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Life Is Strange: Double Exposure

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Life Is Strange: Double Exposure is a 2024 episodic adventure game developed by Deck Nine and published by Square Enix. The fourth main installment of the Life Is Strange series, it is a direct sequel to Life Is Strange (2015). The plot focuses on an older Max Caulfield who, upon discovering new supernatural abilities that allow her to travel between two timelines, finds herself investigating a murder case involving her new best friend.

Life Is Strange: Double Exposure
Developer(s)Deck Nine
Publisher(s)Square Enix
Director(s)Jonathan Stauder
Producer(s)T. Julian Bell
Designer(s)Christopher Sica
Programmer(s)Ben Tarr
Artist(s)Andrew Weatherl
Writer(s)
  • Felice Kuan
  • Deandra Fallon Warrick
Composer(s)Tessa Rose Jackson
SeriesLife Is Strange
Platform(s)
ReleaseOctober 29, 2024
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Double Exposure was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on October 29, 2024, with a Nintendo Switch version to be released later in 2024.

Plot

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In late 2023, Max Caulfield has relocated to Lakeport, Vermont, where she is working as a photographer-in-residence at Caledon University. She has sworn never to use her time-rewinding powers again, traumatized by the tumultuous events of Arcadia Bay in 2013. On December 4th, after spending time with her friends Safi and Moses, Max is devastated to find Safi dead from a gunshot wound. Max isolates herself in grief until she discovers a new ability: the power to "pulse" into an alternate timeline where Safi is still alive. This ability soon evolves, allowing Max to travel between these parallel timelines at will. In the "Living" timeline, Safi's car is vandalized, indicating she might still be in danger, prompting Max to investigate and try to uncover the killer in the "Dead" timeline.

During her investigation, Max meets several residents of the university, including Yasmin Fayyad, the university president and Safi's mother; Amanda Thomas, a waitress at the local bar, Snapping Turtle; Vinh Lang, Yasmin's administrative assistant and leader of the Abraxas secret society; Gwen Hunter, a professor specializing in Non-Creative Fiction; Lucas Colmenero, head of the Literature Department; and students Loretta Rice, Reggie Kagan, and Diamond Washington. In the Living timeline, Max finds Gwen and Lucas implicated in separate incidents they did not commit, while in the Dead timeline, Reggie claims to have seen a doppelganger of himself. Moses admits to stealing Safi's camera from the crime scene, which Max retrieves and hides from Detective Vince Alderman. This leads to the discovery of another power: "entangling" objects between timelines. The camera reveals a photo of Max pointing a gun at Safi, causing Moses to believe Max is the killer.

Max's attempt to use her rewind power on the photo triggers a vision of a future storm in Caledon, similar to the one in Arcadia Bay, with Safi begging Max to shoot her to end the chaos. Max reveals her powers to Moses, regaining his trust. They encounter an apparition of Alderman, and when the real Alderman arrives, the two versions of him touch and disappear from existence. In the Living timeline, Max learns Gwen canceled Safi's book deal because it focused on Maya Okada, a former student and Safi's best friend who committed suicide after Lucas plagiarized her work. Vinh and Safi failed to defend Maya, leading to her death. Back home, Max confronts an intruder who resembles her, who turns out to be Safi with shapeshifting powers, having impersonated Gwen and Lucas to sabotage their careers for their involvement in Maya's death.

Max and Safi agree to expose Lucas' plagiarism at a Krampus-themed party using their powers. Although successful, Lucas tells Safi that Yasmin ordered the cancellation of her book, and that he and Gwen were only following her demands, leading Safi to confront Yasmin. Safi's powers spiral out of control, unleashing the storm from Max's vision. Max uses her rewind power to take them back to December 4th, retaining their memories but bringing the storm with them. Safi pleads with Max to kill her to end it, but Max chooses to face the storm together. They find themselves in a dreamscape merging Caledon and memories of Arcadia Bay, created by the combination of their powers, where Max uses her polaroid camera to separate Safi from her friends, whose minds are merged with Safi.

Max and Safi return to the real world, where the Living and Dead timelines have combined and the storm has stopped. Safi decides to leave Caledon to seek others with powers like hers and Max's, asking Max to wait for her return and help her harness her abilities. Max must choose whether to accept or decline Safi's request. Max then reveals her powers to her friends at Caledon, while Safi meets with Diamond, who exhibits excessive nose-bleeding, and offers to help her seek answers.

Development

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In June 2024, during the Xbox Games Showcase, Deck Nine revealed their latest installment in the Life Is Strange series, which serves as a direct sequel to Life Is Strange (2015), titled Life is Strange: Double Exposure.[1] Hannah Telle reprised her role as Max.[2][3]

The game offers players the option to choose an ending organically, avoiding the decision of making one of the first game's endings canon.[4] The game's directors emphasized respecting the original endings while introducing a fresh narrative that reflects Max's past challenges. They highlighted that the player's decisions, influenced by Max's thoughts, journal, SMS, and interactions, determine the outcome.[5] The game introduces a new ability for Max, allowing her to shift between parallel timelines, providing her with a new perspective and outlook on events.[6]

Release

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Life Is Strange: Double Exposure was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on October 29, 2024.[7] Players who pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition of the game received early access to the first two chapters, starting from October 15, 2024. The Deluxe Edition adds some small cosmetics and a gameplay content related to a missing cat. This ultimate edition early access raised concerns about spoilers.[a]

