''Life Is Strange'' (abbreviated ''LIS'') is a series of primarily
episodic graphic adventure games
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
published by
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
's
European subsidiary. Created by
Dontnod Entertainment
Don't Nod Entertainment SA (trade name: Don't Nod, formerly Dontnod Entertainment) is a French video game developer based in Paris. Founded in June 2008, it started development on '' Remember Me'' (2013). Because of its poor return on investme ...
, the series debuted with the
eponymous first installment, which released in five episodes throughout 2015. It was followed by prequel, ''
Life Is Strange: Before the Storm'', which was developed by
Deck Nine
Idol Minds, LLC (doing business as Deck Nine or Deck Nine Games since 2017) is an American video game developer based in Westminster, Colorado. The studio was founded in April 1997 by Mark Lyons and Scott Atkins and developed games exclusively ...
and released in three episodes throughout 2017, with a
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...
(DLC) bonus episode released in early 2018. The sequel ''
Life Is Strange 2
''Life Is Strange 2'' is an episodic graphic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. It’s five episodes were released between September 2018 and December 2019 for PlayStation ...
'' and its spin-off ''
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
''The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit'' (commonly shortened to ''Captain Spirit'') is a free graphic adventure game in the '' Life Is Strange'' series developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. ...
'' were developed by Dontnod and released between 2018 and 2019. A third main installment, ''
Life Is Strange: True Colors'', released in its entirety on 10 September 2021. Additionally, a remastered collection of the original game and its prequel, was released in February 2022.
The series has spawned a
comic series
This page provides lists of best-selling comic book series to date. It includes Japanese manga, American comic books, and European comics.
This list includes comic books that have sold at least 100million copies.
There are three separate lists, ...
set after one of the original game's possible endings, and an in-universe book detailing life at the fictional Blackwell Academy.
History
Following the critical and commercial failure of their 2013 action-adventure game ''
Remember Me Remember Me may refer to:
Film and television Film
* Remember Me (1979 film), ''Remember Me'' (1979 film), an American documentary short by Dick Young
* Remember Me (1985 film), ''Remember Me'' (1985 film), an Australian TV movie
* Remember Me? (f ...
,'' French game developer
Dontnod Entertainment
Don't Nod Entertainment SA (trade name: Don't Nod, formerly Dontnod Entertainment) is a French video game developer based in Paris. Founded in June 2008, it started development on '' Remember Me'' (2013). Because of its poor return on investme ...
was forced to restructure and reinvent themselves. Dontnod CEO Oskar Guilbert explained "Before, what we wanted to do was make big games with large teams and long production cycles... So we had to change that, do something smaller with smaller teams. We didn’t want to do just a small game; we also wanted to bring something new to the market."
''
Life Is Strange
''Life Is Strange'' (abbreviated ''LIS'') is a series of primarily episodic graphic adventure games published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. Created by Dontnod Entertainment, the series debuted with the eponymous first installment, ...
'' was conceived around the rewind mechanic, a concept which had already been briefly explored in ''Remember Me''. The protagonist of the first game,
Max Caulfield
Maxine "Max" Caulfield is a fictional character from the '' Life Is Strange'' video game series published by Square Enix. Created by French developer Dontnod Entertainment, she first appears in the 2015 video game '' Life Is Strange'' as the ma ...
, was created with the ability to rewind time to supplement this mechanism. Development began in April 2013 with a team of 15 people, with further people added as the collaboration with Square Enix began. Before signing with Square Enix, Dontnod imagined ''Life Is Strange'' as a full-length video game similar to ''Remember Me'' that Dontnod would self-publish; however, Square Enix realised it would be more successful as an episodic title, both for creative reasons, financial restrictions and
marketing
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
purposes. This allowed them to tell the story at a slower pace.
