The Life is Strange games have always dealt with difficult, but important, topics that players have to grapple with throughout the course of the game. One of the benefits of the games previously being episodic meant that players had time to recover (even possibly grieve) between each installment of the story. Life is Strange: True Colors deviates from the previous Life is Strange formula in a few key ways, one of which being that it’s ditching the episodic format. Instead, the entire game will be available on the day of release. However, it’ll still be broken up into chapters to give players some breathing room as necessary.
Another key factor in many Life is Strange games is a sense of urgency, like the player is making decisions that affect more than just the characters they’ve interacted with. Moral dilemmas are posed in both Life is Strange, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, and Life is Strange 2, but all have varying degrees of severity. While True Colors will undoubtedly have some tense moments, it seems the game will veer away from the results of the “life or death” or big or small "catastrophe” endings present in past Life is Strange games.
Past Life is Strange Games
Decisions are a crucial part of any Life is Strange playthrough. Players have the power to change the course of the story depending on some of the actions they take. Some items are more mundane, but others can have a massive impact on the characters and the world around them. Life is Strange: Before the Storm is probably the tamest of the games to date because, though it can be tense, the final decision doesn’t carry the same weight as the other games.
The original Life is Strange is the ultimate trolley problem. Many thought experiments focus on people’s answers to what’s known as the trolley problem; an outsider sees that a trolley is going to hit 5 people who are on the tracks, but they have the opportunity to divert the track so the trolley hits one person instead. Essentially, the problem boils down to if it’s ethically acceptable to kill one person to save more than that. Players grapple with this in the biggest decision of Life is Strange because they either sacrifice Chloe or sacrifice the entire town of Arcadia Bay. The question seems easy on paper, but it’s much harder to execute in real life.
How True Colors Compares
For now, there’s no way to know for sure what kind of decisions players will have to make in the upcoming Life is Strange: True Colors, though it’s probable that they’ll require being in tune with certain emotions. What’s most interesting when considering True Colors compared to other Life is Strange titles is how it probably won’t be that affected by other big decisions players had to make in past games. A calendar on the wall in-game shows the date as May 2019, meaning True Colors takes place well after the events of the first Life is Strange game and almost 2 years after the ending of Life is Strange 2.
This means that Alex Chen and her life in Haven Springs will be pretty far away from Arcadia Bay and the showdown at the border into Mexico. The only concrete connection players know that Alex will have to past games is Life is Strange: Before the Storm’s Steph Gingrich’s appearance in Haven Springs as a friend and potential love interest. True Colors takes place far enough in the future that it’s possible Alex won’t have to deal with the fallout that comes from previous big-ticket decisions at the end of previous Life is Strange games.
While players still don’t have a lot of in-depth information about what Life is Strange: True Colors holds in terms of story, it’s apparent that the game is set far enough in the future that past player actions may have very little impact on the story. That being said, players also don’t know if Alex will have any big decisions of her own that will result in big or small "catastrophes.”
Life is Strange: True Colors releases September 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
