I’m very close to not recommending this game. Why? First gameplay, just a few bugs with T-posing characters and floating objects that were used in cutscenes, and the game crashed at least 4 times. Second gameplay, with the “Bae” outcome, there was more bugs. I had to restart TWO scenes during one save because the screen would just turn black mid cutscene and if you reloaded it did nothing. Not to mention that the “Bae”- related stuff was very lackluster. So, if you’re a big fan of Chloe, this isn’t the game for you. Also, very importantly, most of the team was laid off before and after the game’s release. If you like the “Bay” ending, this game might work for you.

RTX 3080 with graphics on High yet I could only get around 43-53 fps at all times, never going over 60 fps. Something is wrong with the audio; some characters have muffled sound when they speak, and you can barely hear anything. Changing the voice volume does nothing. Listening to other NPCs speaking is buggy because you would sometimes only get subtitles and no audio, and if you move a centimeter they stop talking and you can’t listen again. I completely stopped trying to snoop on others, which means you miss out on a few events.

The UI is hilariously barebones and not to mention that the game is absolutely overpriced. DLCs are a cash-grab only.

Despite all of this, I enjoyed it. The cinematics are great, voice and acting performances are perfect, I ended up liking all the characters (whether they are good or bad), music was excellent but maybe not as stand-out as Life is Strange 1. I liked this new and confident adult Max. The game could have used a few more scenes with Safi to get to know her some more, and if Max is in a teaching position now – why not show us that? If she’s such a great photographer... show it! Exploration could have been expanded, more locations and details. Something is definitely missing from the game, and I can’t tell you exactly what or why. Possibly that it just needed a little more time in development… And if you believe the rumors about the development… well it wasn’t exactly great. Avoid the subreddit.

I know this game has gotten a lot of hate, but I genuinely loved it. It felt right.

I genuinely don't know what Square Enix was even thinking with this one, this should have been such an easy homerun for LiS, and yet this is a failure in so many ways. Stilted dialogue, weird asf interactions, boring characters, bad gameplay.

I have no idea who is making the consistent decision to not bring back the time rewind powers from the first game, but whoever it is needs to be fired. The rewind ability was half the reason the first game was as good as it was, it was an absolute gold mine of potential that fit the medium of choice-based games so well. Not to mention it was actually... fun? I know, an alien concept to LiS. And now, even with the return of Max, the game still doesn't allow rewinding, replacing it with a mechanic that feels more like an obstacle towards forward progress than it does a fun gameplay mechanic. It just feels bad to use. Enough said.

The story itself so far (I haven't gotten past like halfway through chapter 2, but I really don't care to continue) isn't very interesting. It by all means *should be* from the premise alone, but I feel so blasé about the world and characters that I just don't give a damn. Who murdered Safi?? I don't know and I don't care. Each and every character seems to have the depth and personality of a blank piece of printer paper. The only notable thing is that, god almighty, is everyone gay as hell. It comes off as Square Enix trying as hard as possible to be ""woke"" (and this is coming from a gay person), but it only comes off as overbearing and cringe. You're not inclusive Square Enix, you're a massive international corporation and AAA video game publisher, get a grip.

I was cautiously optimistic that maybe this would be a return to form for LiS (because let's be real, the series hasn't been good since LiS 1), but I guess I was bamboozled out of $50 yet again. Either way, I don't care anymore, I ain't buying the next game (if there even is another one) and no one can convince me to change my mind.