Life Is Strange is an episodic and story-driven Adventure series, one which occupies a world brimming with charm and warmth.
The original game starred teenager Max Caulfield, a student at Blackwell Academy in a small town in suburban Oregon, and had the vibe and presentational style of an indie flick, with the mystery that enveloped the academy venturing into some startlingly dark territory. It was carried by strong characters, a compelling setting, and a Butterfly Effect-like power that allowed Max to rewind time. Very often, you’d have to make crucial decisions that would have real impacts on the world around you.
Told episodically, Life is Strange garnered increasing popularity and critical praise as it went on, and wound up developing a large following.
I have to say that Life is Strange 2 isn’t the same home run that the original game was; in fact, in many ways it feels like a definite step back. Much of this is due to deliberate decisions made on the part of developer DontNod Entertainment to move from the format of a contained, developing world to a Last of Us-style road adventure, where likable main character Sean Diaz and his fairly aggravating younger brother Daniel find themselves on the run after a series of horrifying, if slightly unbelievable, events. As they journey south from Washington state to Mexico, they encounter various types of people, some friendly and some hostile, and fight for survival with very little money as law enforcement hunts them down.
There are ways that these narrative choices result inevitably in a smaller, lesser game than its predecessor, but I’ll come back to those in a bit. Life is Strange 2’s biggest improvements over the original are in its presentation; this is a gorgeous game, its visuals bringing its world to life, its dialogue relying less on the slang that proved somewhat divisive last time around. Though I have major issues with Daniel, Sean himself proves to be a great main character, and while the 1st episode gets the game off to an almost cartoonishly awful start, Life is Strange 2 does ultimately hit its stride by the time it reaches Episode 3, and continues on well for its 2nd half despite an anticlimactic ending.
It remains very fun to wander DontNod’s beautiful, intimate environments, with no shortage of objects to interact with, the acoustic guitar music setting the scene well, and a series of mostly well-acted, occasionally compelling characters and decisions moving the plot forward in interesting ways. The game still brims with character, from Sean’s ability to sit down and sketch out the various environments he comes across, to the funny comments he often makes and the hand drawn nature of many of Life is Strange 2’s menus. In what’s by far the game’s best episode, Episode 3, Sean and Daniel find themselves in a deep forest, living in an encampment with a crew of endearing marijuana cultivators, who bust their assess for an abusive boss. It’s here and really only here that Life is Strange 2 manages to channel what made the original game so incredible; the sense that your choices mattered, that they affected the people around you. Living with and interacting with this group of misfits really allows Sean to come into his own as a character, and gives him some much-needed time to associate with people other than his often-irritating little brother.
It’s here that Life is Strange 2 hits its stride, and though episodes 4 and 5 don’t quite manage to live up to this fantastic part of the game, the stakes from that point on feel more human and more urgent, and things power through well to its final act. It’s commendable that Life is Strange 2 was, in the end, able to moderately win me over despite an opening episode (and about half of the 2nd episode) that had me majorly wondering whether I’d even finish the game.
What ultimately stops Life is Strange 2 from living up to its predecessor is the “road game” format. Each episode brings Sean and Daniel to a different location entirely, with few of your decisions seeming to carry over or make much of a difference once the story whisks these characters hundreds of miles away. While Life is Strange featured a cast of likable side characters and a school and town that grew as you played, part 2 sacrifices this almost entirely for a story that keeps these characters almost constantly moving, giving you no ability to see the results of your choices on the world other than through brief letters/asides Sean receives.
Along with this, the story feels far more inflexible; very few of the choices I make seem to have any impact on what the game ultimately wants to happen, with Daniel often stubbornly refusing to listen to Sean no matter what I tell him to do, forcing the story down its clearly pre-determined path. The writers appear to be under the impression that Daniel’s likable, but almost every misfortune that befalls the brothers seems to be a direct result of Daniel’s stubborn actions, and as a result Sean’s forgiving nature and his seemingly unwavering devotion to his brother becomes painful to watch. It’s true that in these types of games the degree of choice you have is almost always somewhat of an illusion, but Life is Strange 2 is transparent about it to the point where you learn almost immediately after making what’s supposed to be a major choice that it doesn’t matter, that the story will continue heading where it wants to go regardless. Even with its narrative-driven focus, Life is Strange still felt like a video game, whereas Life is Strange 2 sees the series veer much more definitively towards being an interactive movie.
That the intriguing time travel mechanic from the original (along with its gameplay additions, such as puzzles, and the narrative importance that it offered) has been replaced by a very lame “hovering” power not even revealed until Episode 2, one which you’re never really given much control of and which feels more like an afterthought than something truly important. Life is Strange 2’s use of source music, something done so well in the original, feels here forced and much more self-aware, something that I’d say carries over to numerous aspects of this sequel. Sequels are hard, because the developers are under immense pressure to replicate what made the original games so successful, while also providing a new experience and evolving the formula. Life is Strange 2 stumbles a bit with each, delivering a fun and somewhat memorable journey, though one that I can only call a step back from its predecessor.
Despite a rocky start though, Life is Strange 2 does manage to recover. Its shortcomings are evident throughout, especially as it relates to the original game. In going with a story that never stays in the same place for too long, you lose the sense of being part of a world that develops around the decisions that you make. You lose (until you reach the second half of the game) the cast of characters whose relationships and connections you play a role in cultivating. You also lose the very cool and innovative time travel mechanic. Life is Strange 2 attempts to meld all these elements into Sean’s relationship with his younger brother, but Daniel disappointingly just seems to do his own thing regardless, and manages to come across as selfish and irritating in the process. All that said, once it finally hits its groove at Episode 3, Life is Strange 2 managed to hook me. In the end, it’s one that I can say I cautiously recommend to fans of the original, as long as they go into it with the right expectations. Those new to the series I’d encourage to try the original Life is Strange first, because aside from its visuals, it’s a better game in almost every sense. Still, Life is Strange 2 isn’t without its charms and its moments, many of which occurring later in the game, and it’s a journey I’m ultimately happy I went on.
3.5/5
Note; This review is based on the PS4 version
