Life Is Strange 2 – Xbox One

When you’re 16, you’re thinking about school. Partying. That girl, guy, or whoever you want to notice you.

If you’re Sean Diaz, you had all of this and more. A charming suburban house, a loving father, and, well, an annoying little brother. It was a fine life.

But imagine, instead, you’re the pack leader now. You have to take care of that annoying brother, Daniel, who has suddenly developed superpowers. How can you make your way across a country that’s hard on anyone down on their luck, let alone two Hispanic kids on the run? How can you keep Daniel on the right path when you’re so close to straying from it yourself? It’s a far cry from making sure your homework’s done on time.

Whilst Life is Strange 1 polarised many, once the fan base had been established, it became a classic, especially within the LGBTQ+ community. Did its sequel live up to the fans’ high expectations?

As a direct-if unrelated-sequel of Life is Strange, I will compare elements of 2 where relevant. Spoilers abound for gameplay. Minor plot spoilers.

Once Upon A Time… In A Wild… Wild World…

“Where is dad?”

Only a few minutes in, the story of Life is Strange 2 hits the player hard. You are Sean Diaz, a teenager old with a secret that’ll be hard to keep for long. It’s worth it to keep up the spirits up of your little brother, Daniel-even just for another day or two. But the stakes are real. You are the responsible one now, in a world that threatens to knock you down at every turn.

It’s been 2 in-game days since Daniel and Sean were forced to leave their home in Seattle. They also left behind the crumpled body of their father, a Mexican man fatally shot by a white police officer. It’s clear that, despite Daniel’s involvement in the explosive events, he doesn’t know his father’s dead. And your heart breaks.

The game is a drawn-out road trip. That makes it sound like a fun adventure between two brothers. In reality, they’re fighting for their lives, surviving on very little, and having to rely only on each other as they sleep in forests, work on a pot farm, and help each other out of dangerous situations. They’re evading the law, slowly making their way down to Puerto Lobos, their father’s hometown. They’ve never been there, but it’s the only place they believe they could find sanctuary. It might be the only chance they have in a world that has already decided they’re guilty.

All of this is complicated by the awakening of Daniel’s superpower: telekinesis. It’s a supernatural ability that allows him to move objects at will like a Force-wielding Jedi. It’s a huge problem. The boys need to keep their heads down, but they need to hide larger-than-life superpowers. Plenty of the situations they get into are either caused or made worse by these powers.

Even though, in true LiS fashion, high-stakes action and supernatural activity is often the selling point of the game, it’s the quiet moments that make this story what it is. It’s a long, meandering game that takes more time than its predecessor. This isn’t a bad thing. The story, core relationship, and decisions are slow burns that need time to grow. In fact, impulsive decision making often only results in bigger issues down the line. By hurtling through so many different places and storylines, with only the two brothers as a constant, the game forces us to focus deeper on one relationship. The one that matters.

There’s Nothing We Can’t Do… As Long As We’re Together

When Life is Strange 2 first came out, its differences defined it. 1 takes place in one location, whilst 2 gives the player a new place to explore every episode. Whilst we grew to know a kaleidoscope of characters in 1, in 2, only Daniel and Sean’s relationship truly matters.

I think that’s what the story is trying to tell us. People may come and go, but the love between two brothers, chosen or otherwise, is worth fighting for.

Their relationship is defined by their 7 year age difference, but also by their abilities. Sean is thrust into the caregiver role, the navigator. Daniel has the superpower. He can blow things up with his mind and move heavy objects at will. If you’ve played 1, you’ll know that time travel is much more destructive, but Daniel’s ability has the instant power to hurt.

But, unlike in 1, the power is somewhat out of your hands. The stress of the game isn’t from working out how to use your time travel powers while avoiding terrible new timelines; it’s in creating a bond close enough to help Daniel through his adolescent emotions so that he doesn’t make bad choices. You no longer directly affect what the power does; you only influence its wielder. And it’s so much more stressful.

As a 9 year old boy who has lost his father and home, he tends to act out. Daniel’s destructive powers are made even more potent by his tendencies to act rashly, push back against authority, and test boundaries. This makes it increasingly difficult to avoid negative consequences.

I’m not going to lie, he’s a pain in the behind sometimes. A lot of the time. I’ve learnt that the way to affect LiS’s stories positively is to nurture the relationship between the central characters. If you understand and support Daniel, instead of yelling at him, he’ll (eventually!) repay that in kind. If you are dismissive, cold, or berate him, he won’t listen to you. You’ll have created a monster. By the end of the story, he’ll be too far gone to influence any more.

