Life is Strange Double Exposure: Killed by a Choice

Life is always determined by choice. If you look back at most of your life to a certain point, you’ll notice how many events, both small and major, were the circumstances of a choice you’ve made. You could have chosen to date someone you’d had feelings for, watch a random movie you’d never heard of, or even read this very article. A choice could lead you down a path of good times or sad memories, sometimes simultaneously.

The idea of choice stands at the center of the video game series Life is Strange from developer Don't Nod. The series centers on various characters navigating life in their own way while dealing with randomly appearing superpowers. As a fan of stories revolving around choice and games that give the ability to make my choices impact the story, I gravitated towards this series since the very first game and have kept in touch with it throughout the years.

Double Exposure, the latest entry in the franchise, caught me by surprise when it was announced earlier this year. The series has always focused on new characters and settings in each new game (not counting the prequel story of Before the Storm), so seeing the original game’s protagonist, Max Caulfield, make a return was interesting if not a bit worrying. While the later games in the series have their fans (True Colors being my personal favorite), most would agree that the original game seems to be the best of the bunch, so one would wonder if Max’s return was nothing more than a stunt.

Was it though? Well…let’s dive into it.

Super Max is back

I’m pretty sure this will be very divisive and there won’t be a clear-cut view of the general consensus on Max’s inclusion in this game. For my money, I think Double Exposure did justice to Max’s character. She’s just as quirky, awkward, and shy as you remembered while not being afraid to get her hands dirty in the mysteries she has to solve.

Thanks to a graphical overhaul she looks better than ever and her facial expressions shine, selling emotional scenes and comedic moments with just her face. When she opens her mouth it’s still Hannah Telle’s soft and soothing voice coming out of it, once again balancing the urgency and seriousness of the drama with the charm and wit of every silly pun. Combine that with the writing that captures the spirit of the original game and seeing Max again felt like reuniting with an old friend I haven’t seen in a while.

Speaking of that; I should point out that no other characters from the first game make a return. They’re mentioned and come up when it’s relevant to the story but they’re not key characters. While it may rub some people the wrong way not to see Warren, Kate, Joyce, or even Chloe, I feel like it doesn’t detract from the story much; Max is 10 years older and continues with her life. Not many people keep in close touch with their high-school friends, so I don’t necessarily mind that Max has moved on from Arcadia Bay.

When the game was announced, the developers said that both endings to the original Life is Strange could be canonical based on your choices of dialogue at the start of Double Exposure. That is indeed true; when Max is asked about her past you could choose the dialogue based on what choice you made all those years ago. Both options are valid and future conversations are impacted by them, making the game feel like a proper sequel to either choice and respecting both options.

That being said, I'm a bit unsure about Max’s new power. On one hand, the ability to switch between two timelines is cool and it does seem like an upgraded version of her rewind powers from the first game, making it appear as if the power grew with her. On the other, this is the only point in the story where I felt like Max was used as a face on the cover to sell copies and her inclusion wasn’t fully thought out.

It’s not a huge deal, as the game does remember her original power and calls back to it plenty of times. I just think that a bit more of an explanation could have done better to sell the idea of her power growing over the years. Rewinding time and alternating timelines are two different things after all, so I don’t think explaining the change is too big a demand. Otherwise, I found Max’s return welcomed and not at all like an attempt to cash in on nostalgia from almost 10 years ago (I’m so old).

Safi and the others

Our lead is only part of the experience, however; and we have plenty of side characters in this adventure. The side characters are sometimes the more interesting part of Life is Strange as a series, as the way you feel about them could shape up your choices and your entire adventure. As with people you meet in real life, some may click with you more than others, and part of the fun is talking and comparing which characters appeal to you and which do not.

For the most part, I found the side characters in Double Exposure ranging from okay to unremarkable. Moses, Amanda, and Diamond, I found myself getting along with and liking quite a bit, going out of my way to do side activities that relate to them. Vinh I found a bit off-putting and I’m not entirely sure if I’m alone in thinking that or not. Gwen is a character I find interesting but I don’t think she fulfills a side character rule well; she feels underdeveloped with her personal life hinted at but not always shown. I'd actually like a whole story about her in order to flesh her out more. Loretta is just there as the “bratty snobby girl”; she’s not doing much and I didn't care about her.

