Thanks to the rising popularity of point & click adventures on consoles mostly due to Telltale Games’ “The Walking Dead” series, developer Dontnod had the opportunity to craft and present an episodic, story-driven experience mixing the absurdity of a girl who discovers she can rewind time with the realities of bullying & sexual assault and how it affects the victims & perpetrators. “Life is Strange” gained critical acclaim and encouraged both a prequel and a sequel with the latter coming out during the latter half of 2018. Between those adventures, the developer decided to give fans both original and potentially new a chance to experience what is to come with “Life is Strange 2” by controlling Chris as he explored a world unseen and hidden from everyone who couldn’t delve into his imagination. Having enjoyed the original game in the franchise, its prequel “Before the Storm”, and the free offering that proved as a precourser to “LiS 2” – “The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit” – I was excited to see how different & effective switching perspectives would be after following teenage girls in the middle of pure chaos to a pair of brothers as they journey south.
Did I Complete “Life is Strange 2”?
The brothers Diaz featuring high school student Sean and his nine-year-old sibling Daniel are just the average, run-of-the-mill twosome in a single parent household at the start of episode one – Sean wanting to be a semi-rebellious teenager looking to score with that girl he has his eye on for a while and his little brother always bothering him. On one faithful afternoon before Halloween, the brothers’ worlds turn upside down due to an obvious supernatural tragedy that includes the murdering of a cop alongside the slaying of their own father. Sean takes his brother and runs for Mexico in hopes of settling down in home their father long talked about returning to one day, but the journey is as arduous as one would think for two adolescents completely inexperienced at fully fending for themselves.
As seen in many point & click adventurers before it, “Life is Strange 2” provides many decisions for the player to choose both miniscule and life-altering; as well as collectibles for trophy/achievement purposes. The game features multiple endings connected to a hidden morality meter with two of the more positive endings having slight variations depending on some choices & interactions made during the story’s entirety. Each episode has six collectibles that can easily be missed; as can certain interactions & moments usually only known to the player courtesy of “Choices” screen that appears at the end of each episode. But thanks to a chapter selection option alongside a “Collectibles” play mode becoming available after each episode is finished, it makes things very easy to get a complete trophy/achievement list after thirteen to fifteen hours of play time; which is exactly what I accomplished.
Did “Life is Strange 2” Live Up to the Hype?
Several years have passed since the destructive events of “Life is Strange” featuring a pair of young women trying to stop a natural disaster while discovering the truth about several disturbing incidents that have and could occur around the quiet, ocean-front town of Arcadia Bay. Instead of focusing on the characters fans had grown to know and love, the setting & attention switches to Seattle and other various locales as Sean & Daniel avoid being arrested by the cops after their neighborhood was hit by an unseen force. As the game makes it past its first episode featuring some lighthearted moments offset by disturbing xenophobia and the shocking reality of losing a loved one, things get more difficult & confusing when Daniel’s telekinetic powers come to the forefront. Unlike the original game, “2” doesn’t allow for the player to be in control of the powerful character sporting an unexplainable superpower. Though Daniel’s ability is utilized to complete puzzles and even stop aggressors, the gameplay ingenuity of implementing a superpower is severely lacking in “2” compared to “Life is Strange”.
Instead, the developers really focused on providing a myriad of choices for the player to really think about before answering with only a few being timed in nature so the player can ponder if picking a fight with some neighborhood bully or stealing camping equipment during a harrowing escape is worth it especially with Daniel watching his big brother’s actions. Each episode usually thrusts the Diaz’s into new situations & environments with the bond between “The Wolf Brothers” each growing weaker or stronger depending on the player’s choices throughout.
Certain sequences & interactions may or may not be available if Sean is only thinking about himself or the player isn’t paying attention like helping Daniel jump from a ledge or teaching him how to skip stones during their first night camping. The outcome of certain choices will always be the same; but the difference how it affects Daniel is somewhat hidden until the very end when the player discovers one of the multiple endings tied to the conclusive choice. For players of the original who enjoyed the story over “LiS’” gameplay, “Life is Strange 2” provides a distressing, though potentially thought-provoking tale depending on the player’s actions. Players who loved toying around with Max’s powers in “Life is Strange” and was excited to see how Daniel’s ability worked in correlation with the gameplay will find themselves greatly disappointed.
Technically, “Life is Strange 2” suffers from some of the same issues as its predecessors. The lacking of choices in certain dialogue situations and completing particular tasks is still a problem as the narrative isn’t as open-ended as one would hope. Frame rate issues & general stability is a lot stronger in “2” compared to the original iteration. The soundtrack, as per the norm with “LiS” games, is phenomenal featuring a nice mix of new age folk and rock. The voice acting, though, definitely isn’t the game’s strongest point with Sean and Daniel being the worst offenders; especially Sean’s heavy reliance on unnecessarily pausing between words. And then there’s the issue of emphasizing racism during certain episodes and even dedicating an entire episode to radical religious fundamentalism. Gamers trying to remove themselves from the stresses of the real world won’t be fully able to playing “LiS 2”.
One of the game’s biggest flaws has nothing to do with the presentation, but the product in regards to the disc release. Gamers looking to rent or even buy it used will find a big shock as the final episode is only available via downloading. Rental copies or used products not featuring the one-use code can’t download episode five without the player spending extra money – something completely different from almost every episodic disc release across other recent point & click adventures including “Life is Strange” and “LiS: Before the Storm”.
In the end, “Life is Strange 2” takes the series in a bold direction by sacrificing some of the more impressive gameplay features seen in the original iteration to focus on more profound storytelling – depending on the player the design choice may make this sequel either worth the wait or a grand disappointment.
Should You Play “Life is Strange 2”?
“Life is Strange 2” delivers on providing a memorable narrative experience, but doesn’t do much to innovate in the way of gameplay like the original did in 2015. Most fans of point & click adventures come for the story and don’t necessarily worry about the gameplay, but Max’s power proved a standout reason as to why the original was so praised while leaving players excited about how the developers would improve upon their gameplay idea. Those players looking forward to more superpowers being explored in the “LiS” universe may not enjoy this iteration nearly as much as the original even if the story is arguably better & more grounded. For gamers who don’t particularly care about the gameplay and just want to see how the story plays out, this is a mostly stellar experience just ready to shock an unexpected player like a boy discovering his little brother is the strongest kid in the universe.
