Life is 2-D - Episode 5: Polarized

Well... here it is. After four well-received prior episodes, we reach the final conclusion to Max and Chloe's story, as retold on 1989's finest handheld with this adaptation of Episode 5 - Polarized.

So much I could say right now. So I will.

I am very happy to announce that Life is 2-D Episode 5: Dark Room is now available to play online (actual .gb ROM for emulators or actual hardware also linked), for free. As ever, it is a Gameboy adaptation of the first Life is Strange, created from scratch using GB Studio, in the style of games like Link's Awakening or Pokemon Red/Blue.

Yes, really.

As with the previous ones, it can even be played without having played the prior episodes if for some reason you feel like doing so, as it will allow you to input your choices at the start.

Please note that while this build SHOULD be fully functional, it is simply impossible for me to test out every combination of options at this point. This is the entire FINAL episode of the game completed. Start to finish, ending sequence, choices list and all.

If you find any major issues (conversations that just stop and progress becomes impossible, for example), please do let me know and I will update to fix them as best as I can. It is entirely possible some late change has broken something without me realising, but hopefully not.

As always, I don't ask or intend ever to ask for money for any of these. If you feel compelled, a retweet/tweet about it, spreading the word, or making a donation to a charitable cause would be a better use of the money you would have given for this and I genuinely would prefer that. I would suggest Trans Lifeline, the Trevor Project, SWARM, or similar - or of course, donate to help in Ukraine or Gaza.

To those of you who have been playing along - Thank you for your time! :) The prior episodes can all be found via the same link.

lifeis2d.itch.io/life-is-2-d-episode-5-polarized

(And to save the inevitable: Z on keyboard = A. X = B.)

EDIT: .gb ROM for emulators or actual hardware.

EDIT: https://mega.nz/file/vZYXCKbY#_4lUScFxHPMl26eizDKR985Bi6MQUKE88Yzx9nhlcaE .gb ROM for emulators or actual hardware.

As with the previous episode, there is a COLOUR variant ROM for this release due to the starting screen. Simply running that one on a GBC or emulator will display the message and flag in the correct colours. As a bonus, Chloe's hair was used for the specific blue of it. The rest of the game... will probably be a garish mess, but I felt it deserved the option.

https://mega.nz/file/7RIFQLZZ#2c1l4_vVhhubjV3vyadBELf0sL621iQeKE0iI6slRY0

With this completed, what next? Excellent question. Could be Twin Mirror. Could be something LiS 2. I won't know any better until I look into it more. For now, I hope you all enjoy it - I know a lot of you have probably been waiting for it.

A release with all five episodes bundled in one .zip will follow in a few days.

I'll probably avoid naming it the "Arcadia Bae Collection"... Wellll...

No. Tempting as it is, it'll be what I always wanted. Life is 2-D: A Gameboy "What if?"