The new Life is Strange game, called Double Exposure, was announced at the Xbox Games Showcase. There’s something important for people who want to play it right away.
The most expensive version of the game, the Ultimate Edition, costs USD 80 and lets you play the first two chapters two weeks before the official release on October 29.
It’s normal for pricier game editions to let you start a few days early, or like with Call of Duty, a week early for the campaign. But getting to play two weeks early is something new and different for a game that isn’t free-to-play.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure Revealed
During the Summer Game Fest last week, Deck Nine Games announced they are making a direct sequel to the original Life Is Strange game, called Life Is Strange: Double Exposure. This sequel will feature the main character from the original game, Max Caulfield.
#MaxCaulfield returns in #LifeIsStrange Double Exposure, an all-new supernatural murder mystery in the award-winning Life is Strange series, by @DeckNineGames.
Coming October 29 2024. #lisdoubleexposure pic.twitter.com/D5g2FZk8Dx
— Life is Strange (@LifeIsStrange) June 9, 2024
On June 13, the studio had a livestream where they talked with the development team and Max’s voice actor, Hannah Telle. They also showed 18 minutes of gameplay footage. The stream answered many questions fans had since the reveal trailer and reassured them that Max would still be her quirky self.
One important thing mentioned during the stream is that Double Exposure will respect both endings of the original game. In the first game, Max had to choose between saving her friend Chloe or the town of Arcadia Bay.
These two choices lead to very different outcomes. In Double Exposure, the game won’t choose which ending is official. Instead, players will discuss Max’s past with her friend Safi, including whether they saved Chloe or not.
It’s not clear how this will affect Double Exposure’s story, but players will see how Max’s life turned out in either scenario.
In Double Exposure, Max is now in college, and her life seems quite different from her time in Arcadia Bay. This might make it easier for the developers to include player choices from the first game without them affecting the new story too much.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure to Respect Original Game’s Endings
Life is Strange: Double Exposure will respect the ending you chose in the original Life is Strange game, according to the developer Deck Nine.
Announced at the Summer Game Fest, Double Exposure continues the story of Max Caulfield, the original teenage protagonist, who is now an adult.
Fans were curious about whether their choices from the first game would be reflected in the sequel. Now, we have more details. “We knew returning to Max’s story had to be special,” said Felice Kuan, the narrative director. “We had to respect the two memorable endings from the first game while creating something new that still connected to Max’s past and moved her story forward.”
Regarding which ending is considered official, Deck Nine said there is no single official ending, which fits the game’s theme of dual timelines. “It was crucial for us at Deck Nine to respect both endings,” said game director Jon Stauder. “Double Exposure does just that.”
“There is no official ending in our view. Double Exposure respects both endings in how Max thinks, what she writes in her journal, her texts, her interactions with others, and what she chooses to share about her past with her new friends.”
In terms of how the game will include players’ choices, Deck Nine said this will happen naturally in the game’s early scenes through a conversation between Max and her new friend Safi.
In the presentation, there was a scene where Safi asks Max about “the girl with the blue hair whose picture you keep in your wallet.” Max can choose to say Chloe was just a friend or a high-school sweetheart.
In Double Exposure, Max, voiced again by Hannah Tell, is now a “photographer-in-residence” at Caledon University in Vermont, similar to the original game’s Blackwell Academy. As a mentor to students, Max can stay on campus without attending classes.
After a stargazing session with Safi and her friend Moses, tragedy strikes. Safi is found dead in one timeline. Max discovers she can move between two worlds—one where Safi is dead and one where she is still alive. Double Exposure is a double mystery: finding the murderer in one timeline before they can act in the other.