We see Max infiltrating a party hosted by Abraxas, a secret society at her university whose members seem to swear by anonymity and passwords to ensure that their activities remain under the radar. Of course, those efforts at staying hidden are no match for Max’s ability to rewind time, and since she isn’t working alone this time around, she uses those powers to help Chloe do her own thing. Thus far, it looks like your experience will depend on how well you utilise their individual strengths.

Life is Strange: Reunion closure to a story that began in the first title of the franchise, with Max and Chloe reuniting and working together to stop an inferno that threatens to envelop Caledon University. With its excellent visuals and a gameplay loop that’s going to bring some hard choices for you to make, this one is definitely among our most anticipated titles for the year.

Time will tell if this is a story worth experiencing, but for now, the trailer below has given us a reason to be optimistic. It releases for the PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S on March 26th.

As it turns out, Max’s decision in Double Exposure has seemingly brought Chloe back to life. But as wonderful as the reunion sounds, it’s far from a new beginning, as senior brand manager Andrew James says this is the “thrilling finale” to both characters’ long-running saga, “a chapter that brings their book to a close.”

“This is a full circle moment for both developers and fans — one that builds on everything that has come before. And even as the game delivers a reunion long-thought impossible, it also caps off our time at Caledon University in a literal blaze of glory,” James said on Xbox Wire.

Instead of simply playing as Max throughout, players also control Chloe. While the former regains the power to use Rewind, including the ability to remain in the past depicted in a photograph, the latter can Backtalk against characters. Chloe also has the benefits of being able to go places where Max can’t, potentially chasing down new leads.

Your choices will also define how the two were in the past and what ultimately happened on the fateful night in Arcadia Bay. Life is Strange: Reunion launches on March 26th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. There’s a Standard Edition, which includes the base game; a Deluxe Edition featuring the digital soundtrack, art book, documentary, and prequel comic; and the Twin Pack that also bundles Double Exposure.

As a sequel to Double Exposure, Price arrives at Caledon University, where Max Caulfield works as a photographer-in-residence. After the events of the very first Life is Strange, the two close friends went their separate ways, but after dealing with strange nightmares (including things that seemingly didn’t happen, hint hint), Chloe seeks Max’s help. The only problem is that an inferno threatens to engulf the university in a few days, leading to the death of her friends.

There’s also the matter of the personal differences between the two, the return of Safi (who believes the inferno is meant to be), and more. Much like its predecessors, you can expect Reunion to be a narrative adventure, where consequences result from each decision. How things will end remains to be seen, but you’ll be able to play as Chloe and Max at different points of the story.

For more details on Life is Strange: Double Exposure, check out our review.

You can spot Ms Caulfield passing by the camera, with her brown hair barely peeking out, and she’s followed by a taller figure. We don’t see her face, but the jacket, complete with a bird design on the back, screams “Chloe Price.” Considering how significant a bird (the blue jay) was in the first game, it’s certainly fitting.

According to PEGI, the new title is called Life is Strange: Reunion and sees Chloe venturing to Caledon University in search of Max. She’s “haunted by nightmares and impossible memories,” but also runs smack-dab into a new crisis facing the campus. The two will likely team up to face it, though, considering how things turned out in their hometown (especially if that ending is canon), players may have to make another impossible choice.

Life is Strange: Reunion doesn’t have a release date, but it’s out sometime this year. Much like Double Exposure, you can likely expect it to launch on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch, along with a potential Switch 2 version.

After uncertainty regarding her fate from the first game, it seems Chloe Price is alive. The premise revolves around her coming to Caledon University, “haunted by nightmares and impossible memories” while seeking Max’s help. However, things are apparently already stressful for Miss Caulfield because “in three days, a deadly inferno will destroy the campus.”

A consequence of using her time-jumping-turned-dimensional-hopping powers in Double Exposure? Perhaps. It certainly wouldn’t be the first butterfly effect in the series.

Rated “16” for violence, foul language, drugs, and in-game purchases, Reunion seemingly features “strong, realistic violence.” However, there is a fair amount of implication. At one point, a building is on fire and “people are heard inside screaming for help” as opposed to, say, being shown burning alive. Other heavy topics like suicide are also brought up.

Much like Double Exposure, players can also purchase new outfits and even upgrade to a Digital Deluxe version. Perhaps the only strange (pun fully intended) part is that it’s listed for release on March 27th, 2025, for PS5, but it could be an error.

