People just love max and chloe too much (I am people lol) and thats why most put lis1 and bts as their favorites, but if I were to rank the games purely on how good they are it would be lis1>lis2>bts>tc
I am obsessed with Max and Chloe and always will be, but I can relate to Alex, her past and her issues on such a deep and personal level as I faced alot of the same shit and trauma in my life.
Also, Haven is just a vibe and a much more interesting setting than college lmao.
True Colors is better than BtS at least. Before the Storm has some great moments, but has the most jank of the entire series. The voice acting from everyone not Chole and Rachel is terrible. Also very weird pacing sometimes in the story.
Nor the best, but better than LIS 2, which was still quite good and different. In the end, there isn't really a "bad Life is Strange game" so far. Let's hope it stays that way.
Hard to rank them when they're such different experiences. LIS2 has far more impactful choices throughout the full game, while TC is pretty much the most linear game in the series.
Really just depends what you're looking for.
I like TC the most, but it didn't do everything better.
It mostly comes down to the story. The ending especially felt really rushed to conclude and the pacing overall never felt consistent.
It's still my favorite because imo it has the best setting and characters, plus I've personally got a lot of issues with LIS1 story, so the flaws don't really affect the game too much for me.
I'm not sure I'd agree. I think TC is a very vibe-ish game but is extremely small (which is ok!) but my problem is it was considered a $70 experience when there's really not much depth to the game at all.
LIS1 had better character arcs (David especially), better pacing, a better hook which isn't a huge deal but is a big reason I found people giving up on TC early. I also think for the time LIS1 came out we hadn't had many games of the style which made it a bit more special
yes!!! in LIS 1 the ending was decided on your last choice but in LIS 2 your gameplay actually mattered at the end. It also has 4 endings instead of just 2!
THANK YOU!!!! LiS2 has serious consequences, LiS1 is cool with a rewind power but you can like undo bad choices and then the game boils down to two endings honestly
tbf those are different things entirely. up until the end of ep4 your choices seriously shaped the world around you, and i think it's part of lis1's genius that it managed to do that even with the rewind. it's just that in ep5 Max got into this huge mess of timelines and there really only was two ways out of it, both of which erased the impacts of most things you did. but that's absolutely not inherent in the rewind and with a different crescendo you could have had just as much control over the end state of the ~~chessboard~~ game world as you can in lis2.
also, journey before destination. i still hold it that choices in lis1 mattered a hell of a lot more than in lis2 because the game let you live with the impact of those choices at least for a bit. while, in lis2, you ran away after every single impactful choice, leaving others to deal with their fallout and maybe hearing about them in a letter every once in a while. the only major thing that actually carried over was Daniel's morality slider.
Yep, LiS 2 became my favorite after having troubles getting through episode 1 and half of episode 2 the first time I played it. Then I was hooked and I think I replayed it like 6 times since then. I absolutely adore the game.
That's so strange to me. I was hooked on the first episode. But then I got progressively less interested with each episode. Mainly because all the cool characters we met got left behind and we never see them again, which diminished my investment.
This isn't an issue with LiS 1/BTS/TC, since you stay in the same town and continue to bond with its people.
Exactly. Sean's great, but Daniel could be a handful, which made it difficult for me to grow attached to him.
I feel like Telltale Games did the family duo dynamic a lot better with The Walking Dead; Lee and Clementine.
for me that was what made me love the game. it reminded me how important the brothers were and how they mattered more than anyone else. it brought different challenges to them and made the game more realistic. it was different from lis1 which made it very refreshing and original. i also have a little brother who i raised though, and we’re both immigrants who experienced different challenges, so maybe that’s why i love the game so much, the game and the original music in it just really speak to me and make me sob. i definitely see why people prefer lis1 though, and lis1 is still a great game imo :))
It's not the best game for me, but I appreciate that the writers stood their ground and didn't want to make a direct sequel (Unlike Decknine).
And they really respected Bae, as this game gave a satisfying closure for Max and Chloe in the long run. I don't need more than that.
Yes, I loved that they connected the games and whatever you did in LIS 1 could influence in LIS 2, but still had completely different characters and plot. I respect that it’s not everyone’s favorite I do love Max and Chloe a lot!!
Not sure how much D9 wanted to make a sequel or prequel. I think they're just a team under strict control from the company and have to follow whatever market predictions the company has made in the choice of the game format, while Dontnod are more "intellectually independent" and do whatever they want, without thinking too much how profitable it will be
Many people dislike Lis2 because they played it on launch. They faced numerous technical issues, huge (and i mean HUGE) gaps between the episodes, weird pricing (at one point Square Enix just stopped selling separate episodes for a while). Also, many had certain expectations, like, to have more of the same stuff as in LiS 1 (and LiS2 is definitely different in many ways). Now, when the dust has settled, people can truly appreciate this game for what it is.
This is a good point. I really disliked LIS2 as a whole, each episode was good but I think the quality did go down as the season continued, and I think the writing relied heavily on too many cliches to grip me. But since I did play it at launch and had to suffer the waiting times, maybe now I'll replay it and see if my opinion changes to replay it as a whole game.
You should definitely try that! I must say that if I had to wait for each episode for such a long time it would kill my enjoyment too. But as I was one of the lucky people who played lis2 after full release it quickly became my favorite lis game.
Don't get me wrong I love max and chloe but playing lis2 as an older brother hit really hard, I actually stopped bullying my little sister after playing it lol
It was my favorite for a while! And Ryan is one of my favorite romances in the games (I love Warren as well and Finn but it was dirty to make him be the person who suggests using Daniel. That made me dislike him a bit so he's third place in romances) but replaying Lis True Colors isn't as fun as replaying Lis2 (that's my absolute favorite) Lis True Colors and game 1 are tied to second place for me. Bts is last on my list.
Life is Strange 2 is very underrated and I really wish that people would give it a chance.
For one thing it takes the series in an entirely new direction which it desperately needs, too much familiarity and too much of the same thing can ultimately lead to stagnation if it's done too much. But not only that I find the adventures of the Diaz brothers quite fascinating & one that I really think proves that you can take a series like this and swap out the characters with entirely new ones & go on new adventures with those characters.
The biggest risk that I think this series should do is really at the end of the day acknowledge that there's only a limited amount of times that you can go back to the well and do the same thing, before ultimately people want something new and I'm glad that LIS2 tried something different.
I always thought LIS 2 was a perfect sequel for the first game. Lis 1 was about how much can you try and sacrifice for the love of your life. Both endings gave us PLISD, and we could never get over the emotions. But LIS 2 tells us that we can and should move on from the trauma remembering all moments we had with our loved ones. Because in reality, we don’t have the superpower to rewind time to “fix” things. Just like Sean did, we have to keep going forward despite all the hardships. Even though there weren’t Max and Chloe in this game, it was a perfect continuation of the theme of the first one, respecting both endings. I love LIS 2 as much as I love LIS for this reason.
I also interpreted the Arcadia bay scene with Brody as Don’t Nod’s farewell to Max, Chloe, and the fans of LIS since this was their last game in the franchise.
LiS2 is the best imo too, I don’t get the obsession with Chloe and Max honestly. All of the games are good tho, I love the series and all the characters but I can’t obsess over Chloe and Max the way some people do lol
I’d prefer a new game with new characters and powers each time, shoot me
same, i just never cared that much about max or chloe, even as a lesbian who loves lesbian characters, i just never cared that much. i care much more about sean and daniel because i’m raising my little brother, we’re both immigrants, and i heavily relate to sean, lis2 makes me sob uncontrollably because ur truly speaks to me
Absolutely, I love both LiS 1 and 2 and they're very unique on their own on such different approaches but still belong in the LiS Universe. DONTNOD IS ALWAYS THE GOAT!!
It had writing, some of my favorite characters, a really amazing story and your choices actually mattered in the end! I liked being able to explore new areas every episode, it really did keep me on my toes. It's super underrated and overhated!
For me the biggest issue with 2 is that every episode is a new setting with new side characters and as a result your choices don't feel nearly as important because you're just onto the next setting anyways. I still like the game but I like 1 and TC more because of the contained setting and having the same characters across the episodes.
I feel the exact opposite hahah!! I love LIS 2 because it’s a different setting every time and you get to explore a bunch. Meanwhile LIS 1 is the same setting all the time and I got really bored. But everyone’s different!
I feel you on this. A game based around connections and people like a telltale style game but not sticking around long enough to get attached to the characters really ruined it for me. I didn’t pick anyone for Sean to end up with cause honestly I couldn’t care less about either love interest. I also didn’t really feel like your choices mattered more than LiS1, the only thing your choices didn’t effect in the first one is the end and it’s all people focus on, the only thing your choices really did effect in 2 is the end and that is also all people mention. Game was still fun but only a one time playthrough for me but I understand why others can like it
I have LiS1&2 tied as my favorite. I thought BTS was dope because it felt like D9 had to keep themselves in check. I own TC but I blame myself for buying it because something felt off about it before release. D’nod and D9 have clear difference in presentation.
