Review: Life Is Strange: Reunion (PS5) – Twee Mystery Finale Falls Flat

by

Life Is Strange: Reunion is intended to be the concluding chapter for the Life Is Strange series, following both the original 2015 game and the more recent Life Is Strange: Double Exposure (2024). Unfortunately, it doesn’t fully connect with either of those previous stories, resulting in an underwhelming and somewhat confusing ending.

We consider ‘Reunion’ to be the first true sequel in the series. You’ll likely be lost if you haven’t played ‘Double Exposure’ first. The story picks up nine months after the events of the previous game, and Max Caulfield finds herself caught up in more intense drama at university.

Max returns to Caledon University after a weekend away to find it engulfed in flames. Faced with signs of a strange protest and the devastating loss of friends, she uses time travel to investigate the fire’s origins and the reasons behind the protest, hoping to prevent the tragedy from ever happening.

Okay, so things got really weird in the game. Turns out Max’s girlfriend, Chloe, who I thought was gone for good, is actually alive! And it’s not just a simple ‘she survived’ thing – there’s a whole multiverse angle to it, which is making the main mystery even more complicated and, honestly, super cool.

The best part of the game is definitely seeing Max and Chloe back together. Their chemistry is really strong, and it’s interesting – and a little sad – that Chloe remembers the last ten years differently than Max, now that she’s alive.

Just as it was fun to see Max all grown up in Double Exposure, it’s great to have Chloe back. She still has that rebellious spirit, but she feels a little more mature. It’s handled really well, and Rhianna DeVries perfectly captures Chloe’s energetic and lovable personality.

Whether you’ll enjoy Reunion depends on how emotionally invested you are in the story of the two main characters. If you haven’t played the first game, or haven’t played it recently, that emotional impact might not be as strong.

Honestly, I really connected with the bittersweet feeling in the scenes with Max and Chloe. It felt like they were getting a second chance at something special, but were constantly worried it would disappear. I’m a total sucker for stories about lost love, and this game had a lot of moments that hit me right in the feels.

The game doesn’t feel like a satisfying ending to the series, despite trying to present itself as one. This is largely because it functions more as a direct continuation of the previous game, Double Exposure, rather than a true final chapter.

Many of the characters you know and love from the previous game are back, including the quirky Moses and dedicated podcaster Loretta. This time around, a new danger emerges, and your past decisions will affect your relationships as you investigate the university’s history.

Ultimately, the game is a bit of a letdown because many of the main storylines feel like minor side plots. Important characters from the previous installment, such as Safi, Amanda, and Yasmin, don’t have as significant a role this time around. There are also some inconsistencies with what happened in the last game – for example, a character who was previously disgraced, Lucas, is still casually hanging around at the university pub.

This feels like a continuation of the story and characters from Double Exposure, but it eventually shifted focus to Max and Chloe’s adventures.

Chloe feels a bit disconnected from the main story. While the Life is Strange games don’t usually delve into complex explanations of alternate realities, the reason for Chloe’s presence always felt unsatisfying. This ultimately limits both the story and Chloe’s character, preventing them from fully developing.

If you enjoyed manipulating time in the first game, you’ll be happy to know Max can rewind again. This replaces the dual timeline system from Double Exposure. While it’s not as intricate, it’s really satisfying to gather clues, rewind time, and use that knowledge to get people to reveal more information.

The game has a lot of hidden details that can really affect the story. You might not get all the information you need from characters, and it’s even possible to completely miss important conversations. By the end of our game, we discovered characters were involved in the Caledon disaster, but we had no clue about their connection or motivations.

This should give dedicated players a reason to revisit the game and experiment with new strategies. However, like many of us, you’ll probably prefer to watch a playthrough on YouTube instead of experiencing it all firsthand, particularly because the game progresses at a leisurely pace.

We tested the game on both the standard PS5 and the PS5 Pro. While the games look good, they aren’t pushing the consoles to their limits graphically. There’s no special version designed for the PS5 Pro, so performance is the same on both consoles. This means you’ll notice some minor, but consistent, visual issues like objects appearing suddenly or brief pauses, even during conversations. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t take advantage of the DualSense controller’s features either.

Read More

2026-04-06 15:37