''Life Is Strange'' is a series of

adventure games An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

published by

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...

's External Studios. Created by Dontnod Entertainment, the series debuted with the eponymous first installment, which was released in five episodes throughout 2015. It was followed by a prequel, '' Life Is Strange: Before the Storm'', which was developed by Deck Nine and released in three episodes throughout 2017, with a

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

(DLC) bonus episode released in early 2018. The sequel '' Life Is Strange 2'' and its spin-off '' The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit'' were developed by Dontnod and released between 2018 and 2019. A third main installment, '' Life Is Strange: True Colors'', was developed by Deck Nine and released in its entirety on 10 September 2021. A fourth installment, '' Life Is Strange: Double Exposure'', was developed by Deck Nine and released on October 29, 2024. Additionally, a remastered collection of the original game and its prequel was released in February 2022. The series has spawned a comic series set after one of the original game's possible endings, another comic series set after the ending of ''True Colors'' as well as an in-universe book.

History

Following the critical and commercial failure of their 2013 action-adventure game '' Remember Me'', French game developer Dontnod Entertainment was forced to restructure and reinvent themselves. Dontnod CEO Oskar Guilbert explained "Before, what we wanted to do was make big games with large teams and long production cycles... So we had to change that, do something smaller with smaller teams. We didn’t want to do just a small game; we also wanted to bring something new to the market." ''Life Is Strange'' was conceived around the rewind mechanic, a concept which had already been briefly explored in ''Remember Me''. ''Life Is Strange''s protagonist

Max Caulfield Maxine "Max" Caulfield is a fictional character from the ''Life Is Strange'' video game series published by Square Enix. Created by French developer Dontnod Entertainment, she is the player character in ''Life Is Strange (video game), Life Is St ...

was created with the ability to rewind time to supplement this mechanism. Development began in April 2013 with a team of 15 people, with further people added as the collaboration with Square Enix began. Before signing with Square Enix, Dontnod imagined ''Life Is Strange'' as a full-length video game similar to ''Remember Me'' that Dontnod would self-publish; however, Square Enix realized it would be more successful as an episodic title, both for creative reasons, financial restrictions and

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

purposes. This allowed them to tell the story at a slower pace. Development began under the working title ''What If'', before being retitled to avoid confusion with the film of the same name. It was Dontnod's second title with a female protagonist, and most prospective publishers were unwilling to publish a game unless it had a male protagonist. Guilbert also challenged the idea at the start. Dontnod creative director Jean-Maxime Moris explained that Square Enix was the only publisher with no intention to change this. "Square nixis basically the only publisher who didn't want to change anything about the game... we had other publishers telling us to make it a male lead character, and Square didn't even question that once." The

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

was chosen for the setting to convey a

nostalgic Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a neoclassical compound derived from Greek, consisting of (''nóstos''), a Homeric word meaning "homecomi ...

and autumnal feel, with the team eventually settling on

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

as the location of the fictional town of Arcadia Bay. It was decided early on that most of the budget be spent on the writing and voice actors. The story was originally written in French by Jean-Luc Cano, and converted into a game script by the game's co-directors and design team. This was then handed over to Christian Divine and Cano to be finetuned in English. Recording sessions were done in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, with the French developer brought in via

Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...

. The textures were hand painted, adapted to achieve what art director Michel Koch called "impressionistic rendering". Sources of inspiration include the

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

Danganronpa is a Japanese video game franchise created by Kazutaka Kodaka and developed and owned by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Spike). The series primarily surrounds various groups of apparent high-school students who are forced into murdering each oth ...

'', in terms of balancing gameplay and story, and the novel ''

The Catcher in the Rye ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is the only novel by American author J. D. Salinger. It was partially published in serial form in 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its theme ...

'', whose protagonist

Holden Caulfield Holden Caulfield (identified as "Holden Morrisey Caulfield" in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison", and "Holden V. Caulfield" in ''The Catcher in the Rye'') is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger. He is most famous f ...

shares a surname with Max, the lead character. For the sake of realism, the supernatural elements were designed as a metaphor for the characters' inner conflict, and experts were consulted to tackle difficult subjects such as teen suicide. Following the release and success of the first ''Life is Strange'', publisher Square Enix chose American developer Deck Nine to develop a prequel game focusing on the life of Chloe Price, while the Dontnod team began developing a direct sequel. Development on the project began in 2016 with assistance from Square Enix' London Studios.

