beforehand unknown hyperlinks within the narrative timeline that have been most likely greatest left unexplained.
Related: Before the Storm’s lead writer on the future of narrative games.
The Lucas Approach, we’ll name it, encourages creators to see prequels as a possibility to counter criticisms of the unique work by including spurious backstory to flimsy plot components: ‘Nuh-uh, it was supposed to look ridiculous, due to this factor that occurred earlier than it that I solely simply wrote into the script now, so there’. For a tremendous instance of this, see Rogue One, a $200 million greenback, 133-minute clarification of the Death Star’s defective thermal exhaust port design.
For Parisienne builders Dontnod, the criticism most frequently levelled on the sport Life is Strange will be summed up in a single phrase: ‘hella’. It’s a try-hard colloquialism that critics used as a totem for the early episodes’ (admittedly rare) moments of tin-eared yoof communicate. And, positive sufficient, hella-ism is addressed head on in episode one in all Before the Storm, an aptly named trio of prequel episodes.
But fairly than being valuable about it, the writers at Deck Nine – like Rogue One, this main-series offshoot is written and directed by a new team – take the chance to poke mild enjoyable at a sore level, and in doing so imbue the phrase with new that means.
Minor spoilers forward.
The second of micro-revelation comes midway via the primary episode, as Chloe finds herself struggling for dialog with the beguiling Rachel Amber. Sitting with their legs dangling off the sting of a shifting freight practice, the pair go the time by taking part in ‘two truths and a lie’. Fascinating as it’s to see the spiky Chloe in such a susceptible place, tongue-tied and maybe lovestruck, it’s this alternate that steals the present:
Rachel: Chloe Price, you’re hella mysterious.
Chloe: Hella? Who says that?
Rachel: [defensively] It’s a Cali factor.
And similar to that, hella goes from being the worst factor about Life is Strange ep1’s script to the very best. Of course Chloe begins overusing it in her personal vocabulary after listening to Rachel say it – that’s what you do once you’re in your teenagers. Your self-image is fragile, you meet somebody you look as much as, you assimilate.
No-one’s going to imagine for the briefest second that this was Dontnod’s intention all alongside, that they sowed a seed within the first episode that may solely come to fruition if the sequence was fashionable sufficient to spawn a prequel. Just as no-one of their proper thoughts would imagine that Rogue One’s plot was all laid out as A New Hope was hitting cinemas. But in contrast to latter day Star Wars’ stony-faced presentation of its 40-year-old plot holes, the transparency of Deck Nine’s revisionist historical past is definitely fairly endearing.
In simply three quick traces of dialogue, the brand new writers tackle the difficulty, and add one thing of actual that means to the general story within the course of. Just like that, ‘hella’ adjustments in sound from one thing akin to Katie Hopkins being dragged down a chalkboard, to one thing hotter. Something that may even make you smile.
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