Life is Strange 2

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 601 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 332 out of 601
  2. Mixed: 107 out of 601
  3. Negative: 162 out of 601
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  1. Watching_horizo
    Sep 30, 2018
    3
    Weak story with plot twist that doesn't make any sense. Little or none character development and stupid actions that you just have to deal with it. Feels like stupid simulator in season 2 and game doesn't have LiS feel in it.

    I loved LiS season one with its dlc BFTS. This season 2 doesn't even feel like LiS game and episode 1 set tone for rest of this season 2. Top of that SJW    Weak story with plot twist that doesn't make any sense. Little or none character development and stupid actions that you just have to deal with it. Feels like stupid simulator in season 2 and game doesn't have LiS feel in it.

    I loved LiS season one with its dlc BFTS. This season 2 doesn't even feel like LiS game and episode 1 set tone for rest of this season 2.

    Top of that SJW propaganda and seems like dontnod got woke.... I regret that i bought this game and trusted them.    … Expand
  2. Aeble
    Sep 18, 2020
    1
    I am sad to say that this game was a huge, disappointing mess. Loved the first game, despised this. The three biggest problems for me was 1. You didn’t stay with any of the side characters 2. Sean’s voice actor 3. Daniel. The third being the worst offender. I could not get behind him in any way, shape or form.
  3. krayzie
    Sep 11, 2020
    3
    Loved LiS 1 so much i played it thrice. Horribly unconvincing voice acting by the two main casts coupled with non existent character development however made this "sequel" such a struggle to get through.

    I've never disliked a character as much as Danial before. By far the most exasperating "protaganist" in any form of media I've experienced. His older brother Sean is not much better.    Loved LiS 1 so much i played it thrice. Horribly unconvincing voice acting by the two main casts coupled with non existent character development however made this "sequel" such a struggle to get through.

    I've never disliked a character as much as Danial before. By far the most exasperating "protaganist" in any form of media I've experienced.

    His older brother Sean is not much better. The overacting by the voice actor was unbearable at times and his character was unbelievably pathetic.

    If you enjoyed LiS 1, do yourself a favour and avoid this like the plague unless you want to mar the experience of the 1st.    … Expand
  4. loumex
    Jul 15, 2023
    3
    Surely people will hate me for saying this, but LIS2 is by far the worst in the whole series, DLCs included. It is blund, straightforward, no character sticks till the end, the areas are linear and without much thought, music is non-existent compared to 1 and TC, there is a total lack of humour, there is NO ongoing mystery, a vague end-game that doesn't really make sense to build upon, youSurely people will hate me for saying this, but LIS2 is by far the worst in the whole series, DLCs included. It is blund, straightforward, no character sticks till the end, the areas are linear and without much thought, music is non-existent compared to 1 and TC, there is a total lack of humour, there is NO ongoing mystery, a vague end-game that doesn't really make sense to build upon, you have no powers but instead "nurture" them on your brother. The whole game is a great, GREAT disappointment. LS1 remains the GOAT, LSTC and Before the storm follow, but this, nah man, this is not worth your time.… Expand
  5. DaViDe_GioVaNNi
    Jan 5, 2022
    0
    BORING GAME LIKE LOOKING AT THE PAINT DRYING UP. The main characters do not have the slightest personal growth, except in the endings, which however are devoid of any logic. The chapters are boring and almost completely disconnected from each other, so much so that you could jump from chapter 1 to chapter 5 without missing any logical steps. Chapters 3 and 4 are even identical, have theBORING GAME LIKE LOOKING AT THE PAINT DRYING UP. The main characters do not have the slightest personal growth, except in the endings, which however are devoid of any logic. The chapters are boring and almost completely disconnected from each other, so much so that you could jump from chapter 1 to chapter 5 without missing any logical steps. Chapters 3 and 4 are even identical, have the same story and literally the exact same things happen, so much so that they could even be interchangeable (but it would be better not to play them at all). In addition, one of the secondary characters is literally identical to Rachel's mother from LiS: Before the Storm. In addition to buy a character from the first LiS, but it was completely twisted, in an absolutely senseless way and creating huge plot holes. Truly terrible game. In general, almost all of the characters are annoying, especially the protagonists. The choices are obvious and often obligatory.… Expand
  6. DarkFlower
    Jun 28, 2020
    3
    Хорошая идея, но отвратительнейшая реализация, в игру банально скучно играть.
    Она недостойна цифры "2" в названии
  7. Adriano023
    Jun 29, 2020
    1
    This game is trash, wasted my money for a fricking trashy game. Bad storytelling, political correctness is the only thing the game has. There is no point of buying this piece of junk.
  8. piuscorvus
    Jun 25, 2020
    2
    I played both Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm and liked them. I was not amazed by them but they were OK. Life is Strange 2 is far from being OK. It shows significant visual improvements compared to the previous two games. On the other side, the story is unbelievably predictable, feels very cheap and does not really go anywhere. Characters are not deeply developed andI played both Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm and liked them. I was not amazed by them but they were OK. Life is Strange 2 is far from being OK. It shows significant visual improvements compared to the previous two games. On the other side, the story is unbelievably predictable, feels very cheap and does not really go anywhere. Characters are not deeply developed and they do not offer anything special or worth remembering. Luckily, this story has no connection with the stories of previous two games so you are perfectly fine with skipping this one.

    There is also one interesting thing that is important for people that want to buy second hand copy of this game: the game is sold as a full season, including all 5 episodes. BUT, there are only four episodes on the disc. The last episode is in the box as a download code and that code can be used only once, which means that if you get yourself a used copy of this game you will most probably only be able to play four episodes because the code will most likely be already used. If you want the last episode, you will have to buy it extra on Playstation Store.    … Expand
  9. Tplayhow
    Jun 27, 2020
    0
    As a huge fan of the first game, I could not wait for the sequel. I cannot describe in words how disappointed I was.

    The only positives I can think of is how it portrays racism and the struggles of people of color in America, and the final decision at the end could have been very impactful if the rest of the story actually led up to it like in the first game. Unfortunately (and I    As a huge fan of the first game, I could not wait for the sequel. I cannot describe in words how disappointed I was.

