I purchased this at half off, out of anger. And I started this game wanting to hate every bit of it, because, well, no Chloe.

I loved it.

The good:
Max is back ya'll! Everything you disliked about her has changed. This is a nearly 29 year old Max attending a gorgeous private University with some amazing characters and dialogue. I absolutely love that they fixed those repeat background nps everywhere and gave a good variety. While Chloe is gone, she isn't GONE gone. Every choice Max makes, every friend and proffessor you speak to, it's like she's inside of them all. You mostly see it in Gwen, Safi and Amanda. Beautiful scenery, musics decent, dialogue has improved and is less awkward than in past games. Her new power is pretty cool. The game has my attention from start to finish. There's plenty of twists and turns that you don't expect (enter spiderman trio pointing meme, Max would love that)

The bad: The number one complaint I have is her love interests. The game didn't need love interests. It felt forced. Amanda doesn't seem interested, and Vinh is a rich mommys boy duechebag who is too ♥♥♥♥♥♥ for my liking, and even worse, no matter what choice of dialogue you choose to reply back with, it sounds like Max is flirting, which is not at all like Max. Iwould prefer to have complete control over where and when I use the camera, because I was super excited to play a photographer, only to find out you can only take photos of certain things, from certain angles. There's a professor similar to Mark Jefferson, there's a character similar to Juliet Watson. While most of Max's past friends are mentioned multiple times, two are mentioned only once, and one of them upsets me. Don't Nod, I'm giving you a chance to fix this. WHERE IS KATE MARSH??? No letter, no text, no social media.

I am feeling very conflicted about this game.
I do not come from the camp of people that are unhealthily obsessed with virtual character shippings, so that will not affect this review.

Overall i had a pretty good time. The vibes of this game were absolutely on point and the Art & Audio departments of Deck Nine really did fantastic work with this game.
I also generally really enjoyed almost all characters and it was a lot of fun to get to know them and interact with them.

It took about 20h for the first playthrough and i think thats a pretty good time for a game of this kind. It did not feel unnecessarily dragged out or similar, however there were a handful of parts that i feel like could have been more fleshed out.

Unfortunately, the game keeps interrupting you with absolutely nonsensical dialogue options, consequences and story progression. There have been a lot of moments where i was seriously bothered by how unrealistic reactions and dialogues were and they got increasingly more common in the later chapters.
To give an example, there have been several times when i picked seemingly innocent and harmless dialogue options, only for the character i talked to to react like i had just insulted their entire ancestry and everything they achieved in life.
There are a large number of occasions where a few simple words would have completely defused a situation, only for max to just stutter around and say the exact wrong things without player input. Its infuriating and often feels like the game forces you into difficult situations instead of letting you either tap into them or not, naturally.
Not to mention that there are countless cases of the game auto-progressing because you wandered into an area that just so happened to trigger a cutscene.

I feel really let down by these moments, because on other occasions, the game shows you that i can absolutely do it differently.
Given that these are major parts of the game in general, this really drags it down.

I am also not a fan of the ending that i got in general and i like it even less that apparently none of your major decisions have any impact at all, outside of some flavour text. <- spoiler about major decisions

I'd really like to give it a mixed review and i would say its still worth your time when its on sale.
Just don't even bother with the Ultimate Edition because the Outfits are entirely useless.

"I’ve played all the Life is Strange games so far. This one has a very interesting story, but its ending isn’t as satisfying as the previous ones."

- DIFFICULTY -
🔲 Simple Smartphone skills are enough
☑️ Telltale Game
🔲 Normal - if you choose the normal difficulty
🔲 Hard
🔲 Demon Souls

- GRAPHICS -
🔲 Editor App
🔲 Bad
🔲 They tried
🔲 Graphics is relative / Great Artstyle
🔲Good
☑️ Beautiful
🔲 Am I still playing a game?

