Here’s what to know from Deck Nine’s reveal livestream for Life is Strange: Double Exposure
Deck Nine hosted a reveal livestream for Life is Strange: Double Exposure that revealed more about the gameplay, story, and the burning questions of how Max’s past informs the present.
Game Director Jonathan Stauder and Narrative Director Felice Kuan answer questions posed by Host Elyse Willems who herself is a fan of the series.
The setting
Max is a photographer and artist in residency at a prestigious university in Vermont and it’s the dead of winter during holiday break. Her best friend Safi is murdered moments after Max was speaking with her, no footprints left in the snow, and no weapon. The supernatural aspect that Deck Nine kept touting actually comes from not the reality shifting, but from the impossibility of Safi’s murder. Regardless, Max has to solve the murder in her original timeline, and prevent it from occuring in the parallel timeline she was thrust into.
Max’s Powers
If you’re wondering why the solving of this murder can’t also involve saving Safi in the original timeline, it’s because Max has refused to use her rewind powers since Arcadia Bay, traumatized by the events that occurred and afraid of what could happen. Because of this, Kuan describes it as “losing fluency in a language,” meaning that reality shifting is Max’s power of choice for players to use.
Reality shifting also comes along with the ability to “pulse;” a way for Max to peak past the veil and see what’s occurring in the parallel timeline in the same exact space. There is also something called “shift spots,” where the veil is weakest and presents an opportunity for Max to instantly shift to the other timeline.
To Willem’s inquiry on if this gets confusing, both Stauder and Kuan respond with a resounding yes. Players have to pay attention to character, environmental, set, lighting, and even weather pattern changes to remember which timeline they’re in. Max is susceptible to embarrassing plunders in dialogue if she — the player — forgets, so you’ll want to pay close attention to the details around you.
Before Max can even try to solve this murder mystery, however, she needs to get the hang of the powers. Max will start exploring this newfound reality shifting ability, trying to discover how it came to fruition and how it works — according to Kuan, the reality shifting power is at the heart of this story.
How the original Life is Strange informs Max’s new story
Stauder and Kuan discuss how the choice to bring back Max Caulfield was not without awareness that the story had to be special and respect the two possible endings from the original game. Stauder and Kuan confirm your past choice will inform the story through an early-game conversation with Safi, as Arcadia Bay naturally comes up in conversation.
Players are given a sneak peek into this scene, where Safi asks Max what’s up with the “blue-haired girl whose picture you keep in your wallet,” and Max’s dialogue choices are shown as “We were just friends” or “We were high school sweethearts.” Both options are past-tense, which doesn’t bode well for Max and Chloe fans.
It’s unclear if this dialogue occurs after you inform Safi of your past major decision for Arcadia Bay, so there is a chance this dialogue could differ and give a better outlook on how things could be for players who chose to save Chloe.
What has Max been up to all these years since Arcadia Bay?
Hannah Telle, Max’s original VA, has returned to reprise her role as Max and gives an idea of what Max has been doing since the events of Arcadia Bay. According to her, she’s been living a bit of a “nomadic” lifestyle, not wanting to stay in one place. Max is here at the university to try to distance herself from a past she mainly wants to forget, and according to a scene shown in the stream, she’s been settled here for six months.
According to Telle, before this Max was on the road, staying in hotels, photographing abandoned, desolate places, and making a name for herself as a photographer.
What was shown so far
If you want to go into the game blind, I advise skipping this part as it will go over the first 10 minutes or so of gameplay that was shown in the stream.
The game starts out with Max and her friends on a snow-covered deck, Safi and Moses, waiting to see a broken-up asteroid up in the sky. Their friend Moses, being an astrophysicist, has a bunch of tech set up and a telescope. They talk, laugh, and hang out. Safi teases that she has some good news, but keeps it close to her chest, and the player has to go around the environment and figure out how to get her secret out of her.
Max eventually does, and it turns out Safi’s been contacted by a publisher for her poetry. Before this conversation can go further, however, Safi gets a phone call that appears to rile her up, and she ends up walking away on her own. Max eventually goes after her to see how she’s doing, but not without her own issues.
She starts experiencing flashes of pain in her head and disorientation, starting after Safi had walked away. As she goes after Safi, they continue, until finally she falls to the ground, the screen going dark. We hear an emergency broadcast message, and Chloe’s voice — it’s unclear if this is Ashly Burch or not — calling out her name. The familiar distraught voice of Max, saying “I did this! This is my fault!” that comes directly from the final scenes of the first game.
After she recovers, she continues down the path, pushing the occurence from her mind and focusing on catching up to Safi. She sees her in the distance, and keeps making her way towards her. But then, she loses sight of her, and soon after a gunshot rings out. Max starts running, terrified of what could have happened to her friend. Instead, she’s relieved to find Safi sitting on a bench, safe and sound — or so she thinks.
When Max tries to get Safi’s attention, she’s still and unresponsive. When she shakes her shoulder, Safi falls over onto the ground, blood from a gunshot wound soaking the front of her coat. Max cries over her body, as her friend Moses finally catches up and is brought to his knees by the scene.
The gameplay ended there, leaving many questions, and very few answers — that’s up to the player to figure out.
Overview
What we know so far is that Max cannot rewind time but can shift between parallel timelines at will. Returning players will have the opportunity to have their major choice from the first game influence this new story, through journal entries, Max’s thoughts, and dialogue with new characters. Chloe, as far as we can tell, will not be a present character regardless of your choice, but she will not be forgotten by Max.
And most importantly, a seemingly impossible murder is about to occur again in a new timeline, and the player must use Max’s new powers to stop it. The mystery unravels October 29th, with players who pre-order the ultimate edition getting to play the first two chapters two weeks early.
You can pre-order Life is Strange: Double Exposure on Xbox, Playstation, and Steam.