Don't Nod, the developer of two previous Life Is Strange games, delayed their new game, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage into 2025 to avoid competing against Double Exposure.[12]

Reception

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According to Metacritic, the critical response to Double Exposure's PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions was "mixed or average", while the PC version received "generally favorable" reception.[13][15][14]

4Players opined that the game retained likeable characters, sarcastic humor, detailed locations, and nostalgic feel, but mentioned that it did not match the original's impact and there were "some rough edges" in the story and technical performance.[16] Destructoid saw it as "a satisfying sequel that ties in the events of its prequel well", praising its captivating story, character development, and nostalgic appeal, but criticizing some predictable plot twists and a few one-dimensional characters.[17] GamesRadar+ found the mystery intriguing, the cast of characters diverse and the facial animations visually expressive. The criticisms focused on the limited time with characters and dual timelines that hinder emotional investment.[19] IGN thought the game lived up to the original's standards and was an improvement "on nearly every aspect from the previous games", lauding the character development and handling of serious topics with nuanced writing.[18] The Games Machine stated that its captivating story had believable characters and surprising twists, cleverly blended mystery and science fiction, and offered great graphics and sound, while criticizing its simplistic puzzles and walking simulator feel.[21]

PC Gamer appreciated its mystery aspect, Max's new powers, and the exploration of serious topics with nuanced writing, but questioned the rehashing of old narrative groundwork, inconsistent sound mixing, and underdeveloped characters due to the dual timelines, ultimately calling it "a somewhat unnecessary-feeling sequel that still manages to tell a compelling story, if not a little messy and underbaked."[23] Technical issues like slow-loading textures, overlapping dialogues, and other graphical glitches were also bothersome to PC Games, which cited the story, characters, animations and soundtrack as high quality but the puzzles as simple and the game world as small.[22] The game was disappointing for Push Square, which voiced criticism for what it described as audio issues, lack of emotional resonance, overreliance on the supernatural, and underdeveloped setting and story compared to previous games, but liked the visuals, Max's return, the early episodes and some of the characters.[20]

Notes

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  1. ^ Multiple references:[8][9][10][11]
  2. ^ Based on 56 critic reviews
  3. ^ Based on 20 critic reviews
  4. ^ Based on 18 critic reviews

References

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  1. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (9 June 2024). "Life Is Strange: Double Exposure Revealed, Features Return of Max Caulfield". IGN. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  2. ^ Life is Strange (13 June 2024). Hannah Telle (Max Caulfield) Interview - Life is Strange: Double Exposure. Retrieved 5 November 2024 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Maas, Jennifer (28 October 2024). "Why 'Life Is Strange' Team Took on the 'Challenges' of Bringing Max Back for 'Double Exposure' 10 Years After That Split Ending". Variety. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  4. ^ Shepard, Kenneth (13 June 2024). "Life Is Strange: Double Exposure Gameplay Reveal Confirms It Will Respect Both The First Game's Endings". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  5. ^ Phillips, Tom (13 June 2024). "Life is Strange: Double Exposure developers finally weigh in on which original ending was canon: neither". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  6. ^ Wald, Heather; Lewis, Catherine (20 August 2024). "Life is Strange Double Exposure devs on bringing back Max: "everybody now has the Max in their heads that we have to compete with"". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  7. ^ Romano, Sal (9 June 2024). "Life is Strange: Double Exposure announced for PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  8. ^ Colbert, Isaiah (21 October 2024). "'Life is Strange: Double Exposure' Is a Cozy Gaming Take on 'Twin Peaks'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  9. ^ Phillips, Tom (10 June 2024). "Life is Strange fans criticise $30 upgrade to play new game's early chapters two weeks early". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  10. ^ Randall, Harvey (11 June 2024). "FOMO is alive and well—Life is Strange: Double Exposure has a 2-week early access period if you cough up some dough for its Ultimate Edition". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Life is Strange: Double Exposure's first two chapters are mostly good, but making fans pay extra to play early is a huge mistake". Eurogamer.net. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  12. ^ Batchelor, James (28 June 2024). "Don't Nod delays new IP Lost Records to avoid clash with next Life Is Strange". Gameindustry.biz. Archived from the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Life is Strange: Double Exposure Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Life is Strange: Double Exposure Xbox Series X Critic Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Life is Strange: Double Exposure PC Critic Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  16. ^ a b Menk, Gerrit (28 October 2024). "Life is Strange: Double Exposure im Test - Doppelte Zeitlinie gleich doppelter Spielspaß?". 4P.de (in German). Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  17. ^ a b "Review: Life is Strange: Double Exposure". Destructoid. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  18. ^ a b Maillet, Nick (28 October 2024). "Life is Strange: Double Exposure Review". IGN. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  19. ^ a b Wald, Heather (28 October 2024). "Life is Strange Double Exposure review: "Feels like it's laying the groundwork for something bigger"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  20. ^ a b Square, Push (28 October 2024). "Review: Life Is Strange: Double Exposure (PS5) - Hallmark Series Loses Its Charm". Push Square. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  21. ^ a b "Life is Strange: Double Exposure | Recensione". The Games Machine (in Italian). 23 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  22. ^ a b "Bloß ein lauer Aufguss - oder rockt es alles weg? So gut ist Life is Strange Double Exposure!". PC Games (in German). 28 October 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  23. ^ a b Taylor, Mollie (28 October 2024). "Life is Strange: Double Exposure review". PC Gamer. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
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