Life is Strange 2 - Episode 1: Roads Reviews
Great Dontnod: you gave me three hours of emotions, moral choices and boundless natural landscapes. You have characterized two protagonists in an excellent way, making them loved within half an hour.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Life is Strange 2's first episode kickstarts an emotionless journey that employs critical topics in the worst ways. It fails in many aspects and doesn't even get close to being as good as the first game, but at least it makes the player reflect a bit.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Life is Strange 2 Episode 1 was short, boring and overall forgettable and felt like a bad opening to a new season.
Episode 1: Roads sets Life is Strange 2 up for potentially great things, but the entertaining moments are extremely fleeting in what is clearly intended to be an emotionally-driven adventure that works to set the tone for what is to come, with particular value placed on the story of brotherhood. The supernatural element at play as the main plot device is interesting, but it again only works to serve as a teaser for what is lying further down the road for the brothers. Not as gripping as season one, but this short episode does its job.
Life is Strange 2 - Episode 1 feels like a more mature and well thought-out successor to the original. Excelling in slower paced storytelling, open level design which boosts immersion.
The first episode of Life is Strange 2 is a bit a of a mess even if it has some underlying potential.
A rocky start shows a promising adventure. Please don't mess up, DONTNOD.
Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 – Roads is a strong introduction to Sean and Daniel's characters and story.
A line from a certain character is very apropos to how this game sees our current year politics and culture: "Everything is political, Sean." I think the game has a good road movie story in there with the two brothers, however the heavy-handed politics are written for pretty much only one crowd: the folks who think our current president is literally Hitler..
Episode 1 can be guardedly recommended, then. It stumbles in parts, sure, but it also proves that DontNod has some ambitious ideas for this instalment of its teen adventure series. On top of that, it ends intriguingly enough to ensure that many who play through it will want to see what the next episode holds.
Life is Strange 2's first episode goes in a bold new direction that points the series towards current political issues as much as it does human drama. It's promising but a little slow to get going after a thrilling opening scene.
Unfortunately the episode is let down by the less than subtle way it deals with delicate subjects like racism, as well as gameplay that means this episode feels like quite a slow start to the story. There are several hints throughout the episode to suggest the gameplay may be spiced up in the future, and it may need it if players are going to make it through to the end of the story.
Life is Strange 2: Episode One - Roads is a sluggish beginning of a new season, which lacks depth of the original Life is Strange story. It can turn into something big in the following episodes, but right now it feels like something from Telltale Games and not Dontnod Entertainment.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Life Is Strange 2 Episode 1 is a decent introduction this new season. It stumbles and succeeds in the same areas as its predecessor, but those stumbles are a bit less severe and those victories are a tad more successful.
A well-written story that doesn't quite gel together properly and a lack of actual things to do make this a sub-par start to this potentially great sequel.
There are a couple of technical issues that hold back Life is Strange 2, it's got some weird visual glitches, and I encountered a few crashes in the short, but ultimately interesting story of two brothers, and their suddenly upended life.
Life is Strange 2, while off to a rocky start, has potential for its future episodes I am interested to see how the events that Sean and Daniel have been through intertwine with the lives of Chris and his abusive, alcoholic father. Ultimately, both stories seem to be leading to one conclusion and it will definitely be an emotional and gut-wrenching journey for all of the main characters going forward.
The first episode of Life is Strange 2 already begins to tackle a lot of tough themes but is a bit empty gameplay-wise, even for a Life is Strange game. Despite this, it's a great start and leaves me with high expectations for the next episode.
The first episode of Life is Strange 2 brings a whole new story about two brothers trying to find a safe place in a world full of hate, racism and prejudice. The game lets you decide, whether they will keep their concience clear or ultimately loose their innocence while trying to survive. However interesting the plot may seem, the first episode suffers with slow pacing and plot decisions that lack real impact. Without much suspense or cliffhangers, the first episode doesn't leave us as hooked as it should.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
That being said, Life is Strange 2 boldly covers subject matter that so often is tiptoed around or completely ignored in entertainment, and it's refreshing to see the studio address topics like racism and police brutality head-on. While I'd like to see some technical aspects polished up (the facial animations still lack a decent range of expression, for example), Episode 1 is a solid start on this new saga in the series. I look forward to seeing what becomes of the Diaz brothers as they continue to head towards Mexico over the course of the next four episodes.