Development began under the working title ''What If'', before being retitled to avoid confusion with the
film of the same name. It was Dontnod's second title with a female protagonist, and most prospective publishers were unwilling to publish a game unless it had a male protagonist. Guilbert also challenged the idea at the start. Dontnod Creative Director Jean-Maxime Moris explained that Square Enix was the only publisher with no intention to change this. "Square
nix
Nix or NIX may refer to:
Places
* Nix, Alabama, an unincorporated community, United States
* Nix, Texas, a ghost town in southwestern Lampasas County, Texas, United States
* Nix (moon), a moon of Pluto
People
* Nix (surname), listing people with ...
is basically the only publisher who didn't want to change anything about the game... we had other publishers telling us to make it a male lead character, and Square didn't even question that once."
For the first game, the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
was chosen for the setting to convey a
nostalgic
Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric word, ...
and autumnal feel, with the team eventually settling on
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
as the location of the fictional town of Arcadia Bay. It was decided early on that most of the budget be spent on the writing and voice actors. The story was originally written in French by Jean-Luc Cano, and converted into a game script by the game's co-directors and design team. This was then handed over to Christian Divine and Cano to be fine tuned in English. Recording sessions were done in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California, with the French developer brought in via
Skype
Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...
. The textures seen in the game were entirely hand painted, adapted to achieve what art director Michel Koch called "impressionistic rendering". Sources of inspiration include the
visual novel
A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
''
Danganronpa
is a Japanese video game franchise created by Kazutaka Kodaka and developed and owned by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike). The series primarily surrounds various groups of apparent high school students who are forced into murdering each other ...
'', in terms of balancing gameplay and story, and the novel ''
The Catcher in the Rye
''The Catcher in the Rye'' is an American novel by J. D. Salinger that was partially published in serial form from 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its themes of angst ...
'', whose protagonist
Holden Caulfield
Holden Caulfield (identified as "Holden Morrisey Caulfield" in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison" , and "Holden V. Caulfield" in ''The Catcher In The Rye'') is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger. He's most famous ...
shares a surname with Max, the first game's lead character. For the sake of
realism
Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to:
In the arts
*Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts
Arts movements related to realism include:
*Classical Realism
*Literary realism, a move ...
, the supernatural elements were designed as a metaphor for the characters' inner conflict, and experts were consulted to tackle difficult subjects such as
teen suicide
Youth suicide is when a young person, generally categorized as someone below the legal age of majority, deliberately ends their own life. Rates of youth suicide and attempted youth suicide in Western societies and other countries are high. Yout ...
.
Following the release and rapid success of the first ''Life is Strange'', publisher Square Enix chose American developer
Deck Nine
Idol Minds, LLC (doing business as Deck Nine or Deck Nine Games since 2017) is an American video game developer based in Westminster, Colorado. The studio was founded in April 1997 by Mark Lyons and Scott Atkins and developed games exclusively ...
to develop a prequel game focusing on the life of
Chloe Price
Chloe Elizabeth Price is a fictional character from the ''Life Is Strange'' video game series published by Square Enix. Created by French developer Dontnod Entertainment, she first appears in the 2015 video game ''Life Is Strange'' and its preque ...
, while the Dontnod team began developing a direct sequel. Development on the project began in 2016 with assistance from Square Enix' London Studios.
Ashly Burch
Ashly Burch (born June 19, 1990) is an American voice actress, singer, and television writer. She is known for her roles as Aloy in ''Horizon Zero Dawn'' and ''Horizon Forbidden West'', Mel in ''The Last of Us Part II'', Tiny Tina in the ''Borde ...
, who voiced Chloe in ''Life Is Strange'', was replaced by Rhianna DeVries due to the
SAG-AFTRA strike. However, Burch and Hannah Telle, who voiced Max Caulfield, both reprised their roles for the bonus episode ''Farewell''. The project went under various
working title
A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...
s during development. The writers researched memoirs and psychology to understand Chloe's grieving process, and the script for the game was over 1,500 pages, written by lead writer Zak Garriss and a writers' room. Prior to its official announcement, images had leaked online indicating that a prequel to ''Life Is Strange'' was in development. Square Enix revealed ''
Life Is Strange: Before the Storm'' on 11 June during Microsoft's
E3 2017 presentation.
