It has been a while since I played a game that has impacted me, such as Life is Strange, in 2015. It was refreshing and left me thinking long after I had learned everything I could about Arcadia Bay since it told a unique coming-of-age story of a defiant yet frequently shy youngster without coming across as self-righteous or overstaying its welcome. Although there have been a few prequels, side tales, and sequels to the series since then, none of them, up to now, have managed to replicate the enchantment of the first five episodes for me. In addition to upholding the extremely high bar established by the original, Life is Strange: Double Exposure also manages to move it in a new direction and enhance almost every element of the earlier games.
Ten years after the events of Life is Strange, it was fantastic to see Max Caulfield again. Despite being far into her twenties, Max remains largely unchanged from when we last saw her: She will make embarrassing jokes to herself, overanalyze her surroundings, and—above all—take far too many photos. However, she has a completely new set of challenges when she enters adulthood. Rather than focusing on fitting in and attempting to please everyone she met at Blackwell Academy, she now has to be an authority figure herself as a graduate student.
There are times when it is obvious she is accepting that she is older, like when she questions some of the embarrassing things she said in the original game or recalls her time as an undergraduate who had to study and drink as much coffee as she could before finals. Small moments like these were what resonated with me and contributed to the increased relatability of this new chapter in Max’s journey.
Writing on The Walls
You will have to make some difficult choices, as is to be expected in a Life is Strange game. Characters will remember how you treat them and act accordingly, to a degree that previous games were never able to achieve. This means that even though there are only a few significant choices in each of the five chapters and not all of them will significantly impact the final result, they all have consequences. This time, rather than being a game of guessing the right answer, talks seemed like I was speaking to a real person.
For instance, if you play your cards correctly, you can ask Amanda, the bartender at a nearby establishment named The Snapping Turtle, out on a date in the first chapter. I learned a few terrible pick-up lines from other bargoers on my initial game, doing everything I could to build a romantic relationship with her. However, I decided to just become friends with her instead of asking her out on my second run. I liked that there was a clear distinction between Amanda’s treatment of Max when they were dating and when they were simply friends, even if this did not necessarily alter anything significant about the plot going forward.
You can flirt, be cruel, or even completely ignore someone if you want to, in addition to romantically interacting with them. This is one of the few choose-your-own-adventure games I have played where I did not worry about choosing the “wrong pick,” as each possible conclusion felt natural and worthwhile to explore rather than some being a consolation gift. I do not want to get too much into the spoiler zone.
The chapters in Double Exposure are shorter than those in some of the other Life is Strange games, taking about two or three hours to finish each. However, this is a positive thing because I never felt like I was wasting my time wandering around a party or dealing with a filler act to extend the length. I never felt like I was missing anything crucial to the tale because I did not keep up with my backlog of text messages and social media posts, even if there are a couple of plot points that do not seem to go anywhere unless you go through Max’s phone. Although I enjoy a good epic-scale role-playing game, Double Exposure’s respect for my time and its succinct, compact plot were pleasant.
Many very serious subjects are covered in such a story. Divorce, anxiety, and the various ways we grieve the loss of a loved one are all discussed here in such a skillful manner that I never felt that any of these topics were minimized or sensationalized—instead, they felt authentic. Double Exposure might have easily touched on a delicate subject and then resolved it with a “thing good” or “thing terrible” choice at the conclusion, but instead, the writing provides suitable and nuanced responses to its circumstances, many of which I have personally encountered. It was a surprising and particularly well-written piece of writing to see a video game character struggle to deal with something like the rage and frustration one could experience after someone dear to them commits themselves.
The amazing performances and animations are what truly make the writing stand out.
Part of the reason it works so well is that each character in Double Exposure has a past and is portrayed as a real person with all of their flaws. While Gwen, another teacher at Caledon University, keeps personal information to herself because, like in real life, not everyone tells everyone they meet everything about themselves right away, Reggie, a student at the school where Max teaches, will occasionally overshare because he views Max as an authority figure.
