Life is Strange 2: Episode 2 - Rules

Life is Strange 2 Episode 2 shows exactly how interactive narrative games can be so powerful. By focusing on your responsibility for two characters and their actions, players can enjoy the heartbreaking story they accidentally unfold.

Life Is Strange 2 Episode 2: Rules moves at a slower pace than the first but still manages to take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions that will have you feeling all kinds of things including a bit of ill will towards DONTNOD for making you wait for the next chapter.

The second chapter of Life is Strange 2 overtakes the previous episode. Despite the traps that it does, "Rules" manages that we can empathize with Sean and Daniel more. If the beginning of the journey of its protagonists hooked you, you can't miss the continuation for anything in the world.

Episode 2 might be a slower entry in the episodic series, but it gave me enough meaningful content and satisfying gameplay to enjoy playing throughout. Life is Strange 2 isn’t about Daniel’s telekinesis. It’s about the relationship between Sean and Daniel, two brothers who’ve been torn from their normal lives by unforeseeable circumstances. While the supernatural enhances the story, it never drives the emotional connections. As before, I look forward to that wonderful nerve-wracking experience of learning what terrible and joyous things will happen to the brothers next.

Rules episode develops the brother’s relationship as much as it can, and gives the players so much freedom when it comes to choices. Life is Strange 2 is so good in the spirit that even though the Rules episode is lacking a little pace in storytelling, it can still be considered a great episode that lays a solid ground for the future.

Life is Strange 2 continues its streak of excellence with Roads, an episode that advances the story of Sean and Daniel Diaz with a series of brave, unpredictable events. While it fumbles when touching upon heavier political themes, the emotion at the core of this story succeeds, and is ultimately what matters the most.

Life is Strange 2 finally begins to discover its assets, proving the ability to repeat the success of the first season.

No matter how you leave Daniel and Sean at the end of this chapter, there is the palpable sense of hope, of a new way forward, and of the unconditional love between two brothers.

With this new episode, DONTNOD manage to blur the lines of the script, immersing the player into a deeper and more interesting story for the Diaz brothers. Characters are better written, music is great and we can't wait to see what's coming next.

Life is Strange 2: Episode Two - Rules carries forward the narration of the first chapter, introducing new characters and focusing on the personalities of the protagonists.

An episode with a great writing but our choices lack weight, making this a forgettable episode, despite the fact that it has some great moments in its limited length.

Quotation forthcoming.

This episode is a bit slower than the last one but that does give you the opportunity to get to know the characters even better. The (free) prologue to this season is integrated nicely and the voice-acting is once again excellent. Definitely worth it in other words but some choices are forced upon you and we can't get around the ending where some strange choices are made by an adult character, which makes this episode lose a bit of its credibility.

The second episode of Life is Strange 2 delivers on the return of Chris, a beautiful soundtrack and some great art. It's a shame the facial expressions suffer due to the art style though. It's a great nostalgic trip nonetheless.

Though it doesn't quite build up on the first episode's potential, Life is Strange 2's second episode offers several compelling moments.

Though the story of the Diaz-brothers is still interesting, the action in this second episode is getting slow. The game gets a little bit boring, so hopefully the story and action will pick up big time in the next episode.

A considerably less daring second episode, when compared to the first, that highlights the problems of episodic content more than it does the qualities of Life Is Strange 2.

While this episode brings interesting themes of its own, I was disappointed at how racial tensions and politics weren't built upon further, and that many consequences didn't tie over in meaningful ways from the previous episode. Instead, Rules feels like a turn in the wrong direction, with choices that never quite hit their mark. Hopefully the Diaz brothers carve a new and more interesting path as their journey continues.

A lovely little diversion for the wolf brothers finds their biggest problem not to be the law, but inconsistencies in their own animation.

Not the best Life is Strange episode. Dialogue choices are poor, it often feels like the outcome is inevitable, and - aside from Captain Spirit - few of the supporting characters are likeable. But the core bond between Sean and Daniel remains the key draw.

Life Is Strange 2 feels like it’s flying under-the-radar, which is unfortunate because this sequel has all of the hallmarks that made its predecessor a success. Episode 2: Rules is slow, but DONTNOD is still easing its new cast of characters in. There’s definitely something good brewing here, but for whatever reason we can’t shake the feeling that the developer has utterly failed to capture the imagination of Arcadia Bay’s biggest fans.

Whereas the first episode was emotional, tense, and compelling, this second episode kind of feels like it’s just getting itself from point A to point B in the story. It’s not a bad episode, but it feels very underwhelming when compared to the first.

“Rules” feels like emotional torture porn without any of the thematic follow through to make it worthwhile.