Dontnod had decided early on that prospective follow-ups to ''Life Is Strange'' would feature new characters and locations to the original, with the developers feeling that Max and Chloe's story had run its course over the first two games. Game Co-Director Raoul Barbet explained that "It’s a question we asked ourselves at the beginning. Is it Max and Chloe, Arcadia Bay? No, it’s about everyday characters, relatable characters with stories you can involve yourself in, because it reflects your own experiences. With some supernatural stuff on the top." Michel Koch added that "everyone loved Max, Chloe, Rachel... But
heir story..it's done. We have nothing more to tell. We don't want to. Other people will do it, and it's okay... But for us, we have nothing more to do. Take
hem
A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...
and do whatever you want."
Development on ''
Life Is Strange 2
''Life Is Strange 2'' is an episodic graphic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. It’s five episodes were released between September 2018 and December 2019 for PlayStation ...
'' began in early 2016 as the first game shipped its physical edition. Michel Koch and Raoul Barbet returned to direct the sequel, with Christian Divine and Jean-Luc Cano reprising their roles as co-writers.
The concept was influenced by the photography of
Mike Brodie
Mike Brodie (born in 1985), also known as the "Polaroid Kid" or "Polaroid Kidd", is an American photographer. From 2004 to 2008, Brodie freighthopped across the US, photographing people he encountered, largely train-hoppers, vagabonds, squatt ...
, who would
freighthop across the United States and take pictures of drifters. The game is structured like a
road movie
A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...
, inspired by the film ''
Into the Wild'' and novella ''
Of Mice and Men
''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...
''. Dontnod conducted field research on the
West Coast of the United States
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...
, meeting people and taking pictures there.
The two primary themes of the game are
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
and
brother
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
hood. Using the
Unreal Engine 4
Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game ''Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genre ...
, they upgraded the
animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
system,
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
, and
shader
In computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that calculates the appropriate levels of light, darkness, and color during the rendering of a 3D scene - a process known as ''shading''. Shaders have evolved to perform a variety of spec ...
s. According to Dontnod, one of the biggest challenges of development was the
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
of the character Daniel.
Deck Nine began work on ''True Colors'' after completing ''Before the Storm'' in 2017. A common theme of the ''Life is Strange'' series has been based on characters with a type of super-human ability, though not like
superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
es, that the developers can then provide "meditations on real experiences that regular people go through", according to Felice Kuan, senior writer at Deck Nine.
For ''True Colors'', they had determined early on they wanted their protagonist to be based on a power around empathy, not only to be able to sense what others were experiencing but to be vulnerable herself and would be able to grow past this as the story progressed, "giving her a path to greater self-acceptance and greater trust in her own abilities" according to Kuan.
This led to creating the story around
Alex
Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis.
People
Multiple
*Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people
* Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people
*Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...
losing her brother early in the game as a driver for her to explore her empathy powers and reveal more about her past as she uses them.
Erika Mori portrays Alex through full
performance capture
Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...
, which Mori said was "instrumental in successfully creating this game about empathy because it allowed us to get really high-fidelity facial expressions that were organically connected to whatever was going on with my voice and body in a particular scene."
Gameplay
''The Life Is Strange'' games are
graphic adventures played from a
third-person view
In 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; m ...
. The player can examine and interact with objects, which enables
puzzle solving
A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle ...
in the form of
fetch quests and making changes to the environment. The player can explore locations and communicate with
non-playable characters
A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...
. Dialogue exchanges feature
branching options in conversation. In some instances, choices in dialogue will alter and affect the story through short- or long-term consequences. For each one of the choices, something good in the short term could turn out worse later.
Each individual game in the series features a central mechanic unique to that game. In ''Life is Strange'', the player (as Max) has access to a "rewind" ability, which allows them to rewind time and alter the course of events. The rewind mechanic is accessible in conversation, allowing players to navigate branching dialogue options and change the outcome of a conversation to be beneficial to the player. Items picked up are kept in the inventory after a rewind, and changes in the environment remain in place. In ''Before the Storm'', Chloe has a "backtalk" mechanic that allows her to persuade and intimidate other characters through conversation, with either positive or negative effects. In ''Life is Strange 2,'' the player (as Sean) must guide Daniel, who has the power of telekinesis, through various moral and ethical choices that will influence how he will use his powers to help or hinder the player as the game progresses. In ''True Colors'', the player (as Alex) has psychic empathy powers that allow her to read and manipulate emotions, which she perceives as colorful auras, to physically see how others feel around her at the cost of being "infected" by their emotions. Some of the non-player characters will have more intense auras indicating trauma or hardship they may be going through. When Alex interacts with them, this creates a "nova" that appears to transform the world around Alex and the character to reflect elements of this trauma, giving the opportunity for the player to figure out what caused their emotions and to opt to guide Alex in helping to comfort the character.