    The only positives I can think of is how it portrays racism and the struggles of people of color in America, and the final decision at the end could have been very impactful if the rest of the story actually led up to it like in the first game.

    Unfortunately (and I really am sad to say this), that is all the positives I can think of. On to the negatives:

    The most obvious one is that the life is strange formula does not work as a road trip. In the first game, we got to know all the side characters and the town of Aracadia Bay, which made the final decision in the game feel much more impactful, and we had the mystery of the disappearing girls to keep the story moving forward. This game has zero mystery (apart from how did the little brother get super powers, but that's never explored anyway), and we only get to know side characters for one and a half episodes; just enough so we want to know more about them, and then the game never mentions them again. I think this game could have been a million times better if the main characters stayed with the group in the third episode, but for some strange reason the writers decided against it.

    Another big problem is the game just feels boring, and the fact that the strongest emotion I got from a life is strange game is boredom goes to show the poor quality of this game. Whereas in the first game we had smaller environments to explore with a lot more characters we could get to know, this game either has big environments in which you just waste your time walking at a snail's pace from point A to point B (with very few characters to interact with), or you are literally unable to move and can only advance after looking at certain objects. These parts where you can't even move are incredibly boring, and there's around 2 of them in each chapter.

    Another big problem are the main characters. Not saying Max and Chloe were revolutionary characters, but they had very distinct personalities and you actually wanted to get to know them and their relationship better. In this game, Sean is just a generic teenager with no discernible personality traits, and Daniel... God, don't even get me started. His whole persoanlity is just being annoying. The game tries something interesting where Daniel's personality changes based on how you act with him, but even in my playthrough where I tried my hardest to be a good influence on him, he is just unbearable.

    Lastly, I just want to finish off by saying the first game felt like a coherent story with lots of character and story development in each chapter building off what came before it. However, in a road trip scenario, that's impossible to do, which would be fine if the individual episodes had compelling stories. Unfortunately, apart from the third episode, this is not the case. I really do hope that if there is a LiS 3, they realize what made the first game special and try to recreate a similar experience, and we just forget this game ever existed as time goes on.    … Expand
  10. Awanka
    Dec 27, 2021
    0
    Terrible graphic adventure game where the player is presented with "choices." Sure, I've always wanted to babysit an idiot little brother across the country. When the game isn't annoying, which it almost always is, it's boring. Long stretches where nothing happens and people pontificate endlessly. Its story is filled with contrived family conflict, and tedious melodrama. Being a LifeTerrible graphic adventure game where the player is presented with "choices." Sure, I've always wanted to babysit an idiot little brother across the country. When the game isn't annoying, which it almost always is, it's boring. Long stretches where nothing happens and people pontificate endlessly. Its story is filled with contrived family conflict, and tedious melodrama. Being a Life is Strange game, the superpower here is fairly generic and kind of uninteresting.

    The main characters themselves are pretty horrible. I don't know why games keep putting children as main POVs. There is also a cringy recap sequence before each episode in the form of an allegory with wolf cubs in place of the main characters. It's awful. Maybe the story and dialog being terrible would be forgivable if the gameplay was good, but it's a graphic adventure game so there is no real gameplay. This is all there is.

    The worst thing about it though is that this game only presents the illusion of choice. At every turn you are forced into bad or unethical decisions that don't make sense. When accused of stealing, you can't just show proof that everything was purchased legally. When getting a gift, you're forced to steal instead of just walking away with nothing. When presented with a choice on whether or not to disobey your grandparents' simple request, whatever you choose doesn't matter either way. The narrative forces you to keep a secret at the beginning of the game instead of just telling it which is the obvious and moral thing to do. It just goes on and on with endlessly stupid plot points and terrible choices forced on the player. Early on I just stopped caring.

    This is the first game I've ever given 0 stars. It's not just bad, it's offensive to me as a gamer.    … Expand
  11. Asgard0822
    Nov 4, 2022
    2
    LOVED life is strange 1, but this game is far from the same level when it comes to story.
    way to long cutscenes of the 2 brother walking, the kid is annoying as hell, weak slow paced story...
    really regret buying this game, even if it was only 10 bucks
  12. ArysGaming
    Nov 22, 2020
    2
    This game is a trip, wrong way down the stairs, the story tries to tackle so many relevant political issues, but spreads no message, starts out interesting to then only get worse and worse and worse. The characters are mundane and boring, the interesting ones are either killed of, or are made to disappear.
    There is no good ending in this game, the endings are simply choosing between bad,    This game is a trip, wrong way down the stairs, the story tries to tackle so many relevant political issues, but spreads no message, starts out interesting to then only get worse and worse and worse. The characters are mundane and boring, the interesting ones are either killed of, or are made to disappear.
    There is no good ending in this game, the endings are simply choosing between bad, bad, bad and bad. The story tries to go somewhere and doesn't in the end. Game is slow, boring and predictable, trust me after getting the platinum trophy/completing the game i immediately proceeded to delete this game and so will you as it will be taking up 66gb that you could use for other games that are far better.    … Expand
  13. Morrowclaw
    Jul 18, 2021
    3
    For a game all about decisions it sure doesn't let you make many of them based on the situations you find yourself in. I related more to this store than I did to the first LIS game as I'm an older brother but the game just doesn't let you do anything. The voice acting is a little janky too.
  14. jaymeehuynh
    Aug 2, 2023
    0
    So basically in 10 long ass hours of gameplay, u get to babysit a fking spoiled ungrateful 9yo brat who constantly gets on ur nerves and never wanna listen to u, so then all of ur decisions in this game doesn’t fking matter at all since that brat is the one that holds power and u r just a supporting role to escort him and deal with his **** until the end. And what’s with the racist thingSo basically in 10 long ass hours of gameplay, u get to babysit a fking spoiled ungrateful 9yo brat who constantly gets on ur nerves and never wanna listen to u, so then all of ur decisions in this game doesn’t fking matter at all since that brat is the one that holds power and u r just a supporting role to escort him and deal with his **** until the end. And what’s with the racist thing in this game that doesn’t add any development value for the characters at all other than annoys tf outta me (and plz i’m not even white, for those that said things abt how supreme-white ppl rate this game low for that)