The utterly amazing performances and character animations are what truly make Double Exposure’s storyline and plot stand out. Although this has always been a favorite part of the series, there are more instances in this game where characters use their nuanced facial expressions to convey all the information they want to convey without using words. A character may give you a disgusted glance before answering if you say something cruel. When you pull someone away from a gathering, other characters will momentarily appear disappointed that you disturbed them. Even while this is nothing new in games, Double Exposure’s emphasis on these small details made me genuinely consider what I did and how I interacted with others. The character interactions in Double Exposure are by far the most realistic and skillfully done I have seen in a Life is Strange game because of the careful planning and execution.
Reinventing Your Exit
The mystery of Double Exposure is full of twists and turns that undoubtedly kept me guessing until I concluded, without going too far into the spoiler zone. Since her initial time manipulation skills simply would not have functioned in the story being presented here, it was the right decision to give Max new abilities. The whole enigma could have been resolved in a matter of seconds if she could have turned time back with a single hand, but it would not be enjoyable. These powers have been swapped out for a set of interdimensional travel skills that are ideal for this new story.
Max can see and move between two distinct realities, as the title implies: one that is joyful, warm, and alive, complete with Christmas decorations and more cheerful music, and another that is gloomy, frigid, and characterized by death. These realities coexist and are, in many respects, opposed. Between the dead and living worlds, there can be significant differences in everything from fliers on the school hallway walls to the music and even how people interact with Max.
I never experienced frustration or puzzle disorientation.
This time, Max’s skills are also very helpful for the puzzles. I am glad to report that there were never any parts when I had to avoid a train or do any kind of annoying fast-time tasks, and I never experienced frustration or confusion. Instead, her new skills allowed for a slower pace, where I had to investigate both realities and apply deductive reasoning to uncover a clue or spy on someone. Are you trying to find something for a living person? In the dead world, it is most likely close by.
In the dead world, do you need to slink past an ongoing murder investigation? Simply hop to the living world, pass the guards’ position, and then hop back. It is not particularly complicated, but Double Exposure’s use of Max’s abilities to depict how the world around you changes in two different directions at once, in addition to assisting you in exploring and finding clues, makes it one of the more intriguing applications of a multiverse in video games.
No other power in Life is Strange has ever aided the plot as well as Double Exposure’s deft use of reality hopping. For instance, how you engage with someone in one environment may be influenced by their struggles in another. In contrast, The Snapping Turtle’s Dead World version features violent music, fewer people, and chilly, unwelcoming lighting. In the living world, people are friendly, talking to one another, and the music is lively and pleasant.
Instead of merely looking for exposition dumps and waiting for text messages, I found myself learning more about the worlds, their characters, and the outcomes of my actions because I could freely roam and quickly discover the distinctions between the two realities.
The actual campus of Caledon University is a picturesque Northeastern college. The cinematography highlights the beauty of this place when you pause to think on a park bench or overlook, and the buildings are old and coated in layers of snow and student artwork. Although it would have been nice to explore a larger world outside of the few accessible locations on campus, Max’s house, and The Snapping Turtle, it is also a little smaller than the areas from the other Life is Strange Games. Nevertheless, every area in Double Exposure is fairly packed with things to explore and interact with.
Additionally, Tessa Rose Jackson, the composer, supports them with some of the best original music I have heard in a video game this year. The soundtrack enhances the mood of the universe, making it seem more alive or dead, depending on which reality you are in, in addition to flawlessly capturing the emotions of each scenario. The same is true of the cinematography and color grading. Due to its sophisticated camera work and vibrant color scheme, Double Exposure maintains the series’ renowned cinematic aesthetic. Character focus, vista vistas, and snap zooms are all expertly done in a manner that would be appropriate for a big film.
Verdict
With Life is Strange: Double Exposure, developer Deck Nine Games truly outdid themselves after multiple tries to recreate what made the original Life is Strange so iconic. This is a solid follow-up to a game that won over millions of hearts and minds in 2015, including mine. Max’s new abilities are a fun and natural fit for the murder mystery plot, and the writing, acting, soundtrack, and cinematography are all superb.
