Life is Strange: True Colors (2021)

Life Is Strange: True Colors

I had high expectations for this game, and yet it managed to surpass them! What a perfect game! Definitely my favorite in the franchise!

Narrative and Decisions

The story is engaging and well-executed. Except for the revelation about the true culprit, I didn't find the other situations forced — everything flowed naturally and emotionally.

I love the idea of exploring feelings, and being able to interact with them was a passion for me. Although limited to four emotions, I understand this was to maintain focus and allow for deeper exploration. The way empathy was portrayed is simply wonderful!

Regarding decisions, I was unsure whether to remove Charlotte's grief, but I considered it part of the stages of mourning, so I chose to leave it. On the other hand, I opted to remove Eleanor's bad memories. My only major regret was leaving Pike in fear.

The ending was marvelous! I chose to stay in Haven — and also because I wanted her to follow her path with the dear Steph. As for the DLC, I confess I was saddened by destroying the friendship between Steph and Gabe, something unexpected, but at least I managed to make Steph happy in the end, which was consoling.

Gameplay and Mechanics

The mechanic of exploring people's feelings is simply brilliant! Seeing into each character's mind makes the experience incredibly immersive, giving a unique dimension to empathy. As someone who has difficulty dealing with my own feelings, I found it enriching to experience something so profound and meaningful.

The possibility of unlocking new dialogues and side missions through exploration is a detail I loved. My only observation is that it would be interesting to explore more emotions, since we have only four main ones. However, I understand the choice to maintain focus to ensure depth.

Conclusion

What a wonderful game! I highly recommend it. Don't hesitate, just play! The feeling is unique, and the experience is unforgettable. I absolutely loved Alex, both as a character and for her iconic look.

Rating: 10/10

Life is Strange: True Colors is a spectacular take on the series's signature gameplay and storytelling.

Despite some minor technical hiccups here and there as well as an odd crash I experienced, the game ran pretty well on PS5. It looks great to boot, with some very pretty lighting and well detailed models for the main cast and setting.

The town of Haven is such a joy to explore and the supporting characters who inhabit it are so much fun to get to know and spend time with. I'm kind of jealous of Alex now. I almost wish I lived there. Speaking of, Alex Chen is one of my favorite protagonists to have played as in a while. I found myself brought to care about her and what happens to her in a way I don't often when it comes to video game characters. She felt believable while still leaving space for me as the player to point her in the direction I felt best when the game handed me the reins.

While not every choice given was perfect, I felt that the game typically offered nuanced options that made me stop and think about what I was doing, what I thought Alex wanted, what I wanted as a player, and what just felt right. I love that the series continues to show statistics on what choices players make at the end of each chapter. It's always fun to compare and see where I might have taken the road less traveled. The choices I made had clear consequences that shaped the story as it moved forward, as they should.

I've gotten the sense that the series has garnered a sort of reputation for some cringey moments in its early entries. I can't deny I too have felt this to be the case sometimes. However I didn't get that with this game. The elements of nerd/geek culture were still very much present but didn't feel forced or cringey (even if they were usually lovably so) like past entries in the series. I can't quite put my finger on what is different, but I just think this game handles these elements in a way I preferred.

The story, being a focus of such a narratively-driven series, feels praiseworthy here. It never becomes too complex for its own good and manages to fit twists and turns in that have proper buildup, resulting in good payoffs that feel organic, rather than contrived as many twists often do. I'd absolutely recommend going into this game totally blind, as even some of the promotional material seems to spoil early plot revelations that I think worked better as a surprise for me.

True Colors has become an easy favorite among all the Life is Strange games I've played. I rushed to play through when I saw it was leaving PS Plus soon and I'm very glad I did so. I still have yet to play 2, but I own it on Steam so I was content to put that off for now, even if I'd have rather played them all in order.

Life is strange as a series has been a hit for me and True colors sticks to that tone.

I loved the town, the characters and the design of everything, specially the music. I know the look might still be a bit too dated feeling for some but I think they did a lot with a little.

The first chapter/episode had a pretty shocking event that also grabbed me right away. As I had gone in blind.

Love the return or I guess more so focus of the powers/ability in this one. Gives it a little bit more depth to me in gameplay/choice aspect I feel.

Still not for everyone but if you are into this style of game, true colors rocks it.

God, where do I even start.

I was excited to play this one, I really was. After reading so much shit about Life is Strange 2 only to find a beautiful game, I couldn't wait for this other one too regardless of others' opinions. Oh boy, the disappointment. It barely even feels like a Life is Strange game, while at the same time it tries to mimic the first one so bad and it fails. Not only this, but I'm sure that, if it wasn't labeled as LiS, it wouldn’t have been so well received.

