Never Writes About:
Life is Strange: Reunion
I don’t want to be writing this. For more than the reasons I typically have. Usually, I’m hesitant to devote so much time to something I know no one will ever see. I like writing, and I like writing about the games I Platinum or just play. I like going through the process of writing them. But it is a lot of work and can be a source of great stress for me. I often wonder if it is worth it. Why toil away if there is no one to appreciate the work I’ve done? Is it enough to experience the process of creating? Can I derive enough satisfaction from the act of merely doing this thing? Is it enough? This may be me trying to understand game development.
Life is Strange: Reunion is a game. Maybe I should back up. Rewind time just a bit. Back to when I first played Life is Strange. Way back in 2015. Firstly, when I remember Life is Strange I always think I played it in 2010. Not exactly a full Mandela effect phenomenon type thing, but in my mind that was the year I played it / first heard about it. 2015 just feels a bit too late for me to have felt all I felt while playing it. I wasn’t much younger. That’s just math. And the time in between I wouldn’t exactly categorize as formative. I wasn’t in or soon to be exiting an educational institution. I wasn’t moving out for the first time, nor was I changing cities for a new job or whatever. No major life transitions of the traditional sense. But I suppose the 2015 me was a very differnt person compared to my 2010 self.
Between 2004-ish and 2013-ish I was in (what I have just now for the first time and for the purpose of this piece dubbed) a “trauma coma.” I did not leave my home. At all. Save for the once to bi-monthly therapy appointments I had scheduled. I left my house less than 100 times in a 10 year period. I will not be expanding on that.
It was around 2013 I decided I did not wish to continue living this way. So I began to take therapy very seriously. I did everything that was suggested to me. Every treatment. Every drug. It was a difficult and exciting time for me. I realize this is rambling and a bit disjointed but that’s how my brain works, and no one will read this so I can write however the fuck I wish.
All this to say that in 2015 I was in a slightly better place than I was in 2010, which is possibly the reason why I am always so confused when I realize I played Life is Strange in 2015. I guess I can not believe it affected me as much as it did, considering the place I was in emotionally at that time. A place or state I consider much stronger than my 2010 self. But the game destroyed me. I, to this day , have not been so emotionally torn apart by a game’s ending as I was when I ended Life is Strange.
It feels weird saying that a game could effect me in such a way at such a time in my life, and at such an age. I was 34 when I played it. I don’t know how old you are, non-existent reader, but most media stops influencing you and shaping you once you pass, like , 32? I don’t know. I’m not a pseudo scientist. But I was taken aback by how this weird little game made a major impact on me. It taught me things! About myself! That’s my favourite thing to learn about! And that’s what I mean. I think of my 2010 29 year old self as someone more mouldable or shape-able. But reflecting now, its obviously the opposite. I changed so much during my trauma coma. Y’know what? Maybe I should clarify it by saying emotional trauma coma. Or emotional trauma pseudo coma. I think all comas are from some type of trauma. So ETPC it is then.
So I changed so much during those 10 years inside, and I changed more so during the next 5 years when attempting to rejoin the world. I was more mature. More balanced. The drugs didn’t take but the other methods did. I can see now that healing myself allowed me to fully experience the emotional apocalypse of the choice. You know the choice. You know. And based on the plot of Life is Strange: Reunion, many of you made the wrong one.
Yes I went there and I’m going to stay there. I do not intend to be insulting, or to talk down to anyone who made the wrong choice. I realize my insistence on calling it the wrong choice contradicts my stated intention but, like, it’s the wrong choice. I understand it. At least I think I do. I know it’s more complicated than “I like girl so I keep girl.” I understand not caring about saving a world that has been and would continue to be hostile toward you. A world that does not want you to exist. A world that does not want you to thrive. To feel joy. A world that does not want you to love. To be loved. Why sacrifice any of those things for a selfish, cruel world that would never do the same for you? And if the opportunity at any of that joy presents itself, how is it wrong to take it? Especially when this world was designed to grind you down and snuff you out. It was a miracle finding this love at all, why lose it for the sake of literal monsters? Whether the love between your Max and Chloe was romantic or plutonic, love is love and I understand not wanting to sacrifice it.
