Episode 1: Chrysalis

Overview

"Chrysalis" is the first episode of Life is Strange. The episode was released January 29 and 30, 2015 and is available on PC, Mac, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Since July 21, 2016, the first episode is now available for free on every platform.^[1]

Synopsis[]

Max Caulfield, student at Blackwell Academy in Arcadia Bay, Oregon, discovers she can rewind time. The episode revolves around her testing her power and reuniting with her old best friend, Chloe Price. The pair set out to find out more about the disappearance of Rachel Amber, the harassment of Kate Marsh and the drug schemes of Nathan Prescott. The friendship between Max and Chloe is put to the test as Max debates whether to reveal her rewind power. Can they save Arcadia Bay from destruction at the hands of the oncoming tornado?

See here for diary entries and messages from this episode.

Checkpoints[]

Nightmare
High School
Main Campus
Dormitories
Girls' Dormitories
Dormitories - With The Flash Drive
Parking Lot
Chloe's Truck
Chloe's House - Upstairs
Chloe's House - Downstairs
Chloe's House - With The Tools
Cliff
Cliff - Nightmare

Characters[]

Deaths[]

Chloe Price (Pre-Rewind) - Chloe is shot by Nathan Prescott. Max rewinds time to set off a fire alarm, which disrupts the conflict Chloe and Nathan were having.
Bird (Determinant) - A blue-jay flies against the window in Joyce and David's bedroom and immediately dies. It's up to Max to rewind and open the window before the bird hits it.

Licensed Soundtrack[]

Main article: Soundtrack (Life is Strange)

"To All of You" - Syd Matters (Opening sequence, Blackwell Academy hallway)
"Crosses" - Jose Gonzalez (Optionally in Max's room on radio or guitar)
"Piano Fire" - Sparklehorse (Chloe's room)
"Santa Monica Dream" - Angus & Julia Stone (Chloe's room)
"Obstacles" - Syd Matters (Chloe and Max at the cliff, closing scene)

Reception[]

Chrysalis is rated as "overwhelmingly positive" (with 96% of nearly 50,000 user reviews positive) on Steam. The ratings may have been intended for the game as a whole, however, since Steam considers episodes 2-5 to be DLC.
On Metacritic, it currently has a Metascore 75/100 and a User Score of 8.2.
IGN gave it a pretty mediocre 6.5 calling the writing awful.

Achievements[]

There are twelve achievements the player can earn on Steam, PlayStation or Xbox.

Trivia[]

The term "Chrysalis" is the name of the pupa life stage of butterflies, and so refers to a metamorphosis undergone by butterflies. Figuratively, it refers to the beginning of Max's journey and coming-of-age story.
- On page 8 or Max's diary, in reference to the butterfly analogy, she writes: "At least I'm trying to climb out of my cocoon. I shouldn't expect my life to completely change after a few weeks of Blackwell Academy."
The episode was originally titled, "Episode 1: American Chrysalis".^[2]
"Home sweet home. My favorite cocoon." - Max's comment when her bedroom is shown for the first time, a reference to the episode's title. Max also writes in her diary that at least she is trying to come out of her cocoon, in another reference to the title.
The beginning of "Chrysalis" mirrors, albeit marginally, the beginning of Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake. In their dreams, both Max Caulfield and Alan Wake believe the point of safety is a lighthouse seen in the distance.
Artistic Director Michel Koch revealed in an interview that they wrote Episode 1 with the intention of introducing the typical high school stereotypes, before building upon them with every episode. "When we started to create every character, we really wanted to use known archetypes that people see in teenage drama and in movies."
Animation files indicate that originally there was going to be an option to help Warren when Nathan starts beating him on the parking lot, which would lead to Max hitting Nathan in the face before driving off with Chloe instead of jumping straight into her truck.^[3]
Famous photographers mentioned throughout "Chrysalis" are: Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Louis Daguerre and the Daguerreotypes, Robert Cornelius, Henri Cartier-Bresson and his book "The Decisive Moment", Annie Leibovitz, Eugene Smith, Richard Avedon, Robert Capa and his famous photograph, "The Falling Soldier", Robert Doisneau, Steve McCurry, David Hamilton, Philip-Lorca diCorcia and Julia Margaret Cameron.
A scene from this episode varies only slightly from promotional material: After being scratched by Max on the parking lot, Nathan Prescott shows red marks on his cheek. In a promotional shot for this episode, these scratches are not visible.

Trailers[]

Life Is Strange - Reveal Trailer (PEGI)

Life Is Strange Launch Trailer (PEGI)

ライフイズストレンジ：日本発売決定！アナウンスメントトレーラー

Life is Strange - Episode 1 is Now Free

References[]

↑ PC GAMER - Life is Strange Episode 1 Will Be Free Indefinitely As Of Tomorrow (July 20, 2016)
↑ ESRB Rating
↑ See here for the animations.

Life is Strange Episodes
Life is Strange	Chrysalis · Out of Time · Chaos · Dark Room · Polarized
Before The storm	Awake · Brave New World · Hell Is Empty
Life is strange 2	Roads · Rules · Wasteland · Faith · Wolves
Life is Strange:True Colors	Side A · Lanterns · Monster or Mortal· Flicker · Side B
Additional stories	Farewell · The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit · Wavelengths

[1] PC GAMER - Life is Strange Episode 1 Will Be Free Indefinitely As Of Tomorrow (July 20, 2016)

[2] ESRB Rating

[3] See here for the animations.

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