LIFE 1S STRANGE: TRUE COLORS

How defining rules - and redefining performance - led to the series’ most accomplished entry to date

- CHRIS SCHILLING

Format - PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series 

Developer - Deck Nine 

Publisher - Square Enix 

Origin - US 

Release - 2021

Anyone could be forgiven for suffering from franchise fatigue – or expanded-universe exhaustion, perhaps – in recent times. Not least because the handful of monolithic corporations which exert something of a stranglehold on modern pop culture seem intent on prolonging the dominance of a single genre. It’s refreshing, then, to hear Philip Lawrence, senior narrative designer on the Life Is Strange series, insist that it isn’t interested in telling a superhero story. Its protagonists might well be able to call upon otherworldly abilities, but “we never want to stray into that kind of territory.” That shouldn’t come as a surprise, though – since day one, Life Is Strange has been created with a very different approach from most of today’s mega-franchises.

Each entry has its own protagonist, central power (or, in one case, no special skills at all) and story to tell, with no need to tie into any wider narrative arc. Yes, there might be nods to locations and characters from previous games, but each time we get a new, self-contained story with a beginning, middle and end, and no post-credits stings trailing the next release that must be watched to keep up with some broader plot. With one exception: 2017’s Before The Storm, in which original developer Dontnod Entertainment passed the reins to Colorado-based studio Deck Nine.