Life Is Strange 2 - Episode 2: Rules Reviews
Life is Strange 2 Episode 2 feels more like a crossover bonus sequel to The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit than a true continuation of the first episode
Life is Strange 2 Episode 2 Rules is strong follow-up from the hard-hitting first episode but plays a little too safe at times
The second chapter of Life is Strange 2 overtakes the previous episode. Despite the traps that it does, "Rules" manages that we can empathize with Sean and Daniel more. If the beginning of the journey of its protagonists hooked you, you can't miss the continuation for anything in the world.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Life Is Strange 2 feels like it's flying under-the-radar, which is unfortunate because this sequel has all of the hallmarks that made its predecessor a success. Episode 2: Rules is slow, but DONTNOD is still easing its new cast of characters in. There's definitely something good brewing here, but for whatever reason we can't shake the feeling that the developer has utterly failed to capture the imagination of Arcadia Bay's biggest fans.
Rules is not a bad game but instead lies in the shadow of a cracker opening episode in Roads that it struggles to live up to. I think the importance of Rules will rear its head in later episodes as decisions begin to compound further and players are made to face the consequences of their choices in unexpected ways.
“Rules” feels like emotional torture porn without any of the thematic follow through to make it worthwhile.
The second chapter in Sean and Daniel's story asks the hard questions, like can grandmas really be trusted?
An episode with a great writing but our choices lacks weight, making this a forgetable episode, despite it has some great moments on its limited lenght.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Second Installment Syndrome further infects the Second Episode of this Second Installment of Life is Strange.
Rules episode develops the brother’s relationship as much as it can, and gives the players so much freedom when it comes to choices. Life is Strange 2 is so good in the spirit that even though the Rules episode is lacking a little pace in storytelling, it can still be considered a great episode that lays a solid ground for the future.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Rules is a backwards step after a strong opening for Life Is Strange 2, feeling more like a filler episode which squanders the momentum of the Diaz boys' story.
Regardless of the issues, it's still too early to say whether or not this arc will pay off. Right now it feels like the story has a firm grasp on the concepts they want to touch on, but they don't know how to tell a narrative that fits it. It's clear the next episode will deal with Cassidy the drifter and we will likely meet their mother at some point, but right now the story is spinning wheels. It will be interesting to see if the climax gives us the ability to see two radically different endings or possibly the most common outcome leading to the future franchise canon but we will have to see where the rails take us.
In its second episode, we delve deeper into the Díaz brothers backstory. We see more details regarding Daniel powers and finally makes the connection with The Adventures of Captain Spirit, the game doesn't need to improve its mechanics but keeps the story compelling and making us want more.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A lovely little diversion for the wolf brothers finds their biggest problem not to be the law, but inconsistencies in their own animation.
Nonetheless, “Rules” can be called a mostly successful entry in the Life is Strange catalog. The plot uses the newly introduced characters very well, each of them fulfilling an important role in Sean and Daniel’s adventure. No moment feels wasted, with every action leading to major changes in the story. Above all, after I finished the episode, I knew I immediately wanted more from Dontnod. It’s just a shame that it could take another four months.
Rules continues the compelling journey of the Diaz brothers, further expanding on the supernatural elements teased during the first episode's conclusion with less forcefully controversial and predictable writing. Unfortunately, the episode is hindered by some substantial technical issues.
Aside from the pacing, the episode is let down by a variety of technical issues which add a layer of frustration and detract from the experience. Fortunately we can see that the pace of Episode 3 is likely to pick up, and hopefully that finally reaches the potential this story is promising.
Episode 2 might be a slower entry in the episodic series, but it gave me enough meaningful content and satisfying gameplay to enjoy playing throughout.
A slump in a promising series, Episode 2 still contains emotional highs and thoughtful choices.
Episode 2 doesn’t compare to the excitement I felt with Episode 1—mainly due to its lull in action (and suspicious amount of calmness) and feeling like I had little control over certain events as a player.