But the character I really want to talk about is Safi. For all intents and purposes, she’s the driving force of this game, kind of like Chloe was in the original. The main plot of the game is trying to figure out who murdered Safi. Every character in this game relates to Safi in one way or another. They’re either close friends, a family member, lovers, rivals, or mentors. The story is essentially about Safi while Max is our avatar interacting with the world (again; much like Chloe was in the original). So how does she compare to the blue-haired, foul-mouthed rebel? 

At first, I was sure I’d have to compare Safi and Chloe during this section until I realized Safi’s not ONLY a stand-in for Chloe but also Rachel Ambers. In the original game Rachel was a name thrown around and we, as Max, never met her personally. We just heard all about her in retrospect from the other characters mentioning her, trying to piece things together based on her relationships. The same could apply to Safi in the timeline in which she dies, despite Max knowing her personally. 

Then we have the timeline in which Safi is alive and Max interacts with her the most throughout the game. We find out more about her relationships with others and how they connect to her aspirations. In addition to her family issues, I found her struggles to be more in line with Rachel than Chloe. Rachel wished to be a model which got her entangled with the photographer Jefferson, and Safi tried to be a writer which brought her to both Gwen and Lucas. Regardless of the timeline, Safi could fill in the role of both, but she has one thing that differentiates her from them.

We discover around the halfway point that Safi also has powers: she can shapeshift into people she knows. For the first time in this franchise, two people with powers are meeting up and coming to terms with their abilities. We already know Daniel and Alex, from Life is Strange 2 and True Colors respectively, have powers. So I found the idea of having our protagonist, especially Max, meet another person with powers to be really cool and interesting. The conversations they’re having about their powers and how they use them to work together were all handled well in my opinion.

To an extent, this put Safi a bit above Chloe in terms of filling in the role of Max’s friend. Chloe was interesting and had her moments, without a doubt, but having those powers makes Safi a bit more of an equal to Max, making certain situations feel more impactful, at least until we get to the ending.

The final choice

Here we are in what is arguably the most curious and maybe even tense part of any game in the series: the final choice. Be it choosing to sacrifice your best friend and potential lover to save a town, convincing your little brother that you have to surrender, or deciding between starting anew in a town you grew accustomed to or hitting the road again, the final choice in Double Exposure is the most disappointing one.

After promising Safi that she would always support her, Max is given a choice: Agree to let Safi do whatever she wants with her powers, or refuse to be a part of it because it goes against her moral code. In my first playthrough, I choose not to accept Safi’s offer as it feels like a slap in the face of everything Max learned and stood by up to that point. Not to mention that Safi’s guilt tripping of “everything you said in the storm is a lie” rubbed me all wrong because it showed she didn’t actually grow or learn anything. 

Do you remember what made the final choice in the original so impactful? Chloe is the one who asks Max to go back and sacrifice her in order to save the city, showing that she did develop throughout the story. The final choice in Life is Strange 2 could be impacted by Shaun’s relationship with Daniel and how much the latter is listening to his brother. Safi has zero development by the time you’re required to make a choice, and while I feel bad for some of the stuff she’s gone through, you can’t expect someone to change for you if you’re incapable of change.

What makes this final choice even more baffling is that after I went back and chose the other choice… the ending is basically the same. Yeah, in one ending Safi is mad at Max and in the other, they separate on good terms, but nothing else changes after that. Max still tells all her friends about her and Safi’s powers, Diamond still seems to get powers too, and we still get a Marvel-style tease implying Max will return one day. So besides the choice itself being underwhelming and anti-climactic, nothing really changes in the ending.

Conclusion

Life is Strange Double Exposure is probably the strangest game I’ve played this year (pun partially intended). On the one hand, I enjoyed seeing Max again and the mystery kept me interested from beginning to end. On the other hand, that ending was an underwhelming finale that left me with a hollow feeling rather than any fulfillment. 

I wouldn’t call this outing a simple cash grab, as I can tell that the team behind it loved the original game, respected it, and did their best to make sure Max was well represented and her return was deserved. Sometimes even the best intentions don’t turn out the best way possible, and while this effort is admirable, it left a lot to be desired when the game concluded. 

With the credits promising us that we’ll see Max again at some point in the future, I am interested to see where things go but I’m also cautious with my expectations regarding her return. If this adventure taught me anything, it is that Max herself isn’t necessarily the one thing a Life is Strange game needs to get right. It’s the characters around her and the choices presented to her that are just as big a factor as herself.

There’s no doubt in my mind I’d make the choice to play the next game…I’d just want my choice to matter.