It’s been almost a decade since we stepped into Max Caulfield”s shoes, and Life Is Strange: Double Exposure continues her story set a few years after the events of the original title. After finally finding a place for herself at Caledon University as a photographer-in-residence, Max loses yet another close friend, who awakens a new set of powers in her. I had a chance to play the first two chapters of Life Is Strange Double Exposure, and here are my thoughts so far.
Not Again
Max Caulfield is no longer the unsure kid from high school; she’s far more confident in her skills and shows less reluctance to share her thoughts and interact with others. She’s still in touch with her feelings, and players will continue hearing her inner thoughts about the smallest details and awkward conversations, which is why she’s been such a relatable character in the first place.
She’s friendly, stands up for her friends, and shares the same anxieties we all do. Her voice work, honest dialogue, and general interactions are genuinely human, a testament to the believable writing that continues to be a highlight throughout the series.
Max also has some new friends around campus, but she’s pretty close to Safi and Moses in particular. Safi is the kind of friend we all want in our lives, but when tragedy strikes and she is found dead after a seemingly uneventful evening, Max and the rest of Caledon University are taken over by sorrow.
This isn’t new for Max, and death has followed her around her whole life, but it doesn’t hurt any less, and I’m impressed by how well the writers and developers communicated that in a single episode.
Oh, and rest assured, the game adequately contextualizes the events of the first game, and even during the first two episodes, you’ll have enough of Max’s pre-Caledon past to sink your teeth into.
I’m sure a lot of die-hard fans of the series are reluctant to see a beloved character return, but as someone who deeply enjoyed the original Life is Strange, I think Deck Nine has done a decent job bringing Max back to the forefront, at least based on the first two chapters.
Double Exposure
Max can’t reverse time anymore, but, as with every other Life is Strange title, we’re introduced to a new power shortly after the main character suffers a tragedy or life-threatening incident. Instead of reversing time, Max can now jump between different timelines through special doorways and interact with characters and the world, which are separated by the occurrence of the main event, that is, Safi’s death.
Essentially, Safi is still alive in the world of the living, and she isn’t in the world of the dead. This creates an interesting gameplay loop, and so far, the developers have done a great job of pushing players to frequently jump between realities to gather information and effectively manipulate the environment.
Max has access to texts, a social media feed, and notes that keep changing as you shift between timelines. There is a lot of detail here, and only Max and the player know all this extra information about the characters. So, while Max can’t just reverse time to make the right decision, she can dig into more by interacting with essentially an additional copy of the characters.
Apart from jumping between timelines, Max can observe the other timeline’s characters in a specific radius in the current timeline as well.
I think the Double Exposure powers work quite well for the most part, and some minor bugs, which I’ll attribute to the preview build aside, are a fun addition to the series’ time and space manipulation powers. It’s also a gorgeous game to look at, and the character models are exceptionally detailed. I do miss the look of the original, but this retains a lot of the charm thanks to the great use of colors and opting for a stylized rendering instead of changing the look completely.
Overall, I think the first two chapters of Life Is Strange Double Exposure have set up another great adventure that will consume my life for the next few weeks, and I’ll interact with every single part of the environment, and dread every major decision I make.
