Life is Strange 2
Far too focussed on the finish line.
Life is Strange 2 begins in suburban Seattle, where a fatal misunderstanding forces Sean and Daniel to flee their home. In his panic, Sean takes his brother on the run, aiming for his father’s family home in Puerto Lobos, Mexico, and the pair take the first steps on their year-long journey to the border.
His decision provides an impressive backdrop to their adventure – but also forces Life is Strange 2 to immediately undermine its road-tripping raison d’etre. Rather than directly portray a 2,500km journey, developer Dontnod sticks to its series’ classic tropes. Exploration, dialogue, and character development are its strengths, but those are difficult to achieve within the confines of a Greyhound bus. Instead, the story moves from vignette to vignette, with each chapter set months after the one before, in a place where Sean and Daniel can stay in relative safety for a few days or weeks.
Here lies the game’s most existential dilemma. These havens provide a place to live almost entirely off-grid, a rare opportunity to lay low and take stock. In one episode, whole chunks of dialogue are given over to the idea of holding out for next month’s paycheck, while another places the brothers firmly within the nuclear family they both so clearly crave. Those themes, of financial security and familial responsibility, are woven throughout the game, but their importance pales in comparison to Dontnod’s desire for a classic roadtrip, and so Sean and Daniel are moved on, irrespective of the decisions made within the episode.
This problem is exacerbated by the fact that Life is Strange 2’s most powerful tool is not directly in your hands. While players control Sean, it’s Daniel who boasts supernatural abilities. Its desire to stick to the series’ tropes means you’re forced into setpiece after setpiece on your inevitable road to Mexico, without any desire to cater to the player who just wants to be a good big brother.