Life is strange: double exposure is not your typical murder mystery game. Instead of being a half-baked Choose Your Own Adventure, Double exposure is an intuitive and, above all, player-driven psychological drama that rewrites the dialogue between artist and audience and invites its own audience to explore the importance of self-acceptance.
Developed by Deck Nine, Double exposure is a direct sequel to that of 2015 Life is strangeand much like the studio’s previous work True colors And Before the stormit’s a serialized whodunit that eventually turns into a “what the hell is going on?” Set ten years after the tragedies of Arcadia Bay, Oregon, it follows Max Caulfield – who was also the protagonist of the 2015 game, and whose life has since taken place in Lakeport, Vermont, where she works as a new photographer-in – residence at Caledon University. Max is still Max – she is still terribly clumsy at flirting, has a knack for sneaking into people’s rooms and thinks The Return of the living dead is a zombie apocalypse masterpiece, but she hasn’t used her time rewind powers in almost a decade because they’ve only caused her “more trouble and more heartbreak,” in her words. That is, until her new lifelong best friend, Safiya Llewellyn-Fayyad, is murdered at a campus lookout post, and Max discovers that her ability to invert reality has evolved into the ability to subdivide to tear open the astral plane and jump between two planes. alternating timelines.
Max may not be able to reverse her own choices, but her new powers allow her to live with them and explore the possible ripple effects that follow. Mechanically, Max can now use an ability called Pulse to view timelines of her current world, and her new Shift ability to create a metaphysical portal that allows her to traverse the two realities at fixed locations in Caledon. She can also use another ability called Entanglement to intertwine objects between the two timelines. With all three abilities, she can explore different scenarios, puzzles, secrets, zen moments and dialogue options that aren’t tied to a single story. Double exposure still adheres to the popular trademark of the Life Is Strange series: having big and small choices that change the environment and interpersonal relationships – like accepting a joint from a fellow professor or changing the grade on the student’s paper – but the reality surfing also allows players to delve into anecdotes about who Max has become.
In her late 20s who still empathizes with everyone, Max abandons the introverted quirks that defined her as an 18-year-old, but she is still traumatized by the victims of Arcadia Bay, turning her into a recluse. as she reminisces about Chloe Price and other aspects of her life that have become “a wash.” Max still struggles to process loss, grief, and all the other complicated emotions that leave her feeling like a tiny speck that doesn’t fit in with the RGB values of the world around her, but her new powers give her a way to deal with the different process emotions. stages of grief and fully accepts responsibility for her own choices.
It’s difficult to discuss her arc without getting into spoilers, but Deck Nine’s penchant for world-building is still top-notch. Double exposureThe images of Lakeport are an absolute delight as Lakeport combines the color palette of Haven Springs and the cinematography of Lakeport Before the storm to create a midwinter landscape made of equal parts Donnie Darko, Teenage wolfAnd The girl who jumped through time. It makes for a setting that’s less about subtlety and all about stoned garden gnomes, LGBTQ bowling leagues, Krampus parties, true crime podcasts and shrines like the Snapping Turtle – a campus bar stocked with whiskey and intricate murals borrowed from identity and multiculturalism that do think of works by visual artists such as Ola Volo, Tristan Eaton and Mariell Guzman. And then there’s the music – while before Life is strange episodes reinforced the cozy tragedy genre with songs by Bonobo, Daughter and Angus & Julia Stone, Double exposure muses intimacy with NewDad, Chloe Moriondo, Tessa Rose Jackson and a Feel For Music jukebox filled with in-house tunes that explore varying degrees of ‘indie-sleaze’ across the entirety of the different timelines.
The voice talent and screenplay are where the sequel really shines. Hannah Telle reprises her role as Max and is joined by an excellent supporting cast including Safi (Olivia AbiAssi), Moses (Blu Allen), Amanda (Samantha Bowling), Diamond (Ilasiea Gray) and Gwen (Rachel Crowl). of whom contribute Double exposure‘s blunt yet bittersweet moments and support group fan fiction that isn’t an actual crime. The story’s restraint supports more honest discussions about loneliness, emotional stakes, the costs of relationships, etc The spirit of the escalierand while there’s certainly room for more, these themes are aided by the player’s ability to reveal more context and clues by responding to text messages and keeping tabs on friends via an in-game social media platform called Crosstalk. Different from the first Life is strangeMax can also use her analog instant camera, a Polaroid Now Generation 2 i-Type, to take in-game ‘snapshots’ of improvised moments around Caledon. It’s an addition that could have used more features like filters, flashes and adjustable aperture ranges and shutter speeds for added immersion, but her camera is integrated with a double exposure feature that’s integral to creating two divergent experiences across the five chapters of the game.
There are few situations Double exposure that feel disconnected because the only noticeable lens flare is the pacing and unwillingness to go off the deep end in the most Lynchian way possible. The playing time is barely over 12 hours – if you don’t choose to do a very different second playthrough – and while Deck Nine’s designers have created a game that respects whatever ending you got in the original of Don’t Nod is considered canon, the eternal thread of loose ends across two parallel timelines can feel like a dream sequence you never signed up for. Double exposure shouldn’t be seen as an injustice to Max’s story, especially when relationships and romantic interests are now more determined than ever by player choice, but it’s hard to ignore the details that could have added to the abstract storytelling. Or at least pushed the pendulum in a direction that is in the style of House of leaves And The new weird.
Double exposure is still a beautiful and brilliantly written thriller that deserves attention. It doesn’t do anything groundbreaking, but it’s a new entry in the Life is strange series that explores Max Caulfield’s divorce from Arcadia Bay, her struggle with holding on to the past, and how she has slowly embraced a stronger level of self-acceptance – despite a complicated track record that has seen death always find a way back to her finds. It may not be the continuation of “Max and Chloe forever” that many fans (understandably) wanted, but it’s a compelling adventure that underlines how flaws can build character — whether it’s by serving as motivation to fix old habits or to dream about the future. .
Life is strange: double exposure was released on October 29 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X. The game was reviewed on PlayStation 5 using a pre-release download code from Deck Nine Games. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. Additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy can be found here.