Games
''Life Is Strange''
Maxine "Max" Caulfield returns to her hometown of Arcadia Bay,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, where she witnesses childhood friend
Chloe Price
Chloe Elizabeth Price is a fictional character from the ''Life Is Strange'' video game series published by Square Enix. Created by French developer Dontnod Entertainment, she first appears in the 2015 video game ''Life Is Strange'' and its preque ...
being shot in the school bathroom. The incident triggers Max's abilities to rewind time, allowing her to save Chloe from the gunman. As the two friends begin to reconnect, Max has visions of a violent storm approaching Arcadia Bay, and uses her newfound powers to help Chloe track down her missing friend Rachel Amber.
The game was released in five episodes across 2015 for
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
,
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
, and
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, with
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
,
Android and
MacOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
,
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
versions released later on. ''Episode 1: Chrysalis'' was released on 30 January, ''Episode 2: Out Of Time'' on 24 March, ''Episode 3: Chaos Theory'' on 19 May, ''Episode 4: Dark Room'' on 28 July, and ''Episode 5: Polarized'' on 20 October. Retail editions of the complete season for Xbox One, PS4 and PC were released on 22 January 2016 in Europe, and 19 January 2016 in North America.
''Life Is Strange: Before the Storm''
Three years before the events of ''Life Is Strange'', Chloe Price is struggling with the death of her father when she meets and befriends popular student Rachel Amber. As the two develop an intense relationship, they uncover long-buried secrets within the Amber family that lead Rachel on a search for her birth mother.
The game was released in three episodes across 2017 for
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
, and
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, with
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
,
Android and
MacOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
,
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
versions released later on. ''Episode 1: Awake'' was released on 31 August, ''Episode 2: Brave New World'' on 19 October, and ''Episode 3: Hell Is Empty'' on 20 December. The ''Deluxe Edition'' included the DLC bonus episode ''Farewell'', released on 6 March 2018.
In it, Max struggles to tell Chloe of her imminent move to Seattle. To distract herself, she lets Chloe take them on a pirate treasure hunt in search of "treasure" buried by Chloe's father, William. Their day is ultimately cut short by the news of William's death.
''The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit''
Christopher "Chris" Eriksen fashions himself into the superhero Captain Spirit to help his alcoholic father set up the house for Christmas. He imagines his various chores as
supervillain
A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero.
Supervillains are oft ...
s to be defeated - including his arch-nemesis Mantroid, an embodiment of his feelings surrounding the death of his mother in a
hit-and-run
In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions.
Additional obligation
In many jurisdictions, there may be an ...
. After an argument with his father, Chris falls from his treehouse, but mysteriously levitates instead of hitting the ground, and spots two boys watching from afar (who appear in ''Life Is Strange 2'').
''The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit'' was released on 25 June 2018 as a free demo for ''Life Is Strange 2'', and takes place during the events of that game's second episode.
''Life Is Strange 2''
Sean Diaz and his younger brother Daniel flee their home in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
following their father's death at the hands of a police officer. An explosion damages the environment and following the incident, Daniel develops telekinetic abilities. Now fugitives, the brothers embark on a cross-country roadtrip down the American
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
toward their father's homeland of Puerto Lobos,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, as Sean struggles to step up as a father figure for Daniel and guide him through the moral implications of his new-found powers. As they meet friends and foes along the road, including their estranged mother, the decisions Sean makes shape who Daniel will become, and eventually the ultimate outcome of their journey.