In fact, going into that final moment, I had every intention of letting that shit hole Arcadia Bay get erased from the planet. I loved Max and Chloe together. I loved their chemistry. Their bond. I believed and felt the love Max had for Chloe. I didn’t want to lose it. I wanted to imagine a world where they drive away together, living their lives fully and joyously. I wanted to keep them together. I was willing to sacrifice the town and anything or anyone else to meet that end. So why didn’t I? Why did I instead rip my heart out, and sacrifice the one person for whom I was willing to end the world? The answer is simple and clear. She asked me to. That’s why.
That’s why saving Chloe is the wrong choice. I can blather on about the needs of the many outweighing the blah blah. Or the greater good blah blah blah. None of that mattered to me and it obviously didn’t matter to anyone that chose to save Chloe. Fuck Arcadia Bay. Sure, not dooming an entire town seems like the obvious, no-brainer choice but that did not factor in to my decision. Chloe asked me to let her go. Chloe knew the situation. She knew what it meant. And she chose to let herself die, as she was always intended to, so that her mother and the town could live. Chloe chose. And because I loved her, (I actually just realized I keep jumping between using “I” and “Max”) and respected her, I had to respect her wishes. Doing the opposite is the selfish choice. I’m sorry. It just is. And I get it. Why not be selfish when it comes to saving a shit hole town? But when it comes to the love of your life? Denying their agency because you can’t let them go? Clearly the wrong choice.
So in 2015 I made the right choice and destroyed myself emotionally. I have never cried so severely at the end of a game. I didn’t want to let go. But I had to, because Chloe asked me to let her go. And for a long time, that is where the Life is Strange series ended for me. Before the Storm did not appeal to me at the time. You wouldn’t be crazy in thinking it should or would have. A prequel starring Chloe, the love of my Max’s life, exploring her relationship with the love of her life, Rachel Amber? I should have been on board, right? Right??
Well, that was not the case and I had good reasons for avoiding it, despite being very curious. First and most importantly, there was an actor’s strike occurring at the time. The original voice actor for Chloe, Ashley Burch, would not be involved. Second, it was being developed by DeckNine, who you will notice is not DontNod, the makers of the original Life is Strange. A new team taking over any creative property is a big ask, and I lacked faith. Those two factors combined with my inherent disinterest in prequel stories put me off the game. I don’t like prequels usually because the stakes just aren’t there for me when I know how the story ultimately ends for the characters. You can’t put someone in danger in a prequel if they exist in the original work. There is no tension.
When Life is Strange 2 was announced, I had a brief moment of hope that I would see my beloved Max again, and maybe, just maybe Chloe as well. Maybe Max had found a way to fix everything, and they could be together and have a happily ever after. Y’know, like real life. HA HA. Anyway those hopes were very quickly dashed because Life is Strange 2 would star 2 dorks I did not care about. So that was the end of my time with the Life is Strange series until a few years ago.
I like trophies. I like getting trophies. More importantly, and more specifically, I like earning Platinums. Sometimes, I like going for difficult Platinums like Returnal or Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and other times I prefer a more relaxed experience. I never go for those games that are designed and made for the sole purpose of gaining trophies. Like the jumping donut or whatever it is. I only play games that I would play whether or not trophies existed. This is a long winded and unnecessary way of explaining why I played Life is Strange: True Colours. It was either on sale or included with some tier of PlayStation Plus, I don’t recall. But I thought I’d give it a try, assuming it will be a chill experience with an okay story. I also thought it would let me see what DeckNine was all about.
I played it, Platinumed it, and loved it. It was a more compact story compared to the original and other narrative games I’ve played. I loved it for that. I enjoyed it so much, it reignited the flame I had for the series. I finally played LIfe is Strange 2 and did not care for it. For me, it had similar problems that a few narrative games have, where they need the story to play out in a certain way, and they need characters to react in certain ways to get the story to that point, regardless of your choices. Its annoys me when a character blows up at you for neglecting them when every choice you made when given the opportunity was focused on them. Despite that experience, I was so impressed with the work DeckNine did with True Colours that I pressed forward and purchased the Life is Strange Remastered collection, which consisted of Life is Strange 1 and Before the Storm. I felt enough time had passed since the strike, the use of scabs could be forgiven. I was blown away by Before the Storm. The characterization of Chloe and Amber. The performance of the actors. The touching and grounded story. All of it so well presented. It became my second favourite game in the series. I think in actuality it may be better than the OG, but its hard to usurp the feeling the first game gave me.