Ashly Burch Ashly Burch (born June 19, 1990) is an American actress, writer, director, and singer. She is known for her roles as Aloy in the ''Horizon (video game series), Horizon'' series, Chloe Price in the ''Life Is Strange (video game), Life Is Strange ...

, who voiced Chloe in ''Life Is Strange'', was replaced by Rhianna DeVries due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. However, Burch and Hannah Telle, who voiced Max Caulfield, both reprised their roles for the bonus episode ''Farewell''. The project went under various

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

s during development. The writers researched memoirs and psychology to understand Chloe's grieving process, and the script for the game was over 1,500 pages, written by lead writer Zak Garriss and a writers' room. Prior to its official announcement, images had leaked online indicating that a prequel to ''Life Is Strange'' was in development. Square Enix revealed '' Life Is Strange: Before the Storm'' on 11 June during Microsoft's E3 2017 presentation. Dontnod had decided early on that prospective follow-ups to ''Life Is Strange'' would feature new characters and locations to the original, with the developers feeling that Max and Chloe's story had run its course over the first two games. Game co-director Raoul Barbet explained that "It's a question we asked ourselves at the beginning. Is it Max and Chloe, Arcadia Bay? No, it's about everyday characters, relatable characters with stories you can involve yourself in, because it reflects your own experiences. With some supernatural stuff on the top." Michel Koch added that "everyone loved Max, Chloe, Rachel... But heir story..it's done. We have nothing more to tell. We don't want to. Other people will do it, and it's okay... But for us, we have nothing more to do. Take

hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

and do whatever you want." Development on '' Life Is Strange 2'' began in early 2016 as the first game shipped its physical edition. Michel Koch and Raoul Barbet returned to direct the sequel, with Christian Divine and Jean-Luc Cano reprising their roles as co-writers. The concept was influenced by the photography of Mike Brodie, who would freighthop across the United States and take pictures of drifters. The game is structured like a

road movie A road movie is a film genre, genre of film in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the the ...

, inspired by the film '' Into the Wild'' and novella ''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...

''. Dontnod conducted field research on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

, meeting people and taking pictures there. The two primary themes of the game are

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

brother A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used ende ...

hood. Using the

Unreal Engine 4 Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) is the fourth version of Unreal Engine developed by Epic Games. UE4 began development in 2003 and was released in March 2014, with the first game using UE4 being released in April 2014. UE4 introduced support for Physically ...

, they upgraded the

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

system,

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, and

shader In computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that calculates the appropriate levels of light, darkness, and color during the rendering of a 3D scene—a process known as '' shading''. Shaders have evolved to perform a variety of s ...

s. According to Dontnod, one of the biggest challenges of development was the

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

of the character Daniel. Deck Nine began work on ''True Colors'' after completing ''Before the Storm'' in 2017. A common theme of the ''Life Is Strange'' series has been based on characters with a type of super-human ability, though not like

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

es, that the developers can then provide "meditations on real experiences that regular people go through", according to Felice Kuan, senior writer at Deck Nine. For ''True Colors'', they had determined early on they wanted their protagonist to be based on a power around empathy, not only to be able to sense what others were experiencing but to be vulnerable herself and would be able to grow past this as the story progressed, "giving her a path to greater self-acceptance and greater trust in her own abilities" according to Kuan. This led to creating the story around

Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...

losing her brother early in the game as a driver for her to explore her empathy powers and reveal more about her past as she uses them. Erika Mori portrays Alex through full performance capture, which Mori said was "instrumental in successfully creating this game about empathy because it allowed us to get really high-fidelity facial expressions that were organically connected to whatever was going on with my voice and body in a particular scene."

Future

In a 2019 interview, Dontnod Entertainment, the developer of the first two mainline games in the series, expressed interest in the future of the franchise while noting they would opt for new characters again, but explained that the rights belong to Square Enix and that decisions on the future of the franchise lay with them. Dontnod has shifted their focus to develop their own intellectual properties in recent years. With the announcement of ''Life Is Strange: True Colors'',

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

reported that Dontnod's time with the franchise was over and that the ''Life Is Strange'' series have been transferred to Deck Nine. In April 2024,

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

reported about a toxic workplace culture at Deck Nine, which came to light early last year while they were working on the next ''Life Is Strange'' game.

