‘Life Is Strange: True Colors’ Game Review: Emotions You Can Definitely Play With

Life is Strange never caught my attention and despite playing all the games throughout the series, it had no effect. I loved the game’s setting and premise, but not the writing that felt like it was written by adults who were trying to be cool. Being a father, you could argue that I may not be the target audience given the story Life Is Strange that follows teens with vigor.

So naturally, I went in with zero expectations for Life Is Strange: True Colors, the latest game in the series from a nascent developer Deck Nine, and it’s the best game ever in the series: an emotional masterpiece, quite literally.

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immersive gameplay

You play as Alex Chen, a girl with a paradoxical superpower called Empathy, which can be wonderful and disturbing to her. She can feel people’s strong emotions and can sometimes even read feelings as words. These powers are manifested visually in the form of colored aurassi which are visible only to him. The unfortunate side effect involves Alex being controlled by that emotion, causing her to lose control and imitate the person whose emotional aura she sees. Alex comes with a backstory of his own, having grown up in a foster family and lived in a group home for many years. , before reaching out to his long-lost brother Gabe.

Introvert Alex moves to the picturesque and idyllic Haven Springs in the mountains of Colorado where she is reunited with her hopeful brother Gabe and meets other residents. However, tragedy strikes and Alex must use his power to get to the bottom of the mystery.

We’re here to steer clear of spoilers and urge you not to read any True Colors synopses online. It is strange, however, that Square Enix advertised a turning point on its website and other media.

True Colors captivates you from the very beginning because of an amazing story that paces itself in introducing its setting and characters. Much of the game’s tone resonates through an ethereal soundtrack that helps define the way Alex sees the world.

Typical is the strange game for life, True Colors features a story-based choice-and-results gameplay system. Due to the emotional plot, the game highlights mental health issues such as depression, social anxiety and loneliness. Each event in the game is also enjoyable because the choices given to the player are meaningful, even in quotidian interactions. Every frame has credibility due to impeccable voice acting and motion capture from a talented cast that includes Erica Mori, Han Soto, Exinia Scott and Anastasia Davidson.

Don’t expect platforming or intense action sequences. As the player, you are very much on the rails through the story, with openings in the game spaces where you can interact with objects in the environment. However, the design makes every conversation worthwhile. As you progress, the citizens invite you to a number of fun activities, including a live action role playing adventure that takes the guise of a turn-based RPG.

Screenshot of gameplay in ‘Life Is Strange: True Colors’ | photo Credit: square Enix

Our decision?

Life is Strange: It’s very hard to find fault with True Colors. Little things bother you at times, like the launch version’s spotty frame rate. However, all complaints are negligible and patchable. True Colors, like its name, come with a vibrant palette of emotions and colors, from beautiful cityscapes to expressive facial animations of characters.

This is a must-play game for story-driven adventure game lovers. If you’ve been looking forward to playing the Life Is Strange game, this is a good place to start.

The author is a tech and gaming enthusiast who hopes to finish his science-fiction novel one day