Poor Max Caulfield—the original protagonist of Life Is Strange has hardly ever been able to catch a break. Now, the time-rewinding heroine is about to face her ultimate challenge in Life Is Strange: Reunion, and after a brief hands-on preview, it’s clear that she at least won’t be facing it without her oldest ally.
When we last saw Max in 2024’s Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, she had settled into a new position as an artist-in-residence at Caledon University in Lakeport, Vermont. When tragedy befell her new best friend, Safi, Max discovered a new ability which allowed her to “shift” into an alternate timeline where Safi was still alive, and discover the truth behind her would-be killer. The game ended on some unresolved business, which Reunion will apparently seek to close off, but another layer of paradoxical problems will plague Max along the way.
As yet another mysterious disaster threatens to take away the things Max holds dear, a blast from the past will appear in her new life at Caledon: Chloe Price.
Depending on the choices you made (or consider canon) from previous games, Chloe might be alive but estranged by Max. Or, the events of Life Is Strange: Double Exposure may have shunted an alternate version of Chloe into Max’s reality, with memories of the destruction of Arcadia Bay and their time on the road together… and nightmares of dying on the bathroom floor at Blackwell Academy from the original game. Either way, players will have to control both characters and utilize their particular skills to solve the mystery that’s threatening Caledon.
“Fans will be delighted to see that rewind works much the same in Life Is Strange: Reunion as it always has.”
Life Is Strange: Reunion essentially offers four possible backgrounds, based on two different choices: if Max and Chloe romanced or were just close friends, and if Chloe lived or died. During a hands-on preview with the game ahead of its release next month, I was able to hop into the game with my personal choice from the first game—romanced, and Chloe died—and see how these factors affect the story.
In a segment that feels like the end of the first chapter, I explored the familiar Snapping Turtle bar from Double Exposure, first as Chloe and later as Max. This included interacting with familiar Caledon faces—some welcome (Amanda) and others unwelcome (Lucas)—and using both protagonists’ powers.
Max’s rewind ability from the first game is back in full form, allowing her to rewind conversations while retaining knowledge and items. Fans will be delighted to see that rewind works much the same in Life Is Strange: Reunion as it always has, right down to the familiar spiral gauge that shows your position on the timeline. There were at least two great opportunities to use it to Max’s advantage at the Turtle, and zipping back in time with a pocket full of secret information still feels like a conversational cheat code.
Later in the preview, a life-or-death timed segment put the mechanic and Life Is Strange‘s mystery-solving through its paces. While Double Exposure used the “shift” power to great effect, it is satisfying to get Max through a dire situation with good old-fashioned time tampering.
Chloe’s featured mechanic (calling it a “power” is a bit aggrandizing) for Backtalk came into play later. She may be about ten years older, but even as an adult Chloe still has her rebellious side, and arguing with a security guard is a tantalizing target for her. As before, the key is to use what you’ve noticed in the environment or about the target of your Backtalk beforehand, and bring it to bear.
Admittedly, as the first part of the exchange was shown in the trailer, it was like starting with the answer key in front of me, but nonetheless, I felt a pang of nostalgia for the days of hurling barbs at Chloe’s stepdad, David, in the previous games. This ability is much more restricted than Max’s rewind, which can essentially be used at will, so it will be interesting to see how else it comes up in the full game.
Dialogue and choices are the core of the franchise, but for the first time, Life Is Strange: Reunion will feature two simultaneous protagonists, and naturally, Max and Chloe have a lot to talk about. Instead of keeping players firmly rooted in one of the two, such pivotal conversations between the two leads shift between them, depending on the choices being made. There’s a visible cue showing the focus shifting to either Max or Chloe, and while dialogue options are on screen, the game highlights which character is making the choice.
I was impressed with how this setup allowed me to make decisions on behalf of both characters in a way that felt authentic to their story. Devoted players have shaped their own take on the characters’ relationships over three games’ worth of choices by this point; bringing Chloe back into the picture but denying her any chance at player agency would’ve made the whole exercise moot. Thankfully, judging by the key conversation following their reunion (which was also teased during the reveal livestream), Deck Nine has put a lot of thought into how it would handle having two heroines.
My short hands-on time with Life Is Strange: Reunion flew by, and even with a small cross-section of the full experience, my mind was left buzzing, pondering the possibilities. It remains to be seen if other choices made during Double Exposure, like having Max romance or flirt with Amanda or Vinh, will be eligible to carry forward, but the implications of each of the four main situations between Max and Chloe alone have me itching to see the same conversations from another side.
Based on this slice of Max’s tumultuous life, it seems like Life Is Strange: Reunion is poised to make good on all the things Double Exposure set up and left on the table, while also doing right by the events of the first games. It’s been hard to bite my tongue and not give anything away through the course of this article, either regarding the new mystery or the implications from previous games.
One particular allusion, regarding David, gave me hope that this game could truly bridge the eras… but we’ll have to wait just a bit longer to dive into the game and see what other ancient history gets dug up along the way, as Max and Chloe’s fight to secure their future’s saga comes to an end.
Life Is Strange: Reunion launches March 26 on PlayStation 5, Steam, and Xbox Series X|S.
