Life is Strange has yet to portray a healthy queer relationship

Life is Strange has an understanding of how delicate the self-discovery process can be for queer youth.

[UltraNova]

Speechless...

[Eonjay]

An unhealthy relationship seems like par for the course for most couples period lol.

[UltraNova]

Hehe

[rainslacker]

Considering the relationships of the characters was dysfunctional among all the characters, I don't see why the queer relationships should be any different. Such things add drama, and drama is what people play these games for.

[DaDrunkenJester]

Aren't they lesbian? Pretty typical for a lesbian couple to rush into a serious relationship before they even know each other. They probably moved in together on the second date.

[rainslacker]

I know plenty of straight people who do that too. Especially young people, which both Chloe and Max were.

I really think this article, and some others, are over analyzing their relationship. The relationship was set up in a way to create drama, and try to affect your decisions.

[2pacalypsenow]

"self-discovery"

Lmaoo

[SegaGamer]

Oh just shut up already.

[lociefer]

Much inspiring, such stunning, so brave /s

[bluefox755]

These games are just awful, some of the worst writing I've seen in a video game. Feels like it's written by what a 40 year old guy thinks teenage girls are like. I truly do not understand the praise these games get.

[Sono421]

oh my god,finally someone said it, I tried playing the first one that released free on PS+ and oh my god the writing was insufferable and at a lot of times, just didn't make sense. It's writing is about 3/10 quality and that's what the entire game revolves around... so what does that tell you?

[AnubisG]

"Healthy queer relationship"

Seriously?

[TricksterArrow]

I've been saying this for years: "Chloe and Max" is an incredibly toxic relationship. I really cannot see how anyone can go the romantic route with that game and think that it's healthy or a good choice for the main character rather than to see two digital girls kissing. Chloe doesn't even let Max answer a call from a distressed friend without bitching about it. If Chloe were male, I could already see the headlines...

[rainslacker]

I hate arguments like this article posts. It's not like real relationships are always perfect, and queer people have the same issues in their relationships as straight people do. The whole idea about if a relationship is portrayed right, is if it's relateable to the viewer. Trying to make a homosexual relationship as something more special that isn't susceptible to the same issues as straight people have, is only trying to say that homosexuals are somehow different. The best part about good story telling, is that it uses human emotions and empathy to portray what it's trying to say. The best representations of homosexual relationships in media tend to be the ones that don't make that a big aspect of the human factor.

[Smokehouse]

- makes game to be appease the “inclusive crowd”
- “inclusive crowd” trashes it anyway lol

Why bother?

[Christopher]

- thinks just because someone wants inclusive stories it means they want shit writing to go with it
- doesn't realize those are two entirely different things

[Smokehouse]

Filling out a checkbox creates shitty writing. Especially game writing which is hard enough as is it even without the weird priorities. Game writers don’t get enough credit for what they do. You didn’t like this game’s writing? What’s wrong with it?

I don’t mind shit writing and weird fantastical stories. I actually liked
Bound by flame. Its awful but I can appreciate the hilarity in bad shit when it’s just honest budget issues or whatever.

[rainslacker]

Filling out a check box doesn't lead to sh*tty writing, sh*tty writing leads to that. The only time it leads to bad writing is when it's done in a way where it's forced into the story in a way where it's made into a story point, when it has nothing to do with the story.

For instance.

TLOU: Left Behind had a lesbian outing. Brief as it was, I suppose it was done to fill a check box because the creator wanted the character to be that way. Ellie's sexuality wasn't made into an aspect of the story, and what was more important was her relationship with her friend. When I saw the scene, my first thought wasn't, "Oh, she's a lesbian", it was, "What a nice tender moment between two close friends who knew they would soon not be together or remember each other anymore". It wasn't until Druckman outed Ellie that the scene became less open to interpretation, which is why I wish he had left it open, because I love that the series left a lot of things open for discussion.

In Tales of the Borderlands, or even the Borderlands games, you have several characters that are gay. They just are, yet their relationship isn't made into a part of the story, other than the fact they're in relationships. A common story trope to give motivation for whatever purpose the characters have to help the protagonist, or give you a side quest.

On the flip side, you have stories like Mass Effect 3. They made a big deal about it, then they have this uninteresting character who all he does is lament over his lost love, and he seems to stress as often as possible that he's gay. It's pointless, and the homosexual aspects just get distracting. The same sex relationships with your character are just as lamely presented as the heterosexual ones, and they all act like high school teenagers, and the innuendo is cheesy, but that's a different issue.

[Smokehouse]

@rain
“The only time it leads to bad writing is when it's done in a way where it's forced into the story in a way where it's made into a story point, when it has nothing to do with the story”
Exactly. When has this not been the case? That’s the entire point of a check list, to just get it in there somewhere lol.

The TLOU dlc - my first thought wasn’t “wow she’s a lesbian” either, it was “wow this shit is boring” lmao. I thought the base game was boring but I can understand why people would like it. I can’t see why anybody liked that dlc. Honestly one of the worst dlc I’ve bought personally. TLOU2 gameplay is hype though, enough for me to forgive and buy it. Cutscenes have been long though. Hopefully they are far apart.

