LIFE IS STRANGE DOUBLE EXPOSURE is what happens when a good idea arrives just a little too late. It’s been two months since the game release and I’m ultra behind on this review mostly due to a late review code, over-scheduling, and catching the flu at the time I had originally wanted to schedule and go live with this review a month ago. So in all that time, I decided to do a second playthrough hoping that my opinion of it would get slightly better, finishing up only now.
And it hasn’t. It’s a good game. Not a great one. And not as memorable as its predecessors. The thing about this 6th Life is Strange Game, which is the sequel to the original game’s storyline, is that the original didn’t need a sequel. The first was a standalone tale about a young teen girl’s experiences with friendship, love, and that awkward period of adolescence. Questioning how far one can go with the ability to undo.
To revisit this world with Max again, let alone do it without Chloe, who was sort of Max’s wild child foil to her angst riddled nature, was a good idea in theory. But it was one that arrived a little late as this story is meant for those of Max’s age at that time. So while it’s a positive that Max Caulfield will return as the series protagonist again in the future apparently in the franchise, it does seem that flaws lie in this very same series with that initial pursuit. That despite all of the growth of this past decade, both in the video game industry and in the world of Max Caulfield, too much of this feels like she hasn’t changed.
Which is a problem.
Because the original Life Is Strange is a masterpiece of both queer fiction and of character. It’s a work of art that introduces you to a world at a time in gaming history where we exploring what could be done with narrative fiction. In so many ways, that game was meant to explore how to save the world of our story. Double Exposure in contrast, is picking up the pieces of that world we left behind and the growth that comes in accepting our decisions. It’s why Max has so much guilt. It’s why this is so hard to make it work.
Here’s our review.
First and foremost, let’s praise what’s good about this new installment. The game is an upgrade in terms of graphics. Visually, it’s the best of the series. Plus, there are also a couple of new design features, better facial expressions, and added UI adding to the story.
Now, the journal device much like the original, serves as a nifty introspection of the past events that happened and how it made Max feel. On my second playthrough, I’d noticed just how much changes depending on your early choices, the biggest of which is your relationship with Chloe and if she was your first love, and better yet, if you had saved her. Which are all original game decisions you get to decide in the first chapter.
It’s a bit of a spoiler, but going down either route leads to some trauma over her and Chloe’s relationship. Either Chloe’s death or her distancing. That despite having superpowers it wasn’t enough to save a friendship and/or relationship. It’s heavy and feels relatable, one decade older, not just to Max but also ourselves.
Atop of that, Max’s social media accounts on her phone dual serve as a means of characterization with people you’ve met plus an interactive feature that adds texting and gives the characters more freedom of choice. Cell phones and socials are so integrated in our world today – so adding these more layered mechanics make sense and are a nice break in the game. I also like how messages adds a bit of layers to Max’s relationships.
Though perhaps my favorite new feature: the new outfits. The homage to Square Enix with the Chocobo was my stylish go to, though I also really loved the goth looking rogue-like highlight. It’s neat how the outfit combos change quite a lot with its many selections throughout the different chapters. It also makes replays of the game a little less stale.
In this game, Max has new powers dealing with time and space – not just the rewind abilities of the first game. I also like how double exposure is used in the game but I’ll omit how it works for spoilers. Suffice to say things come together and the abilities, and more importantly, the revelations of them as they unlock, serve as major cliffhangers in the game. While it took way long to get there it is a good payoff with some decent puzzler mechanics. Traditional Max nosebleeds when using her powers and all.
The Writing remains the best thing about the series
Again did I mention that the cliffhangers are super great? The game kicks off with a mystery of sorts, as a big event happens and it slowly falls on Max to figure out why. There’s a lot of drama that builds slowly midway through the game’s first chapter, that works by peeling the layers like an onion – tearfully getting to the heart of it in moments of dialogue and developing characterization.
Yes, the game starts slow in using Max’s abilities but by the chapter 2 ending there’s a neat little hook that I think will get fans remembering why they love this game, and by chapter 4, when all the heartfelt emotional moments arise in the thick of the story, I do think you’re probably going to love Max’s many new friends.
Because Life is Strange is about how growing up is strange. Whether you’re an 18 year old who discovers photography time travel powers while trying to fit in and befriending the hot blue haired bad birl… or are a 28 year old teacher at an elite art college with multidimensional time travel powers struggling to fit in while befriending the hot poetry writing badgirl.
It’s really about the character and the people we meet along the way. What makes them human. What makes them great. It’s in that change between getting to know and interact with everyone and trying to save them, that the chapters divide very well in terms of pacing. The consequences of your decisions by the final chapter will feel reminiscent of the original because of convergence. Every choice matters.
But where I think this game shines is in its second playthrough which made me remember the tragedy of the first game. Assuming you’ve played it, the option of letting Chloe die hurt me so much on the original game back then that I forgot, I intentionally went back with a walkthrough guide and said fuck you to Arcadia Bay, letting everyone in town die, just to ride off together in the sunset with Max and bae, Chloe, on my second playthrough.
