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

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is a game I’ve been excited and patiently waiting for since it was announced I was so glad Maxine Caulfield is back and I was so excited to see how her new journey will unfold I had very high expectations for it and to be completely honest? It managed to live up to my very high expectations! Everything about the game was well written and well done, it was an enjoyable experience filled with fun, wild, emotional and intriguing moments from start to finish. 🩵 I’ll start by talking about the story when they said it’s a supernatural murder mystery I was excited, and when I played it and saw how the game didn’t shy away from diving more and more into sci-fi subjects I loved the game even more, I personally love stories that are sci-fi or have sci-fi elements in them so it’s no surprise this game ended up being so loved by me! I didn’t just love the story because it was sci-fi though, I think the murder mystery itself was written very well and the mysteries were so well written and I definitely did not expect most of them but that’s just it the mysteries kept me intrigued I was excited to play more every time I finished a chapter because of how good those chapters were and how they ended the chapters made me want to play more of the game I wanted to find out what will happen next it was truly like I was watching a murder mystery show that dealt with the supernatural! It’s important to mention that even though the story was full of mysteries and supernatural events they still managed to maintain what made the Life is Strange games the Life is Strange games I love and adore, real life issues were definitely present and written in a subtle and respectful manner, the real characters that I always loved in these games were there (getting Arab Muslim women representation in LIS is something I needed and I’m so glad I got it), the amazing superpowers were there, the hard choices with consequences were also present, the setting of the game (Caledon Universty) was so pleasant on the eyes and while it was a beautiful setting this university hid terrible secrets. All and all the story was so well written and I had to play the game twice just because of how much I loved the game there’s lots of details you don’t pick up on until you replay it a second time! They said it’s a supernatural murder mystery and they definitely delivered on that front and it was not only written well but the mystery wrapped up in a way that made sense it was very satisfying to see how the story ended because every little thing paid off and the ending is fantastic and bittersweet. Story aside I wanna talk about the characters a lot of them were complex characters they all had their own stories and their own struggles just like Max. They weren’t perfect people and that’s okay because no one is ever perfect they all made mistakes and had regrets, some of them convinced themselves what they did was for the greater good, while some thought what they thought was bad and they don’t belong. I loved all of the new characters except one and it’s Lucas he’s so self absorbed and he has no redeeming qualities and even after everything he only cares about himself and his own image. Reggie was fine to be honest but he definitely has some annoying traits but he’s not as bad as Lucas and I really liked his character. Moses is such a great character to be honest I really love him he’s a fantastic and caring friend and he helps Max move forward in her life and helps her realize that going through something traumatic together is better than going it alone! I’m Moses biggest fan to be honest I adore him! Gwen honestly may be one of my favorites too she’s so honest and kind and I loved how depending on your choices she’ll keep on fighting for herself and get the justice she deserves while making amends. Yasmin is definitely a flawed mother and I think she definitely loved Safi but she was also too self absorbed and cared about her own projects over her own daughter’s feelings. I can definitely see that she’s willing to change in the ending if she was fired from Caledon University and it’s something honestly she should’ve done from the beginning, I think Yasmin and Safi’s story is something that happen in real life stubborn and narcissistic parents getting in the way of their children dreams because they don’t think it’s good for the children is real. (Like I said I think she’s changing at the end, her love for Safi is definitely real but her actions hurt her daughter.) Moving on as I said before the characters are so well written but this adventure wouldn’t be the same without the star of the adventure and that is the returning protagonist of this story, Maxine Caulfield. They managed to bring back Max and still stay true to who she was in Life is Strange she’s more mature because she’s an adult, she’s more confident, more capable, she’s more responsible with her power, she’s a strong character for enduring all the pain and guilt of the choice she had to make when she was only a teen! But all that aside it’s still the Max we all love, some of her traits as a teen still can be