THE first Life is Strange game became a cult classic despite some questionable writing and more than a few plot holes.
Despite some pretty tragic character development, it was an interesting concept that has only improved with every game developed.
The original developer Dontnod stepped away from the series, and so did the two male writers of the mostly female cast.
For me the main issue with the original game is that Chloe and Max felt like they were written by men with a complete misunderstanding of how women think and feel.
The new developer Deck Nine put women in charge starting with True Colors, and the upgrade in writing of the main characters.
Deck Nine has now taken Dontnod’s original character, Max Caulfield, and reintroduced her to Life is Strange.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure is the upcoming game in the series, and we had the chance to play the first episode.
The most noticeable change is that Max is now well-written, with no constant self-doubt and far more personality.
She’s as dorky as she was before, but it’s been refined into just one part of her overall personality.
The general gameplay remains unchanged, but this wasn’t the main issue with Life is Strange’s first outing.
You explore and make choices, and those choices could affect later decisions you are able to make.
We wish you could walk faster than a snail’s pace, which was the main issue with the original game, but this one wish did not become a reality.
There was also the issue that the dialogue choices you make don’t always match up with what Max exactly says.
Overall though Double Exposure has an interesting setup.
Max hasn’t used her rewind powers in years, and is now a professional photographer.
However, her world comes crashing down when one of her friends is shot and killed, and it awakens her to a new power.
This lets her jump to an alternate universe, and explore a world where her friend didn’t die.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t preview Chapter 2 as part of this preview and we consistently hit a Fatal Error, but we hold hope from what we’ve seen so far.
If you want to read more about upcoming games, check out our Starfield Shattered Space review.
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