At Square Enix’s Gamescom came the reveal for Life is Strange 2, and the game’s directors have truly made “something different” with the second installment in the series.
Life is Strange 2 puts gamers in the role of Sean, a teenager who with his brother Daniel, are attempting to flee their small town. Daniel has telekinetic powers, which he surely will use in the road trip of a game that Life is Strange 2 appears to be.
The theme of this game appears to be the relatable cast of characters, as co-director Raoul Barbet puts it, “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.”
So what are these running social themes within the game?
“For us it’s really important to talk about social themes that we think are sometimes not maybe shown enough in video games and it was also important for us to start a new story with brand new characters, so we could also tackle different things”.
So why the new characters in Life Is Strange 2? Well there wasn’t much left to tell for the three characters from the Before the Storm (prequel to Life is Strange).
But the developers assured the audience that their goal was not to disappoint their fanbase, but to give them what they truly need, new characters with fresh storylines.
With Sean and Daniel, Life is Strange 2 is just that; they live as outsiders of society, and with these new boundaries comes moral choices for the player to decide upon.
“you have to deal with everyday problems. And don’t steal, Don’t lie, those are the basic rules. But when you are a runaway, when you have the police is chasing you, you have to say, “okay, these rules, I can break them, because for the own good of my little brother.”
In addition to this, Life is Strange 2 is a pretty basic game. But of course comes the supernatural element comes into question here.
“The supernatural element depends on the story you want to tell,” Koch (co-director) says. “So, for Life is Strange 1, the rewind power was a perfect element for Maxine, for her story and the fact that she has to become an adult.
“But in this case, we want players to discover [the supernatural element] by themselves, for sure. We wanted to have this supernatural element linked to the characters and it will, I think, present some interesting questions and difficult questions.”
Tell us, do you think Life is Strange 2 will be as good as the first game? Are you looking forward to playing it?