seen she still gets sad about things out of her control, she still wants to get things right, she wants to be surrounded by friends because she doesn’t want to be alone, she still cares for everyone’s wellbeing too. Her story in this game doesn’t get easier she lost a friend she made and she wanted to undo it but couldn’t, losing a friend again (whether Chloe died or not but for this review I’ll say it’s based on Sacrifice Chloe ending friendship route) she was still holding herself responsible for what happened and guilt tripped her own self but you know what? Her journey in Caledon University changed her, she managed to open up she managed to learn it’s okay if you have regrets or if you made mistakes because she was surrounded by adults just like her that had the same problems. She learned how to set boundaries and stand up for herself instead of doing whatever people tell her to! Max at the end of the journey accepted her decisions, the past and everything that came with it and decided to stop thinking about what she should’ve done and accept what she did and she didn’t even consider using rewind at the end. She no longer wants to run away from her past, from the memories, from the pain she wanted to face it and that’s what happened at the end. I said it before and I’ll say it again she’s a character I’ll always relate to and she continues to inspire me even now. Before I talk about Safi, Vinh and Amanda I wanted to talk about few scenes that I really loved despite being extremely sad and a bit scary. Max revisiting the past memories that haunted her ever since she left Arcadia Bay is something I wanted them to dive into and they did just that one scene made me feel a bit nostalgic but then again any reference to the first game made me nostalgic but nostalgia aside I felt sad when Max revisited the scene of Chloe’s death which is Blackwell Academy bathroom. Scenes like that made me realize how traumatized she is and I’m glad she faced her past and trauma despite it being sad I think she needed to do this to move forward. Another scene is unfortunately for me because I cried lots (and Max since she experienced it) is her remembering what Jefferson did to her the trauma of that entire thing, her PTSD is very real and she definitely suffers from it as I always suspected it was handled very well no EXTREMELY well honestly! This time these scenes didn’t dive into Max’s guilt, regrets and deepest fears like Max’s nightmare in Life is Strange instead this time it showed how she’s struggling with what happened mentally what she experienced is something no one should experience let alone a teenager who’s easily influenced. This game showed it’s okay to hurt but you need to face the trauma rather than run from it that’s the only way Max could move forward, running away will make it worse and she’s been running for ten years. Overall these two scenes and the motel scene showed how Max is now letting go of the past that haunted her, in the motel scenes she kept opening doors to the past memories that haunted her and she even lets herself drown in them but a part of her mind (you as the player) told her to get up because this isn’t right she needed to focus on the present not the past she needed to move on because this isn’t helping her being stuck on her past decisions isn’t helpful and she realized that all on her own (sorta but more on that later). Alright now that’s over I can talk about Vinh and Amanda I’ll start with Vinh though because he’s the character I was drawn to before the love option (Kiss) was even present. Vinh is such a complex character he’s not perfect and I’m not gonna sit here and justify his actions but that’s exactly it he wasn’t perfect he knew he messed up but that’s exactly why I love him, was he selfish and made mistakes based on that selfishness? Yes. Did he regret it? Yes what I said for Gwen it also applies for him too he’s a really great and well written character and I love him seriously. Now that’s done I think it’s time I talk about his possible romantic relationship with Max 😙 I think he and Max are perfect for each other Max needs someone like him to help her realize it’s okay to make mistakes it’s okay to have regrets and feel guilt but it’s also okay to live in the present and stop doubting yourself I said her journey in Caledon University changed her and it did she got to interact, befriend and romance people who are just like her but they weren’t as harsh on themselves as she was on herself she needed that, and Vinh gave her that don’t get me wrong I’m not saying Max needs someone to help her because as I said she helped herself but she gained the courage to do that because of the people she met, they changed her perspective on things and Vinh is one of them! Not only did Vinh help Max but she also helps him be okay with the mistakes he made and instead of feeling sorry for himself he can make amends! As I said I loved his character before the romance option (Kiss) was there I wasn’t sure if I’ll like him as much as I did but I genuinely love his character whether I chose the romance option or the friendship option. (And his relationship with Max is cute and full of chemistry too why