Life is Strange Walkthrough – Episode 1: Chrysalis

Episode 1 starts with Max standing in a forest, while a storm rages on around her. There is nothing you can do here other than walk towards the lighthouse, so do so.

Once you reach the top Max wakes up, and you will end up in class. Your teacher will be talking, and while he is you are able to look around at various objects on your desk.

To proceed, you need to grab your camera and take a selfie. Your teacher will notice this, and then ask you a question. You don't know the answer, so just pick anything. Eventually he will let the class go and you can walk around freely.

Although your main goal is to speak with your teacher, there are several other things to interact with if you want. There is also an Optional Photo that you can grab here. On the desk in the centre of class is some writing that you can take a picture of.

Once you have the photo, you can either walk around more, or speak to your teacher. There is no correct answer to choose with him, so just say whatever and leave class. Outside of class Max will turn on some music as she walks through the halls. There are a lot of optional dialogues you can find here, but your goal is to get to the girls washroom.

Once you get inside the washroom, you need to activate the tap to continue the story. When you do, Max will see a butterfly that you need to take a picture of. Afterwards, a kid will burst into the room, and shortly after a girl will enter as well. Things will escalate quickly, and the girl will be shot, which triggers Max's powers. Time will rewind for the first time, but in this instance, it will go all the way back to your classroom.

Max will break her camera this time in a panic, and you will learn how to activate her powers on the fly, rewinding time until the camera is fixed. You will remember about the selfie, so take it again and your teacher will ask you the same question again. When you answer, your classmate will again speak up, but this time the game will tell you to rewind. For the rest of the game, you can now learn information, then rewind time to use this information to help you. In this case, rewind, then answer the question by giving the correct answer of The Daguerreian Process.

This time when class ends and you talk to the teacher, he will bring up John Lennon. After the conversation, talk to him again and bring up Lennon yourself to make your teacher happy, and you will be able to leave class. Run to the bathroom and the events from before will play out again. This time you are going to try and stop it, but there is a time limit. Quickly, look at the maintenance cart, and you can move it. Once you do, you can bend down and grab a hammer. Use this to smash the fire alarm and set it off to save the girl. If you take to long the girl will be shot, but if this happens, just rewind time and keep trying until you do it all fast enough.

Once you do save her, leave the bathroom and you will get caught by the security guard. Eventually the principal will save you from him. Go speak with the principal, and you will be given a few choices. Eventually you will reach a crucial choice, that has lasting repercussions on your game. These choices don't have a right answer, it's whatever you want to pick. Keep in mind you can rewind to see which outcome you like best, but once you decide, you won't be able to change it minutes or hours later.

Once you do decide, head outside. There a lot of people you can now talk to if you want. Of course you can skip all this and just go to the dorms, but if you do want to talk to people, continue reading. As you exit the building, turn left and you can speak to a teacher, who will talk about the security around the school, and ask if you wish to sign a petition. This choice matters, so choose what you feel is best. There are also several students you can talk to here, but their dialogue is all optional.

There are two Optional Photos here. One involves the statue and fountain, the second involves the skater kids. Once you are done, head to the dorms. Here there are a few people you can talk to. There is also an Optional Photo here. Simply head to the far end and you can talk to Kate, if you turn around, you will see the photo opportunity. There are a few other people you can talk to, but to proceed, go talk to Victoria who is blocking the steps.

Max decides that to get them to move, you should ruin Victoria's day. To do this, you must first tamper with the paint bucket that is just to the left of where they are sitting. Then you will need to run further down the path, and enter the maintenance room. Turn on the sprinklers and this will cause the girls to stand up, which will then cause the paint to fall on them. You only have about 15 seconds to do all this, so if you take to long, or mess up, rewind time to the beginning and try again until you get it right.

Once you get the intended result, go over and speak with Victoria. You will be given another important decision to make, whether to be nice to her, or insult her further. Again, these choices have lasting impact on your game, so choose well.

Now that you are inside, you can head to your room. There are several white boards you can read along the way, even one you can alter if you choose. Your room is at the far end, on the right. Head inside, and turn to your right to see a mirror. You can take a picture here, and this is one of the 10 Optional Photos. You can interact with several things inside Max's room, however the item that will continue the story is a note by her laptop. Once you have it, leave your room and head down the hall. You will see a girl standing outside while another yells from within.

