Life is Strange 2 kicks off a brand new season with its downloadable debut episode, Roads. The first season of Life is Strange followed young art student Max, living her life on the western coast of the US. Life is Strange 2 focuses on a pair of brothers, Sean and Daniel Diaz. These brothers live with their single father in Seattle, Washington. Sean is 17, finishing his last year of highschool. Daniel is nine, spending his days wild with imagination. Their content suburban life is disrupted by a tragedy that shakes them to their core. This sends the two brothers on a road trip, kicking off a coming-of-age story that’s a bit weak but still interesting.
How to Download Life is Strange 2
You can download Life is Strange 2 Episode 1 and the next episodes from Steam. You should also consider downloading the original game, its sequel Life is Strange: Before the Storm, and the free game The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit which should be considered as a demo of Life is Strange 2.
The Game Review
Without spoiling much, the brothers are left to fend for themselves, camping in the wilderness and living day by day. You control Sean, and as the older of the two brothers, the responsibility falls on you. As you move through the game, your actions are mostly passive. You’ll make some big and small moral decisions, but beyond that, the game is mostly exploring small areas and collecting various items. Unlike the first Life is Strange, Life is Strange 2 doesn’t feature any supernatural powers in the gameplay.
It is something that pops up in the story, but there are no gameplay elements that use it (at least for the time being). This removes an essential puzzle element from the game, which reduces it to more of a standard third-person narrative-driven experience. This is disappointing because some of my favorite parts of Life is Strange were the smart uses of Max’s time travel ability.
Unfortunately, the story itself doesn’t do much to impress either. The game doesn’t give you much time to become attached to the main characters before disaster strikes. Instead, we see Sean as an angry teen and Daniel as an annoying younger brother. This relationship evolves throughout the episode, but instead of focusing on that, Life is Strange 2 gets a bit political.
The game is firmly set within the current political climate of the United States, and as two young boys of Mexican heritage, Sean and Daniel must deal with some rude individuals. However, the game has little to say about the actual issues, instead using them as a sort of shock factor. These scenes aren’t offensive really, but I would’ve much rather seen character development in a more organic way. Generally speaking, the tone and vibe of Life is Strange 2 is definitely a bit different than the first, and not always for the best.
Generally speaking, if you’re a fan of Life is Strange, you’ll probably enjoy Life is Strange 2 to varying degrees. It won’t blow your socks off, and I don’t think it will become a cult hit like the first, but it’s still an impressive game in some regards. The graphical style and soothing audio is a relaxing treat, some scenes hold a lot of emotion, and I’m still interested in what these characters have in store.
It might not be a great debut, but Life is Strange 2 still has some potential to grow into a great story. If the subsequent episodes focus more on the sibling relationship and supernatural happenings, there could be some great stuff in store.
