Finally, it is here! The sequel to the successful game/visual novel Life is Strange. However, this time we will not be following Max and Chloe in their adventures with time travel and the storm. This time, we are with Sean and Daniel, two brothers. Without giving away any spoilers the two brothers find themselves on the road together. Sean has to take care of his younger brother while keeping a horrible secret.
Daniel, however, seems to be having a little secret of his own. This time, the magical powers seem to reside in the side character rather than the main character you control. What his ability is exactly is still not exactly sure, but it seems like he can defend himself pretty effectively.
The fact that time travel isn’t in the game anymore (or at least not yet) makes your decisions matter even more. With the first Life is Strange you could just see what the response was to a certain action and then reverse it to find what you thought to be the best route. This time there is no going back. And that makes you think even more about your actions in the game.
The story, at least as far as we’ve gotten it right now, seems a lot better than the first game. There are also some very actual topics like trumps wall and racism towards Mexicans in the game. There are of course some very tragic events, and these really seem heavy for the two little bros of 16 and 7 respectively. It’s also very cool to see some familiar sights passing by. Like a town that got destroyed by a storm….
There are a few bad parts to this sequel as well. There are a few mistakes or inaccuracies if you will. Like if you do something in a different order than the game intended it will give a wrong prompt. Like checking a garbage can in front of other people is bad, but when the people leave, it will still tell you not to do it in front of the people. But the worst part is the voice actor of Sean, the main character. It doesn’t seem to be as genuine as it needs to be for a game of this size. A lot of other voice actors do a better job at it. Then there is the sync of the lines with the movement of the lips, not always completely accurate.
The graphics and movements, on the other hand, are way better than the first game. It’s a lot more fluent to move around and everything looks just a lot better. This together with the great narrative make this game really worthwhile. And all of this makes the lesser good parts a lot more bearable. This was a really great and relaxing experience even though it really makes you think about life!