The game was released in five episodes for
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
, and
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, with
MacOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
and
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
versions released shortly after the final episode. ''Episode 1: Roads'' was released on 27 September 2018. ''Episode 2: Rules'' was released on 24 January 2019. ''Episode 3: Wastelands'' was released on 9 May 2019. ''Episode 4: Faith'' was released on 22 August 2019. ''Episode 5: Wolves'' was released on 3 December 2019. Retail editions of the complete season were released on 3 December 2019 in Europe, and 4 February 2020 in North America.
''Life Is Strange: True Colors''
Alex Chen
Alexandra "Alex" Chen is a character from the ''Life Is Strange'' video game series published by Square Enix. Created by American developer Deck Nine, she first appears in the 2021 video game '' Life Is Strange: True Colors'' as its main protagon ...
hides her "curse": the psychic power of Empathy, the ability to absorb the emotions of others. When her brother dies in a so-called accident, Alex must embrace her power to find the truth.
The game was released on 10 September 2021 for
Stadia
Stadia may refer to:
* One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums"
* The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes'').
* Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey
* Stadi ...
,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
and
Series X/S,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and
PS5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North A ...
and
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
.
Announced as the third mainline game of the series, it was released entirely while still being structured in five chapters. It released on
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
on 7 December that year. The Deluxe Edition includes the
DLC story ''Wavelengths''.
''Life Is Strange Remastered Collection''
''Life Is Strange Remastered Collection'' is a collection of ''Life Is Strange'' and ''Life Is Strange: Before the Storm''
remastered
Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used.
Mastering
A ...
by Deck Nine. It was released for
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
Google Stadia
Stadia is a cloud gaming service developed and operated by Google. Known in development as Project Stream, the service debuted through a closed beta in October 2018, and publicly launched in November 2019. The service was to compete with Sony' ...
in February 2022 and released digitally and retail for
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
in September 2022 as ''Life Is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection''. The collection was said to include all previously released content with remastered visuals, improved character animation using full
facial motion capture
Facial motion capture is the process of electronically converting the movements of a person's face into a digital database using cameras or laser scanners. This database may then be used to produce computer graphics (CG), computer animation for mo ...
, refined gameplay puzzles, and engine and lighting upgrades. It was also available as part of the ''Ultimate Edition'' bundle of ''
Life Is Strange: True Colors''. The Windows version received "mixed or average reviews" with a score of 70 based on 7 reviews on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
.
The collection was announced alongside ''Life Is Strange: True Colors'' on 21 March 2021. On 15 June, it was announced to then release on 30 September 2021, on
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
Google Stadia
Stadia is a cloud gaming service developed and operated by Google. Known in development as Project Stream, the service debuted through a closed beta in October 2018, and publicly launched in November 2019. The service was to compete with Sony' ...
(
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
and
Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...
backwards-compatible). The Nintendo Switch version was announced during the
Nintendo Direct
Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentation or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began i ...
E3 2021 presentation, then for release later that year.
On 11 August, the collection was delayed to early 2022, alongside an announcement of the ''Life Is Strange: True Colors''
DLC, ''Wavelengths,'' releasing on 30 September.
On 24 September, it was said to release on 1 February 2022. On 21 January 2022, it was announced that the Switch version was delayed to later in 2022 and on 16 August, the version was said to release on 27 September 2022 as ''Life Is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection''.
Future
In a 2019 interview,
Dontnod Entertainment
Don't Nod Entertainment SA (trade name: Don't Nod, formerly Dontnod Entertainment) is a French video game developer based in Paris. Founded in June 2008, it started development on '' Remember Me'' (2013). Because of its poor return on investme ...
, the developer of the first two mainline games in the series, expressed interest in the future of the franchise while noting they would opt for new characters again, but explained that the rights belong to Square Enix and that decisions on the future of the franchise lay with them. Dontnod has shifted their focus to develop their own intellectual properties in recent years. With the announcement of ''Life Is Strange: True Colors'',
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
reported that Dontnod's time with the franchise was over and that the ''Life Is Strange'' series have been transferred to
Deck Nine
Idol Minds, LLC (doing business as Deck Nine or Deck Nine Games since 2017) is an American video game developer based in Westminster, Colorado. The studio was founded in April 1997 by Mark Lyons and Scott Atkins and developed games exclusively ...
.