Speak to her, and she won't pay you much attention cause she thinks you don't even know her. Tell her that her last name is Watson and she will open up about what is going on. Head back down the hall and enter Victoria's room. When you enter, turn right and you will see a collage of pictures. Rearrange them, then take a picture, as this is yet another Optional Photo. You can check various objects in this room, to proceed though you must go on her computer and check her emails, then print off the one that relates to the issue at hand. Bring it back to the girl to have her calm down and let you in the room.

In the next room, you just need to grab your USB stick from her laptop, however if you want there is some more here you can learn. Pick up the pregnancy test near the computer, and she will get mad at you. Rewind time after doing it, then talk to her. There is now an option to say "I heard a rumor about you". This will prompt her to share what has recently happened in her life.

Leave her room and go outside. You will notice a student sitting on a bench, but if you watch for a few seconds, you'll see her get hit by a football. Rewind time, and warn her to move first, causing the football to hit a window. She will be grateful, and this unlocks an Optional Photo. Approach the broken window to grab the shot. When you try to leave the the dorms, you will see Kate being harassed by the school guard. Step in and help, or not, the choice is yours.

After this scene, run across the campus to the parking lot to meet Warren. Before talking to him, you can speak to a few other students. You can also approach the parked RV, and write on the window. This will allow you to take another Optional Photo. A long series of events will begin happening once you talk to Warren, which culminate in you meeting your old friend, and taking a ride back to her house.

Once there, you will head into Chloe's room. Like your own room, there is a lot of stuff to read and interact with, and we highly suggest you do so. One important item is in her closet. You can pull a box down then read a piece of paper that shows her grades from when she was in school. Make sure to rewind after doing this, as Chloe gets mad at you for breaking her snowglobe in the process. When you are ready to proceed, open the box under her bed to get the CD. When you do, Chloe will comment on some things about her life, then tell you to put the CD on, and leave her room.

Once out of her room, your goal is the garage, however there are a few other things you can do first. Head into her parents bedroom on the second floor. There's items to read here, and also you will see a bird hit the window. Rewind time, open the window and the bird can live, if you so choose. There are also items in the bathroom you can read over, and many on the first floor.

Once done, or you are simply wanting to proceed, head into the garage. There are several key interactions here that are worth checking out. The first is the gun cabinet. Go up to it, switch on the light then look in it to notice a missing weapon. The next thing to check is the cabinets. One of them has a TV in it, and if you turn it on and watch, you will find out that the house is covered in spy cameras. Finally, on the very top of the cupboards are some files. Pull them down and read them to learn that Chloe's dad has been stalking Kate. Make sure to rewind time after reading these though, or else someone might notice that they files have been soaked in oil. When you are ready to proceed, head towards the washing machine. The tools you want are on top of it but you can't reach. To get them, you must first look down at some cardboard. Push it under the table, then turn the washing machine on. This will cause the tools to fall onto the cardboard, so pull it out and grab the toolset. Make sure to be nice and turn the washing machine off afterwards.

Head back upstairs and you and Chloe will begin talking, and eventually it will lead to loud music and dancing, which becomes problematic when her father gets home. Chloe will insist you hide, so if you want to, head to her closet. Before going inside, make sure you move the lamp, or else it will cause everything to fall out. Once the lamp is moved, you can safely enter the closet and hide as her father comes in the room.

Eventually a decision will need to be made, and this is quite a large one so make sure to check out your options carefully.

Regardless of your choice, you will eventually end up going for a drive with Chloe. Your destination happens to be the same spot from the beginning of the game, minus the massive storm. Instead of walking forward though, head back down the path. There is a large rock on the right with a bird atop it. This is another Optional Photo. Once you have it, you can head up the mountain. There are a few objects along the way you can interact with. Once at the top, stand behind the bench Chloe is on, and you can take another photo. This is the last of the Optional Photos for this episode.

Talk to her, and you two will open up about the days events. Reveal as much as you like, but once the conversation is over, Max will be forced into another flashback. This time as you climb the mountain, obstacles will fall at you, so you will need to rewind time in order to get past each one. When you reach the top, read the newspaper to find out that these events are only a few days away. This will snap you from your vision, and will also lead into the final scene with Chloe, before Episode 1: Chrysalis ends.