Life is Strange: Reunion is set to wrap up Max and Chloe’s saga that began 11 years ago in the original Life is Strange. Ever since its conclusion, everyone’s favourite Arcadia Bay duo has been on several adventures in the Life is Strange comics, but haven’t been seen together in subsequent video game sequels, rightly so, until this upcoming entry.
Life is Strange: Reunion isn’t just a sequel to the original game but a direct follow-up to 2024’s Double Exposure, which brought back a somewhat 30-year-old Max Cauflield with a new dimension-shifting power to solve a murder mystery.
If you’re new to this beloved, surreal point-and-click adventure series, or just looking to refresh your memories, you’re in the right place. Here’s every Life is Strange game you need to play before diving into Life is Strange: Reunion.
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Life is Strange
The original Life is Strange is one of those rare video games that perfectly captures the inexplicable beauty of Twin Peaks‘ magic realism. It focuses on an 18-year-old Max Caulfield as she returns to her hometown, Arcadia Bay, to study photography at the prestigious Blackwell Academy.
Max soon gains the ability to rewind time, albeit under circumstances that I don’t want to spoil. Soon after, she reunites with her childhood friend Chloe, and together they embark on an adventure to find Chloe’s missing friend Rachel Amber and stop a mysterious storm, a byproduct of Max’s power, that is soon to destroy the entire Arcadia Bay.
Life is Strange is primarily about Max and Chloe’s relationship, one of the most beloved duos in gaming. If you want to learn all about Max and what ties her so deeply to Chloe and the trauma she’s been carrying ever since the events of Arcadia Bay, this is the story you need to experience.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Chloe is the muse of the original Life is Strange. However, the circumstances that led her to become the blue-haired, beanie-donning, sharp-tongued delinquent that everyone adores are only glimpsed but not lived in the original game. This is where Before the Storm comes in.
As the name suggests, it takes place before the events of Arcadia Bay, before the storm hits, focusing on a teenage Chloe, who’s still a student at Blackwell Academy. It focuses primarily on Chloe’s relationship with the charismatic Rachel Amber, and how it drastically changes her life for better and worse.
Before the Storm is essential for understanding Chloe’s never-ending grief of losing her father at a tender age, being separated from Max after she moves to a different city, and, most importantly, Rachel’s sudden disappearance, before the time-bending events of the first game unfold.
It’s also worth noting that Before the Storm’s soundtrack, helmed by the UK’s indie folk band Daughter, immaculately captures and portrays Chloe’s constant state of melancholy and the occasional, destructive waves of anger that shield her from the rest of the world. This album in itself is reason enough to experience Chloe’s Before the Storm journey.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure
Life is Strange: Double Exposure is the most important LiS game you need to play before starting Reunion. It kicks off not long after the events of that game and features much of the same cast of characters. It also takes place at Caldeon University, albeit in a different season, where Max teaches photography.
Double Exposure is crucial for understanding Max’s current standing in the LiS universe, her relationship with several characters who are also a part of Life is Strange: Reunion, including the enigmatic Safi, and most importantly, experiencing the events that might have brought Chloe back in the first place.
For the most part, Reunion feels like an extension of Double Exposure, something that was scraped together by reusing the latter’s assets in less than two years. Either way, this isn’t a standalone entry by any means, and shouldn’t be experienced without first going through Double Exposure, both its best and the worst bits.
Should you read Life is Strange comics or novels to prepare for Life is Strange: Reunion?
While neither comics nor novels are canon to the game series, you may want to read Steph’s Story (novel) primarily because it focuses on the origins of the band, Drugstore Makeup. In Life is Strange: Reunion, Chloe works as Drugstore Makeup’s touring band manager, and going through Steph’s Story will give you an idea of its initial bandmates – Izzy and Steph, and how it came to be.
Is Life is Strange 2 connected to Life is Strange: Reunion?
Up until Double Exposure, it seemed Deck Nine had forgotten all about Don’t Nod’s black sheep title, Life is Strange 2. However, that seems to have changed as in Life is Strange: Reunion, Chloe’s key ring has “Puerto Lobos” return over it, which, without spoiling anything, is a prominent destination in the second game.
Chloe might have been to the place, or maybe it’s just an easter egg for LiS 2 fans such as myself, but either way, Life is Strange 2 isn’t a game to be slept on, even if it has no direct connections to Reunion. If you have the time for it, it’s worth playing through what I believe is one of the most ambitious video game sequels of a cult-classic title that captures the original’s essence without being trapped in its shadows.
These are the Life is Strange games we recommend checking out before diving into Life is Strange: Reunion. These could take over 30-40 hours, depending on your pace, but they will prepare you for whatever fate awaits in Max and Chloe’s final voyage in Life is Strange: Reunion.
While you’re here, why not check out my theory on why Chloe is back in Reunion?