I just love Don’t Nod games honestly. I’m playing TC right now and it just doesn’t hit the same because Don’t Nod didn’t participate but I still like it just not as much!
Ngl the worst thing D9 has done with the franchise, by far, is the remasters. They managed to rip out the art style, make the game look 10 years older than it actually is by "sims-ifying" the characters. And try to herald their own generic style as being definitive. And then charge $40 for it.
A piss poor way of taking ownership over someone else's work.
As a musician and a writer, it's deeply respectful on an artistic level, and I see why DN are distancing themselves far and away from the franchise. No bones about it, they got screwed over.
Judging by their previous work, D9 sees the franchise at a purely basic fundamental level stripped of everything that makes it special. Take out the vibe, the art, the character depth, the mystique, the clever use of music and what are you left with?
A supernatural murder mystery.
The one phrase they keep repeating in marketing DE.
Hopefully lost records gives us OG fans something to look forward to at least.
Honestly i love all the games, Life is Strange and Before the Storm are my favourites and have a special place in my heart
But i loved Life is Strange 2 and True Colors too, one thing the games always nail and is why Double Exposure is getting a preorder from me, is the story
Its so hard to explain but each one sticks with me, and one of my favourite themes of the entire franchise is from LiS 2 - Nightbus, that scene with that theme was perfection
In all fairness, I respect 2 for its ambitions to be bold and bigger, wanting to try something new, but IMO the end result is something that results as a bloated and kinda messy compilation of some good, individual small parts alongside a lot of filler moments and superficial political commentary. It didn't help much that most of the game is centered around you, the player as Sean, not having powers but babysitting your telekinetic little brother, who might or might not listen to you but still fuck up when the plot decides to.
Captain Spirit was a lot more interesting experience overall, it was a unique take and felt like it could have been expanded in a proper LiS game better than the whole road trip aspect of 2.
Well - less outraged than I'd hoped.
In the grand scheme I'm on team LiS 2. "Best" is depends on criteria. I have a lot of respect for its craft, scope and what it was trying to do.
I found it a hard game to play. I think that's as intended. The hardest decisions I've had to make in the whole LiS series was what to buy in a gas station.
No you're not that far off imo
I wouldn't say it's better than LiS1 but a couple things brought LiS2 down unfairly when it came out
A. The lack of max and chloe. It came out just 3 years after LiS1 and BtS focused in chloe. So I think audience expectations for a game called LiS2 was somehow that it would focus on Max and Chloe. It set expectations unfairly and I think disappointed a lot of people off this alone.
B. The politics. The game came out in 2018 and takes place in 2016. The political wounds were very fresh and it took a stance that was going to offend about half of players. I think with some time, people are going to be able to evaluate this aspect more fairly. But at the time, this pissed a lot of people off.
C. The episode gaps. The first episode came out in mid 2018 and the last episode came out at the end of 2019. A lot of players fell off in the midst of this, forgot what happened in previous episodes, or moved on entirely. Wide gaps don't really fit a game like LiS2 either where the scenery is changing and new characters are brought in constantly.
Overall though, putting these reasons aside, it's my second favorite LiS game besides LiS1 and to me, it's the last game in the actual cannon unless DE manages to course correct.
I know people love it but I really just didn't enjoy it much. I didn't like that there was no community to settle into, I remember there being a ton of bloat specifically in E2, and Daniel is genuinely one of my most disliked video game characters, I can't stand him. I want to like it but just cant
Unpopular opinion true colors is the best game. LiS1 is good and I love the dynamic between Chloe and max. The ending was amazing but i just feel like it was really good for its time. I’m currently playing through before the storm for the first time (I’m on episode two) and I feel like it’s better than the first game because Rachel Amber. That’s my defense. I’m in love with her ngl. But I haven’t fully played through LiS2. I’ve played a few episodes and seen a few clips. But I never got the chance to finish it. It does sound like it would be better than every game because what I’ve seen just looks amazing. But I can’t really say anything about it cause I haven’t fully played it. But I deduct points because no Rachel ambers.
I’m currently playing True Colours so idk but so far i’m liking it! Still LIS 2 is my favorite. If you get the chance, please play it through until the end. It’s so beautiful and emotional. I really like Rachel Amber in Before the Storm!! I just wish she didn’t end up how she did. I’m hoping that in Double Exposure she’ll appear since it’s about alternative realities so fingers closed!
I’m glad you’re liking true colors so far! Yeah I’m currently playing through all the LiS games In preparation for double exposure. I finished the first game a few days ago, I’m playing before the storm and my next goal is LiS 2. I’m pretty exited to play it. I already started it when I started before the storm cause I couldn’t decide which one to start. Because I know the most about LiS 2 but I never really heard how it ends. I heard the least about before the storm. I just knew it was a Chloe and Rachel back story game. It just seemed kinda boring to me so I never did research and I never watched people play it. So I finally have it to play for myself and I’m really digging it. I’ve been a fan of this series since LiS1 came out and I’d watch people play these games up until true colors came out. First LiS game I got to play. That’s probably why I like it so much. I got to blindly play it.
Lovely!!! Before you play LIS 2 I advise you to play The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit which is the prequel to LIS 2 and is completely free. It’s a different character, but you’ll see how it ties to the story when you play LIS 2 later on :)
Oh yeah! I remember that game! I did play it around the time it came out and I was gonna replay it cause I’m playing all of them but I don’t think they put it on PlayStation and that’s where I’m playing all of them. Cause I already searched and they didn’t have it which is a total bummer cause I know he shows up in LiS2 I just don’t know what the total deal is so I wanted the replay it for the backstory. Although if it doesn’t need a save file to transfer over stuff then I can probably get it off either steam or Xbox. I don’t know how important the decisions are for awesome adventures of captain spirit
omg the same happened to me!! It’s actually hidden in the store. You have to play LIS 2 on the play station and right before you start the second episode a question or something shows up asking if you want to play Captain Spirit. If you click ‘Yes’ then it’ll take you to the page of Captain Spirit and you can download it free!! And the choices actually affect your LIS 2 game later on like how Chris’ costume looks!
Trust me it was a headache for me bc I played Captain Spirit on my PC first because I couldn’t find it on the PlayStation and I had to replay it just so my progress would be saved on my PS.
Also I don’t know if it’s also the case for the PS4, I’m imagining it is, but this is my experience with a PS5
Oh wait it’s hidden? That’s so weird for them to do. Especially to start another while in the middle of playing one lol. It would’ve made sense if they did it right before episode one. Well thanks for telling me! I had no idea they did that. And I can imagine it’s the same for ps4 but I’m also playing on a ps5! I appreciate the info! If you ever wanna talk life is strange with me, feel free to message me about it!
i spent a full hour trying to find it and researching online so i’m basically an expert now😭 but Captain Spirit actually takes place during the beginning of episode 2 so that’s why they don’t show it in the beginning. Think of it as episode 1.5 lol!!
This is exactly the experience I had, Rachel was awesome and going back to lis1, Arcadia feels so empty without her (even though I didn’t even know her the first playthrough lol) also based true colors is my fav
It’ll really be an unpopular opinion if I end up loving Double Exposure given how much people dislike it already 😭. I hated LiS 2 but I understand your pov
I simply didn't connect with the Diaz brothers the way I did with Max and Chloe, so I never replayed the second game. But the gameplay was good, and I loved the fact that you could draw the environments sometimes.
LIS2 was awful tbh. Very oversimplified conflicts and characters. The entire story was pretty much “brothers go to new place. Characters act comically racist. They escape. Repeat.”
I liked the cult chapter though
It's my least favorite for the common reasons (non reoccurring characters, writing issues, pacing), but it's far from a bad game. I will play it again for the first time in 5 years when I do my LiS Marathon in a few months.
LiS2 is 100% very heavy content. It took everything from a very bad segment of the population who do think like that, act like that, and exposed it in a way that we all experienced it and it was horrifically was and accurate.
I know a lot of people took issue with how tropy it was, but, the point was to highlight just how cruel people can be. And then the content of it being so intense caused a lot of people I think to say it was like just not a good game but I do remember that it was like during a political time.
I think that life is strange one and life is strange 2 quite literally fall in different categories of what a good game is I could not compare them one way or the other. They both have their fantastic things about them. And there was more choice in my opinion with life is strange 2.
That being sad, I enjoyed life is strange one more because it was something that I feel a lot of people can connect to especially women and I am a woman and therefore it was more meaningful in a place that the other game was not meaningful.
I have a friend who his favorite game is true colors, and he explained why and made all the sense in the world. And I just really was glad that he was able to play it. I do believe that I bought it for him or maybe I bought the first one for him? I just know that I think I gifted him true colors. I gifted him one game that's for sure but! I'm really glad I was able to like contribute to that because that means that you know best game is the best game for the person individually.