The first two games of the franchise touch dark subjects in a different way from one another, but both without holding back, and I really enjoyed that! Meanwhile, True Colors takes several steps back, only hinting about what its predecessors would have actually explored. Not saying that it's a bad thing, but for the way they handled, well, everything, it's just not my jam.

The ideas for this game weren't many, and the good ones weren't well executed.

In this new chapter we follow Alex, who can... feel people's emotions. When they are strong. Otherwise she doesn't, I guess. You know, basically what whoever is able to understand body language, tone of voice and facial expression can do. It was so silly when she explained her so called "power" to her brother and Ryan. 《Let me show you.》 show them what? Lmao It was done in such a awkward way. To be fair, though, it invalidates her own emotions, since what the other person is feeling overwhelms her and she start to feel the same way. But only at times. Sometimes it overwhelms her, but other times she is just able to understand while maintaining control over herself. Doesn't make sense. This "power" is presented as a problem, but it is only when it's convenient to the plot. Sure, Alex's "power" makes sense because of her role in her family, and if the game was well made it wouldn't result so ridiculous. The younger sister that has to calm down and bring peace between her older brother and the only parent they have left? And her power resulting in being able to understand and even manipulate others' emotions while overlooking her own? This is really good! But sadly we get this only during a small fragment of the fifth episode, while everything else is just filler.

Of course, the game looks great. Really, it's so beautiful! When I was on the bridge for the first time I stopped to take a good look around (thing that Alex did on her own a few seconds later lmao). But then I began to have the feeling that it was... too much. Too beautiful, too polished, and still lacked of that something that made it a believable place where someone could live.

They focused so much on its appearance that they forgot about the writing and the gameplay.

The gameplay doesn’t exist. There wasn't much to do, and with the cut scenes being many and long, at times it felt like watching a Netflix show. The puzzles, which were already pretty easy in the previous games, in this one are ridiculous. A puzzle that isn't plot related: you find a blocked door, and in this (of course) cut scene, Alex looks right at the object you have to use to open it, then the scene shows it even more clearly while everything else around it it's blurred. Why? Do you really think that the people who play this game are this stupid?

The writing becomes good in Life is Strange 2? Here we return to Before the Storm's level. Not only that, but also the way the dialogues are recited: why do they talk so slowly? There were times where I thought the conversation ended, so I walked away only for the characters to continue speaking once I reached the other side of the room. I don't even know if the dialogues were long or if the pace with which they were said gave me that impression.

Speaking of which, accompanying the slow dialogues, pretty often there is this awkward stare the characters (usually Alex) give each other. They are talking (again, terribly slowly) to one another just to stop and stare. For a long ass moment. Okay...? Also, while I appreciate them trying to solve the deadpan expression the LiS characters have, here we have smiles that I can never tell if they are genuine or not because they always result forced. Wait! Now I understand why Alex's "power" is a big deal! In this world they have no facial expression! Mystery solved.

The game could touch difficult subjects, like Alex and Gabe's backstory, or Charlotte's resentment towards her own son, but it's so frivolous when it tries. Another thing they weren't able to write was the way Alex get Diane's pendrive. It was on Wattpad's level. Steph asking her out while Alex takes the pendrive right in front of her? Do you really want to make me believe that she didn't see her? And, oh god, making Diane ask out loud if she was blushing. Not even Max's "shaka bra" made me cringe so painfully. Here we follow people in their 20s (I guess at least) but they behave in a more childish way than the literal high-schoolers of the previous games.

While with Max we had the photos, and with Sean his drawings and the souvenirs, Alex can collect memories. While I agree that feelings and memories are obviously associated, I was bored by it, so much that I stopped collecting them, and I usually try to collect anything in a game; I don't proceed if I'm not sure I've took everything from an area. The problem here is that, what we can collect with Max and Sean is related not to the powers, but to the respective forms of art that they engage with, which are also relevant to the plot in their cases, especially when it comes to photography in the first game. In TC, instead, I even forgot that Alex is a musician, and what's more sad is that, while music always had a big impact in LiS 1 and 2, here is forgettable, and not because I didn't like the tracks or something like that; the music they've picked for the first game is not my thing, but it connects perfectly with the story and the overall mood of the game, and it has its own weight on it. In TC I can't even remember the theme music. Another big problem related to the memories is that, to collect them, you have to assist to a long cut scene (surprising, I know) that shows nothing more than different angles of an item, with strong and eye-hurting lights, while people speak in the back. Maybe if I liked more the characters I would have appreciated this small insight on them, but I don't.

