Life is Strange 2 Reviews

  • EvieLeafEvieLeaf1,577,191
    05 Sep 2021 05 Aug 2022
    8 0 0
    Life is Strange 2 has it's moments, not all of them are good

    This review comes from someone who adored Life is Strange and Before The Storm. The stories of these games have always hooked me and they keep you interested until the very end. LiS 2 never quite reaches the same heights it's predecessors did.

    During the various episodes in the game you meet a wide cast of interesting characters. However these characters are always short lived, you meet them, spend time with them and then move on to the next episode before any relationship can be built. This makes connecting to these characters difficult and almost pointless.

    After finishing episode 1, you're prompted to play Captain Sprit as the decisions there, impact LiS 2. Then the characters met in this side episode have almost no screen time and they're swiftly forgotten, leaving the player wondering what was the point of completing this extra episode. There is little impact of what happened in Captain Spirit influencing LiS 2. These points aside, there are still many genuine wonderful interactions between the Diaz brothers and cast of characters in this story that make the journey worthwhile.

    The split between episode isn't just with the characters you meet. The two brothers you follow throughout this story drastically change behaviour between episodes. There was a particularly egregious moment where the brothers ended an episode happy with each other and determined with to complete their journey. Then in the next episode you have this tension between them and they're suddenly at each others throats, only to find out the choices you made have been forgotten and everything changed between these two episodes. This leaves a sour taste for the player as the game likes to keep reminding you the story changes based on the decisions "you" make, it doesn't feel like this at all and the game goes a particular direction, regardless of the choices made.

    LiS 2 had it's good moments amongst these strange design choices. The story is a wonderful journey of these brothers who have a bad habit of making questionable decisions. The interaction between these characters and the Diaz brothers has some fantastic heart warming moments. Aside from the weird direction the story is pushed sometimes. Watching these brothers grow, watching how it influences their journey and ultimately how the game ends is a rewarding experience, even if it feels a little frustrating at times.

    LiS 2 offers a similar experience to the previous games in the series, albeit without the same charm. The story may not pull you in as much as the other games but the tale of The Wolf Brothers is still worth a play.
    3.0
  • Don NielsonDon Nielson763,752
    26 Sep 2022
    3 1 0
    In 2015, developer Dontnod surprised many gamers with Life is Strange. A game about two teenagers, their problems and a touch of superpower. It was a fairly low budget production where, for example, the mouths didn't move in line with what was being said, but the emotional story, the cool artstyle and the beautiful pastel color palette made up for a lot. In 2017, this was done over again with the shorter prequel 'Before the Storm', developed by Deck Nine. We can get started with the complete adventure of Life is Strange 2 now.

    Spoiler alert
    Life is Strange is a series where the story comes first. Each part consists of an x ​​number of 'episodes' that have been released as a kind of TV series spread over a certain time. Since it's best to experience this story yourself, I limit the spoilers as much as possible for the first two of the five episodes. Apart from some subtle references, the game is completely separate from the first Life is Strange and Before the Storm, so if you haven't played those games, you can get into this second part.

    The Wolf Brothers
    In Life is Strange 2 you go out with Mexican-American 'Wolf Brothers' Sean and Daniel Diaz. One day Daniel gets into a conflict with the racist boy next door that gets out of hand, after which their single father Esteban is shot dead by a police officer. Shortly afterwards, the agent is killed in a mysterious explosion that turns out to be from Daniel, who possesses but cannot control telekinetic powers. Since Sean is not old enough to care for Daniel and the brothers don't want them separated and placed in foster care, there is no other option but to flee. The boys decide to walk from Seattle to Puerto Lobos, Mexico, where their father owns a piece of land.