lie?) Amanda’s turn now I think she’s the only character I’ve seen that immediately establishes her boundaries and she’s not gonna change those boundaries for anyone not even Max and I love that. She knew what she wanted and will say so with no fear, I really love how she doesn’t shy away from mentioning she have a therapist because there’s nothing wrong with therapy she places her own mental health first before anyone and again that’s great! I will say Amanda friendship with Max is adorable and I prefer her friendship with Max over the relationship, we all need a friend like Amanda! ❤️ Now it’s time to talk about Safiya Llewellyn-Fayyad! I honestly love her character I really do she’s a complex and traumatized character, does that justify what she did? Absolutely not, not the game (if you chose so anyway) or Safi herself justify what she did, Safi feels bad for what she did. I think her speech at the end wasn’t a big cartoony villain speech I think what she says is stemming from the trauma she faced and the fact that everything in her life was controlled by her mother she tried so hard to be the perfect daughter her mother wanted her to be I mean that’s the entire reason her power manifested because she wasn’t good enough and she couldn’t tell anyone because as we saw her mom was looking at her terrified but meeting Max and being friends with her had it’s positives for sure! Max changed Safi I think that’s why I personally think the “Accept” option was the way to go, I don’t know what she plans to do when she finds more people with powers but I think Max standing by her side is a positive she needs a positive influence so she doesn’t use her power irresponsibly but I think she already learned a bit about how horrible the consequences can be if she used them irresponsibly! As I said I’m not gonna justify what she did I didn’t even choose anything that justifies what she did but I didn’t want Max to abandon her not after she was abandoned, she doesn’t force Max to leave or do anything she just wants to know if Max will have her back and personally I think that’s okay these two connected on a deeper level no one gets them like they do their friendship is really well written it’s not perfect but they cared for each other and respected each other’s decisions! I said Max helped herself sorta above, and I mean it Max definitely helped herself but Max wanting to put Safi’s pieces together also helped Max to face the past she’s been running away from. I noticed in the game that before Max can even help Safi she had to face her past then help Safi and that’s what I mean they helped each other and maybe it’s me being too optimistic but I think they’ll continue to do so whether you chose “Refuse” or “Accept” I personally prefer “Accept” but the “Refuse” option raises lots of good points so both options were really well done like all of the options in the game honestly! 💛 In conclusion Safi is one of my favorite characters and I love her character and I love her friendship with Max so much. Now that’s all over I’ll talk about some things I didn’t mention, first I’ll talk about gameplay! I loved the new power gameplay and I really loved how Max used her powers more to investigate it really made the game feel more and more like a supernatural murder mystery. Worth mentioning and I don’t know if it’s intentional but when Max rewinds using a picture it truly felt harder than Life is Strange photo rewind and that’s because it’s been a while since she used it so I definitely understood why she said it’s hard to use again because I felt it while playing. Not just super power gameplay though I really loved the photography gameplay I’m no photographer but I like taking pictures so I was having so much fun taking random snapshots as Max! Second I’ll talk about the soundtrack every song that played in this game is amazing and I’m not just talking about songs with lyrics I mean even random tracks the track that plays in the Observatory made me feel so nostalgic for some reason but that’s just an example since each song made me feel some type of way that will always stay with me when I listen to the songs again! Illusion is a fantastic song that made you feel tense whenever a plot twist was revealed and September is a song that made me cry no matter what. I also wanted to mention how natural the scenes seemed in this game, the voice acting was fantastic (Max’s VA needs awards especially but all of them were great), the graphics and animation were really well made 10/10 definitely! I will say while I love Sacrifice Chloe ending more and I prefer it over the other one I still think both endings were handled well in this game, as someone who played the game twice with both endings choices I think both endings were handled well, and that includes Chloe’s character and Max & Chloe friendship! Well that’s all really, I love this game so much it was an enjoyable game with amazing story and it’s definitely my favorite Life is Strange game. Until next time, Maxine Caulfield. (Since in Marvel fashion which I love by the way it was announced she’ll be back!) I can’t wait for her next journey hopefully it’ll be just as good as this one and maybe even better! 🩵