Life is Strange: Reunion story details leak as release date confirmed

The surprise was already spoiled, but Square Enix has announced a new Life Is Strange sequel, which features both Max and Chloe from the first game.

Like we said at the time, leaks from age ratings boards are almost always true because they’re official sources and they have no reason to lie about anything. They do, however, often reveal the existence of a game before they were supposed to, as happened with Life Is Strange: Reunion.

Unusually, the leak via the PEGI website not only revealed that Life is Strange: Reunion is real but also the basics of its story, with the return of Max’s friend, and potential love interest, Chloe, who the last game, Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, controversially did not feature.

The whole of Double Exposure went down like a lead balloon so it’s quite a surprise there even is a new game, but Square Enix has confirmed Reunion is real and that it’ll be out on March 26 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Reunion will once again be developed by Deck Nine, which has previously done a good job with the series, after original creator Dontnod left. Why Double Exposure turned out so bad remains a mystery but this one appearing so quickly afterwards suggests there wouldn’t have been much time to change their approach.

The obvious problem with bringing back Chloe is that depending on the choices you made in the original game she either did or didn’t die, but Reunion seems to involve parallel universes and Chloe having dreams of her alternative fate.

Meanwhile, Caledon University, from Double Exposure, is under threat of being engulfed by a calamitous inferno, much in the way that Arcadia Bay was (or wasn’t) destroyed in the original.

Max has a more powerful version of her time rewinding power, that can be used at any time and allows her to remain in the past via polaroids she takes. Meanwhile, Chloe has her backtalk superpower, that allows her to verbally overpower whoever she’s talking to.

Max will be voiced by regular Hannah Telle, while Chloe’s actress will be Rhianna DeVries from Before The Storm, rather than Ashly Burch from the first game. Which we’re fine with, as we actually preferred DeVries’ performance.

**** WARNING: Potential Spoilers for Life Is Strange: Reunion ****

Just hours after the game was officially announced rumours immediately began to leak out about the game, allegedly via the friend of a disgruntled ex-employee at Deck Nine. That part, at least, is believable, as many staff were let go last year, to the point where it’s something of a surprise the studio is still going, especially given the failure of Double Exposure.

For what it’s worth, the rumour suggests that Chloe also gains the ability to stop time and that many of the decisions in the game revolve around whether you agree with the main villain or not – although who the villain is, and what they want, is not revealed.

There’s a little more detail if you read the whole Reddit post, although the leaker doesn’t seem familiar with the original game, so some of their information may have been misinterpreted.

Since the game is out in barely more than two months it won’t be long till we find out for certain what’s going on, but after Double Exposure this is almost certainly the last chance for the franchise to find its groove again.

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