Life Is Strange: Double Exposure (Playstation 5)

Max returns in this sequel to the original Life Is Strange. Loads of in depth storytelling. Twists and turns galore. And more difficult and sometimes emotional decisions for Max to make regarding her nearest and dearest. If you enjoyed the first game for more than just Chloe, you are sure to enjoy this one too.

I really enjoyed seeing Max return but I was really disappointed in not being able to rewind time like before, but the graphics looked better than the original life is strange I felt the story was a bit complicatedI liked the feeling of choices you could take with the phone app and littel free roam from a room to another room but I think the game could be improved.

Just to start - if you’ve not played the original Life is Strange, or the follow up LiS: Before the Storm, then I’d recommend you do so before you tackle LiS: Double Exposure. While it’s not a necessity, it WILL make some things make sense. However LiS 2 and LiS: True Colours are standalone stories and don’t affect Double Exposure.So, onto the game and I’d like to address some comments from other reviews that say nothing you do has an impact on the story. I feel this is slightly unfair - the point is the journey, and reacting to situations how you want to. There’s still plenty of choice to shape your character. That said, I do also understand some of the criticisms - without giving away spoilers this isn’t the kind of ‘choose your own adventure’ that can result in your character having a wildly different ending. Like I said, it’s very much about the journey rather than the destination.But! The fact is, once again I thoroughly enjoyed my time in an LiS game. Double Exposure sees us return to Max Caulfield’s world, as she now tackles the world of academia from a teaching perspective. Early on a devastating occurrence sees Max turn detective as she tries to piece together exactly what’s going on - which isn’t easy when you discover you can hop between two parallel realities.To say more will give too much away - if you’re a LiS veteran you know what you’re getting - lots of examining of things, lots of walking, lots of inner monologues with a dash of the supernatural. You’re also getting a solid set of relatable and not so relatable characters, a strong mystery and a lot of emotional moments. And again, a dash of the supernatural :DAnd it’s the characters for me that are the biggest positives - everyone has their positives, everyone has their flaws, just like real life. There’s a few subplots that see you connect with characters, for better or worse. I found everyone you connect with to be fully rounded, engaging companions throughout your journey. It’s just a shame that everyone else is very much an NPC, and there’s not a lot of them. For a game set on a university campus, that also has scenes in a local bar, everywhere feels a little…empty. One scene sees you enjoying the ‘Krampus’ party activities in aforementioned bar, and it’s essentially the handful of characters you engage with and a few others dotted about. I’m not sure about you but if I went to a campus party I’d hope for more than 12 people…Another nitpick is the sound - sometimes two NPCs will be talking, you’ll walk you to them and the voices will get quieter. Turn your back and the volume ramps up. It’s a little off-putting - and also something so noticed in LiS: True Colours, so it’s slightly disappointing to see it’s still an issue.I digress though - I genuinely enjoyed playing through the 5 episodes. Max is an engaging if possibly slightly over earnest character and, as a fan of the original Max Caulfield adventures, it was great seeing where her story had taken her. The game itself is a mystery and there were plenty of twists and turns I didn’t see coming. And even the ones I did were well done. Graphically it’s the best LiS yet and the settings were interesting and varied - I didn’t mind the fact I had to, in a sense, explore everything twice over depending on what ‘reality’ I was in because there were interesting differences in each reality.If you like these kind of slow-paced, story-driven games, then Double Exposure is worthy of your time - though I have to say I was happy I got it in the sale for around £30.

I bought this thinking it was going to be great like previous Life is Strange games, but for some reason it's really disconnected.The story arch is very poor and coming from someone who plays heavy story rich games, it's way too short for £45, it should be £10 for how quickly I finished it in a few hours... literally that quick on the same day I bought it.The ending is really poor and your choices have no reflection on the story, so it is a linear game with a forced ending. :(

Arrived promptly, excellent game in the series 🙂

Great game with amazing graphics now. Came very quickly!

Highly recommend

My least favourite life is strange but firstly what I liked. The soundtrack as with all Life is Strange games was amazing, the graphics were beautiful and it had a interesting mechanic with the parallel worlds.Unfortunately that is were the good points end. This game absolutely forces its gender politics down your throat, which completely ruined the game for me. It was one character after another and eventually when I thought I had chosen the only straight dateable character it turned out, he was not and identified as something else as he slept with anybody men and women. It is impossible to date straight in this game which ruins the choice Life is Strange is famous for as it clearly wanted me to date gay.I think out of the entire cast there was two characters who were straight the headteacher and Diamond who ironicly was in love with a gay man who was in a relationship.There is one death in the game midway through that i thought might lead to something interesting which it doesnt. Which leads me onto the next big point nothing matters in this game, the big choices essentially change a line of dialogue and thats it if your lucky. It felt like the entire game is just a exercise at how many gay characters they can fit in the game.They even have stupid commentary on paper straws, white privilege which is ironic also as their is one white character in the game and you are strongly encouraged to hate him before he is killed off so we can get back to our diverse cast as long as there is no white people.Like i started with i love life is strange 1, 2, true colours, before the storm. But the gender politics are getting worse as they have gone on which just turns me off the games. Why cant the developers just write a meaningful story without forcing their beliefs down your throat.