Unfortunately, when I’d figured this out, sometimes it felt like I was reacting in a way that I didn’t want to, just because it was more likely to give me a better ending. Sometimes it felt like I was letting a toddler have what they want after a tantrum. It made it less of a truthful experience, and sometimes, a less fun one.

Like in 1, the end of each chapter bookends with a summary of the choices made, comparing them to the choices of friends or the wider LiS community. It’s one of my favourite features of these games. Sometimes, my stomach dropped upon learning that ‘Daniel didn’t like…’ or ‘Sean belittled Daniel’. I love wondering how it would impact the rest of the game, and I often decided if I should be harder or softer on Daniel in the next chapter as a direct result of what I learned. You can either choose to replay that chapter to get better results, or keep going, with the thread of your choices in mind, haunting you as you play.

I Should Take A Good Look At The Subject Before Drawing

Art is a core theme of LiS, from the timeless graphics that imitate a watercolour painting to how characters express themselves. This art style holds up years later and reflects the ways that the characters see the world. A sad moment, punctuated by lashes of rain, almost look like characters are melting into the scenery. This reflects how teenage emotions are so strong that they feel like they permeate everything, affecting the very world around them. You can see the wind on a chilly day, emphasising its penetrating effect on the characters. It’s effective in a game that relies so heavily on feeling.

Whilst Max takes photos and, later, Alex from LiS: True Colors plays the guitar, Sean draws. It’s here that you can take a break from the action and heartbreak and take in the scenery. The game is full of quiet, contemplative moments. Sometimes, you can simply enjoy the view. At other times, Sean sketches the vista, or you can talk to Daniel, drink around a campfire, or learn more about a new friend. Without these pauses, the fast-paced or heart-wrenching moments wouldn’t have as much impact.

There are 10 optional drawings to sketch in each chapter. In 1, sometimes taking a photo involved manipulating the subjects or hitting crucial story beats. In Life is Strange 2, the drawings hold a calmer role: they allow us further insight into Sean’s mind. What he chooses to draw often reflects his outlook, whether it’s a goofy picture of anthropomorphic creatures or a thoughtful sketch of the landscape.

Top tip: go to your journal and navigate to the Optional Drawings tab. There you’ll find hand-drawn clues for each optional photo to help you complete these fun little sidequests.

It’s obvious the developers and designers have learnt some important lessons since 1. The lip synching is much better, and the scenery is beautiful. The character designs are more polished, although dynamic hair still seems to be a problem for the LiS team. Overall, it gets a pass because of its watercolour art style.

Where 2 shines here, it falls down on the goodies that can be found. In 1, finding things helped to figure out the dark mystery at the core of the story, and quirky discoveries made the point-and-click exercises funny and rewarding. In 2, the environments aren’t quite as dynamic. I think this is because of the constantly changing scenery-you don’t care as much about the campsite dwellers, or even your own grandparents, because you don’t know them. It’s still fun, but it doesn’t capture the same excitement to find everything as 1 did.

You’re The Reason We Need To Build That Wall

You’re jolted awake and you recall where you are: on the side of a quiet desert road, where you stopped last night for a doze after driving for hours. Turns out, you accidentally parked on private property owned by a racist, who doesn’t take kindly to a mysterious Hispanic kid stopping off on his land. The result is a tense, distressing situation that you have to navigate for Sean.

Life is Strange 2 certainly doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable topics. The stakes feel somewhat more desperate than in 1. 1 did handle sensitive issues, like slut shaming, suicide, and questioning sexuality, but 2 goes another, more violent step further, tackling racism, homelessness, religion, and parenting.

These themes are vital to a story about two Hispanic brothers on the run. I’m glad they didn’t avoid them. Throughout the story, you have to decide whether to beg for leftovers from a family, work on a weed farm, avoid the police and racist civilians, and take on a religious cult. Sometimes dialogue is very on-the-nose, but these situations are all experienced by people throughout the US and beyond-though, perhaps not all in the same year.

These are real-world issues that are tackled by real people, making the game relatable to so many. Some assert that games should be a form of escapism, ignoring the harsh realities of racism or homelessness. But the game is most engaging in these moments, with Daniel’s powers a fantastical driver to make the stakes even higher.

Final Thoughts

Life is Strange 2 is a story about a superpowered kid and two brothers on the run. But the fantastical parts of the game are just decoration for a poignant story about hardship and family.

The game is engaging because it puts you into real-world situations that make you wince or squirm, and then forces you to choose how you might react in those situations. It’s not as good as 1, but it carries on the themes of relationships and navigating an unjust world well. Ultimately, the core of the story is the relationship between two brothers who, for better or worse, only have each other. Whether the boys make it to Mexico or not, they need to make that journey together.