As a day 1 LIS fan, I don’t understand the hate. There’s going to be a sequel. A lot of things are unexplained. That’s how stories like this go. Once we get the sequel it will (hopefully) all make sense. I thought it was a beautiful new chapter and I am so happy to have Max back. I saved Arcadia Bay in the first game and kept that storyline with DE. It felt more cohesive and I think a lot of the anger is from the “save the bae” crew. And that not how the devs expected people to react initially. So when everyone found out Chloe and Max broke up anyways, it tainted the game entirely for them.

DE is wonderful and had me yelling at my tv multiple times. (But especially when Max wouldn’t PUT THE DAMN PHOTO AWAY. STOP STARING AT IT. JUST MOVE IT) (I’m still angry)

In terms of the overall characters (besides Max): who do you consider the worst as in them lacking any meaningful impact to the game and relatability towards players in Double Exposure? Also, who is the most unlikable character in DE when it comes to relevance to the main plot?

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So, after finishing the game, seeing all the discussions about the story's high and many low points, as well as that ending, I am confused.

From this game onward it seems the life is strange series is being shifted from being one and done games set in the same world, but with clear differences between the protagonist as the only people with powers, locations and even themes, to now only focus around Max and others around her (if you read the last sentence in the game you know that's where this franchise is headed).

I and i think many of us agree that what makes the LiS series so unique was not just the first game, but the different avenues the other entries took narratively and I, in all honesty, believe that the story has been driven into a proverbial dead end now.

I would go as far as to say this game and it's story actively suffer from having Max as the protagonist. A new person could have fit the powers better, left more room for an interesting background not tied down by having to condense two drasticly different lives into a single sentence. They could have let the relationships be deeper and not feel disconected with how we used to know Max's character. Even just the raw amount of exposition this game has to give to a new player because they might not have played the first game, drags every scene down, and in the end accomplishes nothing other than making you point to similarities between them.

That's my rant for the game, which I admittedly could only enjoy in a bittersweet way because in some small areas you can still feel that original philosophy but it is overshadowed by all the other problems i mentioned.

I want to finish of by saying this game has not been a waste of my time and money, simply because it has reminded me how much potential the idea behind LiS still has, and how pandering, nostalgia baiting and forcing it into a tightly connected universe has absoltely failed to utilize it for so many of us.

I’ve just rolled credits on the game and wanted to briefly share my thoughts.

I was skeptical on the game when it was announced because yes, I love Max and want to spend more time in her world, but I wasn’t sure how the devs could possibly handle both endings of the first game. And now, they’re going to do it a third time with “Max Caulfield will return”. I don’t know…

I would expect Arcadia Bay to be mentioned even less. It’ll probably be a passing line where Max says “That’s all behind me now” and focuses on the ‘new threat’ which is Safi and…Diamond?

I was really enjoying DE until episode 5 when it fell very flat and I’m just not sure what they have planned for Max. It will feel like Max over stayed her welcome like when a TV show goes on for too long

I just finished Double Exposure and I thought I'd write some thoughts about it while it was fresh in my mind! Lots of spoilers obviously. I was bae over bay for context.

The twist that Safi was a shapeshifter was really good, I didn't see it coming. The problem is that (maybe partly due to my fear of doppelgangers though this situation was a bit different!) I didn't like her character after the reveal. I understand she had issues with her mum and the stuff with Maya was very fucked up but the way she acted was so vindictive I couldn't really think of her as a bestie anymore. That meant that the big emotional end of game choice was very easy, Safi was starting to sound pretty megalomaniacal and I didn't want to be with her at all! The only thing that gave me brief pause was that she might kill herself but the fact that I was prepared to maybe let that happen reveals how much I disliked her at this point!

I chose to romance Amanda and I was disappointed not only that we weren't together at the end but that she implied I was creepy for continuing to pursue her in the living world, the only reason she paused things was because Safi died and now she wasn't anymore. I chose to leave with Steph at the end of True Colors and I really liked that ending, I generally preferred True Colors to this in a lot of ways. It felt like here too many environments were recycled, obviously in True Colors that's the case too but maybe because the areas were more open it felt bigger? I felt slightly claustrophobic by the end TBH.

I wish in the motel section we'd seen Chloe. I wasn't expecting her to appear once we got back to reality but it would've been really cool to see her there, and to have seen more of Blackwell.

Overall I think it was an okay game. It went a bit X Men with the post credits scene but I love X Men so maybe that's a good thing! I hope we get to play as another character next game maybe, at least some of the time? I don't think that's very likely though. I think writing this has made me realise I just want to play True Colors again lol.

