2015’s Life is Strange was a lightning-in-a-bottle release, revitalising the episodic adventure game and having a profound personal impact on gamers all over the world in ways original developers DontNod could never have foreseen. The fifth entry in the Square Enix franchise sees the return of original protagonist Max Caufield in a move that is sure to have fans of the original game excited or trepidatious.
Set 10 years after Life is Strange, Max Caufield now works as a photographer at Caledon University in Vermont. After what happened at Arcadia Bay, she has left her time-rewinding powers dormant. When her new best friend Safi is murdered, she tries to use her abilities one more time, only to find that they have changed. Max has now created a separate universe in which Safi is still alive, with the ability to move between the two. She now must try to keep this version of Safi alive while discovering who killed her in the original timeline.
The Koalaty critics were generally positive about the latest entry in the adventure game franchise. Many enjoyed the narrative the game tells as well as the performances of the cast including the returning Hannah Telle as an older, more mature Max Caufield. The critics also marvelled at how amazing this game looks visually, although all mentioned dealing with several bugs that soured their experience. The dissenting critic amongst the bunch believes that it failed to provide a satisfactory conclusion to the billed mystery and took the story in ways that diminished Max as a character.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure is available now on Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC
KOALATY CRITICS – AUSTRALIAN CRITICS
Here’s what Australian critics are saying about the game.
Checkpoint Gaming – 5/10 (Charlie Kelly)
“Seeing our beloved Max again only goes so far for the experience. At the end of the day, you’ve got a mostly okay cast at best with frustrating late-game emphasis on characters that didn’t get enough screentime. You’ve got a mystery that becomes mind-numbingly boggled the more timey-wimey it gets. It’s not the return our hero deserves and it’s a regression for the franchise.”
GamesHub – 4/5 (Leah J. Williams)
“Across chapters, there is a rollercoaster of reveals as Max discovers her friend, in true Laura Palmer fashion, is not quite who she thinks she is. Not every lead in Max’s investigation is sturdy, but they all point towards a dissonance in her identity, and in her relationships.What follows is an intimate five-chapter character study buoyed by strong performances, emotive character models, and writing that feels human and personable.”
Player2 – A (Jess Zammit)
“I can’t be objective about Life is Strange: Double Exposure, but Life is Strange is also not an easy series to try and approach with objectivity. Its core values – those of diversity, acceptance, curiosity, and a deep interest in the human condition, darkness and all – will affect every player in a different way. If you have bounced off other games in the series, I’m not sure this one will draw you in, despite its tonal differences to its predecessors. But if the others have, like they have for me, felt like a warm embrace and a way to feel seen and accepted explicitly in a way that few games achieve with such depth – you might fall in love with Life is Strange: Double Exposure the way I did. “
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Press Start – 8/10 (Brodie Gibbons)
“The ‘whodunit’ premise that guides Double Exposure’s roughly 15-hour narrative kept me guessing all the way through, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. The game does an excellent job of building up Safi, one of Max’s best friends, as a character ahead of the events that lead to her death, and I felt compelled to continue unraveling the wild mystery all the way through. Just when I thought I’d figured it all out, Deck Nine would pull something else out of their hat that completely changed everything. With that said, the way the story weaves and winds may not be everyone’s cup of tea, however I thoroughly enjoyed the highly unpredictable nature of the game’s narrative. “
Quest Daily – 9/10 (Elly Mousellis)
“From a technical perspective, the game’s character animations and facial expressions represent a huge leap forward. Comparing Max’s movements and visual style in the original Life is Strange (2015) to those in Double Exposure is like night and day. Even compared to True Colors (2021), there is a noticeable improvement. Motion capture brings every subtle gesture and facial expression to life, creating believable feelings and interactions.“
Koalaty Critics
Aggregator Score