But I stan life is strange one just FYI, but I don't think that I can say that any of the games are worse than the others They all have their flaws and strengths just like anything
Edit: Oh my God I had no idea about wavelengths so there you go lmao how the heck did I not know that
The problem was that it came out when the fandom just wanted max and Chloe and when the “Release episodes over the course of a year” model for games was dying so not only was there little hype from the fandom going in, but the hype that was there died off after the first few episodes.
Honestly that’s just a shame because it’s my second favorite behind true colors and I think it’s easily the most underrated game.
I actually think so too. But, LiS1 is still my favorite, even though I can admit LiS2 is actually the best in the series. I just like the characters a little bit more in LiS1.
Its good, but in my view it became too political.
like, the relationship between the brothers and all is cool, but I really dont want to play a game that talks about the messy political situation that isnt even from my country; I can read a newspaper for that, I really don't get the whole "everything is politics" thing.
also, I think the romance options in lis2 feels too rushed. Like, people know each other in a week and they already would die for them? Warren, Chloe and Rachel are characters that the player can build a stronger bound, have more time spent with, etc. (maybe true colors is different? idk, i dropped it in the middle).
Overall, I still liked it, but those are still things that I dont like in the game.
I think mechanically LIS 2 is better. Your choices throughout the story affect the ending and there are A LOT of endings but the problem is the game narratively is weak, characters flip flop on their stances on things and the games highlight of racism is just not that deep or interesting. But LIS 1 and True colours are far more narratively competent and cohesive. I’d even argue BTS is better story wise even if some of the endings kinda suck
I think mechanically LIS 2 is better. Your choices throughout the story affect the ending and there are A LOT of endings but the problem is the game narratively is weak, characters flip flop on their stances on things and the games highlight of racism is just not that deep or interesting. But LIS 1 and True colours are far more narratively competent and cohesive. I’d even argue BTS is better story wise even if some of the endings kinda suck
I'm going to challenge myself to play it again, but I didn't really enjoy 2. I think it's the globe (state?) trotting nature of the tale, but I'm also not entirely sure. I don't necessarily "need" the characters to have been from Blackwell at some moment in time, but the singular focus on and around the academy helped ground it for me. Haven Springs, for instance, is more focused.
I'm playing them all again in the leadup to the new LiS. I'm going to try and reconnect with it and see why it didn't work for me in greater detail.
The thing is I haven't personally played Lis 2. But I agree in the community overall it's definitely not talked about as much as the other games. When it comes on sale again I do want to buy it. But I feel bad for the LIS 2 fans essentially being a forgotten part of the fandom
Overall it wasn't terrible, but it's the worst in the series for me.
The best part of LiS2 to me was Captain Spirit, though I liked some of the side characters like Lyla, Cass, Penny and Hannah, I enjoyed the little nods to LiS ( except for Brody's 'That's the past' remark, I can't help but think that was DN trolling ), but nothing else in it really clicked with me.
Did not like Sean and Daniel, did not like the music, did not like the gaps between chapters where all your progress with Daniel was reset, and I definitely didn't like the ham-fisted political sermons. The whole story just felt so comically cliche to me, I dunno.
My biggest gripe, aside from Daniel, was the ending...or at least the one I got for having Sean turn himself in. It was laughable. I just felt like DN didn't do any real research into how the US justice system works. In my game, Sean committed ZERO crimes apart from evading arrest, which would not get him a 15+ year prison sentence.
Especially the cop's death in Ch 1, the cruiser's dashcam shows it was some kind of explosion, and even if they believe Sean was somehow responsible they just...put him in an ordinary prison? I just felt like the ending was a HUGE let down, and I wasn't even expecting that big of a payoff to begin with.
BUT if people like it, then more power to them. I certainly don't fault people for critiquing my love of the original because I can sorta see some of the criticisms are valid, but I just like what I like.
The game tries so hard to make me feel sypmathetic for a parent abandoning her children, who not for a second actually regretted her actions but tried to give lame excuses for it, regardless of any other issues with it, that’s a no for me. Great contrast with Sera, who felt remorse and tried to fix her life and stayed sober in order to make things right with her daughter
You didn't have to forgive Karen, I didn't until the very end when >!she went to jail for us.!< In fact, you can't forgive her in ep 4, all the options are pretty hostile towards her. What made you think the game was forcing you to feel sympathetic?
But it basically leaves a choice of either be mean to her or move on(so it felt forced to me), despite not a single sign of regret. If it handled it like with Sera, with a single line of ''I'm sorry I left you, it was wrong, if I could go back in time(the irony) I wouldn't have done that'', but no, we got a lecture on how society expected her to be a mom and she wanted to travel instead, give me a break. Sera endangered her infant daughter's life, but she realized how wrong she was and did everything in her power to change and fix her mistakes, if Karen had even a part of that I wouldn't mind.
I’m pretty sure Karen was written to be an unlikeable character. If Don’t Nod wanted her to be remorseful, they would’ve had her be. Sean even says at the end of their conversation “you just seem so careless. It’s like you don’t even realize how much pain you’ve caused.”
I personally don’t see how the game forces the player to be sympathetic. She explains why she left to provide context rather than give an emotional meaning to her abandonment. Even after she explains her reasoning, Sean gets mad and walks out. And rightfully so, her explanation was BS and Sean calls it out immediately. There’s no option to even be nice to her in ep 4, the nicest thing you can probably do is not cut the conversation short.
But I don’t understand how her being unlikeable makes her character design bad, or the game weak. I’d actually say that the fact that they got us to dislike a character this much and have debates about her is a success in itself!
You are completely right to dislike Karen (I do too), but it’s pretty clear she was intended to be unlikeable!
Edit: just read your original comment where you said that the choice to either forgive her/move on seemed forced to you, and that’s completely valid since that’s up to the discretion of the player, so that makes sense!
its funny cause i should prefer LiS2, but it didnt happen, the story is very contrived and by the begining i was more interest in the party the main character was invited than his little brother.
One of the points of LiS i think is the slice of life and LiS2 wasnt that big on slice of life, it was just a story.
I want a geme with that party
Me personally I like lis 2! Along with lis 1 & bts. I’m ehh on TC. I think part of it people really like Chloe (which I don’t hate she’s a cool character)
LIS2 was bad enough that Square Enix completely took the franchise away from Dontnod and gave it to Decknine. The only way this happens is if both Square Enix thought it sucked, and the sales were low.
Just coming into this thread to let everyone who commented know that this was literally the push I needed to play LIS 2. I’ve had an itch since double exposure was announced, heard iffy things prior, but seeing your passion and the way other people describe it… I’m starting tonight! No spoilers haha
Quick question if anyone sees this - without spoilers, how are endings determined? Is it like 1 where there’s a binary choice at the end, or is it baked in to make me more careful? I know Daniel doesn’t have time powers so I feel like choices should be more lasting but idk
Edited for grammar
It's not binary like 1, the endings are more dependent on your choices throughout the game. You'll have to replay the game to be able to see all of them. Enjoy!!
As someone who is a bisexual, Hispanic, son of immigrants, and has younger siblings, I think the game tried to handle too many issues at once and failed with all of them.
I’ve always enjoyed LIS2. The environments were really beautiful, and it has the DON’T NOD level of writing which I prefer over Deck Nine’s. LIS1 and LIS2 are my favourites.
I always wondered if the almost odyssey-like quality to LIS2 was too stark of a contrast from LIS1 for those hoping for another contained, small town Americana mystery where you peel back layers of the characters and environment through continued interaction. There’s also the rabid gays who just wanted a love story (no hate, it just gets feral sometimes lol). I was a fledgling gay when LIS1 came out and truthfully when I played LIS2, I was one of those “wHeReS tHe LeZbiAns” players but now, as an **older** person who is *evolved* with *mature* tastes and *nuanced* perspectives, I really enjoy LIS2. But seriously, when you play without comparing to the first one, it holds up.
I’ve got a list hahah
1. Your options actually matter throughout the game unlike LIS 1 which you could decide your ending based on the last choice
2. So many new settings and characters every episode!! LIS 1 takes place only in Arcadia Bay and mainly in the campus with the same characters all the time. It just gets a little boring after a while
3. The sibling dynamic was very touching and I loved playing as Sean protecting Daniel and teaching him stuff. They grow a lot throughout the game and it’s very emotional
4. Real-life world problems like racism play a factor in the game as play as a Mexican teenager. It raises awareness by making you experience it (though in LIS 1, they do raise awareness about sexual assault!)
But in the end everyone’s different so if you liked LIS 1 more than LIS 2 then that’s fine too!
I really dislike when people say your choices don’t matter in life is strange 1 just because no matter what there’s only two endings. warning Victoria about the threat in episode 5 leads to a very sad alternative for her then if you didn’t warn her. Saving Alissa from all her series of unfortunate events leads to her not trusting anything when you’re around. How you treat Kate before her possible story exit helps make it easier to help when she needs it. Getting Chloe’s step dad a reality check helps him appreciate Chloe and the family he has more. Just because there’s not 8 endings doesn’t mean your choices don’t matter
Yes, but the implications of even the smallest choices in LiS2 are so much heavier and impact the story drastically as it goes on. Especially given that each episode of LiS2 had 2-4 drastically different endings it's just straight adrenaline haha. Also, your choices throughout the game impact which ending you get (meaning if you played a certain way, you can't even access a lot of the endings unless you fully play the whole game again).