Gameplay

The ''Life Is Strange'' games are

adventures An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme s ...

played from a

third-person view In video games, third-person (also spelled third person) is a graphical perspective rendered from a fixed distance behind and slightly above the player character. This viewpoint allows players to see a more strongly characterized avatar and is ...

. The player can examine and interact with objects, which enables

puzzle solving A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are different ...

in the form of fetch quests and making changes to the environment. The player can explore locations and communicate with

non-player character A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

s. Dialogue exchanges feature branching options in conversation. In some instances, choices in dialogue will alter and affect the story through short- or long-term consequences. For each one of the choices, something good in the short term could turn out worse later. Each individual game in the series features a central mechanic unique to that game. In ''Life Is Strange'', the player (as Max) has access to a "rewind" ability, which allows them to rewind time and alter the course of events. The rewind mechanic is accessible in conversation, allowing players to navigate branching dialogue options and change the outcome of a conversation to be beneficial to the player. Items picked up are kept in the inventory after a rewind, and changes in the environment remain in place. In ''Before the Storm'', Chloe has a "backtalk" mechanic that allows her to persuade and intimidate other characters through conversation, with either positive or negative effects. In ''Life Is Strange 2'', the player (as Sean) must guide Daniel, who has the power of telekinesis, through various moral and ethical choices that will influence how he will use his powers to help or hinder the player as the game progresses. In ''True Colors'', the player (as Alex) has psychic empathy powers that allow her to read and manipulate emotions, which she perceives as colorful auras, to physically see how others feel around her at the cost of being "infected" by their emotions. Some of the non-player characters will have more intense auras indicating trauma or hardship they may be going through. When Alex interacts with them, this creates a "nova" that appears to transform the world around Alex and the character to reflect elements of this trauma, giving the opportunity for the player to figure out what caused their emotions and to opt to guide Alex in helping to comfort the character.

Games

''Life Is Strange'' (2015)

Maxine "Max" Caulfield returns to her hometown of Arcadia Bay,

, where she witnesses childhood friend Chloe Price being shot by Nathan Prescott. The incident triggers Max's abilities to rewind time, allowing her to save Chloe from Nathan. As the two friends begin to reconnect, Max has visions of a violent storm approaching Arcadia Bay, and uses her newfound powers to help Chloe track down her missing friend Rachel Amber. The game was released in five episodes across 2015 for

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, with

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

, Android and

MacOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

versions released later on. ''Episode 1: Chrysalis'' was released on 30 January, ''Episode 2: Out of Time'' on 24 March, ''Episode 3: Chaos Theory'' on 19 May, ''Episode 4: Dark Room'' on 28 July, and ''Episode 5: Polarized'' on 20 October. Retail editions of the complete season for Xbox One, PS4 and PC were released on 22 January 2016 in Europe, and 19 January 2016 in North America.

''Life Is Strange: Before the Storm'' (2017)

Three years before the events of ''Life Is Strange'', Chloe Price is struggling with the death of her father when she meets and befriends popular student Rachel Amber. As the two develop an intense relationship, they uncover long-buried secrets within the Amber family that lead Rachel on a search for her birth mother. The game was released in three episodes across 2017 for

, and

, with

, Android and

versions released later on. ''Episode 1: Awake'' was released on 31 August, ''Episode 2: Brave New World'' on 19 October, and ''Episode 3: Hell Is Empty'' on 20 December. The ''Deluxe Edition'' included the DLC bonus episode ''Farewell'', released on 6 March 2018. In it, Max struggles to tell Chloe of her imminent move to Seattle. To distract herself, she lets Chloe take them on a pirate treasure hunt in search of "treasure" buried by Chloe's father, William. Their day is ultimately cut short by the news of William's death.

