Life is Strange: Double Exposure
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Life is Strange: Double Exposure Media
Critic Reviews for Life is Strange: Double Exposure
For fans of the first Life Is Strange, Double Exposure might be a nice trip down memory lane, and it's a nice way to get inspiration for indie music playlists, but its weak story and dearth of meaningful gameplay makes it a tough sell for most audiences. For $50, when story-and-choice-driven masterpieces retail for less, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure is probably only a good fit for die-hard series fans.
After several attempts to recapture what made the original Life is Strange so enduring, developer Deck Nine Games really knocked it out of the park with Life is Strange: Double Exposure. This is a worthy sequel to a game that captured the hearts and minds of millions of people way back in 2015, myself included. The writing is great, the music is excellent, the cinematography and acting are top-notch, and Max’s new powers are a fun and intuitive fit for its murder mystery structure.
Like its own hero's dabbling with time travel, Life is Strange: Double Exposure highlights the troubles of trying to revisit old memories, while raising unanswered questions about the future.
It's great to have Max Caulfield back, but I'm not sure she ever needed to be in the first place. A somewhat unnecessary-feeling sequel that still manages to tell a compelling story, if not a little messy and underbaked.
As modest as it is, it still accomplishes what it set out to do. It's a good, fun Life is Strange game, and there isn't much else like that. It maintains the delicate balance between campy and comforting throughout, but you just can't help but notice that the tightrope is only a few feet off the ground.
It's exploration of powers left me wanting more. Fans of Life is Strange will likely get more out of the experience than those going in cold turkey, but Double Exposure is worth checking out if you're looking to get stuck into a twisty mystery - though I'd still say it's worth trying the original first.
Double Exposure offers some interesting narrative beats, gorgeous visuals, and a few endearing characters, but fails to deliver the personality, drama, or emotion it is reliant upon.
Whatever promise Life is Strange: Double Exposure has, be it in its beautiful setting, fun and likable characters, or its intriguing setup, ends up being undermined by a scattershot narrative that never comes together. And unfortunately, with a lack of any substantial gameplay or meaningful choices, that leaves this as just a so-so adventure game at best, and what is arguably the lowest-ranking game in the series. Hopefully Life is Strange can rebound back, but for now, it's not a pretty picture.
Industry Coverage
Original Life Is Strange Director Calls Out "Hateful" Fans After Double Exposure Backlash
One of the original creators of Life is Strange defends Deck Nine after fans attack the new devs over the writing of Max and Chloe in Double Exposure.
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Life Is Strange Fans Are Begging For Chloe To Be In Double Exposure
Despite Life is Strange: Double Exposure supporting both endings of the first game, there's been no sign of Chloe, and fans aren't happy.
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