Towards the end of Life is Strange: Double Exposure, protagonist Max Caulfield insists she will not accept another impossible choice “between two shitty options”. She’s referencing, of course, the original Life is Strange‘s climactic dilemma, where players were forced to choose whether Max sacrificed her hometown or her closest ally. It’s a moment that has reverberated through every Life is Strange game since, and has come to define a series centred around young adult drama and living with the consequences of your actions. Max’s declaration she won’t pick again between two similar no-win scenarios is meant to feel triumphant: she has experienced that trauma once, and is now older, bolder and wiser, so will instead fight to forge a third path. It makes for a heroic scene, and raises expectations for the game’s ultimately rather maddening climax. But it simultaneously also glosses over the reality of that original, heartbreaking decision: that its impossible nature was the point.
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