I got an early dive into the world of Life is Strange 2 in the short, free-to-play game, “The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit.” What followed was a cute romp through the day of a nine-year-old boy full of emotion and imagination.
The Awesome Adventures is a quick one-shot game, made for Life is Strange fans–both new and existing alike. While not directly tied to any events in Arcadia Bay, there are easter eggs hidden around the house for the fan of the first Life is Strange. However, there are also a ton of hints about what may come in Life is Strange 2.
In The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, you play as Chris, a nine-year old living with his dad.The game takes place over a seemingly normal Saturday, with your dad watching the basketball game and you going about your own day by pretending to be your favorite superhero: Captain Spirit! As Captain Spirit, you can find and put together a costume and go on adventures around the house. In addition to acting out your Captain Strange fantasies, you also have the ability to do mundane tasks around the house to help out your dad–you can shovel the snow front steps, collect and start laundry, and do dishes.
From here, I don’t want to go too much further into the plot, as discovering the pieces along the way is where the fun comes in. Can you find out what happened to Chris’s mom? Do you want to go on an intergalactic journey, tame the evil water eater, or search for your secret treasure? There are so many different things to do, pieces to discover, and secrets to be found within this game that you will likely have to play it more than once in order to get the full experience.
As in previous Life is Strange games, you can interact with objects all around you–some of which are important to the plot, some of which provide hints as to what happened to Chris’s mom. Some objects are just silly and cute (like Chris’s slippers, which he claims are unfit for a superhero, but they’re so comfy he doesn’t care).
The actual gameplay is incredibly simple. You walk around and explore the house, interacting with items around the house (and sometimes your father). You can go outside into the yard, garage, and treehouse but you can’t leave your property (as it’s not safe for a nine-year-old to explore a city by himself, of course!). There are also little puzzles hidden throughout the game–from putting together pieces of a map to navigating through a maze.
At a certain point in the game, Chris’s dad will fall asleep while watching basketball–so if you want time to complete all of the adventures, you should let him sleep while you go through the house as waking him up will bring about the end of the game.
Moments are punctuated by a beautiful song by Sufjan Stevens called “Death With Dignity” that fits the tone beautifully–capturing the beauty and emotions of the game and combining it with the innocence and hope that comes with being a kid.
Worth noting also is the lack of any loading screens when you start playing. The game is seamless and beautiful, allowing you to stay immersed in this world for a bit longer.
The game is full of cute and sweet moments, but there’s a sadness and a lot of heart throughout as well. As you explore Chris’s home (and find his treasure, or his secret treehouse stash), you find pictures, letters, and comics that give you an insight to his world with his mom–and also, how it’s changed since.
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is a world I plan on returning to multiple times going forward–both to continue my exploration of Chris’s journey and to hunt for hints for Life is Strange 2.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Maddy has been addicted to video games since watching her dad play The Secret of Monkey Island when she was 5 years old (though it took her another 14 years to finish the game). In addition to playing video games, she's a proud cat mom, a lover of bad jokes and dark eyeliner, and a terror on the dodgeball court. Maddy is currently pursuing her MBA at UCLA Anderson and starting in June, she will be interning at Riot Games with the Player Growth department.
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is a short and sweet jaunt through a young boy’s imagination. With simple gameplay but a wide array of puzzles and pieces to discover, you can easily get lost in this game.
PROS
- Entirely free to play game
- Sweet, emotional journey
- Positive gameplay for both new and existing fans of Life is Strange
- Beautiful graphics and music enhance the atmosphere
CONS
- The main experience is over too quickly, though there is plenty of replay value
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