    I had high hopes after playing the first game, couldn’t get over it for weeks, looked for dlc and easter eggs etc… and man, this one is such a disappointment.    … Expand
  15. escobar_pablo
    Aug 2, 2023
    2
    The first episode was quite good, the story was going amazing. But afterward, the game becomes so boring, the game story is streaming so slowly, and very childish scenes turn up. 90% percent of whole episodes are boring except the first. barely played till 4th episode and then deleted. 2-3-4 episodes are about being the babysitter of that little ****
  16. Sterling_Archer
    Feb 8, 2020
    4
    The first Life is Strange is one of the best games I've played. I loved it, but number 2 is amazingly bad. Daniel is easily one of my most hated characters in any game. There is little to no character development throughout the entire story, and I felt like my choices meant absolutely nothing. This is clearly not a choose your own adventure game, but a narrative where you can choose whatThe first Life is Strange is one of the best games I've played. I loved it, but number 2 is amazingly bad. Daniel is easily one of my most hated characters in any game. There is little to no character development throughout the entire story, and I felt like my choices meant absolutely nothing. This is clearly not a choose your own adventure game, but a narrative where you can choose what to interact with on your way to the next plot point. The story starts off extremely slow, and I feel only gets slower from there. The tension they build is more infuriating than heart pounding with little to no pay off. I'm completely shocked this was written by the same people as the first. I really wanted to like this game, especially after how amazing the first one was, but this is a game I would never play again.… Expand
  17. Kif1983
    Jan 26, 2020
    4
    It's really unfortunate that the game doesn't work given the success of the previous games. However, I think it's easy to understand where the failures are.

    The game has you following 2 very 1 dimensional, often frustrating characters. They frequently make poor choices, even with no input from you. The other characters have no time to breathe, or develop. In the final episode,    It's really unfortunate that the game doesn't work given the success of the previous games. However, I think it's easy to understand where the failures are.

    The game has you following 2 very 1 dimensional, often frustrating characters. They frequently make poor choices, even with no input from you. The other characters have no time to breathe, or develop. In the final episode, there's an emotional goodbye with a character, I know it's emotional because the music told me so. During the scene, I couldn't help but tap my fingers thinking 'I've spoken to these people literally once, move it along already'. It's very telling that the only emotional hit in the game, for me, was when a character from Life is Strange 1 was talking about events from that game. And, to be honest, that seemed like a cheat to me, relying on the previous games for an actual connection.

    The narrative itself is extremely flawed. Overwhelmingly, it felt like the decisions were entirely pointless. Obviously, a game like this will have a path to follow regardless of the choices. However, even smaller choices were often rail-roaded. There was one particular moment where the story literally wouldn't progress until I stole a yoyo as a gift, simply because I couldn't afford to buy a gift. It didn't seem like there was an option to do anything else. However, if you told me there was and I didn't spot it, I would believe you because that's one of the other problems.

    On looking at the 'X% people chose this' screens. A fair majority of them showed 90+% people did one thing, and the rest were split by the other choices. I believe that in a lot of cases, it's because the other choices were poorly, or, not at all telegraphed.

    Also, to nitpick, a lot of the voice acting seemed very flat. To a point where I stopped interacting with the random objects after a while cause I didn't care, or want to hear about what the character had to say about them.

    If you are looking for a heart warming story about brothers. I would instead suggest Brothers, A Tale of 2 Sons.    … Expand
  18. Kokos742
    Jun 9, 2020
    4
    This is so sad. First game had its weak and naive moments, but it fit the perspective of young girls. YOu had friend to meet and problems to solve. Here only problem is you brat of a brother. He is irritating every single minute and would love to be aloved to leave him to die in the forrest. Every other character is just political caricature and game just does not even allow you to haveThis is so sad. First game had its weak and naive moments, but it fit the perspective of young girls. YOu had friend to meet and problems to solve. Here only problem is you brat of a brother. He is irritating every single minute and would love to be aloved to leave him to die in the forrest. Every other character is just political caricature and game just does not even allow you to have real decision. You can only agree with autor openly or somewhat more mildly. I had to force myself to finish like 10 times… Expand
  19. StrohNamiX
    Jul 27, 2020
    4
    I loved the first game. The second game is however something completely different.

    Story / Character Development.: I could not wait for the finale episode of the first game. Got it on the release date. In comparison. I really needed to force myself to play the last episode of the LiS 2. I waited probably like 6 months after the release of ep. 5. Dontnod doesn't seem to understand what    I loved the first game. The second game is however something completely different.

    Story / Character Development.: I could not wait for the finale episode of the first game. Got it on the release date. In comparison. I really needed to force myself to play the last episode of the LiS 2. I waited probably like 6 months after the release of ep. 5. Dontnod doesn't seem to understand what actually made the first game so great.

    I can tell you what the first game wasn't. A political / social justice infested mess that focused on forcefully feeding you it's agenda instead of telling a captivating story.

    Graphics / Sound / Atmosphere.: Graphics were definitely an upgrade. The style was the same but from a technical perspective it was a nice bump. The music was worse than the first one. It's highly subjective but some of the original soundtracks were just better in the first one.

    Gameplay.: The dialog options you choose within the game don't feel impactful at all. Sometimes you will get 2 dialog options that are pretty much the same. There is nothing new compared to the first game. I even think that the first game had way more interesting choices and a more compelling superpower.

    Conclusion.: I really think that the first game was better in every single part except the graphics. Stupid characters, boring story, trivial joices. I give it a 10/10 for the wokeness factor however.