Let me know your thoughts!

Edit: This is also really minor but there was a spelling error (stationary as opposed to stationery) in the english department's letter of support for Gwen which was unfortunate!

Tbh I’m more disappointed Max barely got her GED than anything. At least in the “Bay” ending. She went through a lot, yes. But it’s sad knowing she didn’t spend more time with Kate or get closer with Victoria. Didn’t stay close with Joyce. Also it’s implied Blackwell couldn’t get a new Photography teacher?

I’m in ep 3 and going back and forth between only 2 locations is getting old does the game ever open up more?

Just going by the some of the reviews are the %’s at the end of each chapter.

Well, the only thing it does is that a cat shows up in Max's doorstep that she can either keep or seek it's owner, but even then it's lacking as the only thing Max does in game is feeding it, giving it shelter, trying to become friends with the feline, etc... plus you barely pet (not give it any cosmetic changes or establish a bond) during these sequences as they happen in cutscenes for the most part.

I won't talk about how expensive and overpriced it is, since that is already discussed when talking about the ultimate edition (besides the ridiculous outfits that are garbage), the worst part is for those who only bought the base game without anything else ends up with an in game AD shoved in their face mentioning that Max can have a cat accompanying her while she's at home.

My main question is that, does it even deserve being called a "DLC" at all? (I think this is Deck Nine's way of adding what they call "DLC" in Double Exposure without them putting much effort and time into it's development as they're lazy. Apparently Deck Nine doesn't know what a DLC is, based on this alone.) Its predecessor, LiS (2015) by Don't Nod has an actual DLC: Before the Storm with a bonus episode too.

Part of me thinks that it's Deck Nine's indirect homage to Stray by adding that in, but what relevance does that have with Life is Strange since they're two completely different games from alien genres to one another. They even put the word "exclusive" besides cat content, however there is nothing exclusive about that in any way as the main plot of the game is just garbage and lazy writing.

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Good night! Yesterday I posted a concept I have for the Life Is Strange Series Adaptation, would love to hear your thoughts and questions there.

:)

Go to my profile and read the post and comment there I would really appreciate it

Did they ever explain wtf happened with the detective?! In my playthrough he just kinda… disappeared and then they never ever explained why or who he was other than a bunch of texts from Moses. Did I skip something?

Hi so I’m new to this sub but I’m an OG fan of LIS. Played the original when it came out but since I was a kid, didn’t fully grasp the game for what it was. After recently playing through the remastered edition and BTS the game shook me to my core and has climbed the ranks to the top of my favorite games. I personally relate to both Max and Chloe on a lot of things that have happened in my life and have grown to love both of them as characters. That being said for what was “leaked about what happened if you chose Bae (I chose Bay, too long to explain my reasoning even though it broke me to do so…) is DE even worth it? I mean as someone who did choose Bay does the game do Max justice or does it just completely mess it up cause from what I’ve seen/heard the game sucks and doesn’t live up to the first (which I expect with a sequel). All I care about is does it do Max right?

Has anyone noticed the similarity between DE Amanda and Amanda from the recent indie game "Amanda the Adventurer"? I mean, they even have the same hairstyles, name, and so on.

It can't be just a coincidence...

(SOME SPOILERS, YOU WERE WARNED)Okay, so, i just played through the game, finally got through chapter 5, and heres what i have to say..(this is my opinion as someone who saved chloe)

1st of all, i'll admit, was it painful knowing i sacrificed a town just for chloe and max to break up via a letter? Yeah, yes it was. BUT.. lets be real, Chloe accepted her fate(being sacrificed to save the town, not doing that, goes against what chloe wanted. So when you save chloe, and in turn, kill a whole town, including her own mother, theres bound to be arguements, especially a disconnection of the two.

As much as Chloe and Max were bonded for life, Chloe lost her mom, anyone she knew, and this whole time, has to live with the fact, rachel is dead, her mom is dead, everyone she knew is dead, and she would've rather herself die then to kill off everyone in Arcadia bay.

Ontop of that, Chloe and Max were Childhood sweethearts, not alot of high school relationships/friendships do last because people grow distant. Its life.

Do i wish the devs did a better job at a breakup? Maybe adding a cutscene or choice dialogue that led to a breakup, maybe a chloe cameo instead of voices/memories only, yes; yes i do. But it is what it is. I thought the chloe thing would be a deal breaker, but i bought the game anyways, and damn, it was a GREAT game.