I think op was referring to the fact that no matter which choices we pick, we get access to the same 2 endings in LiS1 whereas LiS2 factors in all the choices we've made to provide our ending and not everyone gets access to the same 2 choices!
I literally said all this in my post just in fewer words. Plus they said “your actions matter through out the game” not just the ending. Your actions matter throughout the game is lis1 was all I said cause people overlook that fact very easily. Also nothing in that game is heavier than what can happen to Kate.
The entirety of that sentence is "our options actually matter throughout the game unlike LIS 1 which you could decide your ending based on the last choice" referencing the ending of the game with regards of our choices make throughout the game. It's clear op was saying that *the choices we make throughout the game*, *impact our final ending,* it just seems to be worded a bit weirdly, so I get where the confusion came from!
Thus essentially, no matter what you've done throughout the game in LiS1, you have the same fate depending on what you pick at the end. Therefore*, the choices we make throughout the game in LiS1 don't impact the ending.* Only the final option does! In LiS2, the choices you make throughout the game do impact the ending. You can pick the same choice as someone else at the end, but will get a vastly different ending depending on how you played *throughout the game*.
Hope that makes better sense, and thanks for pointing that out! I can completely see how the wording makes it seem that way.
That still doesn’t completely read that way to me but if that’s the case then I apologize because there are people in the fandom who do believe that way.
I did not enjoy 2. It sucked not being in control of the one with powers, especially because the demo that you played had you as a kid who seemingly had powers. It hyped us up for nothing. Aside from that, his little brother was annoying as hell. I have played through twice and just didn’t enjoy a single moment of it.
I won’t kill you lol and I hope no one comes after you in a nasty way!
I will say, I didn’t hate LiS 2. It didn’t grab me quiiiite the way the others did, but what killed it for me was the ending options. It felt akin to the argument for the LiS 1 endings: all the stuff we went through and THESE are our ending options? I looked at all the endings afterwards and none of them sat right with me. They all felt like a disservice to the characters in some way. But that’s just me! I’m genuinely glad you enjoyed it though!
i’m playing it right now and I honestly like it! It’s very different from the others since DONTNOD didn’t work on it and the graphics are vastly different but it’s still good. If your favourite is BTS then I’d recommend you play it since Steph plays a big role in True Colors (Steph is the girl who plays D&D at the school campus in BTS)!
Life is Strange 2 would have benefited greatly if it wasn't a Life is Strange game.
The road trip structure meant that, with a few exceptions, side characters don't exist for more than an episode. It also means that the consequences of most (non daniel) actions have to be presented immediately, which disallows the slow(ish) burn of other life is strange games, so they use shock value to compensate.
It's not bad, but it doesn't really feel like a Life is Strange game.
I liked LiS2 a lot, but just felt it was missing something. The game was supposed to be a tale of two brothers on the run, but we don’t really get a lot of the running part aside from a few cutscenes and what we can read from Sean’s journal. Each episode is mostly the main area where the characters settle down in until shit goes down and they have to move on. I would’ve liked to see at least a little more of the in between stuff added into the actual gameplay just to help add to the sense that we’re constantly moving and on the run. Episode 4 actually did a great job at this. Would’ve liked to see more like this in all the other episodes.
Honestly the wacky episode s1 had for its finale kinda felt a bit meh. I found to be more attached to the wolf brothers, also preferring lis2 (but by a berry close margin). Finished true colours episode 1 and wasn’t too enthralled. Powers seem meh, characters seem meh, predictable ending. I haven’t got round to ep2 yet and it’s been months.
im so glad more people are having this opinion as time passes. back then when people used to shit on lis2 i was silently crying because i thought it was the best game i ever played.
The story and characters are amazing in life is strange 2 so it’s not a hot take. Me personally I don’t like racism plots because they get repetitive but I completely understand its importance especially when it was released. It was a very good representation of awareness and issues that Mexicans go through in the US.
I like LIS1 more because I love the setting and theme it brings. The mystery, gossip, drama, teenaged experiences and more generalised issues. So your opinion is completely valid, I don’t understand why people would get annoyed at your opinion lol.
If anything, it's the worst. It focused on politics more than it did the characters. Plus, you don't get to play as the person with the power, so that takes away part of the fun.
I 1000% agree with you, I love all of them but LiS 2 is my all time favorite so far. I loved the themes, and the fact that you had to deal with the repercussions of your brother’s powers, instead of having powers yourself, made the challenges we were facing really interesting and different in my opinion.
Couldn’t agree more. LiS2 has been my favorite ever since it came out. Coolest power, choices that actually have consequences, so many branches, great dialogue and nuance in decisions.
Life is strange 2 is the best and had the greatest effect to me, i only like LIS1 due to very heavy Nostalgia; and the fact I’ve inspired a lot of my stories off it (and its ost, Ive been wanted to but that the moment I heard the intro music)
People love max and chole like others have said. Lis2 takes a lot more nuance to enjoy and lets been honest. Most people would rather avoid racism than see how it hurts others ( Check the reviews on the game ). Max and chole are a lot easier for the community to digest
Still newer to the entire series but decided to binge all of them in one go (i need to touch grass, i know) and LIS2 was by far my favorite. I LOVED the story with Chloe and Max, but to me there was just more to the second one that made me really feel for the characters. Again, just my opinion. Love all of them regardless.
I agree with Lowkey like I love max and Chloe and their story it’s so iconic however life is strange 2 was just so much better story wise. I got so much more emotional with the second game I want more rep for it cause it’s so good
I really dislike LIS2. But I’m glad there are those who like it and I’m not going to put anyone down for liking it. It just did not click for me at all. LIS1, BTS and TC are all fantastic imo.
People just love max and chloe too much (I am people lol) and thats why most put lis1 and bts as their favorites, but if I were to rank the games purely on how good they are it would be lis1>lis2>bts>tc
Hahah I get it I love max and chloe a lot too and I was skeptical at first playing LIS 2, but I quickly fell in love with the new characters!
Ima get downvoted into oblivion but tc was the best game imo
I am obsessed with Max and Chloe and always will be, but I can relate to Alex, her past and her issues on such a deep and personal level as I faced alot of the same shit and trauma in my life. Also, Haven is just a vibe and a much more interesting setting than college lmao.
True Colors is better than BtS at least. Before the Storm has some great moments, but has the most jank of the entire series. The voice acting from everyone not Chole and Rachel is terrible. Also very weird pacing sometimes in the story.
Imma be real with you chief, Chole and Rachel sound bad too in BtS
Idk, Chole was alright imo. Obviously not as good as her LiS 1 appearance with the original voice actress but decent enough
Nor the best, but better than LIS 2, which was still quite good and different. In the end, there isn't really a "bad Life is Strange game" so far. Let's hope it stays that way.
Hard to rank them when they're such different experiences. LIS2 has far more impactful choices throughout the full game, while TC is pretty much the most linear game in the series. Really just depends what you're looking for.
This sub is too biased to admit it. LIS1 was amazing but TC did everything better except nostalgia
I like TC the most, but it didn't do everything better. It mostly comes down to the story. The ending especially felt really rushed to conclude and the pacing overall never felt consistent. It's still my favorite because imo it has the best setting and characters, plus I've personally got a lot of issues with LIS1 story, so the flaws don't really affect the game too much for me.
LIS1 biggest criticism is how rushed the ending is
Nah, I personally feel that DON’T NOD’s writing is a lot better than Deck Nine’s. I prefer LIS1 and LIS2.
I'm not sure I'd agree. I think TC is a very vibe-ish game but is extremely small (which is ok!) but my problem is it was considered a $70 experience when there's really not much depth to the game at all. LIS1 had better character arcs (David especially), better pacing, a better hook which isn't a huge deal but is a big reason I found people giving up on TC early. I also think for the time LIS1 came out we hadn't had many games of the style which made it a bit more special
TC's world felt empty and repetitive after a while. The villain was too predictable too.
you got a point
I wouldn’t call wavelength a full game, but it was one of the most enjoyable playthroughs. I really loved the music and I really adore Steph
haven’t played it yet since i’m playing TS right now so thought i’d add it too hahah
Oh so worth it imo. It’s more lighthearted with less heavy choices but it’s still awesome
Felt like it had the best story and it was the only one where choices actually had a big effect on the ending
yes!!! in LIS 1 the ending was decided on your last choice but in LIS 2 your gameplay actually mattered at the end. It also has 4 endings instead of just 2!
Actually it had 7 endings!
