Moment of Calm (Life is Strange)

Life is Strange

Before the Storm

Captain Spirit

Season 2

For the song by Eduard Frolov, see Moment of Calm (song).

"A Moment of Calm" is an optional gameplay element in Life is Strange. The concept was picked up again for the prequel, Life is Strange: Before the Storm and in Life is Strange 2's free demo, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. Moments of Calm are special moments in the game when the protagonist may sit or lean against an object and contemplate their current situation. Relaxing music is usually played in the background. They usually provide additional information or the protagonist's inner thoughts and give the player a chance to rest.

There are 21 Moments of Calm in total in Life is Strange, 2 of which can no longer be returned after exiting (bold printed), e.g. by pressing spacebar on PC.

Episode One - "Chrysalis"

Location	Max's comments
Tree on the Blackwell Campus.	"So bizarro to be back here after five years... I thought I could just fit right back in at school... But with all this shit going on, I'm even more an outsider... And who can I confide in, besides my journal and my camera? Man, these are supposed to be the best years of my life... This is what it's like to be alone and feel lonely at once..."
Fountain on the Blackwell Campus.	"This day has been so insane... Everything is happening too fast... And none of it makes any sense... these visions, this... power. I keep expecting to wake up one more time... But if this is a dream, then I'm not asleep. Which means somehow... I did rewind time. So there has to be a reason... and I have to find out why."
Max’s bed in her room in the Prescott Dormitory.	"Ah, it feels so nice to just relax. This day has been so damn bizarre and it feels like it has gone on forever... Maybe I'll just wake up now and find out I was dreaming all of this... Or like Poe said, 'A dream within a dream'..."
Max’s guitar in her room.	None (Max plays "Crosses").
Couch on the first floor of Chloe Price’s house.	Chat between young Max and Chloe at one of their "wine tasting sessions": Chloe: "Come on, open it chicken!" Max: "Hold on. And I'm not chicken!" Chloe: "Prove it! You drink first, Max!" Max: "No way! It was your idea, Chloe!" Chloe: "Whateva. Give me that bottle." Max: "Well?" Chloe: "Tasty. Very tasty." Max: "Here, I want a sip!" Chloe: "Sorry, this is not for kids." Max: "Don't be greedy! Gimme some!" Chloe: "Oh shit, the carpet!" Max: "There's wine all over! What do we do now?" Chloe: "My parents are coming! Cover it up..."
Swing in the backyard of Chloe’s house.	Chat between young Max and Chloe about what they want to do when they grow up:   Max: "What do you truly want to do when you grow up?" Chloe: "Max, I'm already grown up. What about you?" Max: "Travel. That would be awesome. Explore the world. Go far from here..." Chloe: "Far from me? Thanks a lot, dude." Max: "Dude, you would totally come with me! I need a bodyguard for our adventures!" Chloe: "I would be like Lara Croft, except real. That would be majorly cool." Max: "Totally! We'd have cars and boats and planes all over for instant escape! And no adults could tell us what to do!" Chloe: "Count me in. What would you do while I was bodyguarding you?" Max: "Maybe take pictures of our adventures. I would love to be a photographer. As if I ever could be..." Chloe: "What are you talking about? Max, you are a photographer. Your pictures could be in a museum. Someday they will. I believe in you..."

Episode Two - "Out of Time"

Location	Max's comments
Beginning of episode (Max’s bed).	"I am so wrecked after staying up all night... I could use my rewind to catch a few more z's, but maybe I better save my strength..."
Max’s guitar.	None (Max plays "Something Good").
Chair on top of a boat in the American Rust Junkyard.	"Although this junkyard is a dive, I see why Chloe hangs here... She's a steam-punk... It actually feels like Chloe and I are kids again, we're hiding out and plotting our future... Despite all the chaos and bullshit, I feel so giddy hanging out with her again... So happy... Like we've both gone back in time..."
Stump in the far end of the junkyard.	"It's so quiet and primordial out here... I always feel like the forest is whispering to me... Like Arcadia Bay is trying to tell me something... I just have to figure out the message..."