What this game did rather cleverly was weigh upon that choice here. Making me see how despite superpowers and life changing events, friends and lovers… can in fact, drift apart… That hit really hard. Especially, when the game brings back the choices at the end summary that made me realize, I’m not the only one who struggled. There’s some trauma in growth here and what’s nice, is that layer of community in this fandom it highlights.
But really it’s the characterization
Life is Strange is about people and in this case Max Caulfield, the girl that started the series. Like many of you, I played this in a post Last of Us world, where young teen girls swearing and being independent nerds rife with characterization and being into what were assumedly called ‘boys’ mediums, was growing and becoming hip in video games and in pop culture. And this kind of take felt fresh – less sexualized female video game characters and a relationship that felt self-discovery levels of queer in what was a changing shift in LGBTQ voices at the time.
Max Caulfield in this one is voiced by the talented Hanna Telle yet again. She is now older, 28 years older compared to 18. Despite the time that’s passed it’s a little strange how non-self assured Max still is at this age. Strangely, I wish she were a little bit younger as she’s a fullblown adult now but doesn’t always act like it. Max’s inner thoughts and mannerisms seem like someone in her early to mid-twenties rather than someone entering her 30s. She’s a little irresponsible, and in many ways, immature. That kind of bothered me in the game especially as she’s a teacher and meant to be a role model though still prioritizes things teens would.
The side characters also do deserve mention in terms of writing. Safi is sort of Chloe-light and is a pretty good counter to Max’s personality. Much of the game being dedicated to learning how complex she is though it’s hard to delve into it without spoilers. I also especially liked Amanda or Vihn, especially in regards to their interactions with a lot more self-assured Max, showcasing some growth here with both. I do think both can use with some more gametime though. As Amanda is the more organic choice while Vihn is more or less, the himbo.
Probably the best though is Gwen. Who is one of the best written transgender characters I’ve seen realistically depicted in a video game. I like that their identity played secondary to who she was as a person – a mentor, a friend, and someone you don’t want to fuck with. It’s great writing and the complexities of what she has to go through feels honest regarding the struggles of acceptance.
Ok now the bad
All that said there’s actually a lot about the game I disliked. The dialogue cuts are very annoying and make it hard for replayability without the ability to skip forward unless you’re chapter replaying. Platinuming this one takes two tries and chapter selects on each. It’s a bit much and it would be very easy to skip forward some of the dialgoues.
The gameplay also feels so outdated with the overly simplistic controls. This game is still a lot of seeing what happens and reading, while sitting through talking with folks and making decisions. In ten years – I’d like to think we’d have a new mechanic by now for these types of games. And while the accessibility is good and customizable, the actual playing of the game gets annoying. World switching gets old and takes longer than liked, as Max rips upon alternate realities, one alive and one dead.
I also forgot how weird it was just picking up items in a room is as a game feature but it was a long time since I played the original. So much of your experience is determined on not missing things and I find it kind of annoying there isn’t a better way to see what you can interact with outside of added-in sonar and UI customization. It’s superpowers. There has to be a more organic mechanic. And I wonder, if others also felt this strange disconnect between exposition of the world and touching everything versus actually playing the game.
But my biggest issue is that while I like the writing, it is written like it’s 2016 more than 2023. Cigarette smoking and the Social media crosstalk feels like instagram and twitter of 2016, and since then, so much of the world has changed regarding social media photos, videos, and channels. Again, the gameplay is slow to get to the point on decision making on a second playthrough and because of this, I’d often take breaks just out of boredom.
I also find that Lucas’s storyline to be very bad. Because as a writer, what he’s done that they make into this big drama in this game – is actually kind of common? The Scooby Doo’ing around to prove how he’s at wrong feels weird – especially in an era where AI is doing this on a regular basis. We’re also repeating the plot beats of the first game. A white guy bad guy teacher drama, just with the less stakes than the original, which we talked about hard hitting themes of rape and suicide and school shootings. This? Plagarism plotline? By comparison feels low stakes.
Finally, I’m also not sure I like the direction the series is going, as without getting too into it… it looks like the game is taking the powers too far and going in the direction of full-blown X-Men… All I have to say about that is, do we really need another one of these stories? The charm of the first was its simplicity that ballooned into something much bigger. Heading this path is very Hollywood: bigger stakes, bigger powers, and bigger everything? In a time where I think simpler is best.
Overall Take
The original life is strange was great for its time as a brilliant look at adolescent society. It was about finding yourself while meeting friends and falling in love along the way, the bubbling effects of choices, sort of a natural melodrama that emulated our own inner journey and feelings. This game, by comparison, is another superhero origin story.
Play it if you like the Life is Strange series though don’t expect much in terms of growth.
LIFE IS STRANGE DOUBLE EXPOSURE ULTIMATE EDITION is available on PS5, XBox, Windows, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.
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