When the Double Exposure ending hinted at a new story, I didn’t expect it to come out a year and a half later. That feels way too early in the videogame land and it made me a little worried. On the other hand, I could believe that this kind of game — especially if it returns to existing places and characters — could cut down on time and costs whilst still delivering a great experience.

It mostly succeeded!

The title says it all — this is Chloe and Max coming together again. Chloe, more sensible yet still her awesome fucking self, travels to Caledon in the nick of time to rescue Max who’s now fully in control of her time rewind powers again.

A terrible fire is going to engulf the city and Max travelled back in time to stop it and save everyone.

You get to play as both Max and Chloe, the latter with her "backtalk" power of getting what she needs through "word combat". Like in the original Life is Strange, it feels like no time elapsed at all. Any past transgressions are in the past and you get the dreamest of teams: the two women and the resident nerd Moses. Only Safi’s missing to round out the picture.

I was happy to return to Caledon. Double Exposure did a fantastic job of making it feel like a real place with people I loved (or loved to hate — hello Lucas). You get to retread the old grounds in pursuit of the fire mystery, but also trying to figure out what happened to Safi as well as Arcadia Bay years ago.

This was overall a welcome and enjoyable experience. In many ways improved upon the previous games — there were no horrible long dreamy sequences (the handful that did appear were mercifully short and to the point), time rewind is the best superpower in the franchise and being able to wrap things up felt great. You got to see Chloe actually living rather than just being alive. I enjoyed where it all ended up.

And yet, it all felt…​ less…​ real? I got really emotional with every Life is Strange game except for this one. It all felt nice, but not as intense. Even though (or maybe because of?) the threat was far greater here.

And it felt less life-is-strange-y overall. It took me a day or two after finishing it to really put my finger on it. This is more a DLC than a "proper" Life is Strange game.

There are no episodes here — it’s all a single story told over three days. And there is a potential strength to that: you don’t need to force a periodic cliffhanger, the story can flow more naturally.

But I believe the episodes are a crucial part of the experience. They allow you to reflect, to speculate. And they allow for the world to evolve. Typically, some (sometimes significant) in-game time passes between the episodes even if you play the game back to back. And it is a far better experience have at least a night’s sleep in-between.

You also get to see more places and crucially, experience a new world and new characters. What allowed the authors to deliver a good story relatively quickly also prevented one of the greatest joy of Life is Strange: going somewhere new (or familiar but changed), exploring it, talking to people and living there a little.

Each game had a very strong sense of atmosphere. Sense of a real place, from the Arcadia Bay town with its school, diner and junkyard, through the to the Heaven Springs' tavern, shops, mines and nature to Caledon’s campus, Max’s house and the Snapping Turtle.

Reunion has no genius loci, it relies on your memory of the one from Double Exposure. Nothing really new is happening here. There’s also no downtime here. No space for exploration. You’re always on the hunt for clues.

And unlike any other Life is Strange game (including Before the Storm!), it makes no sense to play this game without having played Double Exposure first.

Still, I really enjoyed what Reunion did. I’m happy to see Max and Chloe and Safi and Moses and I’m delighted that they brought a close to all that’s happened. But I wish I went there not expecting a Life is Strange game capable of standing on its own.

by Tomas Sedovic on 10th June, 2026