Life is Strange 2
Management’s heard that Alistair Jones is going through puberty again so have stocked up on spot cream, but he’s just eaten too much chocolate.
Management’s heard that Alistair Jones is going through puberty again so have stocked up on spot cream, but he’s just eaten too much chocolate.
During the third episode of
Life is Strange 2, main character Sean Diaz is presented with a choice that could help bring his ordeal to an early end, but would put his little brother Daniel in danger. Being the responsible father figure that we clearly are, we decline the opportunity. But then later on in the episode, we’re asked to make that same choice again. And then again. In the end, the decision is made for us, and everything falls to pieces.
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 – chilling Oregon winters, towering Californian forests and sweltering Arizona deserts offer an ambitious alternative to the series’ traditionally small-town narratives – but also forces Life is Strange 2 to immediately undermine its road-tripping raison d’etre.
Rather than directly portray a 2,400-kilometre 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 –at least temporarily – 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 pay cheque, 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 road trip, and so Sean and Daniel are moved on, irrespective of the decisions made within the episode.