Deck Nine, the current developer behind Life is Strange, and the publisher Square Enix, revealed today the new game in the franchise: Life is Strange - Double Exposure.
Double Exposure, for those who don't know, is a photographic term in which two photographs are "merged" to generate a final one. If you've played Life is Strange, the first of the franchise, you must have suspected, with good reason, what this means as soon as you saw the title. The big surprise is the return of protagonist Max Caulfield, the photographer from the inaugural game.
As usual in the series, the plot of Double Exposure involves a mysterious crime and Max's supernatural powers. The one who dies – and you've seen this before – is her best friend, Safi. Max can no longer rewind time, but live between parallel realities. This way, she searches for clues about who killed the woman, while protecting her from dangers in another reality where she is alive.
In the announcement trailer, we see unknown characters (is that Mikey?), in addition to Max herself – almost unrecognizable, except for the unmistakable voice of Hannah Telle, who returns to the role.
Check it out:
I don't know about you, but I don't know what to think. I just know that...
Time chaos?
From the trailer, we can guess the game will be full of references to previous ones, like the scene with the two moons in the sky. It's hard to guess what the setting is, but if Deck Nine is smart, they'll keep it as far away from Arcadia Bay as possible.
Returning to the city would cause a major problem with the open plot of the original LiS: defining a destination for the city as canonical. Many fans – and LiS has some very passionate fans – would be outraged.
In addition, Max using powers again is questionable. She's already dealt with very bad consequences from this. She knows it has a cost 🌪️ and she's going to insist? It doesn't seem plausible to me. And regardless of Chloe's fate in the first game, Max still have some power. This creates several potential connections with the original plot and I don't think it's a good idea.
The fact that Max is active without Chloe already sounds more problem than solution. If they let the player choose her fate at the beginning, like in LiS 2, but she doesn't appear, they'll be separated in some way. Fans will complain. If she died, they'll complain even more. If she's alive, it's because the other ending is canon. You know, they'll complain, too.
Playing with fire
The first Life is Strange is still the most beloved by many fans, to the point that they ignored – or attacked – the excellent second game for letting Max and Chloe behind. While Don't Nod (formerly Dontnod), which made the first two parts, didn't have to expand something so precious to them, Square Enix and Deck Nine are going to take a chance.
Will it work? It's a coin flip: if they do something even slightly wrong, it's a disaster. I never imagined this happening, just as I don't imagine Rockstar bringing Claude or CJ back. Some things are better where they are.
Let's wait. I hope to be wrong.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure is coming to Xbox Series, PlayStation 5 and PC in October 29, and later (to define), for Nintendo Switch.