Life is Strange: Double Exposure Deck Nine has confirmed that it will respect the final decisions players made in the first game, and that no original ending will be announced.
Following the game’s initial announcement at last weekend’s Xbox Games Showcase, an extended livestream took place last night, which included an interview with lead developer and Max’s returning voice actor Hannah Telle, as well as 15 minutes of gameplay. The livestream delved into the new locales, Max’s new abilities, and the ways the game aims to stay true to the choices players made in previous games.
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Two console generations and nearly a decade have passed since the release of the first Life is Strange, so it’s no surprise that you won’t be importing your save information from LIS1 directly into Double Exposure, but Deck Nine plans to ensure that your experience in the latest game still reflects those long-ago choices. While previous follow-ups Life is Strange 2 and Life is Strange: True Colors both directly asked you which ending you got in the original game, the sequel to Life is Strange will take a slightly more natural approach.
The reveal video shows a conversation between Max and new friend Safi, who asks about the photo of Chloe that the adult Max still keeps in his wallet. Players can choose to describe her as an old friend or a high school sweetheart, giving you feedback on whether you want to pursue a romantic relationship between the two or keep it platonic. Presumably, the ultimate fate of Chloe and Arcadia Bay in your game setting will be handled through similar dialogue choices.
This is good news for fans who were hoping that Life is Strange wouldn’t break its long-standing promise to ensure that no game in the series would have unorthodox playthroughs. Still, not everyone is thrilled, as this open-ended approach to sequel construction means that even if Chloe survives your playthrough, her absence means that she and Max have gone their separate ways in the intervening years; especially since Max will also have new optional lovers, and they’re sure to be no Chloe and Warren in the original version.
Instead, the stream suggests Max will get a chance to woo a punk librarian type, presumably her new work colleague at the fictional Caledon University in Vermont — I’m not personally opposed to that, but the new girl is going to have to be pretty damn good to win over the hearts of all those ardent Pressfield supporters who’ve spent nearly a decade invested in their actual pairing.
But take heart: Even if your ship has just sunk, if Chloe has kept her picture around for all these years, she’s clearly still very important to Max, and even if their potential romance is over, it doesn’t necessarily mean Chloe’s influence is completely gone in the latest game. You have to really appreciate that those are the people who kept Max and Warren together — and no one seems too concerned to explain where he’s gone now.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure It will be released on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 29, with a Nintendo Switch port planned for a later date. The Ultimate Edition will include two weeks of early access to Episodes 1 and 2, as well as a host of cosmetic items and an exclusive spin-off story about a missing cat – but has been criticised for costing £25/$30 more than the standard edition.
