This guide will explain just how to do this as players get to grips with Life is Strange’s time-reversal mechanic and how it plays into the game’s many puzzle sections.
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Approaching The Dormitories
When players first enter the courtyard after making their way through the Blackwell grounds, they will come across Victoria, Courtney, and Taylor blocking the way into the dorms. After telling Max to “go f*ck your selfie,” one of the more iconic lines in the series, Victoria will block the player’s path indefinitely, so look to the surroundings for a way to move her.
If the player waits around and simply observes the goings-on, they will see Samuel (the slow walking groundskeeper in blue) climb a ladder with a can of paint which he’ll hang on a hook at the top in a short but pointed cutscene.
Samuel And The ladder
Wait around too long and the screen will go grey and a close up of that paint can will show; this marks a point of no return and a potential fail-state for Max, the idea being that the player has to “encourage” Victoria to move before Samuel sets down the can. To avoid being trapped in an endless, pointless time loop, just rewind as far back as possible and start the scene over. As the player rewinds, they may notice a small grey circle at a point on the rewind spiral – this marks the moment when Samuel sets the paint can down so keep an eye on this and make sure everything is done before this point.
Tampering With The Paint Can
Rewinding to the beginning of the scene, the player can find the paint can at the bottom of the red ladder to the left of Victoria. Examining it, Max can see the option to “Tamper” with it; use a bit of time trickery to do this before Samuel gets too close or Max will be locked out of the option. Just doing this, however, will not make Victoria move as the paint will only splash in front of her.
Getting Victoria Off The steps
Snooping around, the player may also see some sprinklers on either side of the dormitory steps. Looking at these prompts leads Max to say that she could ‘crank the sprinklers up’ to get Victoria to move. Back at the start of the scene, Max can see Samuel come out of a white door further to the left of the steps, at the far end of the path. Go through the door into a small storage closet.
To the left as Max enters, the player will see a ‘Water Pump’; press the ‘Use’ button and watch the sprinklers widen, forcing Victoria up off the steps and perfectly in position for the falling paint. Make sure Max has tampered with both the water pump and the paint can in this timeline (highlighted by the additional grey circles on the rewind spiral) and let the scene play out.
If the player got the order right, a cutscene will play showing a very angry Victoria sending Courtney and Taylor away. After that, approach the dorm steps and talk to her. Here is the second major choice in the episode, and one that will have ripples throughout the series so, as always, choose wisely. Once that’s over with, she will finally move aside and Max can enter the dorms.
Life is Strange: Remastered Collection is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with a Switch version releasing later in 2022.
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