Here's my opinion. Life is Strange:Before The Storm(Amazing) Life is Strange 1(Amazing) Life is Strange 2(Amazing) Life is Strange: True Colors(Amazing) Life is Strange: Wavelengths(Amazing) Life is Strange: Double Exposure(AMAZING)

I have loved every life is strange game, they all have a great story, amazing characters, and its easy to get drawn in, to the point you just cant get enough of it.

I play on PS5 and i'm getting the Platinum trophy on all the games, and im having fun doing it.

When it comes to Double Exposure: I loved the Story, the plot twists, the insane moments, the decisions, all of it was fantastic! (I know people have a problem with the love interest thing about Amanda or Vinh, but Amanda fits better, plus at the end of the game, Vinh is obviously meant to be with Reggie, it suits them, Vihn definitely isnt max's type😂, but amanda? Literally screams that she is max's type. They fit together better than Vinh and Max.)

If anyone else has a hot take or anything they would like to discuss, please comment on this post! I would absolutely love to talk more about Life is Strange: DE and the other games :)

(Ps: be kind in the chat, like be respectful. People are entitled to opinions, people are allowed to feel different ways, all in all, we live on the same planet, just be kind to eachother. We gotta stop being hateful.)

Also here were my main choices for the game:

Chapter 1: 1- Safi:(Chloe Lived) 2- Amanda:( Date Thing) 3-Loretta:( Call her bluff)

Chapter 2 1-Lucas:(Delete Photo) 2-Gwen:(Stand with Gwen) 3-Alderman:(Refuse)

Chapter 3 1-Moses:(Hang on to Alderman) 2-Yasmin:(Go with lie) 3-Amanda:(Kiss Amanda) 4-Vinh;(didn't talk)

Chapter 4 1-Safi:(Max could not hurt safi) 2-Safi:(Go as herself) 3-Safi:(Talk Safi Down)

Chapter 5 1-Safi:(Agree with Safi)

Thats the post. Hope everyone has a great day!!

I have to say that I found the game disappointing and overall would rate it quite negatively. At first, up until Chapter 2, the story seemed promising, especially with that photo twist. Unfortunately, from Chapters 3 or 4 onward, the quality drops significantly: there are serious flaws in the plot, missing key details(Chloe), and the characters' backgrounds are poorly developed. Some characters appear out of nowhere, like Safi’s mother who suddenly shows up on a hill without any narrative build-up, while others disappear without any further reference (like the detective). To create a good game, especially a sequel worthy of the first Life is Strange chapters, it would have needed a stronger plot, which here is really lacking. My score wouldn’t go beyond a 5 out of 10, mostly because I still appreciate the always fantastic music and the improved graphics, but otherwise, it doesn't live up to expectations. The ending, then, is truly atrocious: I’ve never seen a duller and more senseless choice. In one option, it feels like Safi is organizing an Avengers reunion, while in the other, she almost takes on Max’s persona, wandering around like a random Joker from a Batman movie. Couldn’t we have gone with an ending where you either brave the storm or shoot Safi? That would have been a more sensible choice! In the next sequel, which there certainly will be, I hope for a more precise and detailed storyline without the need for fanservice.

Well I finally finished playing Double Exposure after waiting forever, yet I'm feeling a bit... disappointing like others are... so I figured I'd try to balance out the good with the bad and see what others think! So anyones... I'll start with what I thought was good:

• Max: Shouldn't exactly be a surprise, but seeing and getting to play as Max again was such a joy. She looks great, Hannah Telle's performance was as perfect as she could be, and all of the other smaller details like her journal and house are also a joy to wander through too.

• Chapters 1-2: I didn't get to play the game early like the others did because I couldn't justify the price, but the difference in quality is crazy. The introduction to the story, characters, the mystery, etc. genuinely made me excited. I'm quite glad I played it all in one go though as the eventual disappointment didn't hit as hard.

• Characters: When it comes to Deck Nine's games, the effort they put into their character building is always a joy to see and play out. While not as good overall as BTS/TC, I do think this is a strong point again. Gwen and Amanda were the standouts to me in terms of how they were presented, but I did appreciate what we saw with others like Moses and Alderman too.

• Amanda's date & Double Max: I'll make a quick point of this, but the "date" with Amanda was such a cute and well-written scene, and the potential story arch of there being two Max Caulfield filled with so much hope... a shame neither of them last though

• Visuals/Music: Probably not a surprise when it comes to the Life is Strange franchise, but everything looks and sounds beautiful. The motion caption is an improvement in stages, the music is great despite it not being my go-to style, and everything just looks incredible - I could definitely just sit on a bench and admire Caldeon University's winter beauty for a long time.