    Story / Character Development.: 2/10
    Graphics / Sound / Atmosphere.: 7
    Gameplay.: 4/10

    Result.: 4    … Expand
  20. Azhael
    Dec 9, 2019
    3
    Although a fan of LiS1, the second game failed miserably to captivate my interest and involvement. The main problem is that I did not feel "touched" by the brotherly love present in the game and honestly consider that just having a younger brother "influencing" or interfering with your decisions / attitudes / journeys limits the narrative and your free will. Of course, the player still hasAlthough a fan of LiS1, the second game failed miserably to captivate my interest and involvement. The main problem is that I did not feel "touched" by the brotherly love present in the game and honestly consider that just having a younger brother "influencing" or interfering with your decisions / attitudes / journeys limits the narrative and your free will. Of course, the player still has the last decision, but just having a young person "following his example" technically interferes with gameplay.

    In addition, I consider that they wasted a lot of time on the plot exploring the place in some scenes (especially in the first episode) and this detracted from the flow of the narrative. At other times, the player is forced to go on long walks and this has generated more boredom than interest in me.

    Another aspect of frustration was comparing the cast of LiS1 and LiS2: in my view, even though they were not related, there was a stronger connection between Max and Chloe instead of the two brothers. In addition to this, the power of turning back time is much more attractive and useful than telekinesis. For both practical purposes and to make plot development more agile and interesting.    … Expand
  21. Hawkeye112196
    Sep 28, 2021
    1
    Absolutely awful and disappointing. Life is Strange Season 1 is one of my favorite games of all time but Season 2 is a disgrace to the Life is Strange name. It has none of the charm of Season 1 and replaced the amazing characters with ones that lack any depth, Arcadia Bay with a bunch places that are not nearly as interesting, and the great story with an incredibly one sided view ofAbsolutely awful and disappointing. Life is Strange Season 1 is one of my favorite games of all time but Season 2 is a disgrace to the Life is Strange name. It has none of the charm of Season 1 and replaced the amazing characters with ones that lack any depth, Arcadia Bay with a bunch places that are not nearly as interesting, and the great story with an incredibly one sided view of America (from the perspective of French people) . All this leads to Season 2 being an absolute dumpster fire that was a giant waste of my time and money.… Expand
  22. burakcetinkay
    Jan 7, 2020
    3
    Wasted my time for this game. It isn’t like life is strange 1. Couldnt connect with the characters. I am sorry.
  23. Nickvanh
    Dec 4, 2019
    4
    This game could learn a lot from Detroit become human in the matter how your choices affect your ending.

    Okay i stole sometimes but just basic stuff that the brothers needed to survive. I never killeed or let daniel kill anyone and i got the bad ending? The lack of an ending that nobody goes to jail if surrender really makes this adventure a waste of time . The endings you can get are    This game could learn a lot from Detroit become human in the matter how your choices affect your ending.

    Okay i stole sometimes but just basic stuff that the brothers needed to survive.

    I never killeed or let daniel kill anyone and i got the bad ending?
    The lack of an ending that nobody goes to jail if surrender really makes this adventure a waste of time . The endings you can get are the bad,, the worse and the worst. And i got the absolute supreme worst
    . Yeah choices matter but daniel always ruins it because of his bad personality and he's lazyness    … Expand
  24. PowerFantastic
    May 14, 2020
    1
    Amazingly bad story writing. There is very little likable about the protagonist, and the story consistently misrepresents people. My guess is the writers have very little life experience and didn't do adequate research. The original and it's prequel were MUCH better.
  25. SquerkyTur
    Oct 10, 2018
    4
    This review is not to criticize the story. The major issue with this game is the lack of characters and the removal of game mechanics. Not only are there much fewer characters, but also your dialog options are reduced so the characters that are there don't get fleshed out. The characters also don't stick around long enough for you to care about them. This game has only one mechanic:This review is not to criticize the story. The major issue with this game is the lack of characters and the removal of game mechanics. Not only are there much fewer characters, but also your dialog options are reduced so the characters that are there don't get fleshed out. The characters also don't stick around long enough for you to care about them. This game has only one mechanic: looking at things and triggering a cut-scene or dialog. You will do nothing else for the whole game.… Expand
  26. Hallowsend666
    Oct 18, 2018
    0
    This is a terrible follow-up to Life is Strange, Before the Storm and even Captain Spirit.

    Basically nothing that made people fall in love with the previous games is left here. This is an empty shell that clearly has the name "Life is Strange" attached to it to make people pick something up they would not have bought otherwise. Instead of a great, engaging and lovingly told story you    This is a terrible follow-up to Life is Strange, Before the Storm and even Captain Spirit.

    Basically nothing that made people fall in love with the previous games is left here. This is an empty shell that clearly has the name "Life is Strange" attached to it to make people pick something up they would not have bought otherwise.

    Instead of a great, engaging and lovingly told story you are bombarded with political messages all the time (which I agree with, but that is not the point). Where Life is Strange drew it strength from subtlety to make you think this here offers nothing in comparison - you get told what is correct.

    Apart from the politics the characters are weak, the voice acting is sub par and not even the music can compare to the first season - it is a shame when a previous title in the series completely destroys the facial animations and lip sync in this one.

    The plot is you wandering around with your brother (not really a spoiler since that happens after 20 minutes) with forced interactions and "on the nose" tests on morality. I find it hard to believe that this is actually the same team that created Life is Strange - the story quality in this one is so far below the first one that it hurts. This is enforced by that not only the whole triggering event but also almost every single decision taken by the characters is stupid beyond belief and can´t be explained just by their age.

    Speaking of decisions, none here matter at all - I can live with narratives not branching wildly. But when I have the option to walk away from a fight and I choose to just leading to me being insulted again and then starting the fight away its just lazy. This is basically true for every major decision offered - there is not even a slight variation.