- MUSIC -
🔲 You need Ohropax
🔲 Boring but not annoying
🔲 Good
☑️ Beautiful
🔲 Goosebumps / Earworm / You will never forget it

- STORY -
🔲 Wait what? There was a story??
🔲 Like playing Battlefield for the story.
🔲 It's there and it's ok if you need it.
☑️ Well written and worth your time
🔲 Epic story - don't dare to skip dialogues or cutsceenes
🔲 Naughty Dog

- PRICE -
🔲 Free but pay to win
🔲 Free and no pay to win
🔲 I need to buy the game twice
🔲 Perfect Price
☑️ Could be cheaper
🔲 Wait for sale
🔲 Total waste of money

- REQUIREMENTS -
🔲 You can run it on a smartwatch
☑️ Average
🔲 Close to High end
🔲 High end
🔲 Let's wait for 2050

- PLAYTIME -
🔲 Very Short (0 - 2 hours)
☑️ Short (2 - 10 hours)
🔲 Average (10-20 hours)
🔲 Long (20-50 hours)
🔲 Extremely long (50-100 hours)
🔲 You probably wont buy anything else for a long time

- FUN -
🔲 I'd rather watch the installation progress of Windows 95
🔲 Why are you still playing? Ah yeah I only for Trading Cards
🔲 Wait, how often did I repeat this?
🔲 Only with friends and small talk
☑️ Very amusing and totally worth my time.
🔲 I can't get enough of the game. I wish I would've infinite free time.

This is just my opinion and I know there are people who disagree, but this game gets a lot of undeserved hate, and overall, as someone who loves Life is Strange as much as possible, I really enjoyed playing through the game.

(TL;DR: Despite the hate the game recieved since Chloe was not featured, her absence is worked into the story in a good way. The game itself has an interesting premise and great attention to detail, and there is enough to check out between the two timelines. The characters are well developed and memorable, and I would love to see more of them. There are a few complaints I have, but overall I hope that one good review in a sea of bad reviews can convince you to give this game a shot.)

The main issue I think people have is the lack of connection to the original Life is Strange, which is a game I love with my whole heart, especially the lack of Chloe. While I was a little disappointed that even though I chose to save Arcadia Bay I didn't get to see one of my favorite characters, I've read info about the situation that led to that decision and while it's disappointing, I have the original game and the comics to fulfill my need for PriceField stories. Also, one of the main things Max has learned by this game is that powers don't fix everything, and you can't get everything you want something she tries to impress upon Safi later on. Losing Chloe adds detail to that hard lesson she's learned, that the powers have a cost.

Plus, this is just one universe where these events took place. There are universes where Max and Chloe are happy, just not crucial to this story.

The things I loved: The game is really detailed! There is a lot to explore in the different areas, and while there are a limited number of areas in the game (mostly just Caledon, the Snapping Turtle, and Max's House) there is a lot to look at. Standing and listening to the stories of the people around Caledon was interesting, seeing these side characters go about their lives, and how some were different between timelines.

Which brings me to the next detail. The level on difference between both timelines was well thought out. The differences in texts, in social media posts, and the area to explore was super interesting. I did get my two timelines mixed up a few times trying to remember events that occurred, and walked into a few benches that did exist in the Living world while I pulsed to the Dead world where they didn't, and the level of detail there was great to look at.

The characters were amazing and I am so ♥♥♥ for Amanda (just let her and Max be happy!). Moses is so sweet and I could never do anything to hurt him (I felt so bad at the end of Episode 2), Vinh grew on me from Episode 1 on, and while Safi was not always my favorite just because of her actions, I still loved her as a character. And of course, Max has always been my favorite character, and seeing her living out my dream teaching about what she loves was great. Her character was true to the first game, while still showing growth and the impact of previous events (especially during the nightmare).

While I love this game, there is always room for improvement. I found it tiring running back and forth between shift points, and wish I could have just shifted anywhere, which I don't think could have given an unfair advantage. At some points it felt like my choices didn't have a major impact on the game, mostly during dialogue, so it felt like I wasn't as in control as in other games. Lucas kinda seems like if you copy and pasted Jefferson and made him more annoying than resentable, even considering the whole Maya thing . I would have loved to see more of the switching objects across timelines as well, it wasn't a power that I think got explored enough.

Overall though, this game made me happy. It's a great part of a series I love, and it gives Max an story that is set apart from her previous one, where she has found a home and friends following the tragedy she faced. I would absolutely recommend playing the game, and while I don't know if my one good review can cancel out the unwarranted hate, I hope if you read this you give this game a shot. Hopefully you'll see it in the same light I do.

