Life is Strange: Double Exposure is confirmed for Switch release, but the date is yet-to-be revealed. As such, this review is based off the Xbox Series X/S version of the game. Please note that this review does not discuss the technical aspects of the game, and instead focuses on story, characters, and gameplay mechanics. We will review the Switch version from a technical standpoint once that version is made available.
The original Life is Strange is a very important game to me. It might be rough around the edges with some spats of clumsy dialog, but the overarching adventure is one that’s never far from my mind. I believe it captured the beauty and pain of relationships, be they with friends, family or partners, and it packed in a ton of values about life, love and happiness that honestly changed me as a person. That’s not something many games have done for me, let alone pieces of art and entertainment in general.
I’ve played all the Life is Strange titles since the original, and they’ve been wonderful experiences. They might not have reached the heights of the first outing, but those subsequent entries and spin-offs are not without merit. What’s been achieved with the Life is Strange series in general is pretty darn impressive, and it’s certainly made me a life-long fan. When a new installment in the franchise gets announced, you can bet I’m down to check it out.
Fast-forward to the reveal of Life is Strange: Double Exposure, which left me absolutely floored. While any Life is Strange announcement gets me hyped, I never, ever thought we’d see things go back to the original installment. When I heard that voice in the opening moments of the Double Exposure announcement trailer, I knew immediately I was hearing Max Caulfield. A new Life is Strange game that revisits the character that started it all, and we’re getting to see the story continue?! Sign me up!
Having put in a considerable amount of time with Max’s return, I have a litany of thoughts to share. Without a doubt, Life is Strange: Double Exposure is a wildly ambitious follow-up that attempts new things and wades into unfamiliar territory, all while walking the tightrope of giving fans more of what they want while trying not to taint the original’s legacy. The good news is that so far, Life is Strange: Double Exposure hasn’t sullied the debut outing, but there are a few bumpy spots along the way.
Please note that this will be a spoiler-free feature.
The opening moments of Life is Strange: Double Exposure hit me hard. I’ve already made my love of the first Life is Strange game evident, but even I was surprised by how emotional it was to return to Max’s world. Seeing Max, hearing her voice, experiencing where she’s at in life now…it really was something else. It was more like I was seeing a long-lost friend than just playing a game. The first few minutes of Double Exposure literally caused me a choke up, and not for any story reason. It was just that nice to see Max back.
Max has grown up since the first Life is Strange, and the team has done an excellent job making her maturation feel genuine. Max has obviously gone through a lot in her time, and you can feel her bring the weight of everything she’s experienced with her. She’s still friendly, fun, kind and caring, but she also is more self-assured and assertive. This comes through in both the decisions you can make and the scripted moments where you have no control. From Life is Strange to Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Max’s evolution feels incredibly organic and well-realized.
In terms of a supporting cast, Life is Strange: Double Exposure comes off leagues ahead of what the debut game offered. Again, I adore Life is Strange, but it definitely had some cookie-cutter and one-dimensional characters. The writing team has certainly heard and addressed those criticisms here, as you get a crew of friends and foes that are much more dynamic and realistic. Max’s close friends, Safiya and Moses, feel like real people, and that’s achieved through some very well-written dialog. The supporting cast down the line, including more friends and foes, are also far beyond what the original game presented. These supplemental characters may still have a few trope-laden moments, but by and large, this gang of virtual players easily outshines their predecessors.
That better realization of characters and personalities obviously starts with writing, but the voice actors here really crank things up. There are some seriously impressive actors in Life is Strange: Double Exposure, to the degree that you shouldn’t be surprised when a few of them land some award nominations for their portrayals. Conversations come off in an extremely natural manner, and they flow beautifully. That even includes instances where Max throws out her tried-and-true dad-style jokes, with characters responding with appropriate scoffs, snark and so on. In particular, Olivia AbiAssi’s role as Safiya is spot-on, with her line-reading and direction lifting every single scene to new heights.
This stellar job with writing and characters does present one issue though, and it’s tied directly to Max. As the quality of storytelling has lifted considerably, the actor portraying Max sadly doesn’t rise to the occasion. Don’t get me wrong, Hannah Telle (the voice of Max in Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Double Exposure) is still very much the Max you remember from the first game, but that’s the problem. Hannah’s readings sound exactly as you’d expect, but everyone else around her is on a different level. On one hand it’s fantastic to have the Max we know and love in terms of voice work, but on the other it can, at times, come off rather distracting in conversations.
This also goes hand-in-hand with Double Exposure’s exploration of Max’s enhanced abilities. As those who played the first game know, Max finds out through a traumatic experience that she’s able to rewind time. In Double Exposure Max’s superpowers go even further, as she learns that she can now shift between timelines at will. This obviously opens up some really interesting story opportunities, but at the same time it gamifies the journey to a degree that I don’t necessarily think it needs.
While Life is Strange is an adventure game, it’s really more of a narrative experience. Yes, you can walk around and interact with objects/people, but it’s more about doing those things to get to the next piece of dialog. In Double Exposure your aim is still to move the story along, but now it’s peppered with finding spots where you can jump between timelines. Things go another layer deeper as well, as Max can also move things in one timeline to change things in the other. This ends up creating a series of simple puzzle sections that you’ll have to work through.
It’s not that Max’s new abilities are bad by any means, but I can’t say that I find their implementation compelling. Having to traipse about locations, glimpse at the parallel universe, shift over, sneak around, snag items, jump back…it more often feels like busy work than enjoyable gameplay. Truthfully, I think Double Exposure would have been better served if it handled Max’s revamped powers the way the first game does. In that game, what Max can do is more of a story beat than a gameplay mechanic. I think the same approach could have worked wonders in Double Exposure and would have streamlined things as well. Again, these new gameplay wrinkles aren’t horrible by any stretch, but I can’t imagine most players will feel they were an engaging addition from a gameplay perspective.
All that said, the story is easily the most important part of any Life of Strange title, and Life is Strange: Double Exposure hasn’t faulted yet. While I have more to see, what I’ve experienced thus far is on-par with the original game, or surpasses it. There are some exceptionally tense moments thanks to top-notch writing, plenty of emotional portions, some truly introspective elements, and of course, decisions to make that will have you sweating bullets.
When these choices come up, it can be unbelievably hard to pick which direction to go, and that’s where the magic lies. If you craft a story where none of the “this or that” options build up tension, then you’re going in the wrong direction. Up to this point, the big decision-making moments in Life is Strange: Double Exposure have had me absolutely laboring over what to do. I know how I want things to go, but it’s never so easy as making the “right” choice. There are so many instances where you can see how things could potentially go awry no matter what you pick, but you have to pull the trigger. These are the kinds of situations that you absolutely dread, but you love them at the same time. Without these excruciating options, Life is Strange wouldn’t be Life is Strange.
In my time with Life is Strange: Double Exposure thus far, the game has given me more than enough to be happy with. If you’ve been worried that Double Exposure revisiting the past would poison the well, you can put those fears aside. The story is intriguing and, at times, riveting. The characters help bring the world to life. Max, despite my voice acting gripes, is the character we all adore, but better realized. The big mystery that the story sits upon is filled with twists and turns, plenty of which you won’t see coming. By and large, Double Exposure is everything you want from a sequel and more.
I’ll check back in with my final thoughts once I’ve tackled every debilitating choice, but I can definitely say that so far, so very, very good.
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