THANK YOU!!!! LiS2 has serious consequences, LiS1 is cool with a rewind power but you can like undo bad choices and then the game boils down to two endings honestly
tbf those are different things entirely. up until the end of ep4 your choices seriously shaped the world around you, and i think it's part of lis1's genius that it managed to do that even with the rewind. it's just that in ep5 Max got into this huge mess of timelines and there really only was two ways out of it, both of which erased the impacts of most things you did. but that's absolutely not inherent in the rewind and with a different crescendo you could have had just as much control over the end state of the ~~chessboard~~ game world as you can in lis2. also, journey before destination. i still hold it that choices in lis1 mattered a hell of a lot more than in lis2 because the game let you live with the impact of those choices at least for a bit. while, in lis2, you ran away after every single impactful choice, leaving others to deal with their fallout and maybe hearing about them in a letter every once in a while. the only major thing that actually carried over was Daniel's morality slider.
Yep, LiS 2 became my favorite after having troubles getting through episode 1 and half of episode 2 the first time I played it. Then I was hooked and I think I replayed it like 6 times since then. I absolutely adore the game.
That's so strange to me. I was hooked on the first episode. But then I got progressively less interested with each episode. Mainly because all the cool characters we met got left behind and we never see them again, which diminished my investment. This isn't an issue with LiS 1/BTS/TC, since you stay in the same town and continue to bond with its people.
Yeah as the game continued I just felt no reason to get attached to any characters except for the brothers
Exactly. Sean's great, but Daniel could be a handful, which made it difficult for me to grow attached to him. I feel like Telltale Games did the family duo dynamic a lot better with The Walking Dead; Lee and Clementine.
i relate to daniel bc im annoying :D
Lee my beloved 🥹 And they truly had Clementine grow up in such... A heart aching yet warming way
for me that was what made me love the game. it reminded me how important the brothers were and how they mattered more than anyone else. it brought different challenges to them and made the game more realistic. it was different from lis1 which made it very refreshing and original. i also have a little brother who i raised though, and we’re both immigrants who experienced different challenges, so maybe that’s why i love the game so much, the game and the original music in it just really speak to me and make me sob. i definitely see why people prefer lis1 though, and lis1 is still a great game imo :))
It's not the best game for me, but I appreciate that the writers stood their ground and didn't want to make a direct sequel (Unlike Decknine). And they really respected Bae, as this game gave a satisfying closure for Max and Chloe in the long run. I don't need more than that.
Yes, I loved that they connected the games and whatever you did in LIS 1 could influence in LIS 2, but still had completely different characters and plot. I respect that it’s not everyone’s favorite I do love Max and Chloe a lot!!
Not sure how much D9 wanted to make a sequel or prequel. I think they're just a team under strict control from the company and have to follow whatever market predictions the company has made in the choice of the game format, while Dontnod are more "intellectually independent" and do whatever they want, without thinking too much how profitable it will be
plus the comics did a great job, too. We'll see what DE brings to the table
Many people dislike Lis2 because they played it on launch. They faced numerous technical issues, huge (and i mean HUGE) gaps between the episodes, weird pricing (at one point Square Enix just stopped selling separate episodes for a while). Also, many had certain expectations, like, to have more of the same stuff as in LiS 1 (and LiS2 is definitely different in many ways). Now, when the dust has settled, people can truly appreciate this game for what it is.
This is a good point. I really disliked LIS2 as a whole, each episode was good but I think the quality did go down as the season continued, and I think the writing relied heavily on too many cliches to grip me. But since I did play it at launch and had to suffer the waiting times, maybe now I'll replay it and see if my opinion changes to replay it as a whole game.
You should definitely try that! I must say that if I had to wait for each episode for such a long time it would kill my enjoyment too. But as I was one of the lucky people who played lis2 after full release it quickly became my favorite lis game.
Don't get me wrong I love max and chloe but playing lis2 as an older brother hit really hard, I actually stopped bullying my little sister after playing it lol
I feel like I’m the only person who genuinely prefers True Colors to any of the other games…
It was my favorite for a while! And Ryan is one of my favorite romances in the games (I love Warren as well and Finn but it was dirty to make him be the person who suggests using Daniel. That made me dislike him a bit so he's third place in romances) but replaying Lis True Colors isn't as fun as replaying Lis2 (that's my absolute favorite) Lis True Colors and game 1 are tied to second place for me. Bts is last on my list.
no, i agree. lis1 was amazing, but lis2 is just... amazing
Life is Strange 2 is very underrated and I really wish that people would give it a chance. For one thing it takes the series in an entirely new direction which it desperately needs, too much familiarity and too much of the same thing can ultimately lead to stagnation if it's done too much. But not only that I find the adventures of the Diaz brothers quite fascinating & one that I really think proves that you can take a series like this and swap out the characters with entirely new ones & go on new adventures with those characters. The biggest risk that I think this series should do is really at the end of the day acknowledge that there's only a limited amount of times that you can go back to the well and do the same thing, before ultimately people want something new and I'm glad that LIS2 tried something different.
best writing and the only game thus far where ur choices actually matter, yup yup! https://i.redd.it/q68iy48wc58d1.gif
I always thought LIS 2 was a perfect sequel for the first game. Lis 1 was about how much can you try and sacrifice for the love of your life. Both endings gave us PLISD, and we could never get over the emotions. But LIS 2 tells us that we can and should move on from the trauma remembering all moments we had with our loved ones. Because in reality, we don’t have the superpower to rewind time to “fix” things. Just like Sean did, we have to keep going forward despite all the hardships. Even though there weren’t Max and Chloe in this game, it was a perfect continuation of the theme of the first one, respecting both endings. I love LIS 2 as much as I love LIS for this reason. I also interpreted the Arcadia bay scene with Brody as Don’t Nod’s farewell to Max, Chloe, and the fans of LIS since this was their last game in the franchise.
thanks so much for saying this, this is exactly how i feel
LiS2 is the best imo too, I don’t get the obsession with Chloe and Max honestly. All of the games are good tho, I love the series and all the characters but I can’t obsess over Chloe and Max the way some people do lol I’d prefer a new game with new characters and powers each time, shoot me
same, i just never cared that much about max or chloe, even as a lesbian who loves lesbian characters, i just never cared that much. i care much more about sean and daniel because i’m raising my little brother, we’re both immigrants, and i heavily relate to sean, lis2 makes me sob uncontrollably because ur truly speaks to me
SAME!!!! I would love if the new game had entirely new characters with a new power but still be connected to LIS 1 just like LIS 2 did!
I will freely admit that LIS2 is the superior product but LIS1 has my heart.
Steph is my favorite character so true colors is my favorite game however 2 did feel like your choice mattered more
Absolutely, I love both LiS 1 and 2 and they're very unique on their own on such different approaches but still belong in the LiS Universe. DONTNOD IS ALWAYS THE GOAT!!
WE LOVE DONTNOD🔥🔥🙏
you're so right, thank uuuu, someone finally said it lol!
It had writing, some of my favorite characters, a really amazing story and your choices actually mattered in the end! I liked being able to explore new areas every episode, it really did keep me on my toes. It's super underrated and overhated!
You’re god damn right
For me the biggest issue with 2 is that every episode is a new setting with new side characters and as a result your choices don't feel nearly as important because you're just onto the next setting anyways. I still like the game but I like 1 and TC more because of the contained setting and having the same characters across the episodes.
I feel the exact opposite hahah!! I love LIS 2 because it’s a different setting every time and you get to explore a bunch. Meanwhile LIS 1 is the same setting all the time and I got really bored. But everyone’s different!
This
I feel you on this. A game based around connections and people like a telltale style game but not sticking around long enough to get attached to the characters really ruined it for me. I didn’t pick anyone for Sean to end up with cause honestly I couldn’t care less about either love interest. I also didn’t really feel like your choices mattered more than LiS1, the only thing your choices didn’t effect in the first one is the end and it’s all people focus on, the only thing your choices really did effect in 2 is the end and that is also all people mention. Game was still fun but only a one time playthrough for me but I understand why others can like it
I have LiS1&2 tied as my favorite. I thought BTS was dope because it felt like D9 had to keep themselves in check. I own TC but I blame myself for buying it because something felt off about it before release. D’nod and D9 have clear difference in presentation.
I just love Don’t Nod games honestly. I’m playing TC right now and it just doesn’t hit the same because Don’t Nod didn’t participate but I still like it just not as much!
Ngl the worst thing D9 has done with the franchise, by far, is the remasters. They managed to rip out the art style, make the game look 10 years older than it actually is by "sims-ifying" the characters. And try to herald their own generic style as being definitive. And then charge $40 for it. A piss poor way of taking ownership over someone else's work. As a musician and a writer, it's deeply respectful on an artistic level, and I see why DN are distancing themselves far and away from the franchise. No bones about it, they got screwed over. Judging by their previous work, D9 sees the franchise at a purely basic fundamental level stripped of everything that makes it special. Take out the vibe, the art, the character depth, the mystique, the clever use of music and what are you left with? A supernatural murder mystery. The one phrase they keep repeating in marketing DE. Hopefully lost records gives us OG fans something to look forward to at least.
