Life Is Strange 2, episode 1 review: New setting, same heart
Enlarge / Sean tries his best to take care of Daniel by himself.
The first Life Is Strangewas a complicated piece of work. The episodic adventure game played brilliantly with its own format, weaving a moving and potentially tragic story about two young women finding their place, both in the world and with each other. But it was also marred by some awkward writing, stiff performances, and occasionally serious misfires when it came to dealing with serious subject matter.
For the second season of Life Is Strange, developer Dontnod Entertainment faced the simple and daunting challenge of sanding off the series' rough edges while keeping its warm heart intact. After playing the first episode, it seems they're well on their way to doing just that.
On the runDontnod's development challenge is complicated by the series' shift into an entirely new setting, with a whole new set of characters and a modified play style to go along with it.
Meet Sean, a high school senior in Seattle with simple desires: a girl to spend time with; a good party; a small, warm family he loves dearly in that detached teenage-boy way. But what begins as a lush, domestic story on par with the first game quickly goes off the rails when a chance encounter with a bully and a police officer leaves Sean and his young brother Daniel with a startling new status quo. Their dad is dead, as is a police officer, and Daniel seems to have wild and uncontrollable psychic powers.
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