And then there was Double Exposure. I was so excited by the announcement. I would get to see Max again. Get to see how she has grown and lived since the events of the first game. DeckNine had more than proven themselves capable of crafting characters I care about considerably, so I was completely on board. I should mention that I am agoraphobic and have extremely high anxiety. The kind that inhibits most social functions. I do not participate in any discussions (online or in person) about video games. I do not engage with or participate in any fandoms. I don’t post on Reddit or other forums. There are times when I lament my situation. I so love these games and this medium. I would love to have enriching conversations about the games I play. About this hobby that I love. But often, when I peek into the realm of fandom, and the discourse surrounding most games I am really put off. I don’t want to spend time bashing people or their opinions. I’ll just say that much of what I see is emotionally immature, and this immaturity seems to fuel a variety of undesirable traits.
I liked Double Exposure for the most part. It had its issues. I didn’t like being forced into tasks for romantic interests I, as Max, had no interest in. That always causes a disconnect for me in narrative games because I as the player am still given the choice to not be with them romantically, but I am still forced into romantic or flirty situations that end up feeling awkward and out of place. And the plot holes. It feels like some clarifying scenes or gameplay moments were cut in order to get a mostly coherent package out the door. This is an example of the type of discourse I do not see. An understanding of what it takes to make a video game. Or a film or a book. There are many pieces. Its not about knowing every step. It’s just about acknowledging and understanding that it is far more difficult than many seem to believe. Its about judging any piece of art for what it is doing, and what it intends to do, rather than what YOU wished it did.
I think Double Exposure was a good game. I think it had an almost impossible task of trying to respect the choices of the fanbase, a large portion of whom made the wrong choice. This game further reinforces saving Chloe as the wrong choice because it is not the default and it makes little sense story wise. I was happy to see Max move on with her life after the traumatic events of the first game. I liked seeing her as an adult in adult in adult relationships. I liked the amount of time we got with the side characters. There was a depth to them that was missing from Reunion, but I’m jumping ahead.
I was happy with the game I got with Double exposure, and I was left hopeful by the ending. It teased a sort of “people with powers” group. Like a band of heroes or something. Like a gathering of super powered people into some type of force. I wish there was an easy pop culture reference I could use to describe a bunch of super powered people working and fighting together. Also multiverse stuff. But I was happy. I love Max so I was happy to have Max back. And I was hopeful we’d get more, but when I started to read the discourse, the dreaded discourse, my heart sank. That’s dramatic. I get what people were saying about the plot and characters, I just didn’t agree with most of it. And to be honest, I didn’t read much of it. I’m not the type of fan that deep dives into the thoughts of others, particularly when they are so far removed from my own.
For example I read some hate for the character of Vin. That he was a creep. That seemed like a very surface level read on his character. He was flawed, as all the characters were, which is a big part of what I enjoyed about the game, and what I have always enjoyed about the franchise. Most of the characters in Life is Strange are flawed characters trying to do their best. I dislike when characters are cartoonishly evil or irreproachable exemplars of all that is good. I want characters that are always doing what they think is best, even if their actions can easily be interpreted as “evil” or “wrong.” Life is nuanced. For example: you’d think that someone that feels as I do about character and choice would NEVER believe that a choice made in a game by a flawed, nuanced character could be considered the ABSOLUTE wrong choice, but here we are.
I need to start talking about Reunion. I’m Rambling. Bloviating. I’m avoiding the topic. I guess because it is bad. It is a bad game for which I have great love. There are good things there. I like seeing Max and Chloe together. Working together to solve a mystery. That dynamic is very enjoyable and I have ideas about that dynamic that I think are very good and viable but more on that later. For now, I have to talk about this game.
