When Max was brought back for Life is Strange: Double Exposure, I joined the masses in being excited to see her again. And while it was a great start to the story of her life at Caledon University, the final act left me flat thanks to a convoluted plot and a mess of choices that were at best not satisfying, and at worst seemingly misleading. So, when Reunion was announced, I approached the idea with a bit more scepticism – but I’m glad to say that Deck Nine have turned it around, crafting a fantastic narrative centered around Max and Chloe, and wrapping up loose threads from Double Exposure as well as the series as a whole.
The central hook is that, as mentioned, Chloe is back. Players of the original LiS will know (spoilers for that game and Double Exposure ahead) that at the end we had to choose between saving Chloe, or saving our home town of Arcadia Bay from a giant storm. Up until now there has been no ‘canon’ ending, and even here Deck Nine smartly weaves around this by integrating DE’s timeline merging ending.
The central story focuses on Max and her return to Caledon after a weekend away showcasing her photography. As she arrives, a huge fire is raging through the campus, and she is all but powerless to help anyone. Seeing her friend Moses seemingly die in the chaos, Max jumps back in time through a selfie she took on the way out to her showcase, which gives her two days to figure out how the fire started and try to stop it.
Meanwhile, Chloe is haunted by waking nightmares of her own death and the town’s destruction. Logic tells her that this can’t be true – after all, she’s alive and Arcadia Bay is still standing – but knowing Max and her ability to alter the past, she can’t be sure of what to believe. Desperate for clarity, she sets out to find Max to see if she can help her make sense of it all.
This dual central mystery is written brilliantly, with the paths of both weaving in and out of each other in satisfying ways. I was engaged throughout as I tried to piece it all together, and each new twist or revelation was excellently handled. It’s not a strictly linear story, so we need to find evidence along the way as to the who/what/why/when of the fire, but also what Chloe’s visions mean, and why she’s able to remember both timelines.
This involves talking to everyone, but also making use of Max’s rewind to… encourage more answers from people. Double Exposure’s dual timeline hopping is gone, so we’re back to rewinding time by up to a few minutes to use our new knowledge to lead the conversations. It’s entirely possible to miss key information (I certainly did in my playthrough) and so it’s worth exploring as much as possible before moving on.
As an Xbox Play Anywhere title, we spent a good chunk of time playing on the ROG Xbox Ally X. Happily, the game performs brilliantly, though the higher settings can cause the Ally X to struggle at times, especially on battery power. Knocking a few settings down improves things and, crucially, doesn’t take away from the experience. It still looks lovely, and is a perfectly enjoyable way to play this fantastic adventure. This will almost certainly be the way I will replay the majority of the game as and when I come to do so.
ROG Xbox Ally X Corner
At points, we get to play directly as Chloe, who has her own speech game to play. She can influence people to get what she needs but this can also backfire, closing off lines of dialogue. With no rewind, these are far trickier to manage than Max’s sections, but tend to offer more direct story implications.
To me, this feels much more Life is Strange than Double Exposure in both being able to use Max’s powers and the general flow of the experience. As I mentioned, the central mystery had me second guessing myself at every turn, and – in contrast to Double Exposure – by the time I wrapped up my playthrough I wasn’t ready to see it end. Deck Nine have absolutely nailed things with Reunion, with a great story, excellent performances from the cast, and yet another fantastic soundtrack – all of which are essential to a great LiS.
Conclusion
A massive improvement over Double Exposure, and an excellent send off for the two characters that the Life is Strange fanbase are obviously hugely fond of. The core mystery kept me guessing throughout, the performances are excellent, and the investigative nature of the story encourages us to dig deep rather than just follow a checklist. It’s just all-round brilliant stuff.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