    I would have not expected Dontnod to fail so hard.    … Expand
  27. rexvonzombie
    Feb 19, 2019
    2
    Life is Strange 2 is a good narrative by most standards. It follows a clichéd story of two brothers whose father was wrongfully killed by a police officer, much unlike the originality of the prior entries into the series. The game stacks up well with other choice-based storytelling titles of the same nature. With that being said, it fails to get even remotely close to achieving the specialLife is Strange 2 is a good narrative by most standards. It follows a clichéd story of two brothers whose father was wrongfully killed by a police officer, much unlike the originality of the prior entries into the series. The game stacks up well with other choice-based storytelling titles of the same nature. With that being said, it fails to get even remotely close to achieving the special bond that is present in both Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm. In the original Life is Strange, Chloe's need to find Rachel, the one person who was there for her in an intense time of desperation, re-sparks a bond that she and her childhood friend Max once had. Then in the prequel, we get to see something truly special develop between Chloe and Rachel. A friendship.. but more. The type of relationship many of us could only dream of having. While there were a few cringe-inducing dialogue lines in the original, it felt real. Like real interactions taking place between real people with real emotions. The saddest a piece of entertainment media has ever made me feel was the final scene of Life is Strange: Before the Storm. When Rachel's phone is ringing with a call from Chloe and an additional seventeen missed. The player can do nothing but watch as we hear the sound of a camera's shutter capturing a soon-to-be-murdered Rachel. It gives us the same sense of hopelessness that Chloe must have felt calling Rachel. Life is Strange 2, on the other hand feels entirely scripted, and while it is a decent game, good at best, it fails to live up to the name and expectations of its incredible, emotionally-charged predecessors. This game makes me long for nothing more than another continuation of Chloe, Rachel and Max's stories. Maybe one day, DONTNOD or Deck Nine will deliver to us Life is Strange: Beyond the Storm. But until then, we'll have to settle for this.… Expand
  28. TwisterSpot
    Feb 14, 2020
    4
    I actually liked the basic story line, although I find episode 4 far fetched and kinda out there. I also liked the voice acting for Sean and Daniel. But I have major issues with the story line, choices and lack thereof.
    First, Sean and Daniel get terrible advice from every adult who helps them - Brody, no matter what you ask, tells them to go to Mexico. The Grandparents, after    I actually liked the basic story line, although I find episode 4 far fetched and kinda out there. I also liked the voice acting for Sean and Daniel. But I have major issues with the story line, choices and lack thereof.
    First, Sean and Daniel get terrible advice from every adult who helps them - Brody, no matter what you ask, tells them to go to Mexico. The Grandparents, after lambasting him for running in the first place, tell them to run. You don't expect good advice from Finn, Cassidy or that group, but you probably get the most honest answers from them. The mother acts like a spoiled brat, seems to have no care about Sean - the son she actually knew for 8 years, and puts her sons in danger.

    Then there's the story itself - as opposed to actually picking a direction, the story forces you into one bad decision after another. I have played the game many times just to see what would happen and no matter what, the ending is terrible. I am older and there is no way I am letting a 16 year old get sent to prison for 15 years for something he didn't do. Meanwhile Daniel, if he helps me across the border, ends up under house arrest. Realistically, he either wouldn't have been charged at all or the government, noticing his powers, would have put him in some program - out of sight. If Daniel comes with me across the border, we still seem distant. If I give myself up, there are no articles about the trial, no chance I will not get convicted or will be prosecuted for my only real crime (stealing the car out of the hospital parking lot). Also, the points or cents you are given for your choices at the end don't make sense. What does the game actually want you to do?

    I agree with one of the reviews that they seemed to have copped out or rushed the game. So much time between chapters (in the game - months have passed, weeks, etc) I only found out what happened during that time by reading Sean's notebook. I think the dialogue doesn't fit with the characters - and a lot of stock dialogue means no matter what you choose, the response or your next lines will be the same.

    The game never really deals with Daniel's powers and the possibility that the government would want to study him or lock him up - this is more of a reason to keep running than any of the other stupid reasons "adults" give the kids.    … Expand
  29. Geodude074
    Oct 24, 2018
    0
    I've been trying to figure out why exactly LiS2 is utter crap in comparison to LiS1, and I think I got it.

    1) The game revolves around the plot instead of the characters. In LiS1, it doesn't matter what is happening, since Max and Chloe are so beloved you can cut them out of any plot and paste them into another plot and the game would still be great. In LiS2, the plot IS the game, the    I've been trying to figure out why exactly LiS2 is utter crap in comparison to LiS1, and I think I got it.

    1) The game revolves around the plot instead of the characters. In LiS1, it doesn't matter what is happening, since Max and Chloe are so beloved you can cut them out of any plot and paste them into another plot and the game would still be great. In LiS2, the plot IS the game, the two brothers are running for the Mexican border and the entire game revolves around this plot. If you cut out the two brothers and pasted two other generic characters, the game would be no different. That's why it's so bad.

    2) The characters are awful. Instead of Chloe as a sidekick, you get an annoying 9 year old who you have to LITERALLY BABYSIT as you escort him throughout the game. Instead of playing as Max with time traveling abilities, you play as a boring generic high school kid with no powers and who makes the most juvenile irresponsible decisions (to further the plot) that you have no control over.

    3) The plot is awful. Two Mexican Americans running for the Mexican border (because that's a good idea right?) and experiencing racist America along the way. Just garbage and completely lacking in depth, thought, or intelligence. Every character is a 2 dimensional stereotype. In LiS1 characters had depth, their actions weren't black/white they were grey, there was reasoning behind their motives and you had empathy for them, whether it's the controlling step dad or the drug dealer. In LiS2, characters are either 1) Racist or 2) Victims of racism. There's no middleground, every character is either good or evil, and once again all of this is done to further the plot.    … Expand
  30. LucasBvalle
    Jan 19, 2020
    0
    The end is crap, no matter what you do. I got really disapointed: the game is more about politics than anything else...
  31. RodStrokes
    Jan 15, 2021
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I really can't undestand what went wrong between LiS 1 and LiS 2, holy **** this game is **** bad, the graphics are quite good and beautiful in its own way, the lip syncing is quite competent but the story is a disaster, an atrocity.
    First of all, daniel has no character development whatsoever, he's just an angry little kid who hates everyone and always rely on Sean. Even worse, on a story based game with choices, Sean's decisions do not seem to make any difference, and its always dumb choices, like sleeping with a random girl/guy instead of your brother, and that's somehow motive enough for him to turn in to a bad kid.
    I get it, Life is Strange 2 brings political themes to the table, and i don't have a problem with that, but if your game is centered around that idea, and you can't develop it to be more than just a simple Side A versus Side B then sorry, but you failed miserably.    … Expand
  32. Jason_CRT
    Dec 9, 2019
    0
    Just a terrible game with awful story.
    Everything good from Life is Strange 1 is gone, replaced by bad gameplay & boring story.
    The premise of the story is somewhat promising , but the developers don't really take much advantage of it. Don't bother with this game if you have expectations of a well made story, all of your choices are almost meaningless. Sure there are slight    Just a terrible game with awful story.
    Everything good from Life is Strange 1 is gone, replaced by bad gameplay & boring story.