When you are writing for a game of choice it’s difficult. I imagine it’s a pain writing for a basic open world game and people get understandably lazy with forced check list material. That’s why I’m hyped for the “dynamic narrative” that changes around your actions. We have some like until dawn but it’s ultra linear, a couple branches and like 5 characters. That times an open world with millions of branches is going to be insane. A whole game based off of the nemesis system. Thinking about the work that would go into that makes me respect people like ken Levine for their writing and ambition. A game of that scope has to be written shittily and robotic lol. Or written on a clever scale of 9000.

[Christopher]

***Filling out a checkbox creates shitty writing.***

Most writing is based around fulfilling checkboxes. It's called outlining a story/plot as well as characters.

To say that "this" checkbox creates shitty writing is just as dumb as saying "detailing the reason why a bad guy is a bad guy" creates shitty writing.

A person could be homosexual and never have it mentioned. But it's still a checkbox to the author, something that makes them up and could be utilized at one point but doesn't necessarily need to be utilized.

If you replace the sex of characters in these games so they would represent heterosexual relationships, they would still be poorly done and not be healthy relationships.

[Lightbullz]

One reason I think they made Ellie a lesbian was because they probably wanted to avoid Joel getting called a pedo and to alleviate his actual motivation being that she reminds him of his daughter. + Neil being kind of an SJW. Just dropping my 2 cents

[CrimsonWing69]

What is a healthy queer relationship?

[TeamIcoFan]

The same as a straight relationship, just with two guys or women instead of one guy and one woman.
Duh.
Life is Strange is trash by the way, so I highly doubt it'd do a good job portraying a same sex couple.

[GameBoyColor]

None of the relationships in LiS is healthy lmao

[DillyDilly]

Game Media really does = stupid idiots

[JokerBoy422]

Gaymingmag? Really? This is the gaming journalistic equivalent to a guy with a man bun... You think you know what's up, but oh man are you wrong!

[drunkenspy007]

Is this a game or an after school special? If this is what it focuses on I'm glad I avoided this crap.

[dumahim]

It doesn't. It's up to you if you want to go down that path.

[PhoenixUp]

Bay or Bae

[SyntheticForm]

Nay.

[rich3783]

why do they need to?

[DualWielding]

To be fair healthy relationships are not interesting to watch.. that's why you almost never see them on any form of media

[SlagWolf]

Healthy relationship
Really searching hard for that Unicorn huh

[mogwaii]

As a gay man that has been passionate about video games my entire life I'm glad there are Devs out there that are willing to make a game that has non stereotypical over the top gay characters but as far as healthy gay relationships go....I've never seen one.

[rainslacker]

No relationship is perfect. Sexual preference has nothing to do with if a relationship is healthy or not, and even in healthy relationships, people sometimes have issues. Relationships work when people try to make them work, and it takes respect, tolerance, understanding, acceptance, and communication. Doesn't mean that even with all those things, things can't go wrong sometimes.

[rainslacker]

Yes. They exist because people assume that a trait that some may exhibit is somehow indicative of an entire group of people. Stereotypes exist because small minded people keep perpetuating the stereotypes as true, because I assume it makes them feel better about being intolerant and ignorant.

[mogwaii]

Every single gay couple I have ever known are completely unhappy and living in a fantasy world.
they are never faithful and if one is they end up doing the exact same thing and being miserable, they lie to their apparent partner then to themselves.
They fuck strangers in parks, toilets, sex clubs and are constantly cruising the apps and are constantly wanting something else, something more, They always open up the relationship then eventually break up and that is no exaggeration. Every single one since I came out in the 90s. Yes there are some of us that are the exact opposite of this but we are left in the wake of the guys that are the majority. This may seem unbelievable to you but it is reality.

[rainslacker]

@Mogwaii

How nice for your anecdotal friends. I on the other hand know gay couples who are as happy as their heterosexual counterparts, and I know heterosexual couples who are miserable.

No matter how much you and Gamby want to say these people are miserable, or are a certain way, it certainly isn't representative of the whole. At best, there may be a disproportionate number of miserable couples who are homosexual, but without any cited studies, I don't see why it's worth discussing, when you two seem to want to base your opinions on stereotypes, attributing homosexuality as the problem, as opposed to just looking at those people as human who have the same flaws that exist between any given person.

Maybe instead of blaming homosexuality, look at the company you keep. If you came out, then you know that there are any number of factors which may lead to being depressed, which leads to misery, which leads to people doing things that are toxic to their life or relationships and that more often than not manifests itself into people not being able to maintain healthy relationships. You probably know a lot more gay couples than I do, but to date, I can tell you that I know plenty of heterosexual couples who do exactly the same things which ruin their relationships. In fact, I'd say most straight people are just as bad about ruining relationships until they finally figure out how to stop doing that.

Hence, being gay isn't the problem. It's people who just can't respect others, or actively do things which are negative in some way.

The problem is, is that both of you seem to think that the sex part of a relationship is what's important to making a relationship work. It's not. It's how people treat one another, and whether gay or straight, there are those that treat others well, and those that treat others, or even themselves, like crap. Sex is just an expression of intimacy in a healthy loving relationship, and I'd wager that those you say have problems, also have problems in non-sexual relationships.

[knickstr]

If it was the other way around and Warren was a big part of the story and a love interest for max and chloe was a minor character and also a love interest then you would complain about how the queer relationship is such a small part of the game. Bottom line is Warren was such an insignificant part of the story and healthy relationships are boring for storytelling.

[RizBiz]

Interesting how "straightgamingmag.com&qu ot; would be socially offensive

[AK91]

LiS has yet to portray a healthy relationship in general.