Life Is Strange: True Colours Review

Played on PC

Developed by Deck Nine & Square Enix

Released 12th August 2021

Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Before any development had properly started on the title, Deck Nine insisted that this theme would be the root of the whole game. Even though this is Deck Nine's first go at developing a standalone Life Is Strange game since DontNod passed on the torch, it's not their first time approaching the series. They previously worked on Life Is Strange's prequel, Before the Storm, which garnered a decent reception. However, now that they had full control of the project and its creative limits, not having to adhere to any other titles in the series, Deck Nine were able to create a game that many enjoyed even more given its positive reviews on Metacritic, even after Chinese players review-bombed the game for having the flag of Tibet as part of an in-game location, based on the controversy surrounding Tibet's sovereignty from China.

Story

The story of True Colours is much more docile and timid compared to its predecessors, which can be seen as a good and bad thing. It's good because this allows the story to be more self-contained, allowing for relationships to grow between not only the characters but also the location. However, it can also be a bad thing in how it can lack ambitious ideas that previously could've provided the best possible plot twist, emotional scene or anything else this genre of games utilises. And overall, both of these aspects appear in the narrative.

True Colours sees psychic-empath Alex Chen reuniting with her long-lost brother, Gabe Chen, in the small, fictional town of Haven. After familiarising herself with the locals, Alex stumbles across a conspiracy that she must solve to put an end to her newfound grief. Each of the 5 chapters feels like an individual chronicle about life in Haven, that establishes the world and its inhabitants as quite lively and allows the player to superbly bond with them. While it may suck as a real-life power (especially compared to the previous games' time travel and telekinesis), being a psychic empath is perfect for this kind of narrative as it's focused more on relationships rather than events unfolding.

Unfortunately, I do have a fair share of problems with this game's story. Out of the 10 hours, you'll spend playing it, the game doesn't have any significant, plot-advancing moments that made me severely more interested, at least not until the end of Chapter 4. This problem persists so much that it makes the ending feel weak and choices feel irrelevant as they impact almost nothing in the story, Telltale-style. The lack of situations throughout the game in which the player's emotions are experimented with, makes the ending feel half-baked and doesn't justify the dramatic conclusion. In fact, the ending is the same for everyone, with the only difference being a "Who did you love?" moment.

Gameplay

Even though the gameplay is the same, it feels heavily toned down. Life Is Strange games, like every other choice-based game, have dialogue moments, choice moments and exploration. However, in True Colours, the dialogue moments have been minimised and replaced with more exploration. While I don't have a problem with that, I know for certain there will be people bothered by how little they can interact with the narrative outside of the game-defining decisions. The choices themselves are incredibly lacklustre. They pose themselves to be a monumental stage in the story, and they could've been exactly that, but instead, they at most alter a couple of lines of dialogue.

With the exploration, I'd have to say it makes this game the most fun of the series. It's not the best, that being Life Is Strange 2's speciality, but it is the most fun. During chapter 3, your character goes LARPing (live-action role-playing) in a kid's fantasy comic book world, and everything about it brought me a constant smile and it most likely will bring it to you as well. True Colours does feel devoid of content as it isn't very diversified in gameplay, especially during its exploration, but that isn't a flaw that should influence or even affect your time with the game.

Characters

The characters are quite loveable. I'm not sure why but I love the occasionally goofy dialogue that some characters say. In its own spectacular way, the lively dialogue brings personality to every character, making them feel more realistic, or at the very least, more alive. I think this effect is partially contributed by how, for the first time in the series, they used motion capture to obtain the performances of the actors and that this influenced the writers' approach towards their scripting for the game's cast of characters. A dynamic mix of verbal and physical presentation made this experience much more refreshing to be a part of. Jed's fatherly behaviour, Gabe's brotherly antics and a pair of love interests that are genuinely hard to pick between for the first time in LIS history.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of every LIS game is always mesmerising. The combination of this gorgeous, natural beauty mixed with a distinguishable filter and colourful colour palette makes for incredible visuals. The soothing and relaxing melodies that are made via guitar and/or drum, which also happen to be tailored for radio music, create outstanding audible presentations. These two feats are even better together as they complement each other flawlessly. I came across no technical issues and I was able to play the game at the best possible graphical settings, however, despite what it looks like, you should be warned that this game (on PC at least) has some high graphical demands.

Story - 7.5/10

Gameplay - 7/10

Characters - 8/10

Atmosphere - 8/10

Good

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