    A varied adventure
    Where the first Life is Strange mainly took place in a handful of locations where you regularly returned, such as a dinner and a school, in this second part you travel all over America. This means that each episode remains visually a lot more interesting than the first part, which was only set in the fictional Arcadia Bay. Where the first episode still feels reasonable in terms of setting as the first Life is Strange and Before the Storm, you soon see forests, snow, the desert and many more places in Life is Strange 2, each with new adventures and characters to bring along. A small disadvantage of this is that a really strong support cast is never built up, because most characters you only see one episode or part of it, after which the fugitive boys quickly have to continue their path.

    The power of choices
    As you play, you control Sean and make various choices that impact the rest of the game. Sometimes it's minimal choices like choosing between water and orange juice, but soon you're faced with the decision of whether to steal bread for your hungry little brother, or let him eat a half-eaten rotten apple from the trash because you can't afford it. You would think stealing the bread would be the logical choice, but this shows Daniel that stealing is okay, which can have repercussions later in the adventure. Often you can also choose to use Daniel's telekinetic powers for certain things to make survival a little easier, but this is also not always the wisest thing to do. In the second episode, the brothers come face to face with a life-threatening cougar, after which you can command Daniel to attack the cougar and escape its bloodthirsty clutches, or take matters into your own hands with all the consequences to serve. Using Daniel's powers is the most logical choice, but you're also trying to teach him to keep his powers hidden and use as little as possible, in the hopes of not being discovered.

    There are more than fifty 'important' choices throughout the game, all of which influence the outcome of the adventure. Sometimes, however, the game seems to give you a choice that you actually have no control over. For example, in my play session in episode 2, I didn't want to go to the Christmas market because I was afraid of being recognized, but eventually you end up at the Christmas market if the story wants. These make-believe choices can be quite annoying, especially in a game where you have to feel like every choice matters. Fortunately, these make-believe choices are less common in the later episodes. It also sometimes happens that there is simply no good choice to make. Life is Strange 2 is mainly a game about making mistakes and dealing with the consequences. In the first part you played as Max Caulfield who had the power to turn back time, so if a choice there had a consequence you didn't agree with you could always see what the alternative was. But in part 2 this is not the case. This ensures that choices are much harder to make and if you choose 'wrong' or wait too long you just have to accept your choice. This also gives the story a much greater emotional impact at times, because you really can't go back. Do you throw away your phone because you don't want to be tracked, or do you call your best friend one last time with all the consequences that entails?

    More mature story
    All in all, the game has four different endings with multiple variations on those endings, based on the choices you make in the five-episode game. Although what you experience on your adventure will be almost always the same, smaller things will change with each play session. So think of Daniel's morality, but also the relationship with other characters and even things like health are discussed. Life is Strange 2 is a much bigger adventure than the first Life is Strange, but with a smaller footprint. Teen drama and things like sexuality and drugs that the first part was about no longer play a role, but racism, religion and politics come to the fore in this second part. And that makes the game feel a lot more mature than the first part, even if you play as two kids aged 16 and 9. That also has consequences for the characters, who grow enormously in personality during the adventure that spans several in-game months. When you start the first episode after finishing the game, Sean and especially Daniel are really much more childish and that is especially noticeable in the voices, which sound very innocent. Being an American of Mexican descent living in the wilderness of Trump's America really does something to you as a person and that is well reflected here.

    This change is also very noticeable in the soundtrack of this second part. Where in the predecessors you mainly heard very fine indie rock, a wide range of other music has now been added there. Gorillaz, Justice and even Bloc Party, among others, form the soundtrack of Sean and Daniel's adventure. The voice actors of Life is Strange 2 are very well chosen, and especially Sean and Daniel feel very realistic. The mouths also move well this time with what is being said, so that you are much better sucked into the story.

    Sometimes a little sloppy
    Unfortunately, not everything is equally good about Life is Strange 2. I already talked about the make-believe choices, but now and then an easy way out is chosen to close a sub-story, so that the overarching story can continue. This sometimes feels cheap. I also occasionally had a cut scene in which a mouth didn't move or several sentences were spoken by the same character. Occasionally the subtitles didn't show up and we even walked half an episode with a walkie-talkie that was clipped horizontally by Sean's hand and didn't disappear. So a few careless mistakes, but these should absolutely not spoil the fun.

