Life is Strange: Double Exposure review – back to Max

Introduction

Life is Strange regularly plays fast and loose with continuity. Each narrative adventure focuses on young people grappling with a myriad of issues complicated by supernatural powers, but introduces a new story and set of characters for each instalment, with the odd character or reference holding them in the same connected universe.

The second game, a prequel to the original starring rebellious teen Chloe Price, was the sole exception, but now new entry Life is Strange: Double Exposure is what you could call a direct sequel. You’re back in the shoes of Max Caulfield, ten years on from the original. A decade feels like a good time to catch up with the original protagonist, who’s no longer a shy photography student but a proper adult who’s left behind the events of Arcadia Bay. But at what cost?

Timeline travel

Now an artist-in-residence at a prestigious liberal arts university in the fictional town of Lakeport, Vermont, Max’s peers skew older – from grad students to the university’s president. But the past isn’t quite behind her (controversially, you’re given a choice early on that means either of the original game’s endings can be valid).

Just as you’re getting used to her new friendship group, including aspiring poet Safi, astrophysics student Moses, and a potential romance with the owner of local bar, tragedy strikes again. Max finds Safi shot dead, but with no murder weapon, suspect or motive in sight. Tempted to use her old rewinding powers, Max instead unlocks a new one that lets her step into another timeline where Safi is alive, but also where she discovers her best friend’s secrets and tensions.

Using Max’s new powers to solve or even prevent a murder is a compelling hook that feels apt when modern media is constantly thinking in what ifs and multiverses. It’s implemented here in a clumsy and plodding way, though, especially the puzzles that require you to do something in one timeline then hop over to the other (weirdly referred to as ‘living’ and ‘dead’ worlds), via arbitrary tear points.

Snooping on people without being physically present in another timeline is a nice trick, but the muffled audio means I had to actually turn on subtitles to hear what was being said. It’s complicated by having Max’s thoughts clashing with what you may overhear spoken between NPCs, or how voiceovers cut out abruptly if you’re in a hurry. Worse still, I encountered a bug in one scene where the dialogue audio was just missing despite trying to reload the save multiple times.

Then there’s just trying to keep tabs on the rules of how timeline-hopping even works – how can you bring items or even people from one timeline to another? It’s just not as intuitive or relatable compared to the first game, which gave you an undo button for life.

Grown up and glowed up

A decade later, Double Exposure is certainly a visual step up from the original – and also the 2022 remaster, which moved away from hand-painted textures and awkward animations to something more modern. It wisely retains Max’s original voice actor Hannah Telle, who captures the charm of a character that, even as an adult, can still be a bit of a clueless dork when it comes to flirting or cracking bad jokes. But whereas the first game’s writing felt cringe at times, here the writing wholeheartedly embraces that side of her.

The series was also an early trailblazer for diverse representation in games, providing a spectrum of characters from different marginalised backgrounds and identities. That continues here, where the cast isn’t just an idealised rainbow society where everyone gets along – but those differences aren’t a plot point, either. Instead, everyone at Caledon University has multiple facets; even the pompous novelist and faculty head, whose comeuppance you’ll likely be rooting for. Everyone gets to be nuanced and messy, whether you like them or not.

It’s the environments that are lacking, as you’ll mostly go back and forth between the same few campus grounds locations and the local bar. OK, the two timelines change up the decor and overall vibe, but I recall the original game’s Arcadia Bay having more variety.

Losing the plot

This series has always had its quirks and imperfections – fans would say they make it more charming – while its other strengths excused the occasional plot hole or inconsistency. But Double Exposure is unfortunately where I have to put my foot down. I repeatedly found myself exclaiming ‘What the ****’ – not in a good way.

Not content with just juggling two timelines, there’s also hints of another mystery as other characters claim to see themselves, or suggestions that someone has been suspected of erratic behaviour. One character gets blipped out of existence regardless of your choices, and then you’re introduced to another kind of power that throws everything through a loop. It’s ironic the series’ strongest entry was Before the Storm, where your only superpower was having the gift of the gab.

You’ll still see some of your choices play out, and summaries at the end of each chapter show how your decisions compare with other players, but with Double Exposure it’s as if the developers have lost sight of what made the series special, Instead it leans into one convoluted plot twist after another, before leaving on a post-credits scene that suggests the creation of a new MCU – that is, the Maxine Caulfield Universe.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure verdict

For fans of the original Life is Strange, there’s a pleasure in being reunited with Max years later on another adventure. The new characters in her life are equally engaging, with great writing and performances that make you empathise with them while still probing into their secrets.

Sadly, it’s undone by a new mechanic that just isn’t as interesting to play with, while doubling down on a plot that both feels like a rehash of the first game but also spinning off into a more convoluted future I’m not sure anyone wants. Perhaps there are some things that are just better left in the past.

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