Was checking out lemmy and this was what convinced me to register. I loved Life is Strange back in the day and these pictures brought back some memories.
Awesome idea for a solo trip, something I should do more often. Great post op
this post was submitted on 11 May 2025
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Having just finished an excellent playthrough of Life is Strange, it suddenly dawned on me that I live not far from the Oregon Coast. Somehow. You know, like a decade and change after the game first came out and I first finished it.
And [gestures wildly at everything] being as bad as it was for the mental health, I figured maybe I could go see all this stuff. My knowledge of the geography of the Oregon Coast says Arcadia Bay as it is doesn’t really exist, but according to Dontnod’s interviews and such, it’s a concatenation of Garibaldi, Oceanside, and Cape Meares (among influences from other places, like nearby Tillamook, Lincoln City, and Depoe Bay.)
So I went! (I went alone, so since I was driving, I couldn’t take pictures on the road. I mean, physics had no problem with it, but the law was giving me the hairy eyeball.)
Garibaldi’s city plan was almost identical to that of Arcadia Bay, so I started there. I could smell the bay and I wrote postcards to my friends while I was sat at the pier.
And although the Two Whales Diner doesn’t exist, the two diners across from each other on the pier added their own contributions.
After I was done in Garibaldi, I headed out to Oceanside, but I ended up pulling over in Tillamook to snap this mural. For reasons.
So Oceanside was insane. The first thing I saw was a nearly vertical city, tons of big giant houses stacked on a hillside. And if that wasn’t enough, there were people in gliders doing lazy circles over the city!
Oceanside was supposedly the real life city that could be seen from the lighthouse, and I was excited to see how. After I spent some time on the beach, I headed up to Cape Meares, the real life inspiration for the Arcadia Bay lighthouse.
Rather than Arcadia Bay’s lighthouse jutting up into the sky from a tall tower, Cape Meares went steadily downhill, and most of the lighthouse was below-grade, and it was much, much shorter in real life.
And then I saw The Bench.
The bench for Max and Chloe.
The bench specifically for Max and Chloe.
Max and Chloe’s bench.
There’s actually two benches: one that faces the lighthouse, that one up there, and this one here, that gives the iconic view of the town.
There was also just really cool art drawn on that other bench too.
Also it was worth noting that as I was leaving Cape Meares down the road, I saw two deer bounding away from the road, almost symbolic. It was the perfect end to a great day.
Anyway, I had fun, and it was a very healing trip, and I’m so glad I went. Also yes I brought a Polaroid camera with me.
I hope you liked checking this all out!
Welcome aboard!
I haven't played Life is Strange is so many years but these pictures still brought back memories. Great post!
Thanks for the post, I always enjoy reading about people finding the real life inspirations of stories. And your pictures definitely invoked memories of Arcadia Bay bubbling up again. =D
This is very cool. My partner and I are bigger fans of life is strange 2 and we have it on the bucket list to take a few weeks traveling from Seattle down the coast until we get to Mexico.
Unfortunately I cannot stand driving and I don't think either of us want to visit America for a while but I still hope to do it one day.
The big things from the game would be the redwoods and the US border I guess. Still irks me that the fandom didn't turn up for LiS2, which I found vastly better - but at least we get that. Lost Records definitely feels like dontnod leaning in to the long-term LiS1 fanbase anyway, to me.
I lived out this way once upon a time and miss it dearly. I never did get as far north as Tillamook Bay, but I have great memories of Lincoln City and Newport. Imagine my reaction when this game was announced, hah.
The photo in Chloe's house of Arcadia Bay is one of Garibaldi, just mirrored. For plausible deniability, of course!
Cooool
I recently played through 2 and true colors. I have the lost records game too. I haven’t gotten dual exposure yet because I know if I’m patient enough it will be free
Looking at the tiny lighthouse : "damn the water must be really cold"
Thanks for sharing your road trip, I love LiS, I'm currently re-downloading LiS 2 (slow internet so it takes me a dozen of hours)
Yep, tons of beautiful scenery along the Pacific Coast Highway, and environs!
Otherwise known as highway 101, from WA down to CA... though I think it becomes Highway 1 at some point in Cali.
I'd seen much of these and similar places in camping/roadtrips/fishing trips as a kid prior to playing Life is Strange though, so I guess it wasn't as impressive to me, having seen it irl before the games... though the psuedo impressionistic landscape art style is a neat way to depict it.
Either way, great pictures OP!
That's awesome! I hope you enjoyed the trip. Life is strange was really in incredible game.
this is cool as fuck Thank you so so much for sharing this.
Dude this is amazing. I’d love to do this myself