Life is Strange: Double Exposure will support and respect the ending you chose in the original Life is Strange game, developer Deck Nine has said while offering a detailed look at its upcoming sequel.
announced the Last week during the Summer Game FestDouble Exposure continues the story of Max Caulfield, the original teenage protagonist of the Life Is Strange series, who is now an adult.
But Max’s surprise return to the story immediately raised questions from fans about whether his past plot choices would be supported, and their consequences shown on screen. Now, we know more.
“We knew it had to be something special,” said narrative director Felice Kuan about returning to Max’s story. “We knew we had to honor the two unforgettable endings to the first chapter of Max’s story, while also crafting something new, something fresh that echoed Max’s past challenges, while also moving Max’s personal story forward.”
On which of Life is Strange’s endings was canon, Deck Nine said there was no single canon option – perhaps, it was fitting for a game with a dual timeline.
“It was very important to Deck Nine that if we made another Max adventure game that we had to honor both of those endings,” says game director John Stauder. “Life Is Strange: Double Exposure does just that.
“In our book there is no canon ending for the first game. Double Exposure will respect both endings, with Max’s thoughts, her diary, her SMS, her conversations with other characters, everything she wants to reveal about her past to her new friends, all reflecting that final choice.”
As for the player’s choices being “imported” by Double Exposure, Deck Nine has said that this will be handled organically through conversations with Max and his new friend Safi in the game’s early scenes.
An excerpt from this was shown in today’s presentation on Double Exposure, where Safi asks Max about “the girl with the blue hair whose picture you keep in your wallet.” Max can choose to answer that she and Chloe were friends, or that she was his high-school girlfriend.
Double Exposure sees Max – once again played by original actor Hannah Tell – now a “photographer-in-residence” at Caledon University, a Vermont college that looks like it will serve a similar role to the original game’s Blackwell Academy.
Now an adult, Max’s role is as a mentor to students at college – meaning you can now spend time with them without the hassle of going to class.
It is here, after a stargazing session with Safi and her friend Musa, that tragedy strikes. Safi is found dead – at least, in one timeline. Max soon discovers that she can travel between two worlds – one where Safi is dead, and another where she is still alive. Double Exposure is a double mystery – discovering the identity of the killer in one timeline, before they can execute him in the other.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure is due to launch for PC, PlayStation and Xbox on October 29, with a version also planned for the Nintendo Switch. If you pay an extra $30 you can play the first two chapters of Double Exposure a fortnight early – something like Fans have criticized it due to its cost and possible leaks of the story,