Episode Three - "Chaos Theory"

Location	Max's comments
Bench outside the dormitory building.	Kate survived Kate is dead Kate survived "I feel so giddy even after Kate almost jumped. Maybe it's the leftover adrenaline... But I feel kind of invincible now." Kate is dead "What the hell am I doing out here? Kate is dead and I'm sneaking around... This campus looks like a cemetery..."
Morning after pool scene (Chloe’s bed in her room).	Chat between Max and Chloe about last night’s events:   Chloe: "I am so wiped out from last night. But it was awesome." Max: "I have to ponder what kind of criminal I've become." Chloe: "Last night was only the tip of the iceberg." Max: "I have to admit, it was pretty cool to take over the Blackwell gym." Chloe: "Today the gym, tomorrow the world. We need to step it up." Max: "We still have to be careful how I use my power... I don't want to get stuck in time."
Swing in the backyard of Chloe’s house.	"I remember when Chloe and me would take turns in the swing... We would push each other hard so we would fly way up in the air... Chloe always wanted to swing all the way around... I always got scared and would jump off before I flew off... And Chloe is still trying to get high..."

Episode Four - "Dark Room"

Location	Max's comments
Spool table in Alternative Chloe’s room upstairs.	"I'm still overwhelmed by this new reality. And I feel so guilty for putting Chloe and her family through this. I could give Chloe the choice of keeping William alive, but that would be cruel. But then I see that they're a family again, and... who am I to judge?"
Return to the original timeline (Chloe’s bed).	Accepted Chloe's request Refused Chloe's request Accepted Chloe's request "Welcome back to the real world, Max… I don't think I can ever tell Chloe about what happened. How can I explain to my best friend that I put her in a wheelchair just to euthanize her... and then I had to let her father die again? So... no fucking way. Chloe has enough excuses to hate the world. But if my tornado vision is true, then we might not have a world after this week…" Refused Chloe's request "Welcome back to the real world, Max… I don't think I can ever tell Chloe about what happened. How can I explain to my best friend that I put her in a wheelchair, then refused to honor her dying request... Then I had to let her father die again? So... no fucking way. Chloe has enough excuses to hate the world. But if my tornado vision is true, then we might not have a world after this week…"
Stool near the kitchen in Chloe’s house.	"Somehow I existed in this whole other reality, but I don't know what happened... The more I use my power, the more I see how little control I have over what happens. Now Max Caulfield exists in two or maybe three different realities... How can I have a destiny?" Accepted Chloe's request Refused Chloe's request Accepted Chloe's request "If these alternate lives exist, I hate the thought of William and Joyce finding Chloe like that. Thinking about all these lifelines almost makes my head hurt worse than the rewind." Refused Chloe's request "I wonder if Chloe would hate me for keeping her alive... but I couldn’t do it. Thinking about all these lifelines almost makes my head hurt worse than the rewind."
Chair inside Kate’s hospital room (available only if Kate is alive).	"It’s amazing to just sit here quiet with Kate again… If I couldn’t freeze time, would she really have jumped anyway? I don’t think I’ll ever know how much destiny I’m changing… But who ever said we only have a single fate? Time travel is such a mindfuck…"
Chair inside the VIP section of the End of the World Party.	"Kate (almost) dead... Rachel dead... Enter the Vortex Club. Look at these entitled assholes... they don’t give a shit about anybody. If that tornado came right now, I would just sit here and watch for a while. But I have to make sure Chloe doesn’t go on her own rampage… I hate feeling this way... dark and angry…"

Episode Five - "Polarized"

Location	Max's comments
Couch in the Zeitgeist Gallery (second floor).	"I can't believe I'm in San Francisco… How can I process this after all the death I've seen this week? I wish Chloe was here with me now… Without her, I couldn't have fought Jefferson... And she always pushed me to not be shy about my photos… Even if that feels so trivial after what happened with Rachel... and Kate. But for whatever reason I have this power, I hope I finally used it right…"
Booth at the Two Whales Diner.	"Max, give yourself one moment to do nothing... This is where I convinced Chloe I could rewind time. So what's the point of this power, what's the lesson... To keep fixing what I keep fucking up? No, because I didn't ask for this "gift"... But I was able to stop Mark Jefferson... and now I can stop Chloe from dying... for the last time."
Chair in the maze sequence of Max's nightmare (Chloe and Rachel’s hideout).	"Max, sit down. You're taking a time-out no matter what. If this is my nightmare, let me have one sanctuary... Of course this is where Chloe... and Rachel... used to hide from the world... But I can't hide for long. Whatever reality I'm in... feels like a bad dream... Am I just not learning my lesson? Maybe your real lesson is to get out of this place... Just don't be afraid, Max. Let them be afraid of you."

Trivia

• Don't Nod initially called them "Zen Sequences".
• There is a Moment of Calm playlist on the official Life is Strange YouTube channel (click here to view it).