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Ever since the original Life is Strange, we’ve seen new entries and spin-offs with both Max Caulfield and Chloe Prince involved, and Life is Strange: Reunion marks a third entry that puts both characters at the forefront. The two reunite, with us controlling both as we go through a new catastrophic mystery to solve. After getting a chance to go hands-on with some early-game segments as both heroines, it feels like there might be a real back-and-forth between the two at all times.
When my session began, Max was just starting her investigation into the fire that would devastate Caledon University in three days. She canceled a trip and started by heading to Amanda’s bar with the cover story of “seeing her stand-up,” but really to start information gathering about the situation and investigating. After talking to Vinh and hearing about the Caledon Fremont House and using her rewind ability to get rid of a heckler that ruins Amanda’s set, I was able to further investigate. That meant learning about Lucas’ Vox Populi podcast, rewinding time to listen to it so he’d actually talk to me, and learn about how the issues with the events of the last game causing issues in Lakeport and corruption within Caledon leading to its expansion. She then learns the fire she’s trying to prevent started at the Abraxas house at 3180 Fremont Street, which is where the school will expand, and leaves to investigate.
Once Max leaves the bar to check out that spot in Life is Strange Reunion, Chloe comes in. This gives us a chance to see the difference in their personalities and how they react in possible sorts of investigations and interactions. A moment with some students results in security banning Chloe from the bar along with the obnoxious guy hitting on her, so she needs to sneak inside to get something to eat. After interacting with folks like Amanda and Lucas, we get to see her “unique” ability. That is, she can bluff, lie, and basically debate a person to get her way. In this case, it’s convincing security that she has a reason to be on campus. This means selecting one of multiple answers and trying to “win” something of a debate, though in this early example it was as simple giving one correct answer to pass the challenge. As part of that, we hear over the radio that someone’s breaking into a house, Chloe assumes it is Max, and heads over.
While there’s already that kind of back-and-forth, I also got a chance to see how that element works between Max and Chloe in a Life is Strange: Reunion scene set at Max’s home after the two reunited after those initial events at the bar. Since Max was awake first, I did a little investigating and breakfast prep. Then, while she was moving Chloe’s truck to a parking spot, I got to go through some additional investigations as Chloe. It sort of set an early idea of what the pace might be like.
The final gameplay element for my hands-on with Life is Strange: Reunion involved a new mechanic for the series: controlling a conversation between Max and Chloe at the same time. In my save, I was able to recreate my original experience my opting for a scenario where Max romanced Chloe, but then chose not to sacrifice Arcadia Bay for her in the original Life is Strange. I then would select responses in the conversation for both characters, having them react to each other. It seemed interesting and like it gave me a chance to roleplay how I “thought” each one would respond to suddenly being back together and knowing what past choices were made. It’s interesting, and I’m curious to see how it could play out in other conversations and affect the story.
My first experiences with Life is Strange: Reunion makes me feel like we’ll constantly be shifting from Max to Chloe, even when both are in the same scene. The segment I went through seemed very dedicated to ensuring both heroines had an equal amount of screen time. However, in both cases it seems like there’ll be all sorts of investigations and branching-path conversations.
Life is Strange: Reunion will appear on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on March 26, 2026.
