Life is Strange 2 on Nintendo Switch is a faithful port of a four-year-old game. The story of brotherly love leaves a lasting impact, even if this aging console continues to show its seams.
It’s hard to believe that eight years have passed since the release of Life is Strange.
I fondly remember reviewing the first season, impressed by its sincerity and ability to differentiate itself from the trend of The Walking Dead-like narrative games. More surprising was the fact that Square Enix was branching into unknown territory. Troubled teens usually would only be explored in a fantasy setting with crystals and world-ending bosses.
Sometimes Life is Strange‘s dialog felt a little out of touch but it worked, allowing Max and Chloe to express themselves like young women trying to find their way through the end of the world. More frustrating was its agonizingly chaotic release structure. The five episodes had no reliable cadence, making cliffhangers and the season finale far too drawn out. It was, unfortunately, a trend that continued with Life is Strange 2, which took over a year for its five episodes to release. Thankfully, Life is Strange: True Colors dropped all episodes at once while also providing the series’ best narrative yet.
Years after the full release of Life is Strange 2, Nintendo-faithful finally have the opportunity to experience the second entry in Dontnod’s incredible adventure. With True Colors having been released on Switch shortly after other platforms and the Arcadia Bay Collection providing the full first game and its prequel, all of Life is Strange (well, minus Captain Spirit, it seems) can be played on Switch.
Telling the tale of Sean and Daniel Diaz, Life is Strange 2 takes several deviations from the other two mainline entries. Here, players control Sean, the elder Diaz, who has no powers. Instead, it’s his younger brother Daniel who begins to develop telekinetic powers.
The story opens with tragedy, forcing the brothers to evade police and make their way towards Mexico. Rather than having direct control over a character capable of manipulating the narrative through unexplained powers, Sean is meant to interact with other characters and guide Daniel through life, acting as a beacon of growth or potential destruction.
Based on how Sean and the player choose branching dialog paths will obviously alter the course of the story. Additionally, Sean’s actions can influence Daniel’s personality and how he grows over the course of each chapter. Because of this method of control, Life is Strange 2 piles a good deal of responsibility onto the player because they must be mindful of Sean as a person and how their choices will ultimately change and influence Daniel.
The brotherly bond in Life is Strange 2 is a powerful one because the two spend so much time with each other, especially after their personal tragedy. Yet another success by Dontnod’s writing team, forging branching narratives that feel meaningful. You want these two characters to overcome, all the while curious where other choices can lead.
Another strength of the sequel is that players are taken to multiple locations, rather than sticking with the town of Arcadia Bay or Haven Springs. There’s some environmental expression the team takes to embrace the “road trip” aspect of Life is Strange 2. It makes this everyday universe where extraordinary people exist feel wider and more alive.
Ultimately, I would still say that True Colors is my favorite of the trilogy. Part of that is simply due to the fact that I grew to connect the most with Alex Chen and her search for purpose. Another reason is that True Colors was more of a technical achievement.
One of my biggest sticking points with the first two Life is Strange games is that their visuals–while definitely stylized–often looked a bit dated. Rather than going for visual realism, Dontnod chose to paint their worlds in bolder strokes. Characters’ faces weren’t heavily defined, emphasizing the mouths and eyes more than wrinkles on the forehead, rosy cheeks, and identifiable pores. Environments looked to be washed with a few tones of color, almost impressionistic.
The budget did show in those earlier days and for such a dialog-heavy game, I could see many players being distracted by the subpar lip syncing. There were times where it took me out of the moment but I never allowed it to affect my enjoyment of the games for too long.
But where does all of this land when it comes to the Nintendo Switch port? I’m not surprised that Nintendo’s dated hardware is showing signs of wear and tear, even on ports of games that are several years old. When playing Life is Strange 2, I didn’t expect any miracles, just a functional game that retained most of the elements of the original.
Whether docked or handheld, Life is Strange 2‘s textures definitely take a bit of a hit from the counterparts of stronger consoles. Environments lose some detail while character faces can often appear blurry during cutscenes and gameplay. Am I shocked? Not really.
More importantly, the game has a moderately stable framerate with only a few hitches from time to time, nothing that ever feels like the game is struggling to survive. That possibly explains the extremely long load times that players will experience.
Life is Strange 2 on the Switch is simply that. Are you a person who has managed to not touch the series or this particular entry yet? Do you only have a Switch? Then this is the version for you. The core game is an excellent narrative adventure full of emotional ups and downs. On Switch it may be inferior to PC, PlayStation, or Xbox but now all players can enjoy the full Life is Strange trilogy wherever they would like.
