If you know it or not, Life is Strange is a series of episodic (narrative) video games which tell incredible, moving, and tightly-written stories involving a cast of human characters. Now when I say human, I mean these video game residents are not just a bunch of 1’s and 0’s. They have personality, they have character arcs, they have impact on the world around them and the player has a lot of agency in the games.

Life is Strange is published by Square Enix and developed by Dontdod Entertainment (Remember Me) and (Vampyr) – it was a bold new step for the company post: Remember Me, and the team faced challenges to bring it to market.

Square Enix were the only publisher, according to Creative Director Jean-Maxime Moris who didn’t want to change a thing about the game, they wanted it left alone, and that’s a good thing considering that LiS features a woman in the lead role.

Other publishers wanted to change that for the game.

Life is Strange did extremely well, and Deck Nine were brought in to craft a prequel, whilst the original developers went on to make Life is Strange 2 with new characters.
Still keeping the same excellent storytelling, diverse characters, and engaging plotlines.

True Colors Shining Through

Flash-forward to 2021 and the latest in the LiS series – Life is Strange: True Colors, and the newest protagonist to take the stage. A young woman by the name of Alex Chen.

Alex has a power, which she considers as a curse, a power to absorb and manipulate the strong emotions of those around her. She is cast into the role of investigator in the new title, when her brother dies in a so-called accident.

Invited by Gabe to the town of Haven Springs, Alex thinks things are going really well until Gabe’s death, lost and adrift, she believes that the town is hiding something and the people are keeping secrets from her.

Now Alex (and the player) has to unravel the truth behind Gabe’s death, by using their powers, whilst trying not to be subsumed by strong emotion and losing control.

Deck Nine return on this game, and it’s due for release on the 10th of September this year. Unlike previous instalments, Life is Strange: True Colors is coming in its entirety at launch and a slightly more expensive edition of the game will be available, which bundles in a bunch of DLC and more importantly gives you access to the Life is Strange: Remastered collection.

You can preorder the game now, and it’s coming to: PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, PC, and for the five people that still have one, Stadia.