Square Enix and Deck Nine have officially announced Life is Strange: Reunion. It will be a follow-up to the 2024 game Double Exposure and function as a bridge across all of the Life is Strange games.
As announced, the new game will release on 27 March – and most notably, it will feature the return of former series stalwart, Chloe Price.
Life is Strange: Reunion – quick links
What is the plot of Life is Strange: Reunion?
Life is Strange: Reunion is a direct follow-up to Double Exposure and deals with the consequences of that game’s finale.
For a brief, spoiler-y rundown, Double Exposure ended with the reveal that Max’s new friend Safi actually has dangerous magical abilities. As she spirals, and her powers interact with Max’s abilities to chart dual timelines, a storm threatens to rip the universe apart. To save the world, Max and Safi merge these universes, with the game’s open ending teasing major consequences for this act.
The showcase trailer for Reunion confirms that one of the major consequences has an impact on the story of the original Life is Strange – but there are also plenty of other concerns Max is dealing with in this story.
The biggest is an impending disaster that will see Caledon University go up in flames, with a major fire destroying the building and people inside. Max appears to see this happen in the game’s opening, with the stress causing her to travel three days back in time, where she can begin unravelling the reasons for the fire, and how to stop it.
In the past, she meets Chloe Price, who has travelled to Caledon University after she experiences visions of Safi and the collapse of two universes with conflicting events.
How is Chloe Price back in Life is Strange: Reunion?
As shared by voice actors Hannah Telle and Rhianna DeVries, Chloe and Max will be reunited in Life is Strange: Reunion, with players able to guide the growth of their relationship.
Chloe enters Max’s life under very strange circumstances, with the merging of dual universes in Double Exposure seemingly responsible for her return. Chloe is suffering from her visions of dual realities, and is drawn to Caledon University by the promise of answers.
In one scene shared in the showcase trailer, we see Chloe and Max grappling with their opposing realities, with players able to choose from two dialogue tracks – one of which honours the Life is Strange ending that sees Chloe sacrificed for Arcadia Bay, and the other which acknowledges the destruction of Arcadia Bay.
Deck Nine and Square Enix aim to honour the choices of players here, while also having an excuse to bring back Chloe for a ‘final chapter’.
In dialogue, there are references to the weirdness of this setup, and the conflicting memories of Max and Chloe, but with the series charting time-travelling shenanigans, it doesn’t feel too out of order here.
Max and Chloe are both playable in Reunion
Elsewhere in the preview showcase, it was revealed that Chloe and Max are co-protagonists in Reunion, with both playing an important part of the overarching story.
As Chloe, players will be able to engage in backtalk, using her social confidence and wiles to get information out of characters, and to defend herself when the going gets tough.
As Max, players will be able to use newly-recovered rewind abilities to investigate, solve challenges, fix issues, experiment and test dialogue options. You’ll be able to rewind freely in the game, allowing you to plow forward with confidence, and then go back if you make a wrong move.
Both characters will be essential to saving Caledon University, and figuring out what strangeness the merging of dual universes has created.
For now, it’s best to stay tuned to learn more about this upcoming game, and how it’ll expand the Life is Strange universe.