The characters are all so sweet and caring and barely have any personality and completely lack of depth. You can blend them all together and still get nothing. There aren't morally grey characters, and they all have barely any flaw (we can argue about Jed, but him being one of the antagonists seems to be done more for shock value than else), while the characters of the previous games were all incredibly imperfect.

The way the first episode ends it's actually great, and it made me immediately start the second one. The sense of security you feel after saving Ethan, but then the alarm, the explosion and Gabe's death? And Ryan that has to cut Alex's rope making Gabe fall? So good! But my question is... why did Ethan go up there in the first place? The whole town knows about the blast, so how did he miss that information? Did he just not care? And why couldn't they postpone the second blast too? To cover for the death of those people, they are willing to risk to murder other persons?

Sadly from the second one it returns to be boring, and that's how it remains. The fact that Ryan had to cut the rope? Just mentioned, and immediately solved. Everything that can be the start of a conflict is immediately solved, or barely hinted at. Most of the things that happens during the episodes are just filler, and the main plot feels like a secondary aspect of the story.

The last episode was... something. There is so much that's wrong with it but at the same time I have no words. First of all, how did Jed not hit her while standing so close? How did Alex survive after falling like Homer Simpson? Going through those memories/nightmare was exhausting.

Basically, this game is nothing but a beautiful, empty shell.

This review contains Spoilers

This review also has too much text, sorry for that

At first I tought I was entering some kind of lackluster version of life is strange after dontnod sold all rights to Square, but, I'm ending the game and just sitting there wondering: "that wasn't that bad".

The game overall is a nice and relaxing experience, but it obviously has some flaws to it.

Let's start with the good things:

-The ambientation of the game is beautiful, they managed to create a lovely town even if its small and has invisible walls to prevent us from exploring it.

-Music was good, not as good as the earlier titles, but enjoyable none the less. I think that, for a game with so much emphasis in music, it needed to have more impact and emotion to portray trough the game.

-Humor was my kind of humor, soft, one-liners, sometimes kind of dark, perfect.

-Many objects to interact and experience with, Alex is pretty deep but we can't see that if we don't go interacting with everything we see, thankfully this game does a wonderful job showing where the interesting sites are.

-The emotion system is a good alternative to the time travelling, you can feel the emotions left on an object regardless of the time that has passed. It was also a good way to get to know other npc's and important characters, but, I feel like it could've been better implemented to work with more depth as it was the selling point.

-Steph is the best romantic option and they managed to make a great character that has appeared in other games an even greater character, both in wavelenghts and in the main game.

Some aspects that could be better:

-The characters are a bit flat, all of them have a notable personality that doesn't go anywhere, most of them don't have a depth beyond what the game offers trough the emotion system, sure, they have some kind of background, but that's it, unlike Alex, I didn't felt like I belonged here and that I had a connection with Riley, Eleanor, Mac, Diane, Pike, Jed and Charlotte. At least the romantic options and Duckie were pretty iconic. Maybe it was just me, but the time-skips and the relationships built behind the scenes ruined most of the characters of the game.

-Ryan lacks personality, yes, I know, he is just chill and soft, not very impactful as a character even at the end of the game.

-The camera was too close to Alex.

-Can't pet valkyrie.

Now the bad things:

First of all, the Plot Armor.

Through the game we can see how Alex Chen, our protagonist, gets everything pretty much done in a day. She managed to reunite with her brother Gabe, got a home above a Bar in which Gabe used to live, even the owner asked her to work at the bar and make some money to pay rent, she then goes around town meeting people and making friends as its nothing, her life is pretty much perfect the moment she steps in Haven, Colorado.

Later on Gabe step-son "Ethan" goes to an abandoned mine in which Jed (the owner of the bar) rescued some miners 12 years ago and is now a hero of the town, Ethan managed to cross a cliff beyond the mining site and gets stuck in place because is frightened, Ryan (Gabe's best friend), Alex and Gabe himself went to rescue him, calling the mining company and asking them to postpone the programmed explosion. They reach Ethan, put a rope around Alex tied to Ryan tied to Gabe tied to a log to stay safe and don't fall, finally they did in fact rescue Ethan. But then an explosions occurs in place, Gabe is falling and Ryan trying to protect Alex cuts the rope of Gabe, letting Gabe fall into oblivion and fucking die. This is pretty much the plot device.

