It's hard to be surprised in 2024 by what the Life is Strange series is capable of delivering. By now we've seen two main numbered instalments, a prequel to the first, and an original spin-off that showed us that there were other ways to approach this partially supernatural universe. A universe that revolves around the millennial generation, their way of seeing the world and facing the challenges that come with the convulsive stage that goes from the end of adolescence to adulthood. Everyone has their own story, of course, but unlike what happens to us in real life, in the stories of Life is Strange we believe that we are the ones who take the bull by the horns, and that we believe that only by ourselves (and our powers) we will change what happens. But as we all know, life is more complicated (and strange) than what happens to us, because the main variable is how other people's lives fit into our own, and vice versa.
A strange introduction to this Double Exposure, I know, but allow me to explain. Here we are no longer dealing with adolescent problems about separated families, nor with blatant situations about how those who are supposed to guide us take advantage of our innocence to satiate their moral turpitude. Now Max's story is about surviving in an adult world, with problems, longings, passions and concerns about our responsibility for other people as well as our own.
As I commented a few weeks ago in my first impressions after playing the first two chapters, Life is Strange: Double Exposure nails again the concept of a stylized and complex narrative adventure, in which even the slightest details can be crucial to advance the plot in the best possible way. But Max Caufield is no longer that shy, quiet girl we met in 2015. She's been through a lot since she left Arcadia Bay, and now has a much stronger determination about what she should and shouldn't do in her life. She also has responsibilities, and trying to keep her scholarship as a photographer-in-residence at the prestigious University of Caledon, Vermont, is no easy task. She also has to rebuild her painful love life. In my case, as I said, I decided to go for Chloe Price in the first game of the series, but life has taken the two of them down different paths, and Max? Well, she's not completely over it.
Fortunately, she has some friends in this life, too. But when her best friend Safiya is murdered, her world is turned upside down. Especially since it seems that this death triggers a sort of rift in space-time, with several new realities overlapping each other. And Max, who had abandoned her time-rewind powers long ago, discovers that she can now move at will between realities and interact between them to solve her friend's murder... and many other dark secrets that lurk on the seemingly ideal college campus.
Moving between these realities is the turning point in Double Exposure compared to the other Life is Strange games. We'll have to get into detective mode, piecing together a series of suspects who intertwine their own lives (and concerns) with events, as well as dusting off old wounds and maybe pulling a couple of skeletons out of the closet. And if we find a dead end in one reality, we will have to access the other in order to move forward, while bearing in mind that the personalities of the same characters in different realities can be radically different. In fact, Max can gradually lose perspective of what world she is in at a given moment, and talk about situations that have never happened in one place, etc. The good thing about all this is that Deck Nine, the studio that took over the character and the Don't Nod franchise, has managed to get it right. Not only respecting the protagonist and the previous work, but creating a dual narrative that is sustained and intertwines sharply in both worlds (life and death) until blurring into a conclusion.
Otherwise, the point and click system remains the same as ever. Observe, interact, pick up objects, perform tasks in a certain order and make decisions, which is arguably the major point for which this series is remembered. The story works, albeit not as strongly or as surprisingly as it did in its early days, but it still unravels the subplots elegantly enough to keep you interested. Likewise, the feeling of being thrown into the void when one of those "crucial" decisions, the extent of which we will only understand in the final stages of the adventure, is also here.
And even though the years have passed, this LiS: Double Exposure looks younger than ever. Indeed, it wasn't my imagination when playing the test, the facial animations are very neat and this is also exploited in the narrative, where it's easier to read some small gestures that can leave clues or raise suspicions about ulterior motives. We also get to see Max being happy on one occasion or another.
The shadows and lighting are not so brilliant, and perhaps more care could have been placed in the generation of shaders in the scenes, especially with the light sources. But technical limitations aside, if you come to this title you're expecting to see a great story, loaded with that hipster, modern intellectualism that is as inherent to its gameplay as are the strange powers of its protagonists. Likewise, it is good to see a world like today's, in which it seems that certain values of respect for equality between all people, regardless of sex, gender, identity or race, continue to be normalised, offering a safe place in which anyone can feel represented, especially in the most hidden groups in the eyes of our society. Bravo to the scriptwriters, too.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure's sense of surprise doesn't hit with the same force as Life is Strange did nine years ago, but it has managed to re-engage me for a few hours to catch up with a character I've long wanted to see, and leave me with a sense of personal enrichment after playing it. A tempting title for anyone in need of a story in the cold autumn nights ahead.