Right at the tippy top of my most anticipated games for the remainder of 2024 is Life is Strange: Double Exposure. We’re reunited nine years after the franchise debut with Max Caulfield, following her time in university.
Double Exposure looks to be quite the emotional whirlwind the series has come to be known for. Max’s bestie-turned-bae Chloe is nowhere to be seen, with the game seemingly following the ending where the lovable lesbian punk dies rather than the city. As shown in earlier looks for this new entry though, Max is far from thriving: the inciting incident is that one of her new best friends Safi is murdered in cold blood. Max and the player are left to pick up the pieces and solve this mystery. Just how will this happen? With the ability to manipulate and explore two timelines. One where Safi is alive and one where she’s dead.
I got to experience almost an hour of the game at a preview event, seeing how this dual timeline works and some of what’s in store. Stepping out of it, I’m only more excited.
Situated somewhere in Double Exposure’s second chapter, Max is called to the lab that her friend Moses frequents. He’s being questioned by one of the authorities looking into Safi’s murder and has something in there that implicates him. Insisting it isn’t him, he asks your help to retrieve it before it’s found by a detective.
It’s here we get to see exactly how exploring multiple timelines functions. Down the hall is an ethereal light that indicates where you can make this shift. Max pries this timeline open with two opposed hands like you’re prying open a double door. Within an instant, you’re in the same place but it’s different. Doors that were locked in one timeline are open in another. Grinding away at some busy work is Moses, chipper and blissfully unaware of this other timeline where his best friend is dead.
What’s very apparent in this gameplay slice is the fact that this dual timeline exploration is a means of puzzle-solving. You’ll need to pick up some other objects and information from one reality to use in another. This is how Max gathers clues and tools to solve obstacles ahead of her. It’s how she finds the object Moses is after and helps him out of the sticky situation. I succeeded in this, ending my gameplay portion but not before I was given a textbook Life is Strange moment: a tough choice with two options. Cruelly and by tradition, the game warned me that this action would have consequences.
Fans of Life is Strange will be pleased to know Double Exposures already evidently features a lot of the series staples. Sections of the game portion had that licensed indie, arguably twee, music they’re known for. As an indie, insufferable twee girl myself, I’m absolutely thrilled by this. There’s dialogue choices up the wazoo and collectibles you can get in the form of photo opportunities that Max can take with her Polaroid camera.
Playing through the last entry True Colours back in 2021, I already thought the game had reached its peak pretty and peak fidelity. I stand corrected with Double Exposure, with lighting in particular impressing me. In an abandoned science building late at night, the light shining through a classroom window hit Max just right, illuminating her beautifully. She looks so gorgeous and cute in this game, our girl’s all grown up.
The biggest gut punch for me in this preview came from reading the texts and social media posts on Max’s phone in a menu. Here we see texts from Joyce Price, the mother of the deceased Chloe, checking in on how Max is doing on the anniversary of her death. Max is cold and closed off when engaging in messages from her parents, not all that responsive and not wanting to talk about topics like Arcadia Bay. Cruelly, we can even check the final texts Safi sent her. All of these are incredibly impactful samples of flavour texts that I can’t wait to pore overcome full release. Rip my heart out all over again Deck Nine. I’m ready.
There are a lot of questions still to be answered in Life is Strange: Double Exposure. My hot take? This exploration of timelines is going to result in a moment where we see Chloe alive and well. It’d break Max, and damn it’d break me too. Can we have that happen, please? A girl can dream.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure releases on October 15 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. We can’t wait to check it out.
Bandai Namco flew the journalist to Sydney for this preview.
About the Author
Charlie Kelly
She/Her, They/Them
Charlie loves her video games as much as she loves dumb, charming JRPG protagonists: probably way too much. You can often catch her spending too much time being emotional over LGBT stories in games. She also thinks Yakuza 6 is the best one.
