The Life Is Strange series has come a long way since its initial release in 2015, with the first game in the series following Max Caulfield's time-traveling adventures through the town of Arcadia Bay. Life Is Strange 2 was created by the same development studio, Dontnod Entertainment, but followed new character in the brothers Sean and Daniel. In between those two games was a small interstitial release, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm.
Before the Storm was developed by Deck Nine, a separate studio working with the same publisher, Square Enix. The next game in the series will be Life Is Strange: True Colors, which sees Deck Nine return to tell the story of Alex Chen, an 21 year-old Asian-American woman who travels to the town of Haven Springs.
Similar to other Life Is Strange games, True Colors is a choice-based adventure game that incorporates supernatural elements. While Max could time travel and Sean's brother Daniel was telekinetic, Alex possesses a specific kind of enhanced empathy. She can see what other people are feeling, expressed as colorful auras around them. Like Max's powers in the first game (which let her see both sides of each choice), Alex's empathy adds another dimension to the game's choice-based mechanics, as players can interact with other characters with an added level of information about their disposition.
Life Is Strange: True Color's Trailer
True Colors' trailer is narrated by Alex, giving the audience a brief introduction to the game's new protagonist. At first, it's peaceful and idyllic, showing Alex making a somewhat-uneasy foray into the town of Haven Springs, as her brother introduces her to the people he's close to. But then, he's suddenly gone, and Alex is giving a sorrowful account of how lost she feels without him. We get a brief hint towards Alex's powers, as a purple aura pops up around one of the town's residents at Gabe's wake. That's immediately followed by Ryan saying he doesn't think Gabe's death was an accident, and an abrupt transition into the second part of the trailer, which dives deep into Alex's abilities.
Alex can see fluctuating, colorful auras around other people, which vary in color and intensity in correspondence to what that person is feeling. The colors themselves are fairly straightforward -- blue for sadness, red for anger and yellow for happiness. Purple isn't as straightforward a correspondence, but a later gameplay trailer confirms that it's fear. Alex (and through her, the player) can also focus on individual people's auras to hear their thoughts, specifically as they relate to the strong emotions they're experiencing. Particularly strong emotions will trigger "Novas" when interacted with in this way, physically warping the world around Alex to communicate the depth of what that person is feeling.
What Is Life Is Strange: True Colors About?
In True Colors, Alex travels to the town of Haven Springs to be reunited with her older brother, Gabe. The pair have been estranged for the last eight years, and are swiftly torn apart once more as Gabe is killed. His death is said to be an accident, but the game sees Alex unravelling that mystery with the help of some of the town's residents. Steph Gingrich from Before the Storm returns as a host for KRCT, the town's only radio station. She's a potential love interest for Alex, along with Ryan, one of Gabe's friends from the town.
Music is a huge theme in the game, as Alex receives a guitar from Gabe before his death. She sings throughout the game, and is voiced during those scenes by musician mxmtoon. Vinyl is seen playing several times during the trailer, and Gabe introduces Alex to Ryan inside a record store. That strong musical influence (along with Alex's bright colors) give the game a synesthetic feel, conflating both visual and auditory cues. The game also changes up its setting, with Haven Springs tucked away as a small town somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.
When Does Life Is Strange: True Colors Release?
True Colors is set to release on Sept. 10, and unlike other games in the series, will not be released episodically. It will still be delineated into chapters, but the full story will be available to play from day one. There will be three different editions released, all of which will be available to play on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Mac, PC, Nintendo Switch and Google Stadia. The Standard Edition comes with all of the main game's content and story, but the Deluxe and Ultimate editions contain additional features.
Deluxe Edition adds the "Wavelengths" bonus story, which takes place over the course of four seasons a year before the main game. Players take control of Steph, interacting with her radio hosting, musical preferences and even dating life. "Wavelengths" is included in the Ultimate Edition, which adds the Life Is Strange: Remastered Collection. The Remastered Collection contains both the original Life Is Strange, as well as Before the Storm. Each game is updated with enhanced visuals and animation, making use of the motion-capture technology used in True Colors.