For some reason, this episode, and even the game as a whole, didn't really click emotionally for me.

I'm going to preface this by saying that I consider myself pretty emotional. I cry easily, for example, at music, or video games. A lot of video games have made me cry in the past, and I saw the potential for it in this game (not saying I judge a game based on if it can make me cry, but its a good example of the level of emotion it brings out in me). However as the game went on, I felt more and more disconnected from the characters.

Right away, I loved Max as a character. There was just something about her that I liked -- her geeky, shy nature. I connected with her instantly. I saw a lot of my own personality traits in her. Chloe came along, and even though I didn't see much of myself in her, I loved her character as well. She was just a fun person once she gets over her initial anger at Max for abandoning her.

However, the actual gameplay tore me away from the characters, and my immersion in the game as a whole. In my opinion, it all boiled down to a formula. You get into an area, look at everything, talk to everyone, until eventually you find the piece of information you need in order to continue with the story. Maybe rewind a little and save someone from getting hit in the head with a toilet roll. Take when you're trying to get to the Two Whales Diner for example.

You show up and the place is in complete chaos. People are running, there's a giant storm, and there's fire everywhere. They did a great job of setting up a chaotic atmosphere. However, that chaotic atmosphere completely vanishes once the player gains control of Max. The player can walk around for however long they want, figuring out how to save every person in that area before heading to the diner. You can spend a good 10 minutes working on how to get that fisherman out of the burning building. There's supposed to be an extremely tense feeling. The feeling of needing to get to the diner as quickly as possible, so you can get the photograph from Warren and save Chloe. However, that feeling isn't there, because from a gameplay standpoint, the diner isn't being threatened. You can take your sweet-ass time and still be able to get into that diner.

Hopefully you can see what I'm saying here. But basically, starting about halfway through the second episode (I believe it was in the Junkyard that started it for me) the gameplay just drove a huge disconnect between me and the game. I found myself checking my phone during dialogue. And in the end, it wasn't hard for me to choose to kill Chloe. It wasn't hard for me to listen to Chloe get shot in the bathroom and watch Max cry, knowing she can't do anything about it, because I was already so disconnected from the characters.

I did enjoy the plot. The 5th episode honestly seemed like it was trying a little bit too hard to be trippy, just throwing you into weird situations like those stealth scenes with multiple Jeffersons without explaining it at all. I know that might be the point, because Chaos Theory, but it just feels like the game was trying too hard.