It’s difficult to be surprised in 2024 by what the Life is Strange series has to offer. At this point we have seen two main numbered installments, a prequel to the first and an original spin-off that showed us that there are other ways to approach this partially supernatural universe centered around the Millennial generation and their point of view the world turns. and face the challenges that come with this turbulent phase from the end of adolescence to adulthood. Of course, every person has their own story, 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 we believe that it’s just that for ourselves (and our powers) we will change what happens. But as we all know, life is more complicated (and stranger) than what happens to us, because the main variable is how other people’s lives also fit into our lives and vice versa.
I know, a strange approach to this double exposure, 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 lead us exploit our innocence to satisfy their moral baseness. Now it’s about surviving in an adult world, with problems, desires, passions and worries about our responsibilities to others and our own people.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago in my first impressions after playing through the first two chapters, Life is Strange: Double Exposure once again brings to the heart of the concept of a stylized and complex narrative adventure where even the smallest details can be crucial to progress the plot in the best possible way. But Max Caufield is no longer the shy, quiet girl we met in 2015. She’s been through a lot since leaving Arcadia Bay, and now she has a much stronger resolve about what she should and shouldn’t do in her life. She also has responsibilities and maintaining her scholarship as a photographer-in-residence at the prestigious Caledon University in Vermont is no easy task. He also has to rebuild his painful love life. In my case, as mentioned, I decided to bet on Chloe Price in the first game of the series, but life took both of them down different paths and Max… well, he hasn’t quite gotten over it yet.
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Fortunately, he has some friends in this life too. But when her best friend Safiya is murdered, her world turns upside down. Especially since it seems that this death triggers some kind of rift in space-time in which several new realities overlap. And Max, having long ago given up his time-rewind powers, discovers that he can now move between realities at will and interact with one another in order to solve his friend’s murder… and many other dark mysteries that lie in the world lurking world. seemingly ideal university campus.
Switching between these realities is Double Exposure’s turning point compared to the rest of Life is Strange games. We’ll have to go into detective mode and put together a series of suspects who will tie their own lives (and worries) to the events, as well as wiping old wounds and maybe pulling a few skeletons out of the closet. And when we find a dead end in one reality, we must access the other to move forward, taking into account, however, that the personalities of the same characters can be radically different in different realities. In fact, Max can gradually lose track of what world he is in and talk about situations that have never existed in one place, etc. The good thing about all of this is that Deck Nine, the studio, does this who took over the character and the Don’t Nod franchise knows how to do things well. This not only respects the protagonist and the previous work, but also creates a double narrative that is sharply maintained and intertwined in both worlds (life and death) until it blurs in a conclusion.
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Furthermore, the system point and click remains the same as always. Observing, interacting, picking up objects, performing tasks in a specific order and making decisions is the other great point that sticks in the memory of this series. The story works, if not with the power or surprise of the beginning, but it continues to unravel the subplots with enough grace not to lose interest. Likewise, there is a feeling of jumping into the void when making one of those “crucial” decisions, the magnitude of which we will only understand in the final stages of the adventure.
And even though the years have passed, this LiS: Double Exposure looks smaller than ever. In fact, when playing the test they were not my imagination, the facial animations are very careful and are also used in the narrative, where it is easier to read some small gestures that can leave us clues or raise suspicions of ulterior motives. Or, why not, see how our Max is happy every now and then.
The issue of shadows and lighting is not so rosy, and perhaps more care should have been taken in creating shadows Shaders in the scenes, especially when they did it with the light sources. But aside from its technical limitations, when you come to this title it is because you expect to see a great story full of intellectualism Hipsters and modern, which is just as inherent in his game as the strange powers of his protagonists. Likewise, it is a joy to see that in a world like the current one, where it seems that certain values of respect for the equality of all people, regardless of sex, gender, identity or race, continue to be preferred to normalize them and to see them fairly and provide a safe place where everyone can feel represented, especially before the groups most hidden from the eyes of our society. Bravo to the authors too.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure’s sense of surprise doesn’t hit with the same force that Life is Strange launched nine years ago, but it managed to pull me back in for a few hours , to get time with a character I used to know, love time I wanted to see, and leave me feeling a sense of personal enrichment again after playing them. A tempting plan for anyone who needs a story in the cold autumn nights to come.