    The premise of the story is somewhat promising , but the developers don't really take much advantage of it.

    Don't bother with this game if you have expectations of a well made story, all of your choices are almost meaningless. Sure there are slight variations but you'll quickly just end up back where the story wants you to be.
    The game also fails horribly at trying to be political propaganda with many logical gaps.
    The plot is boring and feels too railroaded. What little choices are left to the player have consequences that often make poor sense, giving a persistent sense of frustration. Topics are delivered in quite an heavy handed way and many plot holes are never covered.

    A large portion of the game consists of cutscenes and tons of meaningless dialogs combined with boring gameplay.

    I honestly do not think I have ever been more disappointed in a video game before.
    I really wish I could rewind the time and get my money back...
    This game should be renamed to "Don't Buy Me"

    The original "Life is Strange 1" and "Life is Strange: Before the Storm" were great games with decent amounts of content and gameplay which brought you into the game world and left you invested into the characters.
    But I totally do not recommend Life is Strange 2!    … Expand
  33. FranKenweenie
    Oct 2, 2018
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. i don't even know what to call this game its more of movie than videogame you are lliterally watching a boring movie the only thing you do is "look" the dialogues are awkward the story doesn't make any sense and so much **** is going on = SPOILER ALERT = why the cop shoot the father , where are they going ? , where is the mother ? . and the littie brother with that power is so stupid… Expand
  34. Taronn93
    Nov 22, 2018
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm seriously disappointed, but just to be fair i'm going to list pros as well first.

    Pros:
    -Graphics are awesome, fits the game really well.
    -Music is good as well.
    -The world overall is better than it was in the first game.

    Cons (going to talk about all of them below in more detail)
    -Weak Story
    -The character we play is not the main character of the story.
    -No controllable special ability for the players.
    -None of the characters were interesting or likeable or relatable , because nothing in the story is
    interesting or likeable or relatable. The character we play is the worst. There are choices that made without the player, and he makes the most irrealistic, stupid choices ever. By the end of the story he will either get himself killed or goes to jail. His decision making is worse than Chloes, which is not an easy task but the writers managed to do it. But at least Chloe was a likeable rebelling teenager. Sean is just stupid.

    So... Why is the story weak? For multiple reasons. First of all, its forced on us, and the first major decision made it very obvious that all the choice in this game are going to be illusions of choice.

    Examples:
    -Dad gets shot no matter what you choose.
    -There is no option to stay or run away, its forced on us to run away.
    -Our character gets kidnapped no matter what we choose. There we don't even have a choice to explain properly that we didn't stole anything, the only choice we have is to try to go away as soon as possible which makes our character look bad.

    There is one thing in common with these choices: Racism. Racism thats also forced into the story and makes it much worse than it would've been originally. Its like rewriting the first Life is Strange where everyone around Max and Chloe are sexist and we have to listen to sexist remarks through 5 episodes.
    The dad gets shot because the cop is a scared racist, the kids got bullied on multiple occasion in the episode because everyone apparently are racist in this story, Sean gets kidnapped because the old man is a racist...

    So, there comes the second and the third con together. Our character is not the main character of the story (which already made it worse), its Daniel. Daniel, who also got the special ability. A special abiltiy that the player can't control like we did it with Max, which made awesome puzzles for the game possible. Our character is just a side character who is there to help Daniel get through his story. We can only control Daniel's power through cutscenes where our side character make the main character calm down.

    The first game brought up these things: Corruption, drog abuse, psycho teacher, friendship, time travel, choices that were meaningful enough to save a person's life in the story.

    The second game bring up this thing: Racism. That's it. All the things thats happening to our side character is because of racism. The bully kid was racist, that's why we knocked him out, the cop was racist thats why he was afraid of two mexican kids and that's why he shot the father for no good reason.We had to run away because all the other cops who arrived are assumably racist as well and we would've been accused of killing the cop (which is not wrong by the way, just not the way they think). The old man at the gas station is racist thats why we get tied up even if we don't steal anything,