The reveal of Life is Strange: Reunion sparked an array of emotions from me. I had thought that after the perceived reception of Double Exposure the series, certainly where Max was concerned, was dead, never to return. So I was excited initially. Then the Chloe reveal happened. I thought it was so ridiculous. Clearly an attempt at appeasing all the wrong choicers out there with blatant pandering. How could they possibly make it work? How could they make the story make sense while respecting the choices made by players over the course of 2 games now? They alienated the wrong choicers in Double Exposure, now they were coming for the TRUE FANS TM whom are better than the other ones? (note to self: workshop that name) But ultimately, I didn’t care. I was happy. Happy to have more of the characters I loved.
But the game does not work. There are great moments. One of my favourite moments from the game and possibly the series is when Max is accidently high at the Abraxis party and asks “Why is everyone being weird but me?” That is such a great way to convey someone being unknowingly intoxicated. I also like seeing the Chloe that could have been. I liked her being more mature, more measured with age. I liked the return of Chloe’s “backtalk” mechanic from Before the Storm, but felt it was not utilized enough as I would have liked. I think the scene with Safie during the photography class was cool. There was an intriguing dynamic between her and Max. I was very interested as to where it would all lead. Unfortunately, it did not really pay off as I had hoped.
Life is Strange: Reunion feels small. Much smaller than it should. I don’t speak of the levels or re-used assets. I do not care about that, and I actually think that is completely fine. Beneficial even. I speak mainly about the characters and their lack of depth. The game really fell apart for me when it reveals the ability to control both sides of some conversations between Max and Chloe. That is such a silly concept. such an immature way to consume a story. You might as well be playing with dolls. I cannot see how anyone would want that power. To dictate the outcome of conversations. This mechanic stands in direct opposition to what I always believed Life is Strange to be about. Making choices. Living with the consequences. What does their relationship even boil down to if I decide how they talk to each other? What am I doing here? The choices I made while controlling both sides of the conversation felt hollow.
Life is Strange: Reunion also abandons all of the character development done for side characters in Double Exposure. This was a Max and Chloe pander-rama, no room for side characters. Loretta has a cool moment in the library depending on your choices, and Loretta is one of my favourite characters from Double Exposure, so that was nice. I guess. But the game crumbled for me in the end. I was managing to mostly enjoy myself until that point, when the story unraveled itself.
I saved everyone. I wasn’t trying to do so, specifically. I had not even checked the trophy list. I tend not to check with games I know I will play more than once, and for games that I think the list would spoil the story. So I was unaware that saving everyone was a trophy. It just happened organically for me. So again just to reiterate, NO ONE DIED. The game honours this accomplishment by having a memorial for a building. Everyone in the game gathered (because I saved them) at the Snapping Turtle to memorialize the observatory. Which is so weird and the same problem so many of these games have. I mentioned it before. The devs need the story to get to a certain place, but add gameplay elements and choices that would logically deviate from this place, i.e. the memorial, but leave the certain place intact, thus breaking the story.
This is exemplified in the most irritating way by Moses’ letter to Chloe. If for some reason you are reading this and have no clue as to what I am referring, the scenario is this: Max can travel back in time but she needs a photo to do so. In this game she used a polaroid of herself to travel back before a devastating campus fire, in which people died. At the end, when things seemed dire, Max sought the photo again because Max is obsessed with making things perfect. Moses had the photo but kept it to himself when everyone else assumed the photo was destroyed in the fire. Things were not dire and everyone survived. EVERYONE SURVIVED! So Max and Chloe go back on tour with the band Chloe manages. Max is having a great time. But Chloe is sent a letter from Moses, in which the photo and a choice is given. He tells Chloe she must choose whether or not to reveal the photo to Max. The fear being that Max, a desperate perfectionist who has trouble letting sleeping dogs lie, will be tempted to go back in time to undo all the damage and loss of life done by the fire (again, EVERYONE SURVIVED). So I, as Chloe, chose to give the photo to Max. Because honesty is the best policy, right? The game ends with still images of Max and Chloe in bed. A restless Max can’t sleep. She sits up, takes out the photo of herself and stares at it. Which heavily implies that she is contemplating giving up the reality she currently has, the happiness she has always wanted, the life with Chloe, to save a fucking observatory. The scorched walls. The water damage from dousing all the flames. All those poor telescopes!
