Life Is Strange: Reunion Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, & PC)

Either way you look at it, Life Is Strange: Reunion is not a standalone that can be judged by its own merit. It has lots of history and attachment that fans have built over the years that will certainly factor into whether or not you enjoy the new game. Right from 2015’s Life Is Strange to 2024’s Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, and now the new one this year, we’ve seen photography enthusiast, Max Caulfield, evolve. And dare I say, ourselves, too, as we watched the series’ thriving world of diversity and emotional complexities entangle, often to lasting effect.

Being an anthology, we’ve delighted ourselves in following the upheavals of main characters Max, Chloe, Sean, Daniel, and Alex. How their friendships and relationships are tested by powers bigger than themselves. And we were in the driver’s seat of making the life-or-death choices that changed their lives forever. It’s always been the magnet of the series, allowing the player to influence the story. Almost like the movie you love, but wish you could make different choices for your most beloved characters. And a sprinkle of rewinding time, telekinesis, and empathy powers for at least some level of actual gaming. 

I honestly don’t mind whatever direction the series takes, provided it’s well thought out and executed masterfully. And that’s the mindset that I had going into Deck Nine’s new entry to the series. Is it worth your time? Let’s find out in our Life Is Strange: Reunion review. 

Loose Threads

When you have a series linked through its characters and themes, you can’t get away with players having lingering questions about what happens next. Perhaps the biggest one was whether Max and Chloe would reunite after their break-up in the first game. Well, if that was the choice you made. You might have decided to save Arcadia Bay and killed Chloe as a result, and that would have been a totally logical choice. For the latter logical folks, I presume Chloe’s return may not be the reunion you were hoping for. 

Pretty much every movie I’ve watched that resurrected a dead fellow, especially when their death was so significant to the story, has fallen flat on its face. Nearly ruined the last seasons of Vampire Diaries, but here we are, still repeating the same mistakes. I doubt there’s any path Deck Nine could have taken that could top Chloe dying. In impact and just meaning for the relationship between Max and Chloe. It’s like rekindling an old flame, and no matter how many reasons you give for being together again, it just never ever works out. 

And it sure doesn’t, in the logical sense. The way Chloe returns to Max’s life fails to sit well with your soul. Despite there being some sort of explanation involving merging timelines (from Life Is  Strange: Double Exposure), it feels hurriedly stitched together without much thought. It feels unoriginal and forced. Perhaps my expectations were high for resurrecting a person, but c’mon. It had to be a novel idea as Life Is Strange has proven it’s capable of coming up with in the past. On the other hand, players who live and die by Max and Chloe’s friendship/relationship will probably have an easier time accepting Deck Nine’s decision to rekindle their romance.

Second Try

And rekindle their romance, you will. Pretty literally, with the decisions you make for each of them. At times, you’ll make dialogue decisions for Max, and then switch to Chloe, almost like you’re sheepishly match-making two people you absolutely want to end up together. Or otherwise. Whatever path you choose, you’re in control of what happens between Max and Chloe. And I doubt this will even be a spoiler that they do eventually have the option to walk off into the sunset. Kind of forced, no. From years’ break-up, or worse, Chloe dying, but we move on.

Surrounding Max and Chloe’s flirting and near-kisses, you’ll also be wearing your detective hat. A damning fire broke out at Caledon University, where you’ve landed a Photography teaching job. It feels like a big enough reason to reuse your rewinding-time powers, even though it could potentially do more harm. You pull up a photo you’d taken three days before, travel back in time, and begin tracking down the potential arsonist. 

I should go on and say that those who’ve played previous Life Is Strange games will notice oddities. Like how Max’s powers are only rewinding time. And even the rewind feature has its limits, for instance, she can’t rewind time to rescue her students trapped in the fire. Max doesn’t quite fully understand her powers, and she’s essentially adapting to situations that allow her to make a difference. Jumping through photos, she learns, gives her more time in the past. Yet, she can rewind time ordinarily to a few minutes back, and we’ll see how that gives her an advantage during investigations. Otherwise, the powers she gained in Double Exposure are no more, like jumping through timelines, which I find confusing with Chloe’s return to life, but we move, still. 

Ticking Time Bomb

Life Is Strange: Reunion’s main story, I presume, is stopping the fire at Caledon University. But Max and Chloe’s reunion naturally takes over. Still, you do spend considerable time interrogating suspects. And you do get help from Chloe, Moses, Amanda, and Vinh. Some familiar folks there, with distinct personalities. But others are glaringly missing from previous games. I mean, it makes sense that Arcadia Bay’s characters would be missing at Caledon University. But characters like Gwen Hunter would have been great to have to continue in the series’ celebration of diversity.

It feels like you should care a lot about a fire that will, in three days, wipe out your school. Not just destroy the school, but ends in the death of many of your friends. That sense of urgency, of a ticking time bomb, is something that doesn’t quite hit home. Even as you collect evidence and interrogate suspects, the story’s emotional impact feels more focused on Max and Chloe’s reunion, and the fire is a mere distraction, a by-the-way to pad out your mystery-chasing. Speaking of the mystery of the arsonist, it also doesn’t quite hit the same way when the culprit is revealed. Perhaps because of an overreliance on picking the least obvious choice for the plot twist effect. 

Is It Worth It?

You then compare Life Is Strange: Reunion to Double Exposure, and there’s no debate there. Reunion is a much better-written story that’s more focused on giving Max and Chloe the send-off they deserve. For fans, I imagine that’ll be enough to leave them satisfied. But I can’t help but worry for those looking for originality, especially after playing the first game. Much of the story in Reunion is revisiting the past. But it’s not just an innocent revisiting of a relationship we’ve already seen and rooted for. It’s trying to mend wrong choices, and end with a fanfiction everyone will be happy with. I’m not sure that sits well with my soul, let alone with my wallet.

I then consider that Life Is Strange: Reunion isn’t looking its best at all. Lots of graphical issues distract from gameplay that could have easily been fixed with more time in development. Less than a year isn’t nearly enough time for Deck Nine to put out a new game, considering the layoffs as well. You have low-poly character models, low-res shadows, texture pop-ins, stutters, and frame rate issues. It might be minimal in specific scenes, but they quickly add up across your playthrough.

Verdict

It’s tough to give a verdict on Life Is Strange: Reunion, given the different types of players that will be interested in it. You have the day ones, looking to enjoy an unforgettable story that’s as original as the first game. Yet, that’s already tricky given that Deck Nine deliberately revisits the first game’s events, hoping to rewrite a new ending for Max and Chloe. We already love these two. So, either way, their story remains as heartwarming as ever. But the pay-off just never reaches the height of the first game in shock value and impact. 

Believe it or not, Max and Chloe’s story isn’t even the main story that Life Is Strange: Reunion wants to tell. It’s a mystery-solving plot about trying to stop a devastating fire in three days. A fire, mind you, that doesn’t involve Chloe. Yet, she becomes the center of the investigation, helping Max interrogate potential suspects and collect evidence. Chloe feels like she’s being forced into a story that has nothing to do with her, merely for the sake of making ‘Max+Chloe’ fans happy. And that’s just lazy. 

It’s not a bad game at all, especially compared to Double Exposure’s disappointing story. But I’m inclined to think it could have been more impactful when focused on a new cast and story, just as strongly written as the series has proven it’s more than capable of.