Life is Strange: True Colors review – Journey to an idyllic city

Life is strange. A series of episodic adventures that brought sadness, joy, depression and various surprises to our video game life. The brand’s pilgrimage began in 2015 when the first adventure from Dontnod arrived, in which we followed the somewhat unfortunate fates of Max and Chloe in the town of Arcadia Bay. The game was a great success with critics and players alike, mainly due to the well-written dialogue and characters. Two years later, the prequel Before the Storm was released by developers Deck Nine, which focused on Chloe and Rachel’s relationship. He was greeted somewhat coolly, but the players were glad to have the opportunity to return to their familiar world. However, a big change came with the official second “series” (which was preceded by the amazing The Amazing Adventures of Captain Ghost), which told a completely different story of the Diaz brothers. Some people didn’t like it, some liked it.

However, Dontnod then moved on to other projects such as Tell Me Why and Twin Mirror (neither of which turned out very well), so the authors of the prequel Storm Before the Storm, who currently carry Life is Strange, returned to the Life is series. Strange: True Colors is again a brand new adventure with a different set and characters. And it’s an adventure that fans definitely shouldn’t run away from.

• Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (Revised), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (later Nintendo Switch)
• Publication date: 09/10/2021
• Producer: Ninth deck
• Genre: Adventure
• Czech location: Not
• Multiplayer: Not
• Data to download: 12 GB (PS5)
• Game time: 8 ocloc’k
• Availability: 16+
• Sales version: box and digital
• Price: CZK 1,599 (Xzone)

Everyone would like to live in Haven Springs

First, let’s see what the new episode is about. And since the official synopsis reveals too much, let’s try to modify it a little. This time, players take on the role of 21-year-old Alex Chen, who, after a failed childhood, leaves for the picturesque town of Haven Springs, Colorado, where, many years later, she finally meets her brother Chad. At first, everything seems idyllic, when the locals are mostly delighted with the arrival of their younger sister, but fate can be very insidious, so she prepared another very unpleasant test for young Alex.

Alex has an unhappy past and no better future awaits her.

At the very beginning, the melancholic atmosphere of an American town blows over you, which is depicted very romantically and therefore unrealistically, but from time to time we have the right to escape to worlds where world problems are not solved and just enjoy. And that you will love the setsakra. True Colors is the most beautiful game in the series so far, working on both character models and facial expressions, as well as various effects and decorations that draw you in, even to the point that you forget to take pictures from the game ( author’s personal experience). And, of course, there’s also the typical great soundtrack, featuring elements of indie pop, folk, and folk rock, backed up this time with a light dose of mainstream Kings of Leon, one failed cover of Blister in the Sun, and one best cover of a legendary song. from Radiohead – Creep.

Miss Chen’s problems

Therefore, it freezes in many ways that a rather ordinary central plot takes place in this beautiful place, the plot twists of which can be assessed in advance, as it offers various clichés without trying to surprise. Sure, let’s put our hands on our hearts. The main reason we have always enjoyed playing Life is Strange games has not been the story itself, but the great characters and the dialogue between them. And from this point of view, I can say that the developers from Deck Nine hit the mark. Alex Chen is probably the cutest character of all games, you will fall in love with him as soon as he gets off the bus and for many he will immediately become a platonic love.

The characters are endlessly likable.

However, the rest of the ensemble will definitely not be ashamed. Steph is a cool nerd, Ryan is an incredible guy (we all love flannel boys, don’t we?), and Ethan is a lively young man who would love to have a little brother. However, each of the locals also carries their skeletons in the closet, which gives them the necessary sign of believability, arousing empathy in you (provided that you are not a sociopath), which is also facilitated by phenomenal acting. However, they definitely regret that this time the authors suggest possibly unnecessarily short game times, due to which there is a relatively significant brevity / haste and they do not have time to voice various nuances.

Emotional Intelligence for a Better Future

In any case, empathy itself plays a very important role in the game. Following the example of the previous series, Alex also offers his own “superpower” – emotional intelligence. Although it is a more or less dubious construct in our world, Alex is replete with somewhat paranormal manifestations of him, where he feels the emotions of other people or objects, which allows the individual to better calm or manipulate him, so to some extent he works as such a therapist. The ability is really interesting, pleasant in its relative mundaneness and offering a good message to take care of our mental hygiene. However, here, too, brevity is evident. Although Alex has no control over these powers from the very beginning, over time he will learn to tame them, use them for various purposes and open up new possibilities. However, this rebirth is sloppy and actually too random, which is a shame.

The abilities of the main character are interesting.

However, this brings us to the gameplay itself. It probably won’t surprise anyone that we won’t see big changes here. This means that we will again be mostly exploring individual locations and talking to others when we have a lot of dialogue options. Some are traditionally more role-playing, while others are more prominent in the story itself, which can culminate in one of six endings (there are two main ones, the rest are just different variations). In addition, from time to time you will solve some really simple “puzzles” or find collectibles in the form of memories. However, the authors from time to time try to successfully break this classic pattern with various mini-games such as table football or slot machines. From this point of view, I must highlight the phenomenal third chapter, which perfectly breaks the imaginary stereotype and works perfectly in terms of emotions and acting. In your free time, you can use your mobile phone to read the protagonist’s diary, or browse the news and local social network, which will further deepen your understanding of the local world.

Unfortunate tear

This brings us to the fact that this work has abandoned the gradual release of episodes, so we can immediately enjoy everything (i.e. without additional DLC). The game is still divided into chapters, but among them there is neither a summary of previous events nor a trailer for the next. It is clear that this approach is more suitable for many, but, frankly, it slows down a little, if only because of the lack of partial closing credits, which always left a pleasant feeling in a person.

The title left the model of incremental publishing of episodes.

However, sometimes a slightly slow game on the PlayStation 5 will not leave a pleasant feeling. In outdoor locations, the frame rate drops and the game looks unpleasantly jerky. Surprisingly, loading times are also relatively longer, but it’s not too bad that you have time to make coffee. Using the DualSense driver features remains very minimalistic and doesn’t deepen the experience in any way. In addition, ray tracing can be enabled, but there are no significant visual changes.

Have a nice return

Either way, Deck Nine doesn’t have to be ashamed of their return to the Life is Strange series. Fans have had a successful new adventure that offers everything they loved from years past. The melancholy atmosphere of a small town, great characters, excellent selection of music and interesting abilities of the heroine, all wrapped up in a beautiful visual shell and backed up by several ideas that nicely break the standard gameplay. The impression is spoiled only by a short plot and a high degree of predictability.