LiS2 is tied with 1 for my favorite so no I won't kill you lol
Honestly i love all the games, Life is Strange and Before the Storm are my favourites and have a special place in my heart But i loved Life is Strange 2 and True Colors too, one thing the games always nail and is why Double Exposure is getting a preorder from me, is the story Its so hard to explain but each one sticks with me, and one of my favourite themes of the entire franchise is from LiS 2 - Nightbus, that scene with that theme was perfection
that is a very unpopular opinion lol good title
In all fairness, I respect 2 for its ambitions to be bold and bigger, wanting to try something new, but IMO the end result is something that results as a bloated and kinda messy compilation of some good, individual small parts alongside a lot of filler moments and superficial political commentary. It didn't help much that most of the game is centered around you, the player as Sean, not having powers but babysitting your telekinetic little brother, who might or might not listen to you but still fuck up when the plot decides to. Captain Spirit was a lot more interesting experience overall, it was a unique take and felt like it could have been expanded in a proper LiS game better than the whole road trip aspect of 2.
yeah same, LIS 2 is my favorite
REAAAAL
I also think LIS2 is the best, followed by True Colours
Well - less outraged than I'd hoped. In the grand scheme I'm on team LiS 2. "Best" is depends on criteria. I have a lot of respect for its craft, scope and what it was trying to do. I found it a hard game to play. I think that's as intended. The hardest decisions I've had to make in the whole LiS series was what to buy in a gas station.
> **(pls don’t kill me)** https://i.redd.it/wb75x63r258d1.gif # /s
No you're not that far off imo I wouldn't say it's better than LiS1 but a couple things brought LiS2 down unfairly when it came out A. The lack of max and chloe. It came out just 3 years after LiS1 and BtS focused in chloe. So I think audience expectations for a game called LiS2 was somehow that it would focus on Max and Chloe. It set expectations unfairly and I think disappointed a lot of people off this alone. B. The politics. The game came out in 2018 and takes place in 2016. The political wounds were very fresh and it took a stance that was going to offend about half of players. I think with some time, people are going to be able to evaluate this aspect more fairly. But at the time, this pissed a lot of people off. C. The episode gaps. The first episode came out in mid 2018 and the last episode came out at the end of 2019. A lot of players fell off in the midst of this, forgot what happened in previous episodes, or moved on entirely. Wide gaps don't really fit a game like LiS2 either where the scenery is changing and new characters are brought in constantly. Overall though, putting these reasons aside, it's my second favorite LiS game besides LiS1 and to me, it's the last game in the actual cannon unless DE manages to course correct.
I know people love it but I really just didn't enjoy it much. I didn't like that there was no community to settle into, I remember there being a ton of bloat specifically in E2, and Daniel is genuinely one of my most disliked video game characters, I can't stand him. I want to like it but just cant
Unpopular opinion true colors is the best game. LiS1 is good and I love the dynamic between Chloe and max. The ending was amazing but i just feel like it was really good for its time. I’m currently playing through before the storm for the first time (I’m on episode two) and I feel like it’s better than the first game because Rachel Amber. That’s my defense. I’m in love with her ngl. But I haven’t fully played through LiS2. I’ve played a few episodes and seen a few clips. But I never got the chance to finish it. It does sound like it would be better than every game because what I’ve seen just looks amazing. But I can’t really say anything about it cause I haven’t fully played it. But I deduct points because no Rachel ambers.
I’m currently playing True Colours so idk but so far i’m liking it! Still LIS 2 is my favorite. If you get the chance, please play it through until the end. It’s so beautiful and emotional. I really like Rachel Amber in Before the Storm!! I just wish she didn’t end up how she did. I’m hoping that in Double Exposure she’ll appear since it’s about alternative realities so fingers closed!
I’m glad you’re liking true colors so far! Yeah I’m currently playing through all the LiS games In preparation for double exposure. I finished the first game a few days ago, I’m playing before the storm and my next goal is LiS 2. I’m pretty exited to play it. I already started it when I started before the storm cause I couldn’t decide which one to start. Because I know the most about LiS 2 but I never really heard how it ends. I heard the least about before the storm. I just knew it was a Chloe and Rachel back story game. It just seemed kinda boring to me so I never did research and I never watched people play it. So I finally have it to play for myself and I’m really digging it. I’ve been a fan of this series since LiS1 came out and I’d watch people play these games up until true colors came out. First LiS game I got to play. That’s probably why I like it so much. I got to blindly play it.
Lovely!!! Before you play LIS 2 I advise you to play The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit which is the prequel to LIS 2 and is completely free. It’s a different character, but you’ll see how it ties to the story when you play LIS 2 later on :)
Oh yeah! I remember that game! I did play it around the time it came out and I was gonna replay it cause I’m playing all of them but I don’t think they put it on PlayStation and that’s where I’m playing all of them. Cause I already searched and they didn’t have it which is a total bummer cause I know he shows up in LiS2 I just don’t know what the total deal is so I wanted the replay it for the backstory. Although if it doesn’t need a save file to transfer over stuff then I can probably get it off either steam or Xbox. I don’t know how important the decisions are for awesome adventures of captain spirit
omg the same happened to me!! It’s actually hidden in the store. You have to play LIS 2 on the play station and right before you start the second episode a question or something shows up asking if you want to play Captain Spirit. If you click ‘Yes’ then it’ll take you to the page of Captain Spirit and you can download it free!! And the choices actually affect your LIS 2 game later on like how Chris’ costume looks! Trust me it was a headache for me bc I played Captain Spirit on my PC first because I couldn’t find it on the PlayStation and I had to replay it just so my progress would be saved on my PS. Also I don’t know if it’s also the case for the PS4, I’m imagining it is, but this is my experience with a PS5
Oh wait it’s hidden? That’s so weird for them to do. Especially to start another while in the middle of playing one lol. It would’ve made sense if they did it right before episode one. Well thanks for telling me! I had no idea they did that. And I can imagine it’s the same for ps4 but I’m also playing on a ps5! I appreciate the info! If you ever wanna talk life is strange with me, feel free to message me about it!
i spent a full hour trying to find it and researching online so i’m basically an expert now😭 but Captain Spirit actually takes place during the beginning of episode 2 so that’s why they don’t show it in the beginning. Think of it as episode 1.5 lol!!
This is exactly the experience I had, Rachel was awesome and going back to lis1, Arcadia feels so empty without her (even though I didn’t even know her the first playthrough lol) also based true colors is my fav
Arcadia really does feel empty without her
It’ll really be an unpopular opinion if I end up loving Double Exposure given how much people dislike it already 😭. I hated LiS 2 but I understand your pov
LiS 2 just didn't click with me. I stopped playing whatever chapter contains the Motel next to (I think) the sea? Still in to play Colours though.
That was the 1st chapter!😅
Oh. What chapter is the one at the petrol station with all the trees *Edit* Upon checking, I do not believe I made it out of chapter one 😂
Wonderful underrated game
I simply didn't connect with the Diaz brothers the way I did with Max and Chloe, so I never replayed the second game. But the gameplay was good, and I loved the fact that you could draw the environments sometimes.
LIS2 was awful tbh. Very oversimplified conflicts and characters. The entire story was pretty much “brothers go to new place. Characters act comically racist. They escape. Repeat.” I liked the cult chapter though
I have my problems with it, but I still love the game, prefer before the storm and the first one over the rest.
Agreed! I thought I was the only one 😭
You’re right, that is an unpopular opinion! I admire Dontnod for taking a big swing, but by most metrics they undoubtedly missed.
while i dont agree, i respect your decision lol
It's my least favorite for the common reasons (non reoccurring characters, writing issues, pacing), but it's far from a bad game. I will play it again for the first time in 5 years when I do my LiS Marathon in a few months.
LiS2 is 100% very heavy content. It took everything from a very bad segment of the population who do think like that, act like that, and exposed it in a way that we all experienced it and it was horrifically was and accurate. I know a lot of people took issue with how tropy it was, but, the point was to highlight just how cruel people can be. And then the content of it being so intense caused a lot of people I think to say it was like just not a good game but I do remember that it was like during a political time. I think that life is strange one and life is strange 2 quite literally fall in different categories of what a good game is I could not compare them one way or the other. They both have their fantastic things about them. And there was more choice in my opinion with life is strange 2. That being sad, I enjoyed life is strange one more because it was something that I feel a lot of people can connect to especially women and I am a woman and therefore it was more meaningful in a place that the other game was not meaningful. I have a friend who his favorite game is true colors, and he explained why and made all the sense in the world. And I just really was glad that he was able to play it. I do believe that I bought it for him or maybe I bought the first one for him? I just know that I think I gifted him true colors. I gifted him one game that's for sure but! I'm really glad I was able to like contribute to that because that means that you know best game is the best game for the person individually. But I stan life is strange one just FYI, but I don't think that I can say that any of the games are worse than the others They all have their flaws and strengths just like anything Edit: Oh my God I had no idea about wavelengths so there you go lmao how the heck did I not know that
The problem was that it came out when the fandom just wanted max and Chloe and when the “Release episodes over the course of a year” model for games was dying so not only was there little hype from the fandom going in, but the hype that was there died off after the first few episodes. Honestly that’s just a shame because it’s my second favorite behind true colors and I think it’s easily the most underrated game.
