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Ever since its debut in 2025, the first entry in the Life is Strange series stood out to me as one of the most interesting narrative experiences and decision-heavy games. Despite having issues with some of its writing, the time bending mechanics introduced a really cool layer of interaction with the choices, and its climax still remains one of my favorites in video games. Unfortunately, my interest in the series quickly dwindled following prequels, sequels, side-stories, and the outright messy management of the franchise by Square Enix. Unfortunately, Life Is Strange: Reunion is the final nail in the coffin for me.
When it comes to the pairing of Max Caulfield and Chloe Price, I’m somewhat of a mark. Despite having stopped paying attention by the time Max returned in Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, bringing back Chloe for the new Life Is Strange: Reunion reeled me back in. Even if only to find closure.
Life Is Strange: Reunion is a messy game from the get-go. Despite being the second half of what started in Double Exposure, you don’t really need to play the previous game to understand the finale. Which is already a bad sign. A brief summary of what happened in the original Life Is Strange and in Double Exposure plays before the player is made to select five important choices moving into Reunion. Alternatively, these can also be randomized.
The story of Reunion follows Max settling down in Lakeport’s Caledon University as a photography instructor, and takes place nine months after the climax of Double Exposure. Upon returning from a weekend trip, she discovers that the university is on fire, and several of her friends die in the maelstrom. In a desperate attempt, Max uses her powers to jump back in time to a selfie taken three days prior to the accident, determined to stop the fire and save everyone.
Parallel to Max’s trip, Chloe Price arrives to Caledon searching for her in order to get answers to her split psyche. She has memories of both timelines from the original Life is Strange, caused by the climax of Double Exposure. This is the game’s way of explaining why Chloe is alive, even if Max sacrificed her to save Arcadia Bay in the first game. If all of this sounds like too much, that’s because it is. Throughout its roughly 12-hour runtime, Life is Strange: Reunion is burdened by having to carry all the leftover plot threads and characters of Double Exposure, as well as having to accommodate Chloe into the narrative.
On top of that, both Max and Chloe are playable. Gone are the dimension hopping powers from Double Exposure. Max is back to using her classic time rewind. Meanwhile, Chloe can use her backtalk mechanic from the Life Is Strange: Before the Storm prequel spin-off. Neither of these mechanics feel fleshed out, and having a short game split between both puts them in opposition. There aren’t many situations in which rewinding time feels impactful, especially compared to all the micro-decisions in the original game. Both this mechanic and Chloe’s backtalk feel like obstacles to get over so you can see scenes of both characters together.
On that note, Life is Strange: Reunion spends a lot of its time separating Max and Chloe. And, on the scant occasions they get to spend together, their conversations go on vague loops about “what went wrong” and how they regret that “things went wrong.” I was happy to see them reunited, ut there isn’t enough substance here to justify a whole game, while also having to juggle half-resolved previous plots and a half-baked new mystery.
Safi, a character introduced in Double Exposure, stands out as the biggest offender. She shares a lot of the game’s conflict with both Max and Chloe while having her own agenda, which by the end of the game amounts to nothing. I understand that Deck Nine had to do this because of the huge cliffhanger involving Safi in Double Exposure, but every character originating from that game gets the same half-assed treatment.
Life is Strange: Reunion feels like fanservice. However, I’m not sure fans want this. On the other hand, who other than fans is going to check out a game that requires two other games of buildup? At best, the game feels like cozy retreading of old ground. But most of the runtime of Reunion is actually concerned with desperately giving an ending to every character introduced in Double Exposure, while also giving Max and Chloe closure. Hopefully, this closure also means that I don’t have to think about Life is Strange for the foreseeable future.
Life is Strange: Reunion is now available for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam.
