Developer: Deck Nine Games
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: October 29, 2024
While the Life Is Strange series had adopted the anthology approach for its many sequels, Double Exposure brings the focus back to the original protagonist, Max Caufield. This time, we see Max, now older, wiser, and a famous photographer, possessing new powers that allow her to slip into two parallel realities. Pulled into a murder mystery across dimensions, Max has to uncover who was behind the death of her friend Safi in one reality while still interacting with her in another and trying to prevent her death.
According to the developers, they weren’t too concerned with the canon events of the original game’s “impossible choice” ending. If anything, they see Double Exposure as something of a best-of-both-worlds approach to the series, acknowledging choices made and not made in the player’s experience with the story. Double Exposure puts that aspect at the forefront. Yet the causality of these choices, which see you building a relationship in one timeline but potentially weakening it in another, is still important. Being able to transition between realities seamlessly was so intriguing, and interacting with two different versions of the same character led to some interesting dilemmas that I want to see play out. This focus on relationships is part of what makes the Life Is Strange series so well-loved by fans— its empathetic storytelling makes it very welcoming for players, who often quickly become attached to the cast of characters. I like where Double Exposure is going with its story, and it could prove to be one of the boldest entries in the series yet.