That was my ending. It felt like a slap in the face to be honest. A disintegration of Max’s character. I understand this ending would make more sense if people had died. Obviously. But they didn’t die. I saved everyone from their fiery fate and my reward for doing so is the revelation that Max Caufield is a clinical idiot. An ultra dumb dummy dumbass who is contemplating giving up happiness and fulfillment to save an observatory. And that was the end of my initial “canon” playthrough. But seeing as this is technically about getting the platinum, I did a 2nd playthrough to acquire the remaining trophies, and oof. Big time mega oof.
I obviously chose Chloe died at the beginning of my 1st playthrough because that is the correct and true choice that True Fans make, but another separate playthrough is needed for the “Chloe lived” version of events. Or the wrongest timeline. This timeline makes even less sense. The problem starts with the explanation as to why Max and Chloe are not together. Apparently, it’s not enough that people grow and change and are sometimes incompatible despite the love they may share for each other. With Chloe being dead, Max’s point of view is clear as to why Chloe is not around. But from Chloe’s perspective in that scenario, her and Max split because of the tension caused by the town getting demolished and the people of Arcadia Bay getting killed. There was too much guilt and resentment felt by Max. which makes sense. I can see that being an issue for their relationship. And dealing with that at such a young age, it is easy to see how they could not work through it together.
In the Chloe lived scenario, Max has the same memories as resurrected Chloe in the 1st scenario. She saved Chloe, guilt and trauma led to breakup. But the saved Chloe remembers Arcadia Bay being saved, and the town and her mother are still there, intact and unharmed. So what led to their breakup for this Chloe? There is no inciting incident of death and destruction. What caused the tension between them? I believe it comes up in a conversation. One of the “choose your own adventure” style interactions. I remember the reasons seeming mostly illogical. Of the poor choices displayed, I believe I chose “too much trauma” because it seemed the most plausible. The week they spent together in high school during the events of the first game was fraught with extreme dangers, death, and horror. Finding Rachel Amber they way they did, being kidnapped and almost murdered. All very traumatic. It would of made sense for them to mention that but they didn’t. I had to fill in those blanks myself, because the pieces they were giving me did not fit.
The narrative also suffers from many incongruencies. In the Chloe “resurrected” scenario, Max is obviously in awe of Chloe’s renewed existence. She gets caught staring at Chloe, and has to say “I can’t believe you’re here.” It makes sense. From Max’s perspective, Chloe is back from the dead. In the Chloe lived scenario, Max reacts the exact same way, and says the exact same thing about not believing Chloe is there. Why? Max can’t imagine Chloe could possibly drive through 2 states to get somewhere? It falls apart. These are the pitfalls of trying to have it both ways in a videogame with a limited staff and budget. I believe one would not be mistaken in thinking a few short lines of dialogue would have solved these issues. But there has to be more involved. Animation, scheduling performance sessions. Not to mention making everything line up and support the new threads that may be introduced with each new line of dialogue. It’s not so straightforward. But this is just speculation on my part. All I know for certain is that the story suffers from trying to make 2 divergent threads fit through the same narrow story beats.
And this may be personal to me, but I felt very betrayed by the ending I got on this Chloe lived playthrough. I decided to go the dishonest route at the end, and hide the photo from Max. I usually choose truth when presented with the option in games like this because that is how I live my everyday life. Truth is very important to me. I do not lie. I understand withholding though. Sometimes things are just not anyone else’s business. I also understand and believe that in rare cases, the truth can do more harm than good to a person or situation. But I never agree with lying when it is motivated by selfish reasons. Like lying to protect yourself from the consequences of your poor actions or choices. But I, as Chloe, hid the photo. I believe that by doing so, Chloe is demonstrating a lack of trust in her partner, and a lack of respect for her partner’s agency. And the game rewarded me and this Chloe with a saccharine montage of the pair living their happy lives together, visiting Arcadia Bay, and just having a grand ol’ time. How neat. How tidy. Lie to your partners everybody! It works!
