Life is Strange 2 Leads Us Down A Road We Can’t Wait To Travel – Review (PS4)

WARNING: There are some story spoilers for Life Is Strange 2: Roads in this review. 

Focusing on a new setting and cast of characters can be a hard feat to pull of in a sequel. Look no further than the second season of True Detective for the best example of this. Thankfully, Life is Strange 2 pulls it off in a masterful way and Roads, the first installment of the sequel, sets up a story that we cannot wait to see play out.

Story

Life is Strange 2 takes place after the final presidential debate in 2016 at a volatile time in the U.S. The Sequel to the original title and its prequel follow a new set of characters on their own journey separate from Max and Chloe (though the game does ask you before you start which decision you made at the end of Life is Strange). This time around you play as Sean Diaz, a teenager in high school who lives in Seattle with his younger brother Daniel and his father. After a little discovery, it’s clear that Sean’s mother isn’t around – though we don’t exactly know why. Sean and his best friend Lyla are preparing for a party to kick off their weekend and for the most part everything is status quo… at least until Daniel finds himself in trouble with the neighbor boy and Sean goes out to his defense.

This is where things go south fast. Once the police show up events are set in motion that send Sean and Daniel off on an unexpected journey of their own. They find themselves on the run with Daniel, having very little memory of what happened. Convinced that they are off on a camping excursion so that the brothers can spend some much-needed time together, Daniel follows Sean almost blindly and the “camping trip” is under way. You find out early on that The Diaz Family enjoys watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy every Christmas. Sean uses his family’s love of the trilogy to further convince his younger brother to fortify their camp while he searches for firewood. Like other episodes in the Life is Strange saga, there are times during the game where you can just sit together as brothers and watch the sunset for as long as you’d like. These intimate moments are some of the most beautiful ones in the game and you’ll find yourself sitting there way longer than you should just taking it all in.

The next morning when you break camp and head off again, things really start to get interesting. After coming to a gas station and stocking up on supplies, reality begins to set in and you start to feel the severity of your situation. Dontnod and Deck Nine have never shied away from tackling important and sometimes hard to talk about issues and this trend continues here. We come face to face with the depravity of mankind and see how hard it can be for two Mexican-American boys trying to make their way through a country that has always been their home. These themes seem to be front and center in the sequel and they couldn’t come at a more appropriate time.

After deciding on a destination, the boys set off on journey that will surely span the course of the next four episodes. With some incredible nods to the original game, the first episode of Life is Strange 2 is the perfect start to a new story and we can’t wait to see what’s in store. Make sure you stick around after the credits for a very Marvel-like teaser at the end.

Gameplay and Graphics

There is no mistaking that this is a Life is Strange game, but the graphics have never looked better. The new engine adds a ton of detail and color. The game controls about the same with some tweaks to fit the new characters. Gone are the rewind powers that Max had and, though there are some very interesting supernatural elements at play here, we don’t have any supernatural powers to work with in the first episode. Sean is a sensitive soul and seems to stay out of trouble for he most part. While Chloe used graffiti and Max took pictures, Sean’s go-to activity is sketching. You’ll find yourself sitting down in certain areas, scanning your surroundings, and then sketching what you see. These moments usually come at a time when you need to just sit down and relax for a moment and briefly forget about your problems. Decision making is still a key factor and now along with decision making you can have different interactions with Daniel as you go on your journey. Anyone that has played any other game in the series will feel right at home and even though there are some changes they feel organic and you’ll get used to them right away.

Recommendation

Fans of the original and anyone with empathy for the human condition will line up to check out the sequel and fall in love with an all new cast of characters. The writers at Dontnod are masters of their craft and will make you care about Sean and Daniel in the same way that you cared about Max and Chloe.

Check out our Review Guide to see what we criteria we use to score games.