Unfortunately though, with some good points comes with significantly more cons:

• Everything Alderman: WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE JUST GOES... POOF?!?!?! Why doesn't Max just HIDE THE PHOTO WHEN HIS BACK IS TURNED FOR 5 MINUTES?!?!? Like I genuinely think these two bits are my biggest issue over everything else. The entire franchise up until this point has told us how dangerous messing with the past can be. A single small change can completely alter the entire world as we know it. But for Alderman? Nope. Just erased. Like nothing. His character and the whole detective arc had so much potential and it was wasted for nothing, with reasoning that makes no sense it genuinely annoys me. And also... Max has a photo of her with a gun... a detective walks into her house and keeps his back turned to her while he's talking... WHY IS MAX NOT HIDING THE PHOTO?! It's genuinely the most dumb-founded terrible piece of writing I've ever seen in a game. If you want him to see the photo, there are a thousand different ways Deck Nine could've had the situation play out, and they literally chose the worst one.

• The price: Thankfully I bought this game on disk so I could sell it after completing it, but I genuinely feel for the people who paid £60+ to have this game on release

• Bae meant nothing?: I don't understand why we choose the ending to LIS1 because the Bae ending makes zero sense in DE??? Whenever this choice or Chloe is brought it, it's made out like Max made some nonchalant choice with zero repercussions when it's the complete opposite, she literally sacrifices a town of hundreds/thousands of people for ONE person. And the one person we do ALL OF THIS for just leaves and doesn't appear whatsoever? It's just stupid and lazy writing. I'm not even fussed about the whole Chloe/Max relationship, but treating such an important choice like it meant nothing does feel like a slap in the face. Deck Nine could've just been up front and admitted this game takes place in an ending where Max saves Arcadia Bay, it would've saved themselves from so much Backlash.

• Choices are boring and pointless?: My expectations for choices mattering were low to begin with, because let's be honest, with the exception of LIS2 they don't matter much in the main story arch. But while they don't matter overall, it feels worse when they don't matter whatsoever. In LIS1 you might struggle to keep Kate alive or who to blame between David and Nathan afterwards. In BTS you might feel undecided whether to tell Rachel the truth about her family. In TC there are so many emotion-driven choices that for me at least we're difficult to make. But in DE there's... nothing? Not a single moment where I genuinely had to stop and think about my choices. Sure, there were times I went against the "popular" choice, but everything made sense to me. It's quite disappointing that not a single choice felt worthwhile. And on the topic of that, it's even worse that there is ONE ending. How can a choice-based game have ONE ending?! Sure the final choice might come into play in the potential next game if we get it, but right now there's literally one real ending... how?! Disappointment is an understatement. It's obvious they did this to build to their next game, but right now it's such a shame.

• Pointlessly forced romance?: The game literally starts with you deciding whether to ask Amanda out... why? I mean Max and Amanda knew each other before the game started so why is there basically no relationship between them at the start? The fact it's so forced at the start is so silly. And don't get me started on Vinh, I really liked his flirty/light personality, but him being a genuine romance option didn't feel right at all... it's like Deck Nine looked at everything good they did with Ryan in TC and opted to do the complete opposite of that when creating Vinh. He's a good friend, but such a forced romance. I'll admit, I did go down the Amanda route in the end as I really enjoyed her character as it became more fleshed out as well as the imaginary date/hang, but as a whole the relationship does nothing. While I appreciate the writing aspect of how people would realistically act in this situation, it still felt a bit pointless.

• Safi: As a whole, I really don't like her character. She just didn't really feel interesting to me whatsoever, the writing for her character felt weak and there were so many inconsistencies too

• The future of the franchise: So... based on the ending, it's looking quite likely that we'll be seeing some iteration of Sean, Daniel and Alex and that... fills me with so much dread. All three characters deserve so much more than to be shoehorned into some potentially-terribly Avengers-esque story they're seemingly planning.

Ah, well...

!so youre telling me we could have just walked into the storm with chloe and everything would have been fine. can we please go back in time and do that. ty!<

I'll start this off by saying that I agree the game could of gone in a few different directions but I genuinely don't understand the hate. This is all over the place so, apologies. But I'll start off with the main one I'm seeing.

