Created by Dontnod, Life is Strange 2 is released on the Switch console on February 2, 2023. The opportunity to discover or relive an underrated game, but yet fully in the spirit of the saga.
Life is Strange made a deep impression in 2015. Created by the French studio Dontnod, the story of Max and Chloe is overwhelming. This is what led Square Enix to mobilize the Deck Nine studio for a prequel, Before the Storm, on Chloe (and Rachel). For its part, Dontnod has developed a second different story, with an anthological approach: Life is Strange 2in 2018.
This sequel focuses on two Latin American brothers, 16-year-old Sean, 9-year-old Daniel, who live in Seattle with their father. After a dramatic event, during which Daniel reveals a powerful power, the two boys must flee across the country. A great journey then begins.
This second opus unfortunately did not receive the reception it deserved. And that’s a shame. We find, behind, exactly the same team as the one who imagined the adventure of Max and Chloé: Raoul Barbet and Michel Koch in the realization, Christian Divine and Jean-Luc Cano in the scenario. The result is an equally moving, but understated game. Fortunately, the exit on Nintendo Switch this February 2, 2023 should breathe new life into it!
The adventure of Sean and Daniel is also remarkable
All the codes of the first game are present in Life is Strange 2. This melancholy and elegiac progress towards an impalpable finality, this strangeness which soaks the atmosphere, this feeling of appeasement to play in spite of a poignant adventure, but also this intimacy increased by each interaction with elements of the decoration and discussions with multiple choices.
Through dialogues and monologues, Life is Strange 2 immerses us in the interiority of Sean, as was the case with Max. Especially since Sean regularly draws what he sees. The story also carries a social and political dimension that is particularly marked in the writing.
This style, very specific to Dontnod and the saga Life is Strangefully imbues this opus. Life is Strange 2 is a powerful, well-constructed, and impactful narrative game. A work that proves how much the studio is capable of offering a unique touch in its approach to video games. There is also a cheeky choice: we do not control Daniel, who has supernatural power, but Sean, his brother.
This opus is also located in the same universe, from a purely narrative point of view, as the first game. Before you even play, you will be asked which ending did you choose in Life is Strange. And it will impact a few things in some chapters.
Life is Strange 2 is a road trip
The structure of the game, however, differs a lot from the first. With Max, the context was static, in an Arcadia Bay as if out of time (or temporal metaphor on its own). Life is Strange 2 resounds like an answer, totally reversing the narrative rhythm: the adventure of Sean and Daniel meets all the codes of the road trip. And that’s what makes this game unique.
As in a good novel à la Harrisson or Kerouac, or road movie style, Life is Strange 2 is an initiatory journey that connects places and encounters, in constant movement. From a gas station to a camp in the forest, passing by a hotel and a good old guitar song in the snow, it’s a headlong rush of survival and discovery of the world.
Life is Strange on Switch, it was about time
The Life is Strange saga is finally coming to Switch. After Arcadia Bay Collection (which brings together the first game and its prequel), and True Colors (the youngest of Deck Nine, all in emotion), we wondered why nothing was announced for Life is Strange 2, who deserved the same treatment. But fortunately, the game was not finally shunned for the port, on Switch this February 2.
About time: the saga Life is Strange and its style of play are particularly suited to a portable console and, as with Arcadia Bay Collection, the Switch port therefore works very well. It’s an opportunity to discover the adventure of Sean and Daniel if you had never given time to it; or replay it differently.
