Preview We played Life is Strange Double Exposure: Will the return of the original heroine, adored by fans, do justice to the best of the saga?

preview We played Life is Strange Double Exposure: Will the return of the original heroine loved by fans do justice to the best of the saga?

Nine years later, Max’ Caufield returns

Life is Strange: Double Exposure was announced during the Xbox Games Showcase last June and was the subject of a more detailed presentation the following week, after which we learned a bit about Max’ Caufield’s return to the spotlight. The heroine, as popular as the first episode of the license, returns a few years laterShe has grown up, but her passion for photography remains undiminished. For this reason, she works as a photographer at Caledon University. She gives up the nomadic life she led after the events in Arcadia Bay to settle down for good. Then the trouble starts again. Not a minute’s peace for her.

In his new life in Caledon, Max has two best friends. Safie and Moses. While they spend the evening together, Safie sneaks off to make a phone call. A few minutes later, his lifeless body was found in the snow. After the events of the first episode, Max swore that she would no longer use her powers to travel back in time. But to save her new best friend, she decides to take the leap. Ultimately, it is another ability that she discovers. Traveling between two realities: Safie lives in one reality where the murderer is preparing his attack; the other where Safie dies while an assassin is still at large.

After these events, I was able to get my hands on “Life is Strange: Double Exposure” about halfway through the second chapter. Max receives a call from Moses. He explains to her that he is in a critical situation: he has confiscated Safie’s camera, even though it is potential evidence. A situation that is all the more critical because Detective Alberman is sent to the crime scene. He prepares to conduct the investigation in Moses’ office, where the device is hidden.

New powers, new responsibilities?

Enough to experience Max’s powers in a confined space. Using the first trigger on the right, Max can uncover the portals between the two realities. These doors are symbolized by small sparks in the air. The orange ones send Max back to the reality where Safie is alive, while the blue ones hide the reality where Safie is dead. Navigating between realities allows access to objects and dialogue that advance the investigation. If I stay in the time when Safie died, I won’t have access to Moses’ lab. But I definitely need to go back and get my hands on Safie’s camera before the detective finds out.

So there’s a whole puzzle game around these two realities about what things to activate correctly and what things to look for. However, we still feel like we’re confined to the script. The location of the portals is definitive: we do not have the freedom to change temporality at any time. Furthermore, the two space-times do not influence each other organically. In terms of the level of tension, it is promising in many ways, but in the end it remains much less immersive than a journey into the past

Max’s adventure is divided into five chapters (but all will be available at launch) and should last between 10 and 15 hours according to the director, although depending on the parties, it may take longer. In Life is Strange: Double Exposure we find collectibles to collect, such as Polaroid photos that tell the stories of the characters. Max’s phone has also evolved: We can now respond to people who send us messages, monitor their posts on social networks and even upload our photos to an equivalent of Instagram

The most important thing, of course, is that the dialogues between the characters, apart from the scripted dialogues, contain moments in which Max must choose his answer. Some have more consequences than others, like the one in Chapter 2: Do we want to ally ourselves with the detective or not? It must be said that the guy is quite stubborn and does not seem to show much compassion in this matter…

According to the game’s director, who was asked the question, the many choices will be important to the game: The DeckNine studio does not know how many different endings there are!

A production that takes time

Life is Strange is, above all, a narrative adventure. Double exposure is the same and, in fact, we have some qualities on that level. For example, as far as the dubbing goes (we played the original version), it was excellent. This is not surprising considering the work on the first episode, especially since the same actress was chosen for the role.

The dialogue is really fluid, at least from what we have seen, due to the slow pace of the gameplay. It takes time, too much even. We feel the difference especially in the transitions between the lines of dialogue in the script and those offered to the players. As was the case at the launch of the game presented two months ago, there is a lot of life in the dialogue.

The text still seems to be on point in this second chapter. Personally, I was involved in the dialogues. I was smiling, full of energy, and can’t wait to see what DeckNine Studio has in store for the entire cast. To judge this, we will have to wait until the game’s release on October 29th.

Two realities, one artistic direction!

When it was released in 2015, Life is Strange also stood out for its soundtrack. During our session on Double Exposure, we found the music very behind the scenes. DeckNine wanted to break free from what was usual for the first work. They decide to create a bespoke game with themes for each character. This allows for more creative freedom… which we unfortunately did not feel. It must be said that the scene in Moses’ laboratory was not suitable for this.

In Double Exposure we find the graphic style of DeckNine. Far from the picturesque side of the first Life is Strange, this more realistic artistic direction also has its charm. However, the more precise contours of the faces of the three-dimensional characters, as well as the slow pace of the game described in the previous paragraph, emphasize frozen facial animations. It is also the modern interface in the choice of dialogue that contrasts with the adventure itself. And personally, it sometimes took me out of the adventure because it contrasted so much with the rest.