Square Enix has yet to officially announce the title, so stay tuned for an official announcement, potentially in the coming months. With PS5 listed as the sole platform, it may appear at an upcoming State of Play.

Shortly after the launch of Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Deck Nine has announced on Twitter that it is laying off an undisclosed number of people, citing “challenging times” in the games industry.

“Today, we are sad to share the news that we must say goodbye to some of our team members,” Deck Nine wrote in its announcement. “This was an extremely difficult decision and reflects the challenging times many companies in our industry are currently facing. We are extremely grateful to every individual who has dedicated their hard work, passion, and commitment to making transformative entertainment with us.”

This is the third time Deck Nine has had to cut jobs in the space of less than two years, having previously announced layoffs in May of last year and February earlier this year.

Deck Nine has previously also developed Life is Strange: True Colors and Life is Strange: Before the Storm, and also co-developed The Expanse: A Telltale Series.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

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— Deck Nine Games (@DeckNineGames) December 6, 2024

Life is Strange: Double Exposure will release for the Nintendo Switch as early as tomorrow, November 19. The game will only be available digitally at launch, but Square Enix has also confirmed that a physical release will follow on January 28 next year.

The physical edition, pre-orders for which are live now, will include the full game on the cart. Check out the trailer below for a glimpse of the game running on the Switch (with noticeably downgraded visuals compared to the other versions, unsurprisingly). 

In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, “Both a worthy sequel to the beloved original and an excellent game in its own right, Life is Strange: Double Exposure is one of the series’ most engrossing outings to date.” Read the full review through here.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. 

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is split across five chapters, and sees the return of Max Caulfied, the fan-favourite protagonist of the original game. Set ten years after the first game’s events, Max is now the resident photographer at Caledon University, and once again finds herself in the midst of a supernatural mystery as she attempts to solve (and maybe even prevent) the murder of her best friend Safi across two different timelines. 

In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, “Both a worthy sequel to the beloved original and an excellent game in its own right, Life is Strange: Double Exposure is one of the series’ most engrossing outings to date.” Read the full review through here.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and is also in the works for Switch.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is set a decade after the events of the first game, and is set in Caledon University in Vermont, where Max works as a resident photographer. After discovering her best friend Safi dead in the snow, however, she awakens to new, different kinds of time powers. Now able to swap across two different timelines, Max must find out who killed Safi in her timeline, and maybe even prevent her murder in another. 

In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, “Both a worthy sequel to the beloved original and an excellent game in its own right, Life is Strange: Double Exposure is one of the series’ most engrossing outings to date.” Read the full review through here.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It is also in development for Nintendo Switch.

The decision to go back to Max and make a direct follow-up to the original game raised more than a few eyebrows, with many wondering how Double Exposure would be able to not only justify its own existence, but also do justice to the original by telling a new story around Max that feels strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with what we’ve experienced in the past. And while nothing will ever have the sort of impact that the original Life is Strange did nearly a decade ago, I can confidently say that Double Exposure is a worthy sequel. It’s a welcome return for Max, a meaningful follow-up to her original story, and an excellent new entry in the franchise, telling what might be one of its strongest stories to date.

"While nothing will ever have the sort of impact that the original Life is Strange did nearly a decade ago, I can confidently say that Double Exposure is a worthy sequel. It’s a welcome return for Max, a meaningful follow-up to her original story, and an excellent new entry in the franchise, telling what might be one of its strongest stories to date."

Set ten years after the original, in Double Exposure, we find Max at Caledon University in Vermont, where she works as the resident photographer, the days of her time manipulation powers long in the past, but still a very distinct memory. The peace and quiet she has found in her life, however, is soon upended when she finds her best friend Safi dead in the snow, following which her old powers awaken again, but this time allowing her not to rewind time, but two jump between two different timelines- her own timeline, and one where Safi isn’t dead. Now, she hopes to use her powers to not only find out who killed her friend, but try and prevent the same from happening in the other timeline- all with the knowledge that the last time she relied too much on her time manipulation powers, things did not end well.

The setup is a gripping one, and the game does an incredible job of stacking layer upon layer as it hones in on its central mystery, and on more than a few occasions, it caught me by surprise with its twists and reveals. Just as crucial to the game’s storytelling strengths, meanwhile, is Double Exposure’s cast of characters. There’s Max herself, of course, who continues to be a wonderfully endearing character, just as she was in the series’ debut outing, while she’s surrounded by a diverse cast of excellently developed personalities. From instantly lovable friends to complicated characters with complicated pasts to those that you simple love to hate to everything in between, Double Exposure’s cast is packed with several strong, well-written, and wonderfully acted characters who each leave their own mark and earn their place in the story.