''The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit'' (2018)

Christopher "Chris" Eriksen fashions himself into the superhero Captain Spirit to help his alcoholic father set up the house for Christmas. He imagines his various chores as

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

s to be defeated - including his arch-nemesis Mantroid, an embodiment of his feelings surrounding the death of his mother in a hit-and-run. After an argument with his father, Chris falls from his treehouse, but mysteriously levitates instead of hitting the ground, and spots two boys watching from afar (who appear in ''Life Is Strange 2''). ''The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit'' was released on 25 June 2018 as a free demo for ''Life Is Strange 2'', and takes place during the events of that game's second episode.

''Life Is Strange 2'' (2018–2019)

Sean Diaz and his younger brother Daniel flee their home in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

following their father's death at the hands of a police officer. An explosion damages the environment and following the incident, Daniel develops telekinetic abilities. Now fugitives, the brothers embark on a cross-country road trip down the American West Coast toward their father's homeland of Puerto Lobos,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, as Sean struggles to step up as a father figure for Daniel and guide him through the moral implications of his new-found powers. As they meet friends and foes along the road, including their estranged mother, the decisions Sean makes shape who Daniel will become, and eventually the ultimate outcome of their journey. The game was released in five episodes for

, and

, and later for

and

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

. ''Episode 1: Roads'' was released on 27 September 2018. ''Episode 2: Rules'' was released on 24 January 2019. ''Episode 3: Wastelands'' was released on 9 May 2019. ''Episode 4: Faith'' was released on 22 August 2019. ''Episode 5: Wolves'' was released on 3 December 2019. Retail editions of the complete season were released on 3 December 2019 in Europe, and 4 February 2020 in North America.

''Life Is Strange: True Colors'' (2021)

Alex Chen Alexandra "Alex" Chen is a character from the '' Life Is Strange'' video game series published by Square Enix. Created by American developer Deck Nine, she first appears in the 2021 video game '' Life Is Strange: True Colors'' as its main prota ...

hides her "curse": the psychic power of Empathy, the ability to absorb the emotions of others. When her brother dies in a so-called accident, Alex must embrace her power to find the truth. The game was released on 10 September 2021 for Stadia,

, Series X/S,

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

and

. Announced as the third mainline game of the series, it was released while still being structured in five chapters. It released on

on 7 December that year. The Deluxe Edition includes the DLC story ''Wavelengths''.

''Life Is Strange Remastered Collection'' (2022)

''Life Is Strange Remastered Collection'' is a collection of ''Life Is Strange'' and ''Life Is Strange: Before the Storm''

remastered A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

by Deck Nine. It was released for

Google Stadia Stadia was a cloud gaming service developed and operated by Google. Known in development as Project Stream, the service debuted through a Software release life cycle#closed beta, closed beta in October 2018, and publicly launched in November 20 ...

in February 2022 and released digitally and retail for

in September 2022 as ''Life Is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection''. The collection includes all previously released content with refinements including character animation using facial motion capture. It is available as part of the ''Ultimate Edition'' bundle of '' Life Is Strange: True Colors''. The Windows version received "mixed or average reviews" with a score of 70 based on 7 reviews on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. The collection was announced alongside ''Life Is Strange: True Colors'' on 21 March 2021. On 15 June, it was announced to then release on 30 September 2021, on

(

and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

backwards-compatible). The Nintendo Switch version was announced during the

Nintendo Direct Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentations or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began ...

E3 2021 presentation, then for release later that year. On 11 August, the collection was delayed to early 2022, alongside an announcement of the ''Life Is Strange: True Colors''

, ''Wavelengths'', releasing on 30 September. On 24 September, it was said to release on 1 February 2022. On 21 January 2022, it was announced that the Switch version was delayed to later in 2022 and on 16 August, the version was said to release on 27 September 2022 as ''Life Is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection''.

''Life Is Strange: Double Exposure'' (2024)

During an Xbox Showcase presentation in June 2024, Deck Nine and Square Enix announced the next entry in the franchise titled ''Life Is Strange: Double Exposure''. It was released on October 29 for Windows, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, to be followed by a Switch release at a later date. The game features the original game's protagonist, Max Caulfield, as an adult, solving a murder mystery split across two timelines. It is set in the US state of

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

at the fictional "Caledon University".

