So far, off to a good start, Life is Strange 2 Episode 1 called “Roads” is a hard hitting first episode about about a story of two brothers. Even with the other games such as the original Life is Strange, this universe seems to be disconnected from Arcadia Bay. Even with new changes and stepping in to a new plot, Dontnod Entertainment promises this game has a lot to offer.
In this episode, brothers Sean and Daniel are involved in a heated homicide that possibly stems from a racial dispute. Causing Sean to take his little brother Daniel on the run after discovering Daniel has powers. They will go through many places on their journey to Mexico to find safety.
Walking away from the original characters, Chloe and Max, has some people up in arms, mostly because this new plot line has taken on a whole new adventure. Not only are the characters completely different, but so is the setting. Originally everything was set in Arcadia Bay and there was no need to leave that particular area. Now however, brothers Sean and Daniel are on the road going across the United States and are in various places throughout the whole story, as far as we know. This opens the story to involve many new choices as well as meeting various new characters too.
A different take on the original is the gameplay focuses solely on playing as Sean instead of Daniel. It appears that choices will be made from a different perspective instead of playing the character with the powers. Possibly, Daniel is not yet in control of his powers? This could be because of his young age, but with the story being so early on, this could change at some point.
As it stands right now with the first episode, the plot is completely different from the normal pattern of the Life is Strange games. This is refreshing because this shows growth from the company to move in to something new. “Roads” automatically starts off with some very large political and social issues which may cause some unease in the players but the developers are not shying away from the problems in this world. For that, we tip our hats.
Even with the plot only getting started, it is very clear that this episodic adventure is going to be different, good different. As we all wait for the next episode to release, we can look back at how the story is going to play out. There are many questions that have yet to be answered. Life is Strange 2 is going to be one you definitely want to follow.
9/10
Available on PC, Ps4 and Xbox
