Life is Strange Double Exposure is a return to the series’ roots

Life is Strange: Double Exposure hits store shelves on October 29, almost a full decade on from the original, but before the new iteration is out in full, we got the chance to try out one of the game’s early chapters. We loved every moment of it.

Life is Strange has mastered the art of single-player storytelling, emphasizing exploration and player choice, delivering often hard-hitting and emotional plots with characters you come to love over the course of their journey. Dontnod Entertainment set the bar high with the first game’s release, dropping us into the shoes of Max Caulfield.

Now Double Exposure is looking to have players don those shoes again in 2024. We had the opportunity to experience one of the game’s chapters ahead of launch. Here’s how it played out.

Visions of a new Max

Life is Strange: Double Exposure doesn’t stray away from the original art style that made the games before it fantastic. With a few upgrades in terms of visuals and graphics, the game looks polished and helps to enunciate the emotional story that current developers Deck Nine are looking to accomplish.

Max, while obviously being a lot older still maintains much of that similar awkwardness that she had from the original title. She does however show a bit more charisma and confidence as a young woman.

The upgraded graphics also make the game feel more realistic, moving it away from the almost picturesque and hazy visual themes of the first title.

A tried and true formula

Gameplay-wise, Double Exposure doesn’t really iterate much on the formula, but it doesn’t really need to. The game very much plays the same, with you controlling Max to move around the environment, interacting with various items that provide story, world-building, or just a funny tidbit of information.

The main power that Max has in Double Exposure allows her to shift between parallel timelines, and this is used to great effect in the game. You’ll be solving puzzles by grabbing items from various timelines, escaping or dodging out of situations at whim, and more. While the idea of traveling through parallel timelines is cool, there does seem to be a limit. From what we played, it seems that you can only shift timelines in specific spots, somewhat cutting down the potential of how this idea might be explored.

Despite that, the fact that you have to account for each of the different timelines and what events took place in each of them is interesting. Not only do the events affect the timeline’s environment, but also affect the characters within them, which the devs seemed to have paid specific attention to.

For example, in the timeline where Safiya dies, Moses is fully aware of this, the Moses in the parallel timeline is not, and can still interact with Safiya to this day. Because of that, Max needs to be specific with their choice of words when interacting with him.

Tonally on point

While we only played a small amount of Double Exposure, it’s clear the developers have hit the tonal nail on the head. Max is still just as snarky and colloquial as always, providing witty remarks to herself and the player.

She also interacts with other characters in a similar way. We got to speak to both Moses and Vince Alderman throughout the preview, both of whom felt like strong characters, each with their own morals, only adding to the further “whodunnit” behind Safiya’s murder.

Fans who have enjoyed the style of writing in other games will have a blast in Double Exposure, but if you’ve never taken a liking to these stories, the new title won’t change your mind.

A game for longtime fans

Life is Strange: Double Exposure reinvigorated what I liked about the franchise in the first place. The clever use of each game’s main mechanic or power, the world-building, the strongly written characters, and the laidback, yet momentous story are all present in the new title.

If you’re a fan of the franchise and are looking to see the continuation of Max Caulfield’s story, there’s no real reason to not pick up Life is Strange: Double Exposure when it releases on October 29, 2024.