Other media

Comics

A four-part miniseries was announced in May 2018, which became an ongoing series published by Titan Comics beginning in November 2018. Following the events of ''Life Is Strange''s "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending, the comic follows Max and Chloe as they come to terms with the aftermath of the storm and letting Arcadia Bay be destroyed. The series is written by Emma Vieceli, with interior and cover art by Claudia Leonardi, and colours by Andrea Izzo. The series act concluded with the release of ''Life Is Strange: Settling Dust'' in March 2022, but the series will continue according to

Newsarama ''Newsarama'' is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website ''GamesRadar+'', also owned by Future US. Hi ...

. In July 2023, a new series, entitled ''Life Is Strange: Forget-Me-Not,'' was announced for publication in December 2023. The series, written by Zoe Thorogood, again drawn by Leonardi and colored by Izzo, will follow Alex Chen and Steph Gingrich after the events of ''True Colors''.

Books

In September 2018,

partnered with Titan Publishing on ''Life Is Strange: Welcome to Blackwell Academy'', written by Matt Forbeck, a 160-page book exploring the ''Life Is Strange'' universe through the eyes of a student guide to Blackwell Academy and Arcadia Bay. It features notes, sketches and photographs from various characters of the first game and was released on 9 October. In July 2022, Titan announced a prose novel by Rosiee Thor about Steph Gingrich, ''Steph's Story'', for release on 21 March 2023. A second novel ''Heatwaves'' by Brittney Morris, featuring Alex and Steph after the events of True Colors, was released on 30 July 2024.

Possible television series

In July 2016, Legendary Digital Studios and Square Enix announced that they would be adapting ''Life Is Strange'' as a digital series. At the time of the announcement, they were meeting with potential writers for the series adaptation, which would be set in Arcadia Bay. In 2017, dj2 Entertainment had sold the rights to the series to the streaming service

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

. In August 2021, it was announced that

Shawn Mendes Shawn Peter Raul Mendes ( , ; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian singer. He gained a following in 2013 when he posted song covers on the video-sharing platform Vine (software), Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manage ...

would serve as an executive producer on the series, in addition to overseeing the music for the series. It was also revealed that Anonymous Content would be joining as a production company for the series.

Reception

The series' reception has been generally positive, with all games receiving "generally favorable" reviews according to aggregator

. Michel Koch has described the series and the approach to its characters as an anthology series similar to TV series like ''

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American Anthology series, anthology Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto for the premium cable network HBO. The series premiered on January 12, 2014, and ...

'' or ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' (''AHS'') is an American horror film, horror anthology series, anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy (producer), Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the Cable television, cable network FX (TV channel), FX. Th ...

'' in 2015. ''

Life Is Strange ''Life Is Strange'' is a series of adventure games published by Square Enix's Square Enix External Studios, External Studios. Created by Dontnod Entertainment, the series debuted with the Life Is Strange (video game), eponymous first install ...

'' received generally favorable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 85/100 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Some criticized issues with the game's

lip-syncing Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements ...

and use of outdated

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

, but most lauded the character development and time travel component. ''

'' called it "one of the best interactive story games of this generation" and ''Hardcore Gamer'' said it was the

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

of 2015. ''Life Is Strange'' received over 75 Game of the Year awards and listings. '' Life Is Strange: Before the Storm'' was met with generally favorable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 77/100. Critics praised the characters, themes, and story, but criticized plot holes, the main relationship, and the impact of players' decisions near the end of the game. '' Life Is Strange 2'' was met with generally favorable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 78/100. Critics praised the story, the relationship between Sean and Daniel and the choice-based gameplay while reception of the portrayed political themes were divergent. The sparse episodic release schedule and the dialogue were criticized. '' Life Is Strange: True Colors'' received "generally favorable reviews" with a Metacritic score of 81/100. IGN praised the setting of Haven Springs, writing that the game has "arguably the best setting in any Life is Strange game to date". Game Informer liked the writing of the game, stating, "True Colors' writing is so strong that it didn't need a supernatural ability to tell this story." Justin Clark of GameSpot enjoyed the story's themes, feeling that some of game's interactions were "powerful" and "emotionally resonant".

References

Notes

External links

Official website
{{Don't Nod Square Enix franchises Video game franchises introduced in 2015