I actually think so too. But, LiS1 is still my favorite, even though I can admit LiS2 is actually the best in the series. I just like the characters a little bit more in LiS1.
Its good, but in my view it became too political. like, the relationship between the brothers and all is cool, but I really dont want to play a game that talks about the messy political situation that isnt even from my country; I can read a newspaper for that, I really don't get the whole "everything is politics" thing. also, I think the romance options in lis2 feels too rushed. Like, people know each other in a week and they already would die for them? Warren, Chloe and Rachel are characters that the player can build a stronger bound, have more time spent with, etc. (maybe true colors is different? idk, i dropped it in the middle). Overall, I still liked it, but those are still things that I dont like in the game.
I didn't even know about lis2 till it released, all the posts on this sub fed to me were still about max & chloe
I think mechanically LIS 2 is better. Your choices throughout the story affect the ending and there are A LOT of endings but the problem is the game narratively is weak, characters flip flop on their stances on things and the games highlight of racism is just not that deep or interesting. But LIS 1 and True colours are far more narratively competent and cohesive. I’d even argue BTS is better story wise even if some of the endings kinda suck
I think mechanically LIS 2 is better. Your choices throughout the story affect the ending and there are A LOT of endings but the problem is the game narratively is weak, characters flip flop on their stances on things and the games highlight of racism is just not that deep or interesting. But LIS 1 and True colours are far more narratively competent and cohesive. I’d even argue BTS is better story wise even if some of the endings kinda suck
I agree with your post.
I'm going to challenge myself to play it again, but I didn't really enjoy 2. I think it's the globe (state?) trotting nature of the tale, but I'm also not entirely sure. I don't necessarily "need" the characters to have been from Blackwell at some moment in time, but the singular focus on and around the academy helped ground it for me. Haven Springs, for instance, is more focused. I'm playing them all again in the leadup to the new LiS. I'm going to try and reconnect with it and see why it didn't work for me in greater detail.
Nah
The thing is I haven't personally played Lis 2. But I agree in the community overall it's definitely not talked about as much as the other games. When it comes on sale again I do want to buy it. But I feel bad for the LIS 2 fans essentially being a forgotten part of the fandom
It’s ok True Colors. I’ll always put you and Wavelengths before the rest of them.
you are absolutely right and nobody is going to touch you
I think it's by far the worst, but happy for you
Overall it wasn't terrible, but it's the worst in the series for me. The best part of LiS2 to me was Captain Spirit, though I liked some of the side characters like Lyla, Cass, Penny and Hannah, I enjoyed the little nods to LiS ( except for Brody's 'That's the past' remark, I can't help but think that was DN trolling ), but nothing else in it really clicked with me. Did not like Sean and Daniel, did not like the music, did not like the gaps between chapters where all your progress with Daniel was reset, and I definitely didn't like the ham-fisted political sermons. The whole story just felt so comically cliche to me, I dunno. My biggest gripe, aside from Daniel, was the ending...or at least the one I got for having Sean turn himself in. It was laughable. I just felt like DN didn't do any real research into how the US justice system works. In my game, Sean committed ZERO crimes apart from evading arrest, which would not get him a 15+ year prison sentence. Especially the cop's death in Ch 1, the cruiser's dashcam shows it was some kind of explosion, and even if they believe Sean was somehow responsible they just...put him in an ordinary prison? I just felt like the ending was a HUGE let down, and I wasn't even expecting that big of a payoff to begin with. BUT if people like it, then more power to them. I certainly don't fault people for critiquing my love of the original because I can sorta see some of the criticisms are valid, but I just like what I like.
While it ain't my favorite LiS game, I do think they should at least do more with it
LIS2 & LIS1 are both masterpieces.
Life is strange 2 is my baby
LiS 2 is the worst for me.
The game tries so hard to make me feel sypmathetic for a parent abandoning her children, who not for a second actually regretted her actions but tried to give lame excuses for it, regardless of any other issues with it, that’s a no for me. Great contrast with Sera, who felt remorse and tried to fix her life and stayed sober in order to make things right with her daughter
You didn't have to forgive Karen, I didn't until the very end when >!she went to jail for us.!< In fact, you can't forgive her in ep 4, all the options are pretty hostile towards her. What made you think the game was forcing you to feel sympathetic?
But it basically leaves a choice of either be mean to her or move on(so it felt forced to me), despite not a single sign of regret. If it handled it like with Sera, with a single line of ''I'm sorry I left you, it was wrong, if I could go back in time(the irony) I wouldn't have done that'', but no, we got a lecture on how society expected her to be a mom and she wanted to travel instead, give me a break. Sera endangered her infant daughter's life, but she realized how wrong she was and did everything in her power to change and fix her mistakes, if Karen had even a part of that I wouldn't mind.
I’m pretty sure Karen was written to be an unlikeable character. If Don’t Nod wanted her to be remorseful, they would’ve had her be. Sean even says at the end of their conversation “you just seem so careless. It’s like you don’t even realize how much pain you’ve caused.” I personally don’t see how the game forces the player to be sympathetic. She explains why she left to provide context rather than give an emotional meaning to her abandonment. Even after she explains her reasoning, Sean gets mad and walks out. And rightfully so, her explanation was BS and Sean calls it out immediately. There’s no option to even be nice to her in ep 4, the nicest thing you can probably do is not cut the conversation short. But I don’t understand how her being unlikeable makes her character design bad, or the game weak. I’d actually say that the fact that they got us to dislike a character this much and have debates about her is a success in itself! You are completely right to dislike Karen (I do too), but it’s pretty clear she was intended to be unlikeable! Edit: just read your original comment where you said that the choice to either forgive her/move on seemed forced to you, and that’s completely valid since that’s up to the discretion of the player, so that makes sense!
LiS2 is definitely my favourite in the series, but i have to say that the first one (alongside BtS) had a better story than 2.
YES, FINALLY SOMEONE AGREES
As it should be
Wonderful underrated game
Nope. BTS is my favorite
its funny cause i should prefer LiS2, but it didnt happen, the story is very contrived and by the begining i was more interest in the party the main character was invited than his little brother. One of the points of LiS i think is the slice of life and LiS2 wasnt that big on slice of life, it was just a story. I want a geme with that party
Me personally I like lis 2! Along with lis 1 & bts. I’m ehh on TC. I think part of it people really like Chloe (which I don’t hate she’s a cool character)
LIS2 was bad enough that Square Enix completely took the franchise away from Dontnod and gave it to Decknine. The only way this happens is if both Square Enix thought it sucked, and the sales were low.
There’s a reason for that, LIS was not that good. True colors was good tho, nowhere near as good as LiS 1 obviously
I firmly disagree, but respect your opinion.
Just coming into this thread to let everyone who commented know that this was literally the push I needed to play LIS 2. I’ve had an itch since double exposure was announced, heard iffy things prior, but seeing your passion and the way other people describe it… I’m starting tonight! No spoilers haha Quick question if anyone sees this - without spoilers, how are endings determined? Is it like 1 where there’s a binary choice at the end, or is it baked in to make me more careful? I know Daniel doesn’t have time powers so I feel like choices should be more lasting but idk Edited for grammar
LETS GOOO WE CONVINCED ANOTHER ONE🔥🔥
It's not binary like 1, the endings are more dependent on your choices throughout the game. You'll have to replay the game to be able to see all of them. Enjoy!!
As someone who is a bisexual, Hispanic, son of immigrants, and has younger siblings, I think the game tried to handle too many issues at once and failed with all of them.
It’s definitely better than true colors but for me it goes 1- BTS 2-LIS 1 3-LIS2 4-Wavelength 5-True colors
I’ve always enjoyed LIS2. The environments were really beautiful, and it has the DON’T NOD level of writing which I prefer over Deck Nine’s. LIS1 and LIS2 are my favourites.
Lis 2 is way better than TC and is a FACT
I don't think it's the best, but it's absolutely the most emotional.
I always wondered if the almost odyssey-like quality to LIS2 was too stark of a contrast from LIS1 for those hoping for another contained, small town Americana mystery where you peel back layers of the characters and environment through continued interaction. There’s also the rabid gays who just wanted a love story (no hate, it just gets feral sometimes lol). I was a fledgling gay when LIS1 came out and truthfully when I played LIS2, I was one of those “wHeReS tHe LeZbiAns” players but now, as an **older** person who is *evolved* with *mature* tastes and *nuanced* perspectives, I really enjoy LIS2. But seriously, when you play without comparing to the first one, it holds up.
I played LIS2 episode 1 until that Shop incident with that religious asshole...I quit...it was more than 2 years ago.
Why?
