Life is Strange: Reunion Preview: Five key takeaways from the emotional reveal

It has been a whirlwind of a January for Life is Strange fans. It all started when a listing for a game that no one had heard of was spotted on the PEGI website before it was soon taken down from the public eye. The bits and pieces of information related to the game that was present in that listing claimed that this project would reunite Max Caulfield and Chloe Price, meaning this must be a brand-new project in the storied narrative-heavy series. Then a short while later, Square Enix issued an announcement that it would be showing off a new Life is Strange game this month, and cut to today, we've just had our first look at this project in the form of a detailed announcement stream wherein the Max and Chloe voice actors take us through the game step-by-step.

Yep, Life is Strange: Reunion is real and it's coming very soon. Reuniting Hannah Telle as Max and Rhianna DeVries as Chloe, this game will have a lot of familiar traits and elements too it, as unlike the jump from the original title to the more recent Double Exposure, Reunion continues to explore the stunning campus of Caledon University in the effort of stopping a great catastrophe.

While you can see the reveal trailer for Life is Strange: Reunion below, if you want to save yourself some time and skip over the lengthy reveal stream, we've got you covered by spotlighting five key takeaways worth knowing about the game.

The world seems to revolve around Caledon University again

We've been here before and spent plenty of time wandering the academic halls, but this isn't changing in the upcoming Reunion. Double Exposure's key location is the main focal point once more, meaning you should expect to return to familiar locations and venues, be that the Snapping Turtle bar, Moses' lab, Max's stunning home, the list goes on. Likewise, a familiar location means familiar people and that means spending time with allies and friends from Double Exposure, teachers and students you may have upset in the former chapter, and as Telle and DeVries explain in the broadcast, you'll have to deal with "violent protests, resentful staff, a secret society..."

What we do know and can see evidently is that the art direction and visual aesthetic of Double Exposure returns, with a slightly more refined and detailed edge to it. Like the setting, this is familiar through and through, meaning if you like the Sims-like character design and the more cartoonish style, you'll have a lot to appreciate in Reunion too.

A much darker and more serious story

Double Exposure had its own moments but there's no denying that the last chapter in the series felt a tad more safer in premise. Reunion won't at all be following suit. In its most rudimentary form, the idea behind this chapter is to use Max's Rewind ability to explore the Caledon campus and to determine who is behind an imminent fire that will burn the university to ashes and claim the lives of many in the process. It's a darker and more serious affair, one where the typical challenges of life feel trivial when considering the threat that Max is attempting to extinguish.

Choices matter more than ever

And building on that last point, choices in Reunion seem to matter much, much more. It's not that they were never important, rather we're going from upsetting someone's feelings to preventing them from being caught in a blazing inferno. Again, it's serious and the tone is much darker this time around. But speaking of choices, your past choices do also matter in Reunion, and this is also how Chloe returns to the fray.

Spoiler alert for those who haven't played either of the past chapters in Max's story, but you may remember that in Double Exposure, Max toiled to recombine two split timelines that revolved around the death of her close friend Safi. These timelines are also inexplicably linked with the formerly split timelines that revolved around Chloe, as the events of the last game have also managed to weave the split stories of Life is Strange together, meaning Chloe is both alive and well, but also burdened by the occasional memories of the timeline where she died. It's perhaps a bit confusing (as is anything that fiddles around with the flow of time), but the point is that Chloe is back, she has memories of a full and short-lived life, and depending on your choices in former games, Max either is stunned that Chloe is alive or that Arcadia Bay and Chloe's mother is alive and well. The narrative thread being pulled depends on your personal past with the series.

It takes two to tango

Unlike former chapters in the Life is Strange series, Reunion actually sees players taking control of both Max and Chloe at the same time. Max is the character you know and love and can use Rewind to change events and essentially be in two places at once. This is helpful when it comes to saving friends from an unfortunate fate or even for retconning mistakenly inputted dialogue options. Unlike Double Exposure, Max can even use Rewind from the get-go, meaning you can abuse its power as and when you see fit.

As for Chloe, she brings her witty Backtalk mechanic that allows her to talk her way out of sticky situations. It requires a level head and careful planning, but this can be used to get a nosy security guard off Chloe's back or to get under the skin of a suspect the pair believe is involved in the future cataclysmic fire at Caledon University.

The end of the road

It's been 11 years in the making but Reunion is regarded as the last chapter in the saga of Max and Chloe, the "emotional conclusion" of the pair's adventures. It's unclear what this means for the future of Life is Strange as a whole, but it does seem as though we should appreciate one last story with the charismatic duo, especially since past chapters tend to conclude with a key and core character meeting an unfortunate end. Although maybe not a permanent one...?

So, when will we get to play Life is Strange: Reunion, you ask? The good news is that developer Deck Nine is actually mostly ready to put the game into the hands of fans. The launch is set for March 26, 2026, so in around two month's time, with the game set to debut on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. There is no word on a Nintendo Switch 1 or 2 launch as of yet, but Double Exposure did eventually come to Switch 1 so a reasonable guess is that it'll come to the more powerful Switch 2 at least down the line.

When Reunion does debut, there will be multiple editions to choose from, including the base game, a twin pack that bundles the game with Double Exposure, a Deluxe Edition that adds a heap of digital goodies, and also a Collector's Edition that features a bunch of physical items like a 12" vinyl soundtrack, a double-sided poster, custom guitar plectrums, and more. And as a final note, those looking to snag simply the base copy of the game will be glad to hear that it comes in at quite a reasonable price tag, with Life is Strange: Reunion set to retail for £44.99/€49.99.

So, are you excited to return to Caledon University?