    Play multiple times
    Life is Strange 2 has turned out to be a wonderful adventure that no 'narrative game' lover should miss. Because you make the choices yourself, you become much more involved in the story than with a TV series, for example. The love and friendship between the two brothers is very well portrayed, so that you grow closer to them and it comes in all the harder when something goes wrong. The game steps on your heart and tears your soul apart, but it is well worth it to experience this adventure. All in all you'll be through the story in just under fifteen hours, after which you can quietly play the game again to make all choices differently, so that the story is different and you will eventually see one of the other endings .

    It should be mentioned, however, that gamers who would like a physical copy of their games will be a bit disappointed with Life is Strange 2. Episode 5 is not on the disc, but is supplied digitally as code. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, a free downloadable side story that takes place during episode two (so play it for that!), is on the disc, which is a nice extra.

    Conclusion
    Life is Strange 2 is not for the faint of heart. The story is heavy, impressive, at times heartbreaking, but above all beautiful to experience. Due to the set-up of the game as a kind of TV series, each episode ends with a cliffhanger and you immediately want to know how it goes on. Compared to its predecessors, it is mainly more of the same, but different and that really adorns the game. It makes you want to feel gloomy and that is a very special achievement. The game has some technical defects that absolutely do not spoil the fun and Dontnod once again shows with Life is Strange 2 that they are masters of the 'episodic graphic adventure' genre.
    3.5
  • TriXXXgunnerTriXXXgunner242,254
    10 Jun 2019
    50 62 22
    I don't usually write reviews, but this game's initial two episodes were so disappointing that I had to.

    I agree with the official website writer that the landscape is diverse, but, spoiler alert, the graphics aren't what made the series a hit. Like, at all.

    Lack of set location and characters makes interacting with anything other than Daniel almost pointless because you know you'll be gone. It looks like someone you had a brief interaction with in Ep. 2 returns in Ep. 3, but I'm unwilling to pay for any episodes as the first two consisted of watching people discuss boring things with the requirement to press x or b every 15 minutes or so - and most of the time those conversations don't matter anyway.

    A NPC has the power instead of you, so you're just a broke kid who walks around and then watches cutscenes. When Rebecca said the "gameplay appears to be missing something" in her site review, she is correct - it misses anything even remotely interesting. I might as well be playing one of those phone apps I see advertised where I pick which clothes I need to wear to get a date. Or maybe I already have a date and just need to decide what to wear. Wow, that mystery is already more interesting than the Life is Strange 2 plot.

    The first two episodes had me thinking "when will this be over" the entire time. If I wasn't going for all of the achievements, I would have simply quit. I don't know that I'll ever play the final 3 chapters. I honestly couldn't care what happened at this point because the decisions that are made for me by the game are ones I would never make. In this game you can choose options that are the equivalent of "no" and then you still do them. It would be like if Max just picked up the gun in the bathroom in the first game, then the game asked if you wanted to shoot up the school and when you clicked "no" another character said "it'll be fun, tho" and then you just went ahead with it. As a result of being unable to do really anything I would actually do, I have no attachment to the main characters and there are no other characters to be invested in. It seems to me from browsing forums online, this is a very common issue.

    Not only that, but where the Life is Strange episodes could be completed in about 2 hours even when you were exhausting all dialogue options with all characters. The sequel seems to have episodes that take closer to 3 hours and there is not nearly the amount options or any puzzles, just far more walking and watching cut scenes where you do nothing or your character makes more stupid decisions for you.

    The only other things this game could have going are the message and the only two main characters, but the main message of the game seems over-the-top at times and then suddenly disappears while the two characters seem unable to develop in a positive manner.

    I do not see how adding more episodes can improve the game when it has essentially nothing going for it. I barely even think it's a game. It's more like a bad TV movie that I need to let know I am still watching every 10-15 minutes to make it keep playing.
    .5
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