*SOME SPOILERS*
Developer: Deck Nine | Square Enix
PS4 Review
Once I've found a game franchise I love I find it hard to stop thinking about it or longing for more, I have waited patiently for Life is Strange True Colors and the wait was well worth it for me. After seeing what Daniel and Sean went through in LIS2 I wondered how they could possibly come up with a new concept and set of characters, what would come next? Then they gave us Alex and she did not disappoint, Alex is a troubled teen who has had to face some tough things in this world ever since losing her mum, her emotions not only mould her character but they are overwhelmingly hard for Alex to face.
After Alex's brother finds her they build on relationship with each other and catch up on all that lost time, they both are in agreement that Alex moves to Haven Springs to be closer to her brother and work on their relationship that they missed out on for so many years. All is great at first, Alex is trying to adjust to a nice life but things go wrong very quickly. Jealousy fuels another character causing him to act out which in turn makes Alex lash out, her powers make the appearance pretty quickly and it's clear if she doesn't get them under control the consequences will be worse than she feared.
Alex's powers are connected to other people's emotions, it's hard for her to just ignore them but at the same time if she doesn't get a hold of herself quickly people will know something isn't right with her and she will be labelled a freak. Alex must have had a very difficult life trying to hide away who she was for so many years, luckily you can decided to tell people about these powers if you choose to which is a heavy load to lift off her chest. Moving to Haven Springs was both the best choice and worst choice Alex had ever made, on one hand she faced yet more trauma on the other she was able to get to know her power and how best to control it, in the past Alex's power got her into trouble and left her in a bad place but all that starts to change.
Haven Springs is one of them places you will either love or hate, for me it was a place I would happily move to for a more laid back life, for the younger generation they may feel a bit trapped and much like their life isn't moving but it makes so much sense why it's a great fit for Alex to have some time to discover herself and what she really wants in life. The setting of the game remains in a quiet mining town with beautiful views and small businesses that provide most of the jobs for the townspeople so people just about manage to provide for themselves to pay bills and get through the daily grind that is life.
The choices you make are much like previous games and lead to consequences, I've only played my first play through so far and I need to go back through to make the other choices I avoided to see how things will turn out. That's the great thing about LIS it leads us down different routes showing not only another side to the story but also to the characters, some kind and some very shady, you never know someone's true intent until you explore the matter further right? Alex's power may not be destructive like Max or Daniel have but that doesn't make it any less important, in fact being able to feel and see people's emotions must get very tiring and stressful no wonder Alex struggles so much. I was worried I would get carried away with looking at everything around me to get all the collectibles but this time I sat back and played the game without worrying too much about them. If I come across one then that would just be one last collectible to find in the chapter selection, for now my main focus was solely on Alex.
What I loved taking in most in the game is sitting down/standing around to take in your surroundings which then sets off the music and a number of different shots showcasing the games beautiful backdrops that surround Alex making it a wonderfully immersive experience, one of which songs is Home by Gabrielle Aplin, I have been a fan of her since I come across her Youtube channel many years ago now, this beautiful song opens up the idea that Alex is finally home in a place she belongs which moulds the story together beautifully. A quirky added feature which pulled me in was the arcade machine, the foosball table and the fact we get to play a LARP (Live Action Role Play) in game, it was like game inception and I lapped up every second of it!
If you're looking for a character trope like Max you've come to the wrong place, Alex and Max are VERY different from one another so there is no point in even trying to make a comparison. Alex is bisexual, you're given a choice between a male and female character who you want Alex to get with but this doesn't mean that she's no longer bi, Alex can still choose a man and be bi, she can still choose a woman and be bi. It's not for us as players to say the person she is currently with makes her straight or lesbian, this is what a lot of people seem to ignore when it comes to bisexuality, a person can be married to man or woman and look like a straight relationship but that person is still bi.
Life is Strange True Colors relies on the use of colour within the game, they understood that those who have vision impairments/colour blind gamers will find this different so they added accessibility options for players. The colour filters players can used are:
- Deuteranopia - making greens more distinguishable from reds
- Protanopia - making reds more distinguishable from greens
- Tritanopia - making blues more distinguishable from yellows
It just goes to show that doing something so small like this makes a big difference to players, I added a picture above to show the accessible settings that are available in game, each that will help in some small way to players who want to immerse themselves in gameplay without making it overbearing for them/inaccessible.
There are a few glitches in the game which developers have been working to fix, there wasn't any major issues I faced and it most certainly never ruined my gameplay. I found myself sobbing much like I do with every LIS game as I felt Alex's pain so strongly she goes through so much hurt and trauma in her young life, her story was brought together perfectly by the cast and developers, waiting 2 years for them to release this game was well worth the wait. I both love and hate that they took away releasing chapters over a period of time due to finishing the game so quickly but knowing me I will be playing it more than once even after I get the platinum trophy on the Playstation.
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