3/5 ★ – Tomcar's review of Life is Strange: Double Exposure.

My history with the life is strange franchise is well…strange. I played the first game back in 2015 on my then newish Xbox one. At the time, it followed an episodic release schedule, like tell tale was doing at the same time. It was a game I expected nothing from, I wasn't huge on the tell tale adventure games, save for the first season of walking dead, and borderlands. It also seemed like its writers tried to capture the millennial high school experience in a way that channeled the infamous Steve Buschemmi meme “how do you do, fellow kids?”. Despite that though, I got way into it. The mystery was captivating, the revelations at the end of each episode had me champing at the bit for the next, which some times were literal months apart. Despite some writing quirks, Max Caufield and Chloe Price were endearing characters, as were those around them, even if some fell into fairly typical caricatures that you'd be familiar with if you've seen any movie set in a high school. The game hit some incredible emotional highs, and had a fantastic licensed sound track to boot. Strangely, my investment in the life strange franchise ended with Chloe and Max. While I tried some of the other titles, mainly life is strange 2, and life is strange true colors, they failed to grab me like that first game did, and I dropped both after one episode. Cut to 2024, and we finally have a life is strange game that continues Max’s story, which is what I've wanted since 2015. And while it doesn't quite hit the same highs as the original title did, I still felt largely satisfied with this latest entry in the Depressed millennial super hero squad franchise. The story picks up ten years after the events of the first game. Max Caufield has gone from a plucky and bright eyed 18 year old (despite the traumatic shit she went through in the first game), to an over worked 28 year old. In a lot of ways her age and experience match my own (give or take 3 years), which further immersed me in her character arc. Thanks to her excellent photography skills, she lands a plushy job at one of the nations top universities, as an artist in residence. Here she makes new friends. I really liked this new batch of characters. They largely feel more down to earth then high school caricatures like victoria chase and Nathan Prescott did In the first game, with one exception. Max’s inner circle of Safi, and Moses, the ron and hermione to her Harry Potter if you will, are immensely likable and well performed. Max herself is also well written and acted. The trauma of her past, and additional years of experience is reflected well, especially in her interactions with her students. It’s fun to see max as the authority figure this time around. Like the first game, Max has two possible romance routes she can pursue, but also like the first game, one is so underdeveloped, and such a bad fit for her character that you wonder what the point of adding them in that role was. Despite some quirks, the supporting cast is wonderful, and each felt like they had a real impact on the story and mystery at large. The mystery kicks off once her friend Safi is murdered at the beginning of the game. What starts as a simple who Dunn it, expands into an attempt to uncover a university wide conspiracy, as well as trying to figure out the nature and ramifications of Max’s newest super natural ability. I found the overall mystery to be engaging, but the plot surrounding the nature of her powers and what they mean became a little too convoluted for its own good by the end of the game In the first life is strange title, max could rewind time. This was an interesting twist in 2015 because most adventure games then were built around making hard choices and living with them. Of course Max learns that just because you can change the past doesn't mean you should, and you'll see a familiar arc here. For reasons poorly explained, max can now cross the boundary between two parallel realities, one where here friend Safi is Murdered, and one where she is alive. Switching between worlds creates interesting puzzle opportunities, often you are required to get an item from one reality and bring it to the next. Or cooperate with two versions of the same character across different realities. Max can even romance both options using this mechanic. Its a neat hook that allows for some fun puzzle solving and narrative moments. Eventually the trick does loose its appeal However, and by chapter 4 completing reality bending fetch quests loses a bit of its luster. Thankfully the game knows its limits and comes at around 10 hours in length. I beat it over a long weekend. Visually its a very nice looking game. Double Exposure maintains the water colored comic book aesthetic the series is known for, but never before has its environments and character models been so nicely detailed. Textures are very tangible despite the stylized aesthetic, and the convincing facial animation adds a lot of realism and believability to character interactions. Between this and Dragon age the veilguard, Its been a good year for the cartoony with a splash of realism aesthetic. I personally found the sound track to be disappointing, outside of the excellent title theme “someone was listening” by up and coming artist, Dodie. While there are still a fair number of licensed songs, none of them hit me in the same way that say “Spanish Sahara” by Foals did in the first game. In the first game, when a licensed song would come on to emphasize the emotional impact of a scene, I put down the controller and listened to it, maybe walked around in circles and looked at different intractable objects throughout. I rarely felt the same desire with the selection of songs here, outside of one or two. The reason I bring this up is because the music is a large part of what makes these games special, and helps to give them their emotional core, so the fact that it’s lacking here definitely feels like a step down, and overall played a role in the game feeling less emotionally impactful for me than the first did ten years ago. I won’t spoil anything, but I personally found the ending confusing and somewhat disappointing. It doesn’t really feel like a proper conclusion, and a cornball, marvel like “Max Caufield will return” tag line at the end of the credits indicates this was likely for a reason. All I’ll say about that, is that if deck nine and square enix intend to take this franchise in the direction is suspect they may be after this game, I’d highly implore them otherwise. If you know, you know, but what the ending hints at completley goes against the tenants of what makes life is strange stories compelling. Overall I had a good time with double exposure, and I was happy to get a new story with Max, though there is disappointing lack of Chloe, I enjoyed her new supporting cast. Despite a messy ending, the story is compelling. And while the graphics are great, the music seems like a major step down from the 2015 original. If you’re a fan of the original story, I’d recommend checking it out. If you’re a new comer, a lot of your enjoyment will stem from your knowledge and experience with the first game, so I’d recommend playing that before you consider playing double exposure, and if your a die hard fan who doesn’t like where this story takes Max, you may be better off replaying that original title as well. Deck 9 had an impossible expectations to live up to, Max and Chloe’s story was impactful, a deeply personal to many people, especially those in the LGBT community. I think they handled it well all things considered, but your mileage may vary. In many ways it mirrors the issues bioware will face with the next mass effect game. How do you make a sequel to something that is so personal to so many people, make it approachable for new audiences, and respect the individual choices made by different players?