Losing a loved one is a bizarre experience, anyone who’s been through it can tell you. The reality sets in at different times for everyone — and I’ve never seen a game capture that idea quite as well as Life is Strange: Double Exposure. I went into the first two chapters of Double Exposure expecting some super-powered hijinks and mysterious happenings, and while that’s all there, what I didn’t expect was an emotionally draining meditation on the nature of loss, grief, and wishing you’d done things differently. It’s heavy subject matter, but Double Exposure feels like it’s tackling all that seriously and gracefully — simultaneously providing a riveting supernatural mystery with lots of twisty ideas. This is Life is Strange through and through, and I’m chomping at the bit to see where everything goes.
Double Exposure is a fascinating juncture for the supernatural series, representing the return of the original game’s protagonist, Maxine Caulfield, with a brand new story created by the franchise’s new developer, Deck Nine. The studio started working on the series with the spinoff Before the Storm, and then developed the third mainline title True Colors in 2021.
I admittedly had some trepidation at the idea of bringing back Max — a character that’s beloved by fans for good reason. Max’s story in the first Life is Strange is all about vulnerability, the difficulties of adolescence, and the unforgiving nature of choice and regret. Because player choice was so integral to that game I didn’t know how the big events of Life is Strange could carry over into a new story with a college-aged Max.
But what Deck Nine has chosen to do here is wise and meaningful. For all intents, this is a new story with Max not necessarily tied to past events — but rather how those past events have shaped Max as a person. You make a few vital picks on the choices Max made, like if she saves Chloe or Arcadia Bay, and while she’s arrived at the same destination either way, the choices she’s made drastically alter Max’s outlook on life and how she interacts with others. It’s a fascinating approach that means anyone new to the series can jump right in, but fans with experience will absolutely have an experience that’s colored differently.
Double Exposure is set roughly ten years after Life is Strange, with Max taking the position of photographer-in-residence at the prestigious Caledon University in Vermont. She’s quickly become fast friends with the principal’s daughter, Safi, but one night finds her murdered on the snowy campus grounds (that’s not a spoiler, it’s the whole premise of the game). With the past trauma of Arcadia Bay still in her mind, Max quickly finds out that her time powers have evolved, letting her jump between parallel timelines — one where Safi is dead, and one where she’s alive.
The core mystery of Double Exposure is finding out who murdered Safi, but there’s a tangled web to unweave along the way. It becomes abundantly clear the students and faculty of Caledon have a wide array of secrets they’re hiding, and there are hints of something truly sinister happening.
While that core mystery is compelling, it’s the immediate aftermath of Safi’s demise that truly struck me. While I won’t spoil specifics of what happens, Double Exposure does an impeccable job of showing Max grappling with her friend's passing, while being forced to relive the trauma of everything else she’s been through. But past that, Caledon and the people around Max make Double Exposure’s world feel like a wonderfully realistic place.
Just like past Life is Strange games this is a narrative adventure game heavy on player choice, where you also get to explore key locations, poke around for details, and interact with characters. As you explore the game’s locations you get to see the complex ways everyone else is dealing with Safi’s passing, how some are able to process it, while others are not. It’s a startlingly grounded depiction of grieving that reminded me of my own brother’s passing, but I’m not upset about that. Instead, it really allowed me to instantly identify with these characters and their struggles and made some of the decision-making in the game truly difficult.
I have no doubt this might be a tough play for some, especially if you’ve experienced someone’s passing recently, but it’s also invested me in the story much faster than any other Life is Strange game. There’s a real emotional core to Double Exposure that’s compelling — backed up by strong writing and a gorgeous presentation. But one of the game’s more interesting new tricks is its double timeline.
After a certain point, Max can shift between timelines, seamlessly jumping back and forth between the two worlds. This is used to solve some light puzzles and advance through the narrative, often requiring you to talk to each world’s version of a specific character. It’s impressive to see the entire world change a the click of a button, and Deck Nine does a great job of intrinsically making these worlds feel different — one is dour and oppressive, while the other feels light and freeing. But the game smartly uses these alternate universes, and their differences, to flesh out the storytelling. You get to know different sides of characters, but often wonder if that’s their true side or something simply molded by the traumatic events currently playing out.
Double Exposure is also clearly layering in some extra supernatural weirdness, and while it’s hard to say how that pans out after only two episodes, there’s clearly more going on. Max can find collectibles that are polaroids she’s taken in other timelines, and details between the two main timelines just aren’t lining up, intentionally. It’s a brilliant way to add variety to Double Exposure’s formula and help flesh out the world even more.
It’s that attention to detail that I love the most about Double Exposure, the world is an absolute delight to explore; from the worst pickup lines blackboard at the bar, to the way you need to explore Max’s apartment to “cat proof” it after taking in a stray. The rich world is fleshed out even more by letting you get text messages from other characters, and a social media system that constantly updates with new posts throughout the story. That’s actually a particularly interesting detail, as in my playthrough it showed how Max has had to move on from her past life, and relationship, even as she sees content that reminds her of before. It’s like seeing your old ex suddenly post something on Facebook, and getting a flood of memories.
Any worries I had about Double Exposure have been completely erased at this point. This is the same goofy and socially inept Max I grew to love all those years ago, but now given a new purpose by trying to forge a life for herself. The world is an absolute joy to simply exist in, but more than anything I can’t shake how Double Exposure has already resonated with me emotionally. Its world and cast of characters feel grounded, and the introspection on how we deal with grief hits me right to my core. There are still three episodes to go, but I already feel certain Deck Nine has created something special yet again.
