Life is Strange: Reunion
Developer: Deck Nine
Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms:PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $39.99 USD – Available Here $69.95 AUD – Available Here
Overview
For a time, episodic games focused on choice-based gameplay that would change certain outcomes depending on what players did were one of the big trends and Life is Strange arrived right in the middle of it. Telling the story of an artsy high school aged Max, delinquent friend Chloe, and mixing in mysteries and time travel powers created a unique story that resonated at the time.
Sequels that followed other characters never quite captured the same magic so when new developer Deck Nine brought back Max as an adult in Double Exposure it was both a blessing and something of a curse due to how it handled certain elements of past events, even if it saw the major return of everyone’s favorite photographer. Now Square Enix is looking to bring Max and Chloe’s story to a conclusion by bringing the pair back together with Life is Strange: Reunion. The question is, will this reunion be a bust or one for the memory wall?
Story
Considering this is the third, or fourth if you count the prequel, game following Max and Chloe’s lives then it is worth noting that this entry is solely for fans of the franchise. There are direct references to events that happen in the first game, including mentions of certain characters and what happened to them, plus Reunion takes place roughly nine months after the events of Double Exposure, meaning that everything that happened is still fresh in the minds of characters and is followed through here. As such those who have not played the original nor the sequel will be lost if they attempt to jump in here. That being said, Reunion does not carry the player’s choices over from Double Exposure and instead makes players select Max’s romantic status with certain characters as the ultimate final choice of both prior games to dictate how certain events will be unfolding and told throughout the game, as there are noticeable differences depending on what players select at least in regards to Chloe’s fate from the first game.
Following the massive storm that swept through Caledon University the campus and nearby town of Lakeport are still rebuilding as Max Caulfield returns from a weekend business trip that is set to elevate her career as a photographer only to find that Caledon is actively on fire. Despite her best efforts and ability to rewind time, she finds that there is nothing she can do for the larger student body trapped within and rushes to find that her friend Moses is also just about to die as the roof of the observatory collapses beneath him and sends Max flying. Unable to risk losing anyone else, Max pulls out a selfie she took just three days prior to the fire, right before she left on her trip, and jumps into it in an attempt to prevent the disaster from ever happening.
At the same time, across the country Chloe Price is arguing with a dive bar owner to give her band more time to set up as the band is running late, as usual. While in the green room she manages to catch herself looking in a mirror only to find herself drawn into a vision that has been haunting her for nearly a year, sending her to a mysterious realm where her high school bathroom and a snowy mountain path combine and she hears both an unknown voice alongside Max and her own. With this vision always ending the same way and continuing to traumatize her at every turn, Chloe finally decides enough is enough and heads to Caledon to find Max and see if she can help her figure out what these visions mean once and for all, setting up for the grand reunion that will bring the two together in a surprisingly satisfying conclusion.
Life is Strange: Reunion finds itself in a place that feels a bit more restrictive than past entries but feels better as a result as a narrower focus helps sharpen the primary focus even if it leaves side characters a bit in the dark. Narratively speaking players are mostly kept on track and set along specific pathways and interactions with certain characters without too much actual side-activity or optional objectives along the way. In fact, while there are a few extra things that players can do per scene and characters they can talk to, the actual interactions mostly help flesh out the world a bit and give some characters an extra bit of development.
That being said, the various choices and rewinding elements feel like they have very minimal impact at times. Players can turn on a “warning” that will appear when a major choice is about to be made but for the most part these major decisions rarely feel consequential outside of perhaps requiring players to search a bit harder for something, miss out on a clue, or need to select different dialogue to talk someone down. Similarly, rewinding is almost entirely reserved as a required gameplay element and not an optional narrative one. Max will remark at times about potentially rewinding to make sure characters don’t remember that she talked with them or didn’t learn extra info, but upon testing both scenarios they didn’t alter much if at all. This is a bit disappointing in the end because it does mean that side characters and most side activities are done away with in order to keep the focus on the two main players here, even if the reunion is the key aspect here.
Bringing Max and Chloe back together feels like the perfect way to continue, and end, the storyline for Life is Strange, especially after how the player’s choice regarding Chloe was hand-waived away in Double Exposure. Depending on what Chloe’s chosen fate was will alter some of the pair’s interactions as well as dialogue, encouraging at least two playthroughs to see the differences, but it often feels quite worth it since seeing the two reunite feels like a genuine blast from the past. Chloe has always brought out some of the best sides of Max and seeing the two interact again, especially if players chose the romance route, is exactly as heartwarming as fans can imagine. There are tender moments, moments of joy, confusion, and plenty in-between, especially depending on what players have selected for the pair’s backstory. There are also plenty of little odds and ends that players can work with between the two and there is a rather unique mechanic where Max and Chloe will be talking with one another and players will be selecting choices for both characters, indicated by whose head is highlighted at the choice menu.
