Life is Strange 2: Episode 2 - Rules

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. Hardcore Gamer
    Feb 4, 2019
    100
    Episode 2: Rules is a fantastic experience and continues to build on Dontnod’s reputation as the king of episodic gaming. Life Is Strange 2 has the potential to mesmerize players with its three remaining episodes and become a worthy contender for 2019’s GOTY (despite the first episode being released in 2018, of course).
  2. COGconnected
    Feb 1, 2019
    80
    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.
  3. BaziCenter
    Jan 31, 2019
    80
    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.
  5. PlaySense
    Jan 28, 2019
    75
    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.
  6. IGN Spain
    Jan 28, 2019
    78
    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.
  7. Hobby Consolas
    Jan 27, 2019
    81
    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.
  8. Wccftech
    Jan 25, 2019
    90
    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.
  9. PlayStation Universe
    Jan 25, 2019
    90
    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.
  10. Trusted Reviews
    Jan 24, 2019
    80
    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.
  11. Everyeye.it
    Jan 24, 2019
    80
    Life is Strange 2 finally begins to discover its assets, proving the ability to repeat the success of the first season.
  12. GameSpot
    Jan 22, 2019
    80
    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.
  13. Jeuxvideo.com
    Jan 22, 2019
    80
    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.
  14. Multiplayer.it
    Jan 22, 2019
    80
    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.
  15. Vandal
    Jan 22, 2019
    78
    Quotation forthcoming.
  16. XGN
    Jan 22, 2019
    75
    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.
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In Progress & Unscored

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  1. TheSixthAxis
    Jan 22, 2019
    Episode 2 continues the strong start that Life Is Strange 2 made all the way back in September of last year. Once again, while this is a story that features the supernatural, it’s a very human drama at its heart and one that’s well worth enjoying. Given the long wait between episodes, though, you might prefer to hold off until the season has been concluded.

Awards & Rankings

86
#86 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2019

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 73
  3. Negative: 33 out of 73
  1. Hallowsend666
    Jan 29, 2019
    0
    In hindsight I should not have given the first episode a zero because this episode is even worse than the first one.
    Boring storyline, still    In hindsight I should not have given the first episode a zero because this episode is even worse than the first one.
    Boring storyline, still boring and largely characters you can´t relate to, still full of false choices changing nothing except the final cutscene of the episodes. The characters still make terribly stupid choices you can´t avoid.

    But the real problem is that they took four months to release this and it still is full of bugs ranging from graphical errors to sound errors that force you to restart the game to your saves being deleted!

    And if that weren´t bad enough they do not sell episode on it´s own, Forcing you to buy the whole season, which will be complete in or close to 2020.    … Full Review »
  2. Gohax
    Feb 8, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. EPISODE 2:
    the episode started kinda awesome by you being the older brother training (in a way) Daniel by giving him stuff you pick up with his new power but mostly this episode was a waste of time because they made a crossover of sorts with captain spirit and basically the whole episode is training Daniel and teaching him new rules and getting annoyed by captain cringe and learning more about him also we get to learn more about Sean and Daniels mother and why she left but mostly that's it the episode was really boring and felt like a filler all i got from that episode is father skills after yelling and schooling Daniel and that brings me the score which is 5.5 out of ten it was a really slow episode and i wish they put in more stuff in it    … Full Review »
  3. Taronn93
    Feb 7, 2019
    0
    Here we go again, another utterly disappointing episode of such a (used to be) great franchise. I feel bad for those who try this out beforeHere we go again, another utterly disappointing episode of such a (used to be) great franchise. I feel bad for those who try this out before trying the first game, if they will even try the first game after playing this... Which is a shame because the first game, even with its flaws, was one of the best experience of mine when it comes to storytelling games. It made me care about the characters, it showed real life situations, it gave us an exciting time travel mechanic, it gave us great puzzles, interesting plot and great conversations... But let's talk about this one...

    Characters: I don't care about them. I don't care if Daniel Skywalker the force user of the franchise dies. I don't care about the character we play, i don't even remember his name.

    Plot: We, part of a minority, running away from the cops and everyone thinks we are killers because... we are mexicans... the racism agenda in this game is way overexaggerated. I can't take it seriously because it's laughably bad. We are talking about 2 kid for christ sake... Did they even investigated on the scene? I don't think so.

    The conversations are bad, they are not important, they are boring and they don't change the story at all, choices have no consequences. Do you guys remember Kate Marsh from the first game. Now THATS what all storytelling games should have. Now that was some heavy consequence and it was brilliant and i felt like sh*t when i failed to save her. There? Captain Spirit gets hit by a car because his dumb*ss runs in front of it because dumb*ss young skywalker lied to him.... I was so not impressed its not even funny. I didn't care at all, because most likely that kid won't be part of the upcoming story episodes anyway.

    Puzzles in this game are almost non existent and the existing ones... i don't know what to say. Find a key? Really? Oh but wait, i can talk to young Skywalker to use the force and open the door anyway.

    Young skywalker... Who thought giving the special ability to the character we can't play was a good idea? It's terrible. It's young skywalker's story and we are just making not important decisions for him...

    The game is full of bugs, camera, visual, audio bugs, the game suddenly crashing for people and they lose their save. All that after waiting for like... 3-4 months?

    I'm really disappointed and the next episode will be their last chance for me to get their stuff together because if that's going to be as bad as the first two episodes... I'm not willing to pay for that and i'm not willing to play that. I want to keep my good memories about the first Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm. To be honest, at this point i'm pretty sure that it's going to be bad, but i just want to give them one more chance...

    The best case scenario for them would be cancelling the story of young skywalker and the whole game, and start all over again and give us the story of Max and Chloe again... You know... What everyone wanted.    … Full Review »
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