    They just proved with this game that not continuing the story of Max and Chloe was a mistake. Majority of the people cared about them and we don't care about Daniel and Sean, and no, its not going to change if the first episode couldn't change our mind, because most of us are most likely not even going to buy the second episode. This game should be cancelled and make a game about the story of Max and Chloe as i said above.    … Expand
  35. egoBorder
    Dec 30, 2019
    0
    Shockingly bad. This game is so ridiculous it makes David Cage look like a friggin' genius. Honestly if you find this on sale and you wanna have a laugh with a couple of friends, it's worth about $3. For ironic enjoyment only.
  36. midipon
    Jan 11, 2020
    1
    Unrealistic, poorly paced, with poor VA and bad storytelling. Good for a laugh at its expense but not much else.
  37. Malinto
    Dec 18, 2019
    0
    Meh-pheh-peh. I made a big mistake playing this game. It just sucks at all.
  38. meanlulu
    Jun 3, 2021
    0
    only played the first two episodes, I don't have another ten hours to waste.
  39. t0nin0t
    Jun 28, 2020
    1
    One of the most boring games I've ever played. The game was so goddamn slow... nothing interesting happened, choices had no impact. Only thing good in this game is the Episode 5 endings. You could basically just play the last episode and feel joy. Now it was just a **** big pain to get there and it didn't feel worth it. 1/10 just because the ending was good. Otherwise this goes to one ofOne of the most boring games I've ever played. The game was so goddamn slow... nothing interesting happened, choices had no impact. Only thing good in this game is the Episode 5 endings. You could basically just play the last episode and feel joy. Now it was just a **** big pain to get there and it didn't feel worth it. 1/10 just because the ending was good. Otherwise this goes to one of my first games ever list.… Expand
  40. lwg1103
    May 7, 2023
    4
    I find this story really boring, especially comparing to previous games. Big disappointment. Forced myself to finish it.
  41. Cocothenut12
    Aug 11, 2020
    4
    Although overall and average game, it often fell under the bar.
    The message of the game was with good intentions but often fell down the road of being pushy, when I played the game I started getting annoyed by the continuous political issues constantly being thrown in my face, so much so I found myself putting down the controller after only a short time.
    Ignoring this however, brings to    Although overall and average game, it often fell under the bar.
    The message of the game was with good intentions but often fell down the road of being pushy, when I played the game I started getting annoyed by the continuous political issues constantly being thrown in my face, so much so I found myself putting down the controller after only a short time.
    Ignoring this however, brings to life a wonderful story about family and friendship, this was the best part of the game.
    Unlike the first life is strange, the sequel had nowhere near the quality of voice acting that the first one did, this could oftentimes drawn away from important scenes.
    Overall I found my experience downheartening as the game clearly got lost along the way.    … Expand
  42. Kosmaspec
    Apr 8, 2021
    4
    Great story to watch and play.Dont expect great gameplay from these king of games. It's like you are watching a movie but you control the character. The story is good and sometimes I cried.
  43. PancakesKatsumi
    Jun 15, 2021
    3
    I can't explain my disappointment, GAMES SHOULD NOT BE POLITICAL. This game was made because DONTNOD wanted to make a political game and decided, "WeLl We CoUlD jUsT UsE LiS , sInCe We AlReAdy HaVe To MaKe ThAt GaMe." This game hurts me, it isn't Life is Strange, It's just a political game that has a mediocre plot and story. I love Life is Strange, I remember playing it in 2015, and lovingI can't explain my disappointment, GAMES SHOULD NOT BE POLITICAL. This game was made because DONTNOD wanted to make a political game and decided, "WeLl We CoUlD jUsT UsE LiS , sInCe We AlReAdy HaVe To MaKe ThAt GaMe." This game hurts me, it isn't Life is Strange, It's just a political game that has a mediocre plot and story. I love Life is Strange, I remember playing it in 2015, and loving it, but now this? I can't believe DONTNOD made this game, it's nothing like the LiS 1.

    In Life is Strange you could use the rewind power to talk to someone, get a result you don't like, and then go back and fix it. In Life is Strange 2, you aren't even the one that has the powers, so the game-play is just disappointing. This game is embarrassing.    … Expand
  44. Elfen85
    Nov 23, 2018
    3
    Forest exploration + child raising simulator:

    LIS1 had some real mystery, detective storyline, teaser/flashforward of things to come at the end, cool super power gameplay mechanics, a number of interesting, multidimensional characters and strong narrative. Where's all of that in its sequel? Exploring the forest and a couple of other locations and taking care of your brother is not my    Forest exploration + child raising simulator:

    LIS1 had some real mystery, detective storyline, teaser/flashforward of things to come at the end, cool super power gameplay mechanics, a number of interesting, multidimensional characters and strong narrative. Where's all of that in its sequel?

    Exploring the forest and a couple of other locations and taking care of your brother is not my idea of LIS game. If I wanted to raise a child I'd play "Princess Maker". The plot leaves a lot to be desired and makes me raise my eyebrows at how unrealistic some character behavior is, I can't relate to such characters. That whole idea of being on the run isn't exciting at all. The story isn't working for me. The game feels boring and fails to make me feel emotional and connected.

    Some positive notes: the soundtrack is awesome as always in this franchise, the voice acting is very good as well.

    I bought only the first episode. Will I come back for more? I don't think so. It didn't even have a cliffhanger! I can't believe that even "Before the Storm" made by a different studio was so much better than this... I played LIS1 twice and loved it even more the second time, while LIS2 is a massive disappointment for me.

    P.S. Way too much swearing, slang, weed, booze, smoking, sex references. All that leaves pretty bad taste in my mouth. Are most teenagers in America really like that? Not to mention that it's a pretty bad influence and example for the audience.    … Expand
  45. Moneypots
    Sep 30, 2018
    1
    +music is ok
    +graphics are ok

    -story is bad. i mean really bad
    -whole episode felt rushed but still it was boring
    -main characters uninteresting
    -forced SJW agenda
    -no LiS soul
  46. marc95
    Jan 9, 2020
    0
    Non è un gioco. Non esiste un gameplay se non camminare e parlare con personaggi costantemente scritti in modo non originale. Non originale come la trama. Tutte le scelte del giocatore non portano a nessun cambiamento significativo. Non si riesce a immedesimarsi con nessun personaggio e non si entra nella storia.Che tristezza di prodotto scadente..
  47. Lotheravanti
    Dec 15, 2019
    3
    More like Life is Woke 2. You play the game as one of two brothers who are mexican, beautiful and perfect in every way. Everything bad that happens to them is at the hands of angry white men(they even throw in a "this is why we need that wall" line for good measure). Everything good that happens to them is at the hands of woke hipsters and rainbow hair colored SJWs.

    Having played 2    More like Life is Woke 2. You play the game as one of two brothers who are mexican, beautiful and perfect in every way. Everything bad that happens to them is at the hands of angry white men(they even throw in a "this is why we need that wall" line for good measure). Everything good that happens to them is at the hands of woke hipsters and rainbow hair colored SJWs.

    Having played 2 episodes until now, so far the Wokeness in Episode 1 had been CRINGE level, while in Episode 2 we did get some story, some. It's such a shame that games producers have veered away from just telling a good story, instead of force-feeding me woke SJW pandering. I mean, who was this game made for? The people who liked Life is Strange 1? No, though that's who probably ended up buying this. It's made for the blue hairs, people who don't support anything.