I’m being overly dramatic. I just found it to be a weird choice for the game. A weird thing to reward. I saved everybody before and was given uncertainty and doubt. Don’t save everybody and hide the truth from your partner? Yay! Road trip!
That was my time with Life is Strange: Reunion. Ups and downs and contradictions. A mess swirled around 2 of my most beloved videogame characters. I think I still mostly enjoyed it. In the same way someone kidnapped and then subsequently released by Somali pirates mostly enjoyed their vacation. But where does the series go from here? Well, I have ideas. Great ideas that I fully believe in and know would work and would definitely NOT fail and everyone would love it and it would be wonderful! “What are these ideas?” you ask, non-existant reader. Well, have you ever heard of Hannah Swensen?
Murder She Baked is a series of novels turned Hallmark movies, centering around the character Hannah Swensen. Hannah is a plucky small town baker, with a strong attention to detail and an even stronger sense of justice. Which is convenient because Hannah constantly finds herself thrust into the middle of murder investigations within her small Minnesota town. There is a small cast of recurring characters. Some family and townsfolk. Everyone knows each other. The movies are wholesome, inoffensive cozy mysteries that know what they are. They are made by the Hallmark channel, and are pumped out multiple times a year. They’re safe. They’re predictable. I’ve seen every single one of them and I love them. Why am I telling you this? Isn’t it obvious? This is the formula that I think is perfect for Max and Chloe.
I imagine Max And Chloe living together. Likely at Caledon. And I imagine them teaming up to solve mysteries and murders on campus. Most likely of a supernatural nature. Max uses her powers. Chloe uses her “charm.” They get the job done. There would be a small cast of recurring characters. Perhaps Reggie has a friend who visits and subsequently dies. And Reggie is the prime suspect! Oh No! Who can clear his name? Max and Chloe Detective Agency (non final name) are on the case! I imagine yearly (or thereabouts) installments. No need to build or model brand new environments. Maybe just 1 or 2 per episode. No need for bleeding edge graphics or tech. No need for hyper realistic animations. Just good characters. Just good stories. Pump this out. I really think this would work perfectly. I know I would love it. And I think other Max and Chloe fans would also, if they can get over themselves.
With this formula, you can keep dev costs super low and have a reasonable expectation on the game’s commercial performance. A reasonable ROI. The audience would maybe, hopefully, lighten the fuck up a bit and not make every game an all or nothing situation. Didn’t like “Max & Chloe: Catastophe on Campus?” Oh well, in 12-18 months we’ll get “Max & Chloe: Concert Killer” where the plucky pair will try to solve a string of mysterious deaths at local music shows. Maybe one member of the band Chloe manages will have a cousin who dies. Who knows? Who cares? All that would matter is we are getting more Max and Chloe. More stories with the characters we love in the world we love. No more Max and Chloe drama. They are together now, she’s alive, everyone is happy. They work and grow together. Maybe they’ll have a fight. Will they make it through? Yes! Of course they will, and they’ll catch a killer while they’re at it.
I just want more. I don’t think everything has to be so serious. So life or death for the series or characters. I know they’d be solving murders so it is actually life or death but you hopefully get what I mean. Let’s just make games with this pair doing the fun stuff we like to watch them do. Chloe back talking to some dumb detective dragging their feet. Max doing a tiny rewind to sneak into a suspects office. Chloe saving Max. Max saving Chloe. I want these games! And it breaks my heart we will never get them because everyone is too damn cynical to enjoy anything. Too cool for murder at a school. Like, people complained that Reunion re-used assets. That the game felt too familiar. God. We can never have nice things.
Sometimes it’s nice to just curl up with something safe and familiar. Something that you can depend on to be there, and to be exactly what you expect it to be. To be the safe outlet for you to hide from the world, and root for 2 cool lesbians to help find the guy that’s been stalking Loretta before it’s too late. Because you know they are going to. But we will never get that. And that sucks. It sucks that Reunion is the end of this pair. It sucks that corporations and people would rather have nothing than something. I can’t be that way. I will always want something. I will always want Max and Chloe. (unless of course Chloe asks me to let her die, in which case bye bye Chloe!)