Maaany things happen trough the game: --Investigations of the mining company by our three protagonists: Alex, Ryan and Steph. --Ethan feeling like shit. --Ryan feeling like shit. --Letting Ryan show us Joy. --Live action role play to make Ethan feel good (the last part was really cool, maybe if the whole thing was like the end this part of the game could've been the best) --Spring Festival. --Picking a romance option. --Character quests. --Get evidence to avenge Gabe's death. --There were 2 simultaneous explosions and one of them was illegal, trying to cover up for some mining secret. --Be detained by the police for federal theft. --Get a free pass to exit jail. --Etc.

Everything is pretty good gameplay and story wise. But then "¡here comes chapter 5! I can't wait to know how Justice is served" oh boy, we're in for a wild ride.

Jed, the owner of the bar Alex is living above tells her that he knows everything about the mining company incidents and wants to show her where they are hiding the stuff and the reason why there was a second explosion. Alex blindly accepts and follows Jed in the middle of the night and in the middle of nowhere to an old mining ventilation tunel (which is probably 30 meters deep in the ground). She then goes to inspect it but feels Jed sadness, he then pulls a gun on her and shoots her (missing a headshot) making her fall into the abandoned mine.

She then falls from the surface to the heart of the mine, maybe 30 meters deep. Trough the fall we can see Alex enter her own flashbacks, showing us how her life was growing up, and with the help of Gabe's ghost, we live the moments that "Made" Alex a deep character, her mother died, her father left, his brother got into juvie, and whe was left to rot in foster care, lovely, this fall into oblivion was used to show us, the players, how Alex came to be and prepared us for one of the best moments of "moments in gaming".

With only some injuries, she finds a lantern that lightened using Gabe's last match from a box (The box literally appears one time in the beggining and never again before this) but hey, she then can get up and walk, her leg is not that good, but she will manage. After a minute walking the lantern goes dead and Alex is left on Darkness, but, there are rests of anger in this place, something that guides her to an exit and to more memories.

It seems there was a flood inside the mine and Jed's miner team was drowning, one of those workers was Alex long abscent father that who knows who managed to get to Colorado, specifically working under Jed's team who were too deep into the mines. Jed let him die along with six other miners, "saving" other 12 miners from its own ambition and made a hero of himself. Alex can see this trough a pendant his father used to have which belonged to Alex's mother before she died.

Alex then escapes the mine and goes to tell everyone what happened, they believe everything she says, Alex confronts Jed and he tells the truth, making the whole mining company go to shit. Refuses to elaborate, one of the romantic options comes and tell Alex they want to be with her, later Alex goes to the roof and speaks to Gabe's ghost/illusion, you then pick and ending, literally your future and ¡that's it, you've won! Watch some cutscene depending on the ending you choose and let the credits roll.

The beggining and the end of the game were too convenient, Alex came to town and had a perfect future on a silver plate from the beggining, Alex survived being shot because Jed missed, she still falls more than 30 meters deep and survives without much complications only because of Plot-Armor, Alex father was there 12 years ago by whole plot convenience and the protagonist at the end have full support against the billon dollar company because people in town think she is neat (only if you did some quests before), Jed told the truth and made the whole thing public, mining company goes as someone could expect, bae declares love, your brother ghost/illusion helps you decide your future and cutscenes/credits rolls.

Everything is perfect again and life goes on.

7/10

It finally came to Game Pass which allowed me to play it. I'm not sure why I didn't play this sooner as the other LiS games are some of my favorite games. I should definitely have played it sooner.

I don't want to spoil anything since you want to play this without knowing anything. The story is really good, and the characters. The gameplay is a step up from previous entries with a larger world that you can explore. The super power grew on me, it's really interesting. The music is great, and the art.

If there's anything negative I can say it's that we have seen some of these story points before in earlier LiS games, so some things were predictable. The beginning of chapter 5 is really drawn out as well, but it's worth getting through.

Each chapter took about 2 hours to complete (I explored everything) so the game is like 10 hours with its 5 chapters. If I were to rank it I think it's my second favorite LiS game. It didn't quite reach the emotional peaks that the first game did, but it's a really strong game. Can't recommend it enough!

Not by dontnod this time, but deck nine. I loved the original life is strange, two was pretty decent as well. Let's see how this one holds up.

Narrative

Alex found her long lost brother after years being separated by the foster system. He is living in a small town in the mountains and she decides to join him there to reconnect. She arrives there and is welcomed lovingly by her brother and basically the whole town. But what she doesn't know yet, it that the town is hiding a dark secret.

Gameplay

This has similar gameplay as the other life is strange games. Walking around, talking to people. Listening to story bits. You also have a superpower like the other games. In this case, you're an empath. You can basically hear/see peoples feeling when they are very strong. This is of course helpful when dealing with people.

