Life Is Strange - Colours Staying True

Last year, I gave you my thoughts on Life Is Strange, Life Is Strange: Before The Storm, and Life Is Strange 2. (If you would like to read those, you can find them here and here.) Well, they're back with yet another instalment, in Life Is Strange: True Colors. It's a standalone story that doesn't really overlap with any of the others, though if you have played Before The Storm, you'll recognise Steph as a character from there. But the main character in this story is Alex Chen, a 21-year old woman who becomes reunited with her older brother in a little town called Haven Springs after years of going through the foster system - only to lose him in what seems like a freak accident. But, as things come to the surface, it becomes clear that this is no accident. (Warning: some spoilers ahead. I'm avoiding key ones, but if you want to go into the game without spoilers, you might want to save this for later.)

For those who have played previous Life Is Strange games, much of how you interact with the world will be familiar. The game is broken up into five chapters or episodes, similar to previous games; each has a playtime of about a couple of hours, depending on how much exploration you do, or how much time you spend listening to the music cutscenes and the like (there's a number of them). Gameplay is made up of sections where you explore various environments around the town of Haven Springs, interspersed by cutscenes that often have choices attached to them. Some of these may be very small choices, like whether to give someone a handshake or a hug; some may be larger choices, like choosing whether to keep or share a secret entrusted to you by a child. Many of these choices will have consequences, whether good or bad, and change how different characters interact with you or events play out. The game is good at highlighting the very significant choices; these are presented to you differently, and you can even opt to have a "confirm" dialogue pop-up in these just to make sure you don't accidentally click something. There is an inventory, but you won't be using it much; the main time you interact with it or notice it will be during the LARP in the third episode (which is one of the coolest sequences in the game). You do, however, have a phone in which you get text messages from other characters, as well as an app that's basically to give you updates on things happening around the town. You also keep a journal of some key moments during the story, and there's a tab to store specific memories you find.

Speaking of which - let's get to the powers. People who have played Life Is Strange games before will know that one of the key inclusions in this world is that one of the main characters typically has powers of some kind. In this instance, Alex has empathy. This means that when people are feeling strong emotions, she can see it as a coloured aura around them; and, by interacting with this aura, she can also hear why they are feeling this emotion. She can also find objects that have emotions imbued into them, and hear the memories associated with them. As you progress through the story, you'll understand this power more, and find out how she can use this power to help - or hurt - those around her. Somewhat similarly to Inside Out, there are only a few key emotions that are highlighted in this game; sadness (blue), fear (purple), anger (red), and eventually, joy (gold). Alex has previously thought of this as a curse; but, if she wants to find out the truth, she will need to use this power to uncover the emotions of the people around her. You will need to decide when using this power will help; and when it might hurt. And if that's what you want to do.

Each game has also given a creative bent to each of the main characters. Max was a photographer; Chloe was a graffiti artist; Sean was a pencil artist; and Alex is a musician. She has a guitar, and plays it occasionally through the story; it's not frequently used, but music does show up prominently (which, surprisingly enough, I connect to quite strongly). Her notes in her journal include fragments of song lyrics with chords, and I love this detail. Basically all of the "Moments of Calm" you have will feature a particular song playing; either on a record player (which feature heavily), or from a jukebox, or perhaps just from nowhere in particular.

Haven Springs, where the game is located, is a beautiful setting. The amount that you can explore is fairly decent, but limited so that you can't do too much. You've basically got Main Street, plus a park and a jetty at one end. The main buildings that you'll be spending time in are the bar (which Alex lives above), the record store, the flower shop, and the dispensary - though you'll also take one-off excursions to other places now and then, as things become relevant to the story. The visuals are lovely, and the LARP in episode 3, as I've already mentioned, is a particular stand-out.

The controls are simple and easy to get a hang of. I also can't remember any spots in the game where there was a time-sensitive response I needed to give; this might have been another setting in the menu? The subtitles were great (I basically always have them on in games these days, it's fantastic), and there are good options for various sorts of colour-blind folks as well.

The story is also really enjoyable. The characters are relatable and have depth to them that's really vibrant. The time that you have playing with it is obviously compressed - but you have the ability to establish deep relationships and connections with many people in the town, including potential romantic relationships with either Steph or Ryan (I went with Steph, because she is amazing, and I loved seeing her again, but do what you like in your own playthrough). The story does feel like it ends somewhat suddenly; and the massive secret doesn't feel as massive as perhaps it should have been when it finally comes to light, but it was still really fun the whole way through. There are some solid twists to the story that are quite good, with plenty to dig into if you want to play the game multiple times.

Having said that, this is a Life Is Strange game. And it wouldn't be that without taking you on a fairly decent emotional rollercoaster. While that's true to some degree in this game, I didn't feel it to the same level as I did in previous games. The darkness and depths of sorrow and grief are still there, and you feel that - but it tends to be in shorter sections, padded by large amounts of lighter emotion and plenty of feel-goods. Something that does feel somewhat lacking in this instalment of the series, however; in the stories so far, they've done a great job at putting you in the shoes of someone you perhaps hadn't been in before. In the first game, you were an American teenage girl in high school, facing issues of suicide, murder, drug use, bullying, and more; in the second, you were a Mexican teenage older brother, facing issues of racism and inequality, injustice, and family death and split. Here, the main new ones are Alex's history as a foster child and teen, and the struggles she's had with feeling alone or abandoned amongst that; but these only come up a few times in the game, and it feels less like the space that the creators were playing with in previous titles. I'll admit, I did enjoy the more uplifting tone of this game overall; but I also miss the challenge that these games tended to give me, in terms of how I saw the world, or thought about things. Perhaps other people will see things that I didn't (there is some anti-mining sentiment, or more accurately, anti-big-faceless-business sentiment, but that feels common enough these days). 

In terms of things to watch out for with triggers and the like; there are some scenes which play with surrealism and such in how they are presented which may be upsetting, which is part of how they are presenting you interacting with emotions - there are also some scenes of arguing, and one particular scene where a character is quite visibly hurt and bleeding, plus another brief fight scene, and casual swearing interspersed throughout, but I think that's about it.

For myself - I really loved this game. I would have loved it to go on a bit longer, and to develop these relationships even deeper (particularly the romantic one!), and spend more time with these people and this story and this town. I especially vibed with Alex, which shouldn't be too surprising - as someone who is also a musician, and strongly empathetic, the character resonated with me strongly. I really enjoyed being able to play her, and spend some time in her head; I love her confidence and strength, even after all that she's gone through and experienced.

This was a really awesome and fun game, and I'll definitely be playing through it again. I also look forward to the shorter story Wavelengths that serves as a prequel to this, following some of Steph's journey, coming out at the end of this month. I'm anticipating I won't have quite as much to say on that one, but I know I'll enjoy it.