The reunion is exceptional but the mystery still plays a major highlight here in Life is Strange: Reunion even if the actual puzzles to figure it out aren’t too difficult. Double Exposure left a lot of threads hanging when it ended, such as Safi’s plans, the secretive Abraxis society, and more, and all of that is handled here alongside the actual events that could kick off the fire that may tear through Caledon. Some of these answers are a bit unsatisfying, especially when it comes to Abraxis, but seeing the way Safi’s situation can be handled is exceptional since it is done by someone unexpected, if players handle it correctly of course. While we won’t spoil how things end here, it can be said that Max and Chloe’s reunion is a successful one (unless players mess up a ton along the way) even if it does leave the side characters by the side of the road and streamline the process a bit along the way.
Gameplay
Life is Strange: Reunion keeps things rather simple when it comes to actually exploring and playing the game. Most of the time players are given a simple set of tasks and a few optional tasks that they can complete per location and these are almost entirely done by walking around and finding what to interact with or who to talk to. There are a few random collectables that vary depending on the character, with Max taking photos of locations and Chloe doodling sketches from items that inspire her in the world, as well as podcasts that players can sit and listen to for some aforementioned lore.
As mentioned, Max’s rewind ability is mostly used to advance the plot as a way to navigate through conversations by taking advantage of information she has gleaned from talking to someone and then using it against them for the first time ever after a fresh rewind. Or obtaining an item that was previously tucked away and rewinding time so it appears she never interacted with something to begin with. There are a few smaller areas where Max’s rewind are used for optional objectives but these are fairly small and aren’t even noted down anywhere beyond those aiming for achievements or trying to one-up a snobby co-worker. As for Max’s camera, it is only really used to take collectable photos and that is about it. The ability to take “double exposure” photos still exists but doesn’t do anything other than give players a way to take fancier shots.
Chloe’s “backtalk” ability also makes a return from the prequel though it is used fairly sparingly, only appearing three times throughout the entire game. Backtalk makes use of what Chloe has been able to find out through investigating the environment and paying attention to what a character says to either win an argument or lie herself out of a situation. Select enough correct choices and Chloe wins, gaining extra information or dodging trouble.
The puzzles throughout Life is Strange: Reunion are fairly simple and mostly resolve around using Max’s time rewinding capabilities to gather items within a time limit or pay attention to the environment for context clues and figuring out what to do next. Rarely are any of these puzzles actually a challenge and even Chloe quips that if her chosen solution ended up being correct, which it was, it would make the puzzle designer very disappointed.
It is worth noting that through two playthroughs of Life is Strange: Reunion the game worked almost flawlessly outside of a few odd glitches in the second run through. One of these glitches saw the brightness shift extremely high and flash rapidly throughout an entire scene until the game was reset, another kept an interaction symbol always displayed in a late game scene, and odd texture warping was occurring in the same late game scenes. While not major or gamebreaking bugs, these random issues did appear nonetheless.
Audio & Visuals
Life is Strange: Reunion does look quite impressive even if it does feel like it reuses a ton of assets from Double Exposure since Caledon’s quad and the Snapping Turtle are almost entirely the same looking as before, though not snowy this time around and only a few new locations actually appear. The character models are nicely detailed with the same type of art style and aesthetic that Deck Nine is known for and Chloe really shines here in her new appearance. The title does offer literally every “content warning” under the sun should players need to activate them which is a nice option but also rather excessive.
The voice work from the actors have all returned to reprise their characters which is impressive, especially with Chloe who was completely absent from the previous game. Even Safi’s style is handled quite well given her attempt to blend in. As for the soundtrack the title features a plethora of amazing sounding background music that will not only play during exploration but during moments of reflection where Max/Chloe can sit and contemplate for as long as they want or during emotional scenes.
Overall
Life is Strange: Reunion delivers the same signature art style that fans have come to expect from Deck Nine as well as an absolutely stellar soundtrack accompanying impressive voice work, meaning the presentation is top notch when not glitching. The puzzles themselves and individual gameplay elements of Chloe and Max may not be the most interesting but thankfully the storyline more than makes up for it. Reuniting the pair and creating a system where players can literally talk back and forth between the two, re-building a relationship once torn apart by death or time, and having them navigate a disastrous mystery creates an engaging storyline that may fall short in some areas but delivers the type of closure fans of this pair have been hoping for.
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