Life is Strange 2 EGX Preview

The Life is Strange 2 Preview at EGX had players taking control of Sean Cruz, a young teenage boy that is on the cusp of adulthood. The demo quickly introduces Sean’s younger brother Daniel and their father through a short section of dialogue that aptly establishes each of the characters and their place within the narrative.

The same dialogue system we saw in the first game returns, as players have the ability to guide Sean in the way that they would react. This is established right from the off with players having to decide who deserves the last chocolate bar in the cupboard, but this is developed upon later in the demo as players are forced to make much more integral decisions.

Once the initial scene played out, I had the option to explore the house a little bit more while also gathering supplies for a houseparty. The level of detail we’ve come to expect from the series was on full display here as I was able to interact with numerous objects throughout the house. A search of the basement provided me with some insight on where the boy’s mother had gone, with Sean referring to boxes that his mom left as “shit that his dad should get rid of” implying that there may well be a deeper story there.

Licensed music makes a welcome return as I managed to stumble upon a track from British hip-hop group, The Streets. Listen to the song long enough and Sean starts to rap along with it. It’s these small, but well thought out touches that initially sold me on the first Life is Strange, so it’s exciting the developers have once again paid so much attention to the finer details.

The stylised graphics of the previous games return, although the version displayed at EGX looked a little muddy compared to its predecessors. This wasn’t a huge problem for me as the performance of the voice actors coupled with the animations of the characters resulted in believable and honest dialogue.

I won’t spoil the story here as I believe the experience is best seen with fresh eyes, but the writing is pretty much what I would expected it would be. Heartfelt, emotional dialogue mixed with dramatic and tense moments made for an experience that left me distraught on the showroom floor of EGX.