So, I'm about six hours into the newest Life is Strange game. So far it's a vast improvement over Double Exposure.
An awful lot of it feels like an apology to the fans. Which can be bad. I mean, The Rise of Skywalker spent so much time trying to apologize for The Last Jedi, that it felt like it was written by a PR committee (FTR I still loved it, but a lot of people didn't).
And Reunion does make some very obvious attempts to placate fans. It also makes a lot of "comfort references," like familiar music and legacy jokes (such as Max forgetting to water a plant).
Chloe is back. Regardless of what choices you made in the first game and Double Exposure, Chloe reappears and gets about as much screen time as Max. The writing is practically genius in the way it manages to honor all your major choices from previous games.
Like the last few games, Reunion asks upfront what choices you made in the earlier games. I've played through LiS multiple times, so I've picked both endings. I had trouble deciding which one to tell Reunion I picked. Finally I chose "Sacrifice Chloe" because I felt it would make it that much more dramatic when Chloe showed up in Reunion.
And I was right. In fact, there's so much "You're supposed to be dead" dialogue that I'm wondering just how different the story is if you tell Reunion that you sacrificed Arcadia Bay.
Max no longer switches timelines at will like in DE. She's back to rewinding time like in the first game. And Chloe still has her backtalk from Before the Storm, though I've only gotten to use it twice so far.
There's a lot of foreshadowing, and it feels like the ending is going to be a real tearjerker. I don't know what to expect, but I know what I'm going to do if certain "Final Choices" are given.
Sacrifice Chloe vs Sacrifice Caledon University - Definitely save Chloe. It was a tough choice picking Chloe or Arcadia Bay, as it was a beautiful, charming town full of interesting people. But Caledon? Honestly I'd sacrifice Caledon for a grilled cheese sandwich.
Sacrifice Chloe vs Sacrifice Safi - Chloe wins. Safi is an annoying prankster, and even if she has good intentions (which is hard to say at this point in the game), she hasn't won my heart like Chloe.
Sacrifice Chloe vs Sacrifice Moses - Chloe wins again. Moses is a great guy, and I enjoy talking to him, but he's no Chloe.
Sacrifice Chloe vs Sacrifice Max - This is a real possibility. There are a lot of hints that Chloe is doomed, and it could turn out that the only way to save her is to eliminate the person who keeps screwing up time - that being Max herself. If it comes down to that, it's going to be a tough choice. I like Max better, but she had a good run. Chloe's never even really had a chance at life. I'll cross that road when I get to it.
Sacrifice Belgian Waffle vs Sacrifice Bacon Omelette - Oh, I don't know if my heart could handle it.
I'll write more when I finish the game. I'm trying not to play too much in one day, as I'm old and gaming hurts my back. But I'm also trying to get through this game before I start seeing spoilers. I doubt I'll finish the game today, but I should have it done by the end of the week.
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