Rating: 7/10

well let's talk about it! a depressingly disappointing finish. the first three chapters had me HOOKED and i was having a lot of fun playing. seeing everything get answered in the way it did just made me go "oh... :/". also i found safi super insufferable. i still LOVE max and really enjoyed reggie and moses. also she killed herself cuz her teacher stole her paper? 😭 ♥♥♥♥♥ LMFAOOOO WTF. the first two games knocked it out of the park! before the storm was good. true colors had its issues but overall i liked it. this game was just not up to par unfortunately

I have been a LiS fan for years, and I can confidently say that this is a good game. Is it my favorite in the franchise? No. Was I happy to have bought it? Yes!

I was one of the fans who was totally fine with the LiS franchise focusing on different characters in each game, though a part of me did wonder what a continuation of Max's story would look like. It absolutely delivered here!

Without giving spoilers, I will say that the trauma Max suffered from her time at Arcadia Bay (regardless of your choice in the first game) is portrayed beautifully. The other characters are absolutely memorable. (Moses has done nothing wrong in his life and I love him so much!) The overall plot, as it is revealed, resonated in a way that hurt me deeply. The ending, in my opinion, left the door open for a very interesting direction for the franchise as a whole to go.

Gameplay was good. Controls were easy to master. Traveling between timelines was awesome, as was seeing the way the timelines diverged as the game went on.

The cat DLC is not necessary for enjoying the game, but I do not regret spending a bit extra to get it.

I recommend this game to anyone who loved the first one! Like any LiS game, it made me feel. It made me cry. It made me think. Most of all, it made me want more! I can't wait to see what comes next!

It's a must play if you love the original LiS, even if the ending was a little underwhelming.

i started playing this when it came out for early release and quickly put it back down - i made the mistake of coming in expecting it to be the same as lis1. i am here to tell you you will be greatly disappointed if you try to hold this game to the same standards. however, i still think this was a great game and i feel the same love for it that i felt for the first one (though i acknowledge that is likely largely due to nostalgia and emotions i have regarding the first game). there are also several references to the first game from dialogue options to posters/clothes to the way a shot is framed. i loved the soundtrack and while i think there could be some story changes, i feel like the story/outcome here (while arguably not as dramatic and twisty-turny as lis1) heavily relies on the fact that max has done this before, and i love seeing how her character has grown/changed since we last saw her. overall i enjoyed it and don't necessarily regret purchasing it but if i were to do it again i would probably wait for a sale. i am excited for the next installment that will include max and i hope the devs learn from the seemingly widespread disappointment with this game and maybe have more callbacks to the first.

tldr: do not go into this expecting the same as lis1 and you should hopefully enjoy it like i did. overall rating 8/10

WHERE IS CHLOE GRRR

From someone that has played the rest of the series to come to this.
I'm going to put it simply.
Ya blew it..

I had to go onto YouTube to watch some videos to figure out what I was even agreeing to in the end of the game, the ending chapters were just so messy, I just didn't understand what even happened.

But adding to this, The Max character.. Perfect, the multiple timelines power is excellent, certainly a different angle, and attempting to bring back some of the rewind, that's great, really keeping her as Super Max.
The rest of the characters, just not feeling the same connections as the rest of the Life is Strange games, I'm not sure if its just a hyped expectation thinking an original character would be played again, or if whether the story is just vanilla, I think a little of both here.

It would of been nice to have some more environment interaction of items, make differences to the decisions (including Major Decisions) these seemed to have just led to no where.

If your someone new to the Life is Strange stuff, Would recommend going back to the original, and then, maybe, just maybe if this goes on special again for like $30, then I would suggest to buy it.
Apart from that, seemed to be such a money grab, Unlocking clothing, changing the clothing on every chapter (I don't care what shes wearing ffs just let me play the story)
Can't get every achievement either (If your in to perfecting games) unless you buy the ultimate edition to unlock the cat you find.. Money grab.

I will give another Life is Strange a go, but certainly will have to watch videos before I buy the next one, such a shame as Deck Nine were doing so well with Life Is Strange Before the Storm and True Colours.