![]() ![]() Turn to page three for our Life is Strange 2 episode 2 review.As a metaphor for Spock's inner conflict between his human and Vulcan halves, it's genius. ![]() In other words, if you’re a longtime fan of Life is Strange, you’ll really enjoy this one, because it’s the game at its best. It’s an episode with heart and brains in equal measure one which rarely tries to do too much, and instead revels in the slower pace its story allows. There are far more charming moments than dull missteps, we learn more about the Diaz brothers and their supporting cast, and there’s just enough interactivity to keep things interesting throughout. There’s more of a retro-pop vibe than the usual singer-songwriter melancholy, and it’s a welcome change of pace, adding a sense of adventure and whimsy to otherwise mundane situations. The soundtrack, always a highlight, takes a slightly different turn here. While there are a few weird moments where some characters appear to be trembling for no real reason, the animations and facial expressions are pretty good. Perhaps that’s the difficulty of crafting a character-driven game that allows the player any kind of agency, but for the most part the original game and Before The Storm gets the balance just right. Having spent so much time and effort crafting characters and relationships, Life is Strange 2 always tends to struggle with cause and effect. Suddenly, some of the decisions made available to the player either don’t make much sense in context, or the outcomes are vaguely unrealistic. The climax feels a little forced, as if the game needed everything to happen in a certain way in order to set-up episode 4. It’s not all sunshine and guitar-sessions by an open-fire, though, and some aspects of episode 3 fall into old traps. Nothing groundbreaking or revelatory here – it’s all about character development and foreshadowing, a storytelling mechanic that Life is Strange has always excelled at exploiting. Variety is added via multiple locations, and a cute flashback sequence, which reiterates the relationship between the Diaz brothers and lets us spend a little more time with their father. While the intention with Life is Strange 2 was to create more scale, the sense of a larger journey, it’s actually a far better game in enclosed spaces, where you’re exploring and talking rather than pushing physically forwards. Someone at Dontnod has clearly been playing the cannery scene from What Remains of Edith Finch, as it captures that vibe perfectly.īecause the playing area is so small, there’s also less aimless wandering. In fact, there are several instances in this episode where the game mixes its various gameplay systems to try and keep things fresh, and it’s all the better for it. It’s a neat way of masking something dull with what Life is Strange is best at. There’s an inevitable, but extremely charming scene by a campfire, where that awful drawing mechanic from the first episode returns… except here it’s interspersed with conversation, so Sean talks and responds as he draws. They all come together in a neat group, however, and this episode of Life is Strange 2 manages to blend storytelling with interaction superbly well in a number of scenes, where everyone is chatting and bickering. ![]() ![]() Even Daniel’s mysterious powers largely take a backseat here. Life is Strange is always at its best when dealing with smaller dramas, which then impact a grander narrative. What happens when Daniel finds another brother figure to look up to? How does Sean deal with his inevitable crush on Cassidy? And how do the brothers begin to fit in with groups again after being reliant on each other for so long? This episode has much more of an intimate, real-world feel, and it’s all the better for it. While those basic urges run through ep3, they’re background noise, and the game has some fun with more relatable issues. While we know the peace will be fleeting, this settled life allows us to really explore the brotherly bond between Daniel and Sean, and actually let them express their wants and needs beyond ‘not getting caught’ or ‘not starving to death’. They’re living in a camp in the woods, and have found some kind of employment which is actually providing a little stability. Minor spoilers ahoy, but Sean and Daniel have conveniently caught up with Finn and Cassidy, the two buskers they encountered in the last episode. ![]()
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