Other media
Comics
Following the events of ''Life is Strange''
's "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending, the comic follows Max and Chloe as they come to terms with the aftermath of the storm and letting Arcadia Bay be destroyed. Originally a four-part miniseries, it became an ongoing series published by
Titan Comics
Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and co ...
beginning in November 2018. The comic is written by
Emma Vieceli
Emma Vieceli is a British comic book artist and writer. After being a hobbyist at Sweatdrop Studios, she began freelancing professionally as an artist on SelfMadeHero's ''Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet'' adaptation in 2007. Her subsequent artist wor ...
, with interior and cover art by Claudia Leonardi, and colours by Andrea Izzo. The series act concluded with ''Life Is Strange: Settling Dust''.
In-universe book
In September 2018,
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
partnered with
Titan Publishing
Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and co ...
on ''Life Is Strange: Welcome to Blackwell Academy'', written by
Matt Forbeck
Matt Forbeck (born August 4, 1968) is an American author and game designer from Beloit, Wisconsin.
Biography
Forbeck first became interested in role-playing games at age 13 when he started playing ''Dungeons & Dragons''. He earned a degree in crea ...
, a 160-page book exploring the ''Life is Strange'' universe through the eyes of a student guide to Blackwell Academy and Arcadia Bay. It features notes, sketches and photographs from various characters of the first game.
Possible television series
In July 2016,
Legendary Digital Studios and Square Enix announced that they would be adapting ''Life Is Strange'' as a digital series. At the time of the announcement, they were meeting with potential writers for the series adaptation, which would be set in Arcadia Bay. In 2017, dj2 Entertainment had sold the rights to the series to the streaming service
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
. In August 2021, it was announced that
Shawn Mendes
Shawn Peter Raul Mendes (; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian pop singer. He gained a following in 2013, when he posted song covers on the video sharing platform Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gert ...
would serve as an executive producer on the series, in addition to overseeing the music for the series. It was also revealed that
Anonymous Content
Anonymous Content (AC) is an American entertainment company founded in 1999 by CEO Steve Golin. It is based in Los Angeles with offices in Culver City, New York City and London.
History
Anonymous Content was founded in 1999 by CEO Steve Gol ...
would be joining as a production company for the series.
Recurring cast and characters
:Note: A gray cell indicates character does not appear in that medium.
Reception
The series' reception has been generally positive, with all games receiving "generally favourable" reviews according to
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
.
''
Life Is Strange
''Life Is Strange'' (abbreviated ''LIS'') is a series of primarily episodic graphic adventure games published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. Created by Dontnod Entertainment, the series debuted with the eponymous first installment, ...
'' received generally favourable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 85/100 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Some criticised issues with the games's
lip-syncing
Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals.
Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...
and use of outdated
slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...
,
but most lauded the character development
and time travel component.
''
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
'' called it "one of the best interactive story games of this generation" and ''Hardcore Gamer'' said it was the
sleeper hit
In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...
of 2015.
''Life Is Strange'' received over 75 Game of the Year awards and listings.
''
Life Is Strange: Before the Storm'' was met with generally favourable reviews, according to
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. Critics praised the characters, themes, and story, but criticised plotholes, the main relationship, and the impact of players' decisions near the end of the game.
''
Life Is Strange 2
''Life Is Strange 2'' is an episodic graphic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. It’s five episodes were released between September 2018 and December 2019 for PlayStation ...
'' was met with generally favourable reviews, according to
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
.
Critics praised the story, the relationship between Sean and Daniel and the choice-based gameplay while reception of the portrayed political themes were divergent. The sparse episodic release schedule and the dialogue were criticized.
''
Life Is Strange: True Colors'' received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic. IGN praised the setting of Haven Springs, writing that the game has "arguably the best setting in any Life is Strange game to date". Game Informer liked the writing of the game, stating, "True Colors' writing is so strong that it didn't need a supernatural ability to tell this story." Justin Clark of GameSpot enjoyed the story's themes, feeling that some of game's interactions were "powerful" and "emotionally resonant".
References
Notes
External links
Official website
{{Dontnod
Square Enix franchises
Video game franchises introduced in 2015