Life is Strange is one of those games that immediately establish themselves as soon as they arrive. The teen sci-fi thriller was first released in 2015 by Dontnod Entertainment and has dominated its niche easily. Not up to a couple of years later, fans had already started clamoring for a sequel. Years down the line here is all you would want to know about the second game in the series; Life Is Strange 2.
Life is Strange 2 Release Date
Close to four years after the release of the first game in the Life is Strange franchise, its sequel, Life is Strange 2 was released in September 2018. The first episode was released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows. The episode was initially named Seattle, is called Roads.
The second episode, Rules was released on January 2019 and like the first episode, it was also released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Wastelands which is the third episode was released on May 2019 while the fourth and fifth episodes are set for 22 August 2019 and 3 December 2019. All the episodes will come for the same operating system but Feral Interactive will release the Linux and macOS versions of the game in 2019.
The release of the game was intentionally timed because of its political relevance.
Life Is Strange 2 Characters
With Dontnod taking a different story altogether from what was presented in the first game, it is also expected that the characters in the sequel will as well be different. The two major characters in the game, Sean Diaz and his brother Daniel Diaz who are of Mexican descent are voiced by Gonzalo Martin and Roman Dean George. Their father Esteban Diaz is voiced by Amador Plascencia.
Sean’s best friend, Lyla Park is voiced by Mei Pak, and Brett Vaughn Foster who is the racist neighbor of the Diaz family who bullies Daniel Diaz is voiced by Robert Shearer. Others are shopkeeper, Doris Stamper who is voiced by Elaine Partnow. The husband of Doris, Hank Stamper who is antagonistic towards the two brothers is voiced by Paul Newman.
Other characters of the game are Brody Holloway who is voiced by Bolen Walker, Charles Eriksen by Nick Apostolides, Christopher Eriksen by Chandler Mantione, and Cassidy by Sarah Bartholomew. Other voices are provided by Matthew Gallenstein, Steve Liski, Rafael Goldstein, Joel Clark Ackerman, and Kiara Lisette Gamboa among others.
The plot of the Game
In the first game in the series, a story is told about a young girl, Maxine Caulfield who is a photography student. Set in Arcadia Bay, Oregon, a fictional town. Max, as she is known, discovers that she has the special abilities to rewind time. She goes back and meets her estranged best friend Chloe Price with whom she tries to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of a local girl,
Set three years after the happenings of the first game in the franchise, Dontnod Entertainment decided to take the game rather differently in both the setting and characters
The game tells the story of two brothers Sean and Daniel, 16 and 9 years old respectively. Sean stands up to a neighbor bullying his brother and in the fight that ensued, the neighbor falls and smashes his head fatally.
A police officer comes to the scene and somehow, the police officer shoots the dad of the boys who also came to the scene. Next, there is a sudden blast. At the end of it all, two people are left dead; Sean’s dad and the police officer, while the bully is badly injured. Daniel is also in a bad shape as he is carried away by Sean as more police cars come to the scene.
Sean takes his brother and begins the journey to the hometown of their father, Puerto Lobos in Mexico while he keeps the news of their father’s death hidden. However, the younger boy later learned about the death from the news and he reveals he is the one behind the explosion as he has latent telekinesis.
From there, the game continues with the adventures of the two brothers while the powers of Daniel is becoming even bigger. The gamer takes the role of Sean.
Finally, it is written in a road movie-style such that the characters are always on the move.
See Also: Dishonored 3 Release Date, News, and Rumors – What We Know So Far
All You Need To Know
1. Gameplay
When it comes to the gameplay, Life is Strange does an excellent job so much that in its sequel, there was no need for anything to change. A graphic adventure game, it is rather narrative and it allows you to easily move around and interact with objects, More so, you can engage Non-player characters (NPCs) in conversations.
With Unreal Engine 4, it becomes possible for a gamer to select their dialog options which will also have an impact on the general story as it progresses including how other characters in the game will interact with you as well as the entire outcome.
Basically, the mechanics of the game is the same as it is with the first installation.
2. Platforms
As already stated, the platforms the game is using, for now, are PC, Xbox, and PS4. However, it will also be developed for Linux and macOS, but for those counting on a Nintendo Switch release, there is nothing that has been said in that regards- at least for now.
3. Number of Episodes
Life Is Strange 2 also has five episodes just like the first game in the franchise. It is released from September 2018 until December 2019.
4. It makes use of Unreal Engine 4
While Life is Strange makes use of Engine 3, the sequel is developed on Unreal Engine 4. With that, it allows for better gameplay as well as the visuals which slightly improves on the first game. In essence, you get better animations.
5. Soundtrack
Almost everything about the game is top-notch, but one will have to give it to Jonathan Morali for the soundtrack. Having done a great job in the first game, he returns again in Life is Strange 2 with a soundtrack that is praised by both gamers and critics.
