Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading. In this installment, we’re covering Life Is Strange: Double Exposure by developer Deck Nine Games.
Life Is Strange: Double Exposure sees the return of Max Caulfield from the original Life Is Strange in an all-new story and with all new powers. The game released on October 29th for most gaming platforms and has now finally come to Nintendo Switch digitally on November 19th, which just so happens to be my birthday, Yay Me! For those waiting for the physical version, you will have to wait until January 2025 before its release.
So, lets jump into the story of Life Is Strange: Double Exposure. Afterall, its been a while since the catastrophic events that happened in Arcadia Bay and Max, who still suffering emotional trauma from the aftermath, now has a new horrific event to deal with… the murder of her close friend Safi. Having put her time travelling abilities to rest, Max discovers a strange new power that allows her to cross over to another reality where Safi is still alive. Is there a way to find out who Safi’s killer is by traveling across dimensions? Max is going to find out but with Safi alive in this other reality, could she be in danger also? There is only one way to find out.
For those who may be unfamiliar with the Life Is Strange Series, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure is a third-person graphic adventure game. Players take control of Max and must navigate her through the game’s world and story. As Max, players can talk to other characters and interact with certain objects in the environment. The gameplay is tied closely to the story progression and some interactions with key characters may affect how they may help or hinder you later on in the game. A key element of this game is about making decisions that will have consequences that can either have a positive or a negative effect later on. It’s not always immediately clear and sometimes their is a strange karmic beauty to it all when what seems like a pretty poor choice, actually turns out to be the right one in the end.
The main focus of Life Is Strange: Double Exposure is to find out who killed Max’s friend Safi. To do so, Max discovers she has an ability to traverse to another reality where Safi is still alive but is being threatened by someone whose identity is anonymous. Max can use her ability to cross between realities to learn clues about this unknown person and whether they are responsible for Safi’s death in Max’s own reality.
To travel between one reality and the other, players can press the L button in certain areas where a rift can be made. Max also has an ability to pulse with the R button, which creates an echo of sorts between the two worlds where Max can listen to conversations in one world whilst still being physically present in another. This can help with tasks that require Max to learn information in one world that she couldn’t learn whilst actually being present in that world, like for example, eavesdropping on private conversations that would normally get hushed up if she got too close in the same reality.
Although Max has some cool new abilities, she does have another feature that, while perhaps not as cool as time travelling or dimension hopping, it is a skill she had from the first game. Being a photographer, Max can take photographs of select moments and objects. They aren’t always essential to the story but they do count as overall progression in the game and act as a sort of collectible. Speaking of which, there are a number of polaroid photos dotted around that Max can also collect that may or may not have some importance later on in the game. As to what though, I am not saying a thing.
I am loving the Life Is Strange: Double Exposure on Switch and the story is very gripping. The characters are full of personality and the world building is exceptionally deep. I love that they have continued with the smartphone submenu that displays messages and social media posts so you get even more character building and just shows how deep the story of the game is. Max’s journal also provides insight to her state of mind after the events of Arcadia Bay and what she had been up to until where the game begins. I do particularly like the jumping between reality mechanic and how it has been implemented. That said though, there is one elephant in the room that I must address and that is visuals.
Much like Life Is Strange: True Colors on Nintendo Switch, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure is unfortunate that for as great as the game plays, albeit it with some slightly lengthy loading times, it is let down by how it looks on the console. You can forgive the Switch version for the most part not being as pretty looking as it is on PS5 or Xbox Series S/X due to not having the hardware to render those kind of visuals. That doesn’t bother me as the same can be said for a lot of multiplatform games. What I do have some issue with is the blurriness at times.
The difference between the Switch version and other platforms is like standard definition Television when it made the push to HD, it is night and day. The visuals in the switch version are sort of dulled down and slightly out of focus and I have a feeling this may be intentional. We know the Switch is no powerhouse and there are a number of developers who have used all sorts of clever tricks to get the most out of the system. That said, the slightly muddy visuals on the character models and the out-of-focus shots at times don’t do this game justice on Switch as the story and gameplay are pretty compelling.
As we wrap up this Explain & Play review, I want to say that despite my issues with the image quality of the game, I do really appreciate being able to play Life Is Strange: Double Exposure on Nintendo Switch. I do hope that some update patches may improve the visuals in the future but I do recommend playing this game if you have the opportunity, even if it is on any other gaming platform. That said, I will still be picking this game up physically when the physical version is released next year.
Game Specifications:
Developer: Deck Nine Games
Publisher: Square Enix Europe
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Adventure
No. of Players: 1 player
Release Date: November 19, 2024 (EU & NA)
Price: $49.99
File Size: 14.2 GB
Nintendo.com Listing