"It's like the avengers now" okay? Is it just me or is that a cool idea? Yes the series is about "Human stories with super powers attached" but...they aren't teenagers anymore, obviously someone else with powers would come along eventually and want to go a bit crazy with it and you'd need to retaliate in turn. Or that's the general consensus, but hey, I'd love to see characters I love team up. I dont think it "disrespects your choices" to bring them back in any way. I think with a decent writing team it can work, which, this game has shown it has in my opinion, sorry but slight review bombing is definitely a thing thanks to Max/Chloe not being an item anymore and the score obviously doesn't reflect the actual story.

And on that point. Yes, as I was playing I was also wishing for Chloe to return and ultimately got the message pretty early on and was disappointed but that's life, and life is strange. Sorry. Yes, it's a...confusing direction but it didn't make the game unbearable as some people on here make it seem. An hour after the revelation, the story hooked me and it stung a lot less but that's just me apparently.

Did some episodes feel a bit filler? Yeah. Was the gameplay tedious at times? Yeah. Guess what? That's every single LiS game and guess what? We love the series regardless. Apart from this game apparently. Just because it didn't follow our headcannons, doesn't mean it's auto-trash.

Honestly, I feel like it's LiS 2 all over again "No ChLoE?? TrAsH GaME!" And now people are pretending they all loved that game now? Y'all, come on.

I hope people appreciate the game moving forward is all.

Or at least, they make something ya'll want, honestly because I'm intrigued, the bar is set impossibly high and I'm curious to see what, if anything, would meet the expectations of this sub reddit.

No hate or mockery intended. Just genuinely liked the game and I'm getting bored of seeing the same exact takes like it's written by a bot lol

Do yall think Lis 5 is going to be about Max trying to stop Safi and her new horde of super teens? I'm not really sure if i like Safi as a "villain" and i definitely think they were building up to make a new stretch of games

Got myself the Daughter Vinyl to go with my DE one. Got it for £40 off Ebay, which is only a little over RRP and it was surprisingly easy to find, thought it'd be really hard. 😀 Going the try get the vinyls for the other games to complete the collection eventually though I hear the original is pretty much impossible to get without paying an arm and a leg?

That was one of the shittiest way you could have ended things writers.

First LIS makes you question every choice you've made, how you see people. This does nothing but make me hate corporate greed & the writers even more.

You could have told a story of Safi & some other new character dealing with each others powers & combined have Safi be a grey area moral character, have the player in the new character have to decide if which timeline is better, a Safi with powers where she gets the justice she & Vinh wants, or a reality where Safi doesn't have any powers but is alive.

You could have written it with Max & give Chloe the same damn powers Max had in DE, heck have us play both Chloe & Max in getting a certain result within timelines. Have the player convinced by Chloe herself what choice she would have made if she had been in control, or let the player thru Max have Chloe come to terms with said decision. Redefine the original story. (ONLY IF DONE WITH EXTREME CARE)

Instead you made a Temu Avengers while ripping the LIS franchise apart, WTF.

Before you say anything about other LiS games, i want to make it clear i am purely talking about the original one, because i feel like that is where the true soul was.

I think developers don’t catch what LiS was truly about. It wasn’t about Max’s powers. They were just tools. You know when teaching math, teachers use examples like fruits etc. But it is not about fruits, they are just tools. Same goes for the Max.

It was about friendship, emotions, learning lessons. I loved Max because she was like me. She was confused, she was struggling with high school and despite all her power, she wasn’t solving anything. Because she was human, that is what we do. Despite trying our best sometimes we fail.

Think of Harry Potter series. Do you need the magic part to tell the story between Harry, Roy, Malfoy or Snape.? No, it was just a tool. Snape was the annoying but good hearted teacher we all had.

With Double Exposure, just like Safi says, Max becomes super. She saves the world with almost no cost. And Safi becomes Magneto but with Mystique’s powers and starts forming a super powered team.

Where does the game go from there? Max finds her own Wolverine to go against super evils? I don’t know what to say. Seeing Max once again all grown up at all was nice, i think. That is the only positive thing i can say about the game.

Room's and homes have always told stories of their own in LIS. But we didn't even go to Safi's home who's arguably the second most important character in this game.

We never got to see her personal space, the small touches of a home and talk with her in a more intimate setting. That would've been a great time to really show the strained relationship with her parents and hint at Maya being important to her.

And Max's home doesn't feel very personal either. Could have used more rooms more little touches like dishes in the sink because she's forgetful in the mornings or little doodles on a calendar.