While the turn back time power from the first game is still the coolest, this one is at least more interesting than in the second instalment. It's cool to see peoples thoughts, and based on that changing what you are going to say to them. Honestly, now that I think about it, you mostly use it for manipulation. Pretty evil..

Setting

It's set in a small, absolutely stunning mining town with mountains on all sides, beautiful houses and bright colours. Completely different from the first game. Which had a kind of drab town. It's so pretty, I would totally live there. Don't remember much of the music, but it also wasn't annoying so it's probably fine. Graphics were absolutely stunning. Just the right amount of realism. Beautiful lighting. I really enjoyed just walking around the town.

Other

No bugs here. Just have to note the really cute larping part of the game. It was so cute and interesting. Well done.

Conclusion

I really love these types of narrative games, especially life is strange. I enjoyed this one as well. Not as good as the first, but better than the second. So I guess second overall (Before the storm also falls short imo). The story was pretty interesting. Characters a bit cliche but not terrible. The whole empath thing was fun to play around with. Of course, as said before I thought it was a stunning game and I really want to live in that town. Overall, recommended if you like narrative games in general, or really liked life is strange.

I wasn't too into it the first chapters, but by the end, I came to love the characters and the story. It's similar to the original Life is Strange, in that way.

The game starts reeeeally slow. Each supporting character gets a relatively long and introduction with the lowest stakes imaginable. Choose which flowers your brother will give to his girlfriend, which music Steph will play on the radio, solve a minimal environmental puzzle to find the hold list so you can buy a gift for your brother. And everything performed with the patented Life Is Strange mellow delivery and stiff animations.

The ending of Chapter 1 does come as a shocker and promises thing heating up, but it's a mirage. Is not until around Chapter 3 that events start to really unfold and emotions to escalate. It's also when Alex's power really starts being an actual power instead of just a visual representation of normal human empathy.

It was a slow burn for sure, but the town and the characters eventually grew on me. Alex is an interesting character to play as, but for me the standout was Steph. It was fun seeing Steph from Before the Storm have such a central role in the events and growing into a complex character with multiple interests and competing wants.

My only major problem with the games is that I felt that it handled emotions in a very superficial way. Characters are either happy, sad, angry or scared, but there's no exploration of how a lot of the time emotions are complex. Sometimes you feel sad and happy at the same time and for the same reason; anger and fear often come together. No one in this town feel moral outrage mixed with disappointment for humanity and fear for their safety? There were many moments which could've explored that aspect of emotional life, but they were all handled superficially.

Well, I called it! Fuck you Jeb

Anyway I'm liking it so far. Alex is kind of an interesting character and I really liked how Steph is growing as a person, with her own development that also ties in to the precious game. The town feels infused with life (although it also feels somewhat empty and small) and works so well as a warm and welcoming place for a foster kid with no roots.

But, similarly to Tell Me Why, the game feels like on a slumber. Everything happens slowly and for a game about emotions, characters feel listless. Even the high-energy moments are muted. During the epic LARP battle, for example, the music wasn't loud enough and the voice acting needed to be much bigger. This apathy fitted perfectly with LIS's teenage energy, but it only works there. I have to admit that LIS: Before the Storm is full of emotion. Perhaps it was lead by a different team?

I also believe that, given that it's been 7 years since Inside Out, media about emotions should acknowledge that emotions are complex. Sometimes you feel sad and happy at the same time and for the same reason; anger and fear often come together, so why does Alex only see "pure" emotions? There are so many moments which would've been perfect for that, such as Gabe's send off at the bridge, Charlotte's explosion before the Festival, or Duckie's moment dancing with Alex. I would love to see multicoloured auras. Perhaps they are coming on the last chapter, but I doubt it.

(Edited because I was wrong about which studio developed which gmaes)

Wavelengths DLC is brief and narrow in scope, but the writing's super sharp and it functions swimmingly as a sort of bridge for Steph between Before the Storm and True Colors. Compose your own little song, predict the future for listeners of your radio station, and engage in even more of the immaculate foosball-based trash talk from the main game.

Also it's by far the most unapologetically queer piece of Life is Strange content to date, which is goddamn excellent. Impossible to overstate how exciting it is to finally see gay folks like me heading up casts in games.

While on the outset, Life Is Strange has mellowed down on the depressing parts of the game, that doesn't make this entry any less of a tearjerker.

Life Is Strange: True Colors expands its gameplay a lot more with its time-tested powerful narrative structure. Your decisions in this one have a lot more depth, Haven Springs is absolutely gorgeous and the game has mini-games!

The facial animations and character models are still very 2018 but that doesn't diminish the experience one bit. Dive into it. It's a ride.