Alex Chen arrives in the small Colorado town of Haven Springs to reconnect with her long-lost brother Gabe, after spending years separated from him in the social care system. She now harbours a secret – the power to read and experience other people’s intense emotions – and a desperate hope this ability won’t spill over unpredictably again. This is meant to be a fresh start, somewhere she can finally fit in and find a home. But tragedy soon strikes – Gabe is killed – and Alex must learn to accept herself and understand her power to discover what Haven Springs has really been hiding.
Life is Strange: True Colors review
- Publisher: Square Enix
- Developer: Deck Nine
- Platform: Played on Xbox Series X
- Availability: Out Friday 10th September (PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) and later this year on Switch
If all that sounds like classic Life is Strange, you’d be right, and if that’s up your small-town Arcadia Bay-style main street, you’ll similarly feel at home in Haven Springs. This is a Life is Strange game which has done its homework for what fans wanted and stuck somewhat rigidly to that list of requests. Queue up a charismatic but grounded young female protagonist, the ability to wield a special power yourself, and a return to a small community of characters you’ll grow more familiar with as each chapter unfolds. There are clear advancements on show too, with some of the series’ best dialogue and its most natural, nuanced on-screen performances to date thanks to stellar turns from the game’s key players, plus developer Deck Nine’s brilliant character animation.
True Colors also sees the return of fan-favourite Steph, from Deck Nine’s top-notch Life is Strange prequel Before the Storm. Here, again, she steals scenes and hearts, now employed as Haven Springs’ record store owner and resident radio DJ. Alex also quickly buddies up with Ryan, a soft-spoken local park ranger hunk and best friend of Gabe. Together, Ryan and Steph help investigate the circumstances of Gabe’s death, and act as Alex’s pair of possible love interests. Other characters in the town play supporting roles: Ryan’s father, a revered local hero who gives Alex a room and a job; Gabe’s grieving girlfriend who has a young child from a previous relationship; an older local businesswoman grappling with the onset of Alzheimer’s; and her daughter whose asshole boyfriend is employed by the town’s stereotypically-evil big corporation.
But while these other subplots bubble away, it’s Gabe’s death that looms large over the whole story, while Alex’s attempts to find out what really happened are the main driving force behind its plot. I had been uncertain of Deck Nine’s decision to reunite Alex and Gabe only to swiftly kill off the latter – likewise, the fact Gabe’s early exit from proceedings has been clearly telegraphed in the game’s marketing. Why spoil that surprise? Why not just have Alex simply arrive in search of answers? But there is pathos to be mined here, and the subsequent loss of Gabe’s warm presence is only made more tragic having seen the siblings briefly back together. True Colors almost makes a trope of its constant emotional rollercoaster, as the game’s frequent moments of euphoria (such as Alex finally letting go long enough to goof out and play air guitar) are inevitably followed (sometimes literally) by just as frequent gut punches. Over the course of its 10 hours, True Colors’ story left me chuckling and choking up in equal measure.
Not everything works. The story sometimes feels like it’s moving at too quick a pace, such as when it picks up again only a few days after Gabe’s death, and how quickly life resumes for those affected. Diary entries and social media posts on Alex’s phone help fill in some of the emotional blanks, while flashback collectibles found using Alex’s vaguely-defined superpower are left to connect some important narrative threads. I was surprised how little of Haven Springs was explorable, and how few new environments were offered as the story progressed. True Colors is a distinctly linear game, albeit one where you can pick which character in a shop you talk to before another. This is fine, though it makes the game’s suggestion of a more open-world and the ability to “freely roam the streets, stores, and hidden spaces” of the town seem overblown.