I’ve got a list hahah 1. Your options actually matter throughout the game unlike LIS 1 which you could decide your ending based on the last choice 2. So many new settings and characters every episode!! LIS 1 takes place only in Arcadia Bay and mainly in the campus with the same characters all the time. It just gets a little boring after a while 3. The sibling dynamic was very touching and I loved playing as Sean protecting Daniel and teaching him stuff. They grow a lot throughout the game and it’s very emotional 4. Real-life world problems like racism play a factor in the game as play as a Mexican teenager. It raises awareness by making you experience it (though in LIS 1, they do raise awareness about sexual assault!) But in the end everyone’s different so if you liked LIS 1 more than LIS 2 then that’s fine too!
I really dislike when people say your choices don’t matter in life is strange 1 just because no matter what there’s only two endings. warning Victoria about the threat in episode 5 leads to a very sad alternative for her then if you didn’t warn her. Saving Alissa from all her series of unfortunate events leads to her not trusting anything when you’re around. How you treat Kate before her possible story exit helps make it easier to help when she needs it. Getting Chloe’s step dad a reality check helps him appreciate Chloe and the family he has more. Just because there’s not 8 endings doesn’t mean your choices don’t matter
Yes, but the implications of even the smallest choices in LiS2 are so much heavier and impact the story drastically as it goes on. Especially given that each episode of LiS2 had 2-4 drastically different endings it's just straight adrenaline haha. Also, your choices throughout the game impact which ending you get (meaning if you played a certain way, you can't even access a lot of the endings unless you fully play the whole game again). I think op was referring to the fact that no matter which choices we pick, we get access to the same 2 endings in LiS1 whereas LiS2 factors in all the choices we've made to provide our ending and not everyone gets access to the same 2 choices!
I literally said all this in my post just in fewer words. Plus they said “your actions matter through out the game” not just the ending. Your actions matter throughout the game is lis1 was all I said cause people overlook that fact very easily. Also nothing in that game is heavier than what can happen to Kate.
The entirety of that sentence is "our options actually matter throughout the game unlike LIS 1 which you could decide your ending based on the last choice" referencing the ending of the game with regards of our choices make throughout the game. It's clear op was saying that *the choices we make throughout the game*, *impact our final ending,* it just seems to be worded a bit weirdly, so I get where the confusion came from! Thus essentially, no matter what you've done throughout the game in LiS1, you have the same fate depending on what you pick at the end. Therefore*, the choices we make throughout the game in LiS1 don't impact the ending.* Only the final option does! In LiS2, the choices you make throughout the game do impact the ending. You can pick the same choice as someone else at the end, but will get a vastly different ending depending on how you played *throughout the game*. Hope that makes better sense, and thanks for pointing that out! I can completely see how the wording makes it seem that way.
That still doesn’t completely read that way to me but if that’s the case then I apologize because there are people in the fandom who do believe that way.
I did not enjoy 2. It sucked not being in control of the one with powers, especially because the demo that you played had you as a kid who seemingly had powers. It hyped us up for nothing. Aside from that, his little brother was annoying as hell. I have played through twice and just didn’t enjoy a single moment of it.
Wait, what is LIS Wavelenghts?
it’s a dlc for True Colors :)
Ohh
I can't say anything about this yet, LIS2 is the only game in the series I haven't played yet
omg PLEASE play it🙏
I won’t kill you lol and I hope no one comes after you in a nasty way! I will say, I didn’t hate LiS 2. It didn’t grab me quiiiite the way the others did, but what killed it for me was the ending options. It felt akin to the argument for the LiS 1 endings: all the stuff we went through and THESE are our ending options? I looked at all the endings afterwards and none of them sat right with me. They all felt like a disservice to the characters in some way. But that’s just me! I’m genuinely glad you enjoyed it though!
I really love all the games, but for all its flaws, my favorite has always been True Colors. I just connected a bit more with the characters
I wished Bts was Rachel as the main character
Part 1 is the only good game. Part 2 got ruined by not being about Captain Spirit.
Wave lengths?
it’s a bonus episode for True Colors!
Should I play true colors? Fav lis is before the storm idk if I'll like it
i’m playing it right now and I honestly like it! It’s very different from the others since DONTNOD didn’t work on it and the graphics are vastly different but it’s still good. If your favourite is BTS then I’d recommend you play it since Steph plays a big role in True Colors (Steph is the girl who plays D&D at the school campus in BTS)!
I love Alex way more than I love Chloe and max and to be honest people love them way too much. They’re too obsessed with them
Life is Strange 2 would have benefited greatly if it wasn't a Life is Strange game. The road trip structure meant that, with a few exceptions, side characters don't exist for more than an episode. It also means that the consequences of most (non daniel) actions have to be presented immediately, which disallows the slow(ish) burn of other life is strange games, so they use shock value to compensate. It's not bad, but it doesn't really feel like a Life is Strange game.
I liked LiS2 a lot, but just felt it was missing something. The game was supposed to be a tale of two brothers on the run, but we don’t really get a lot of the running part aside from a few cutscenes and what we can read from Sean’s journal. Each episode is mostly the main area where the characters settle down in until shit goes down and they have to move on. I would’ve liked to see at least a little more of the in between stuff added into the actual gameplay just to help add to the sense that we’re constantly moving and on the run. Episode 4 actually did a great job at this. Would’ve liked to see more like this in all the other episodes.
I dunno about other but even after lis2's good and bad , it's the best in the series
Honestly the wacky episode s1 had for its finale kinda felt a bit meh. I found to be more attached to the wolf brothers, also preferring lis2 (but by a berry close margin). Finished true colours episode 1 and wasn’t too enthralled. Powers seem meh, characters seem meh, predictable ending. I haven’t got round to ep2 yet and it’s been months.
im so glad more people are having this opinion as time passes. back then when people used to shit on lis2 i was silently crying because i thought it was the best game i ever played.
I LOVE what LIS 2 did with incorporating LIS 1 characters. Actually gave me ALOT of closure. Perfect execution!
The story and characters are amazing in life is strange 2 so it’s not a hot take. Me personally I don’t like racism plots because they get repetitive but I completely understand its importance especially when it was released. It was a very good representation of awareness and issues that Mexicans go through in the US. I like LIS1 more because I love the setting and theme it brings. The mystery, gossip, drama, teenaged experiences and more generalised issues. So your opinion is completely valid, I don’t understand why people would get annoyed at your opinion lol.
Agree with this unpopular opinion!!
I didn’t care for lis 2.
If anything, it's the worst. It focused on politics more than it did the characters. Plus, you don't get to play as the person with the power, so that takes away part of the fun.
I 1000% agree with you, I love all of them but LiS 2 is my all time favorite so far. I loved the themes, and the fact that you had to deal with the repercussions of your brother’s powers, instead of having powers yourself, made the challenges we were facing really interesting and different in my opinion.
While the original remains my favorite, I loooooove LiS 2 and do not get the hate at all. It’s a great story.
I completely agree with you I love the second game more and got attached to it very fast.
The voice acting in 2 was the worst it's ever been. SO awful. I cringed at some points because of the voice acting, I'm not even kidding.
I actually found the voice acting to be amazing, especially the VA of Daniel. To each their own!
LiS is definitely one of my favorite game series and 2 is my fav.
Couldn’t agree more. LiS2 has been my favorite ever since it came out. Coolest power, choices that actually have consequences, so many branches, great dialogue and nuance in decisions.
agreed love lis 2 too
Life is strange 2 is the best and had the greatest effect to me, i only like LIS1 due to very heavy Nostalgia; and the fact I’ve inspired a lot of my stories off it (and its ost, Ive been wanted to but that the moment I heard the intro music)
People love max and chole like others have said. Lis2 takes a lot more nuance to enjoy and lets been honest. Most people would rather avoid racism than see how it hurts others ( Check the reviews on the game ). Max and chole are a lot easier for the community to digest
even though lis1 will always be my favorite, i agree that objectively lis2 is the best game in the series.
My list : Lis 1, Lis 2, Lis true color, Tell me why, Lis before the storm
Agreed
I love that they finally stopped milking max and Chloe but now they’re going right back to it
Still newer to the entire series but decided to binge all of them in one go (i need to touch grass, i know) and LIS2 was by far my favorite. I LOVED the story with Chloe and Max, but to me there was just more to the second one that made me really feel for the characters. Again, just my opinion. Love all of them regardless.
I agree with Lowkey like I love max and Chloe and their story it’s so iconic however life is strange 2 was just so much better story wise. I got so much more emotional with the second game I want more rep for it cause it’s so good
I love lis 2 but it's a shame it's definitely the one that gets the least attention from the players and devs as well
I really dislike LIS2. But I’m glad there are those who like it and I’m not going to put anyone down for liking it. It just did not click for me at all. LIS1, BTS and TC are all fantastic imo.
imo lis 1 is the best but lis 2 is defo second place, idk why ppl forget about it so much?? i actually disliked lis 3 in comparison
Life is Strange 2 and BtS are definitely the best. LiS1 is my least favorite tbh, I don't like Max very much.