Unlocking New Realities: A Deep Dive into "Life is Strange: Double Exposure"

When Square Enix’s forthcoming branching narrative game, Life is Strange: Double Exposure, hits digital retailers on 29 October, it could well change narrative gaming forever. This is the third title in a series of ‘choose your own adventure’ experiences, in which players observe the lives of ordinary young women through the manipulation of time – in this case, a 17-year-old named MAX. So what makes it different from the increasingly crowded slush of narrative drama? And why should you invest your time (and money) in this experience rather than any of the myriad others that surround it? Let’s find out.

A Legacy of Engaging Storytelling

Life is Strange has established itself as a series of intelligent, dramatic stories draped over the most realistic 3D animated human characters I’ve ever seen. Its previous episodes have taken me on emotional rides, and Double Exposure looks like it will take that to a new height. The series is built around the hardships of its main characters, who often manipulate reality to explore deeper questions around friendship, time and consequence.

MAX: A Bridge Between Realities

At the centre of Double Exposure is MAX, a character that fans of Life is Strange will instantly recognise from the first game: a deeply empathetic teenage girl who arrives at the nexus of causality, trying to save her best friend who has been killed in one storyline but remains alive in another. The narrative possibilities are rich and real, and MAX (as well as the game’s player) is challenged to probe the extent to which one would go to save someone you love.

A Tale of Two Worlds

Sofie’s discrete ‘other’ is a device that appears to be a narrative smorgasbord, intended to span more character-traversed backstories than a pocket-sized town even can afford – and, more than that, probably a great many more than our own actual world offers. Because, via MAX’s eyes, players will be experiencing both realms at the same time and making decisions that ripple through both of them, including changing the story’s fateful course. In exploring alternative realities in this way, the game’s unspooling narrative premise becomes a metaphor for our own choices.

Graphical Prowess and Immersive Gameplay

This is Square Enix we’re talking about, after all, a company with a background pushing the limits of graphics as much as software. ‘Life is Strange: Double Exposure’ might sound like nothing more than pure wishful thinking, but it’s potentially a game-changer. The hyper-realistic graphics of a human being are so much more than just a pretty face. They’re an opportunity to become closer to the people of the game. It’s also worth noting that Square Enix announced its game at Microsoft’s Xbox showcase. Clearly, whatever MAX’s journey through the time-space continuum is, it’ll be cutting edge.

Why "Double Exposure" Could Be Your Next Gaming Obsession

For fans of narrative-driven games, Double Exposure offers a heady experience by combining familiar ways of interacting and moving through a game with delightfully novel ways to tell a story. Its tale of grief, choice and consequence, etched in two distinct realities, is nothing like the other games in the series, and also not like recent efforts by many competitors in the genre. MAX is your avatar for a little while, but you make the story your own.

With masterful storytelling, innovative graphics, and the characters’ palpable emotions, this series is a must-see for seasoned readers and a can’t-miss title for those just discovering the vastness of manga. Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Kodansha, Oct 29) has the potential to be its greatest volume yet.

About MAX

MAX isn’t just the player character, she is also a bridge between worlds, a symbol of friendship, and the embodiment of the game’s key themes. Just as she tries to work through her grief in one universe, and battle through her fighting in another to save Sofie’s life, MAX’s presence represents the player’s ability to affect change within the Life is Strange universe. The choices that the player makes, the consequences that come from these cards' choices, and the lifelong effect of human relationships are all themes in Life is Strange: Double Exposure, a game that is metafictive at its core.

When players put on MAX’s glasses again, it’s not just the return of a familiar face. It’s a new experience, a sophisticated experience, an experience that actively resists the notion of reality, that demands we look at what we’re looking at, that pins us down and makes us think before we act, and that will leave you feeling like you’ve played a game unlike any other.