    I honestly don't think there's any spark here for fans of the first game(which I am myself).    … Expand
  48. zebn
    Sep 17, 2020
    0
    no gameplay, stupid story, sjw, no decisions, waste of money. if you are fan of LIS dont buy this game
  49. zx2781
    Feb 4, 2020
    0
    Sure the game is good but Internet Required??? Not all episodes on the disc. Wait for a complete copy and don't reward this BS with a purchase.
  50. getaf
    Apr 1, 2022
    0
    An attempt by developers to go into sales due to the reputation of the first LiS, which was great. But this game is a complete disappointment. No, this is not even a game, but a socio-political whining that has nothing to do with reality. A game for the urban far-left hipsters of West Coast, not for normal people.
  51. Rallen4520
    Dec 26, 2022
    0
    If I was rating a series for Netflix this movie or “game” would get a 5. The first episode was free for ps membership which is nothing more than walking around listening to a whiny kid. No powers, no action, just watching and listening to dialogue.
  52. Empyrea
    Jun 25, 2023
    0
    Well let's start talking about that if you buy a second-hand game you won't be able to play the fifth and final chapter unless you pay 8€, that's crazy! So I won't be able to watch the end. Nice job! But let's talk about the game: this game has nothing to do with the first game. It's a kind of Heavy rain, Detroit kind of game but with no action. You can only get to make some choices andWell let's start talking about that if you buy a second-hand game you won't be able to play the fifth and final chapter unless you pay 8€, that's crazy! So I won't be able to watch the end. Nice job! But let's talk about the game: this game has nothing to do with the first game. It's a kind of Heavy rain, Detroit kind of game but with no action. You can only get to make some choices and sometimes you feel that you will end up with the same consequences whatever your choices are. A part from this, the argument and characters are just American stereotypes that some people will like but I don't. Having played until chapter 4 (because as I said they don't let you play the final chapter), I would have rated this game with a 6 (or at least not more than a 7). Far worse than the first Life is Strange. The best chapter is the first one, then it kind of gets boring because, although sometimes is interesting it feels also like a movie. You can play this game but have in mind all that I have said.… Expand
  53. CnPx98
    Jun 7, 2022
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game isn't the worst I played but still so much just didn't make sense. Like how before Daniel knew their dad died he barely was concerned why they were out camping for days with no money or anything. I know he's a kid but if my older brother took me out camping and we were walking for 2 days I would definitely have some questions. He is 9 year old so he must understand something is wrong.
    At 1 point Daniel tells his brother to go away after all they had been through together? That is just complete trash. I know he didn't always agree with his brother but you wouldn't tell him to get lost because you wanna live with strangers you met a few weeks back after you spent months travelling together and how he gave up his life because he was worried about you both being separated.
    But it gets worse when Daniel is watching Sean getting beaten half to death. The building is burning down and filling up with smoke with embers falling from the ceiling and not 1 person coughs at all. The guy even pulls a gun out and starts hitting Sean with it. Daniel could use his power at any point. He says leave him alone but does nothing to prevent him from being hit. But 2 minutes before that he used his power to push Sean back? Why didn't he do the same to the guy that beating him to death? But just remember Daniel had his own mother walk out on him but was gonna do the same to Sean for someone he met a month ago? No I'm quite sure he would be less likely to. Also he has gone on about how he wants to see his mum throughout the hole game. When she turns up he's changed his mind and doesn't care anymore. If Sean couldn't sway his opinion then how the hell does a stranger manage to? This is the most pathetic failed attempt at a dramatic scene I have ever witnessed and I have sat through some bad movies/games. If Daniel was gonna tell Sean to leave you could have made it over something bigger then a small disagreement.
    It's like each episode was wrote by a different person and no one knew what each other was writing and then it was all thrown together. Also the decisions in this game didn't have as much of an impact as the 1st game which is 1 of the things that makes Life is Strange great is the big decisions and how they effect everything. There was a couple of times when you could choose something different but ultimately all outcomes were mostly the same.
    This is a fun game up until the halfway mark but I think the developers aren't as passionate about these games as they use to be when if that's the case they should move onto games they would enjoy creating more because care really shows in the art and game development is an art. I do really wanna see more of these games. True Colors was a good story but that also suffered with decisions making barely any difference. With respect the developer team should check out "Detroit become human" and see how the decisions in that game affect the overall plot. In that game every decision you make has a huge impact on the story and it even maps them all out for you so you know what choices you have made and which ones you never have.
    This is definitely the worst life is strange game out of all of them.    … Expand
  54. Romooo
    Apr 29, 2023
    0
    Woke mob Kherson oblast I got killed in the last couple days I got a bit wrong with the west and I got a bit more pro and Russia didn’t have a chance I got a new partner and Russia didn’t saw that Russia but it’s not a good thing to me

Awards & Rankings

86
#86 Best PS4 Game of 2018
22
#22 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Cubed3
    Apr 12, 2021
    70
    Anyone that enjoyed the original Life is Strange and opted not to give a chance to this sequel should reconsider right away. The story may not deliver the same impact or suspense, but this is a poignant narrative that many should find a degree of relatability to, with extremely likeable characters in the form of Sean and Daniel. With the full season discounted often and a new game on the horizon, this is a great time to journey south with the Diaz brothers.
    Read full review
  2. IGN Japan
    Apr 10, 2020
    70
    Different from its predecessor, Life is Strange 2 brings more political themes to the table. Protagonist Sean’s little brother Daniel has supernatural powers, but is too young to distinguish between good and evil, and it is up to the player how you want to guide him. While interesting in theory, this results in a gameplay experience based almost entirely on making decisions, and supernatural elements are not put into use as cleverly as in the original Life is Strange. This makes Life is Strange 2 feel like it lacks focus, because most of its political themes are not fleshed out enough, and the ones that do work don’t really need supernatural elements in the first place.
    Read full review
  3. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Jan 9, 2020
    90
    A refined followup with a totally new cast to fall in love with. You should absolutely play Life Is Strange 2. But you might want a box of tissues ready for the ending. [Issue#171, p.85]
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