But though Double Exposure’s story does largely serve as a self-sufficient one that doesn’t really require any prior reading, this is, at the end of the day, Max Caulfield’s second big adventure- so how well does it serve the role of being a sequel? On that front, I think the game does a good job of balancing between being a standalone entry and following up on the first game. Without going into spoilers for either of the two instalments, Double Exposure does take both of the first Life is Strange’s endings into account, allowing you to choose which of the two you want to go with, and from that point forward, by and large, Max’s life in Arcadia Bay – from her history with Chloe to her time rewind powers – is largely background stuff that you’ll find plenty of references to in texts, journal entries, conversations, and what have you, while the game sets up its own largely separate story.

"Double Exposure effectively toes the line between telling its own story for newcomers to enjoy without having to worry about required reading, and telling a story that will returning fans will find sufficiently rewarding."

Of course, that’s not quite as true in the back half of the game, where the story does start throwing in stronger and more overt elements that are tied directly to Max’s time in Arcadia Bay- which is about as much as I can say without going into spoilers. Suffice to say, by and large, I think Double Exposure effectively toes the line between telling its own story for newcomers to enjoy without having to worry about required reading, and telling a story that will returning fans will find sufficiently rewarding.

The game’s choice-and-consequence mechanics, meanwhile, are also typically strong. Life is Strange games have never failed to stick the landing in that area, and Double Exposure doesn’t disappoint either. On more than a few occasions, the game threw me into moments of decision where I genuinely had to take pause and think about the choices I was being presented with, and about what the potential ramifications of my actions would be, and that was true not only with big, weighty decision, but also relatively more intimate and less significant choices.

That’s not to say the game has no storytelling issues. As has often been the case with this franchise over the years, Double Exposure isn’t always the best written game. To be fair, it certainly is one of the series’ better written entries, and as is usually the case with the Deck Nine instalments, the dialog largely feels pretty organic and natural. There are times, however, where some of the interactions between characters can feel a bit awkward or stilted, while the game also does tend to occasionally rely on mildly frustrating contrivances to create what feels like unearned tension or drama. That doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, it’s quite noticeable, and it does hurt the credibility of the rest of the story in turn, even if it’s by a little bit.

"On more than a few occasions, the game threw me into moments of decision where I genuinely had to take pause and think about the choices I was being presented with, and about what the potential ramifications of my actions would be."

On the gameplay front, Double Exposure plays exactly the way you’d expect a Life is Strange game to play. Caledon University is a strongly realized setting, and walking around in its snowy environments across two timelines is usually quite enjoyable, whether you’re investigating interesting things in your surroundings, engaging in conversations with any number of characters, finding optional items and collectibles, or simply strolling through pleasant environments.

Max’s new time powers, meanwhile, also elevate the gameplay in their own way. Max has the ability to jump between two timelines, while she can also see and hear across timelines into whichever one she isn’t currently in at the moment. Both of those powers are used for puzzles time and again, and though things never get too complicated, Double Exposure does keep finding ways to make Max’s powers fun and engaging to use. In fact, “simple yet engaging” is a perfect way to describe the gameplay experience here as a whole, which, again, is exactly what you’d expect from a Life is Strange game.

Visually, meanwhile, Double Exposure is largely an impressive game. It won’t take your breath away by any means, but from the environments to the character models to their animations, the game does look pretty sharp for the most part. It does have its rough edges – I’ve run into texture pop-in issues, animation bugs, and some undeniably creepy facial movements during conversations – but nothing that comes close to being game-breaking in any way (in my experience, at least).

"Life is Strange: Double Exposure is an excellent sophomore outing for beloved protagonist Max Caulfield."

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is an excellent sophomore outing for beloved protagonist Max Caulfield. Given how sacred so many still hold the original, it was no surprise that there was some skepticism out there there over whether Deck Nine would be able to deliver a sequel that doesn’t just feel like a cheap, nostalgia-baiting cashgrab, but that is very much not the case. Double Exposure earns and justifies its existence from second one, and tells a gripping tale that will keep you hooked until the credits have rolled.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox Series X.