Life Is Strange: Reunion | REVIEW | PC/STEAM

''THE REUNION IS AT HAND''

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Developed: Deck Nine

Published: Square-Enix

Genre: Drama/Mystery

Release Date: March 26th, 2026

Platforms: PS5/Xbox Family/Windows/STEAM

*Review copy provided to me by Square-Enix

Life Is Strange Reunion is the potential finale to this beloved series and it is developed by Deck Nine and published by Square-Enix. With fans learning that this game will finally bring Chloe and Max back together once more to conclude their story and potentially the series, they've been eagerly awaiting to see just where the game takes both their lives and will it be a happy reunion? or an ending just as gut wrenching as the first game? Only one way to find out, so lets go!

''THE FIRE BURNS''

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GAMEPLAY:

Its hard to believe that were potentially coming to the end of our journey through the saga known as Life Is Strange and it kind of feels a bit surreal in a way. I've been with the franchise since the first title in 2015 hit the scene, and I immediately fell in love with the characters like Chloe and Max and even the side characters who's fate you could control based off the decisions you made. It felt like a TellTale game, which was introduced for myself with The Walking Dead in 2012, but more personal, more real world events and definitely way more consequences to be had. Your choices determined who can live, who's life is made easier, who dies due to not being able to handle emotional damage, etc. You were basically playing a version of god in a butterfly effect that made you question the morality of a lot of situations, some being real life situations people tend to go through and it was pretty deep. Way better than pressing X to Jason, I'll say that much. After that we got a prequel focusing on Chloe's story with Before The Storm, which was great, however after that they deviated from the main cast afterwards with Life Is Strange 2, Adventures Of Captain Spirit, Life Is Strange True Colors, etc. I mean those titles werent bad necessarily, I just started to miss the main cast from the first two titles, at least Max, since Chloe in the canon ending was sacrificed to save Arcadia Bay. Thankfully in 2024, my whining and waiting was answered with the release of Life Is Strange Double Exposure featuring my girl Max making her grand return. While I enjoyed Double Exposure myself and even reviewed it, many fans outside myself however didn't like it due to way it kind of glossed over Chloe's absence and made her seem a tad bit insignificant to Max's life, even as she got older. People even had an issue with how ''marvel like'' Double Exposure became as you neared its end, setting up a power vs power storyline like it was Dr. Strange versus The Scarlett Witch or something. I mean, I'm as tired of the MCU as the next person, but I never got the vibe others got, but maybe it was just me. I however do know I felt some MCU type of way when Reunion got announced and it was shown Chloe will be making her long awaited return to be reunited with Max for the first time in 11 years. Then I truly felt like the MCU with ''I DONT FEEL SO GOOD MR STARK'', but, in a good way. I mean it did have an end screen with ''Max Caulfield will return'' which is very Marvel like, so maybe I am the one who's really in the wrong, but oh well, I just liked being back in the shoes of Max now that she's older, wiser and explores new powers that she discovered she had. But regardless of right and wrong, Double Exposure did rub a lot of the fan base the wrong way and luckily, most of this was rectified with the newest sequel, Reunion.

Although this sequel fixes a lot of peoples gripes they had with Double Exposure, it still feels a tad bit disjointed here and there with things like some of the story stuff not lining up properly from the way you remember to be canon, which can make some scenes feel a tad bit out of place or messy and then Max still being confused at the depth of her powers and what they do, which is a tad bit annoying since they arent exactly new to her, so by this time she should actually be confident in actually using them, yet here in Reunion, she's once again confused by them. The core theme though of ''this decision can impact everyone you love or hate'' remains squarely intact, because one of the strengths of this game is Max, while still being confused by her powers, still grasps the reality of them and how heavy the burden is each time she uses them. If she uses them to fix one event for someone, it will affect someone else who she may like or possibly not even be involved with and shatter their life too and that's something she comes to grips with as the story pushes on further. Shoot, if I had her powers, id keep rewinding time or jumping back and forth time to get free pizza, I'm corrupt and power hungry as hell, sue me. If there's one thing I love its Max feeling like Max again. I mean I enjoyed Double Exposure, don't get me wrong, but she lost some of her charm and goofiness and awkwardness that was a personality trait - it was Max but not the Max WE knew, if that makes sense. Reunion changes that and brings Max back to her corny goofy self while giving her a bit of naiveness on top of it, making it feel like the Max from 11 years ago never left. Much like the tragedies that befell Arcadia Bay many many years ago, the general theme here in Reunion bangs a similar drum, but this time focusing on a fire at Caledon university, the storm, a college occult and of course the return of Chloe herself, which we've been wanting for many years. As you move through the obstacles of unraveling the mystery of the fire, storm, decision making and wrestling with the fact ''how the hell did Chloe even come back anyway?'', you have to take on the concept of past, present and the future of all your actions and determine which decisions effect those outcomes of the present, which outcomes shape the future, who lives, who dies, who's life gets better and who's gets worse - all those decisions in this game come to a head, especially for both Max and Chloe and their relationship. While narratively you SHOULD be focused on the hard decision making and the Caledon University fire, to me, I say, WE DONT NEED NO WATER LET IT BURN. Ok no I'm not THAT mean, I'll save you guys, I swear, however, my interest and focus since the initial reveal trailer is first and foremost, the return of Chloe and her reunion with Max - that to me is the heart and soul of what has me and most likely many others invested in the first place if were going to be totally honest. Reuniting Max and Chloe just feels right, but also extremely natural even considering they haven't shared screen time since 2015, especially since both of their personalities are still firmly intact and because of this, not only do we as fans get to relive some of the nostalgia inside of us, but you are also able to witness the chemistry and heartwarming moments between the two that you were actually hoping to see between people that love each other that haven't seen each other for a very long time. Unlike whatever they did with Eleven and Max in Strange Things where after saving Max's life, Max being in a coma for years and then finally waking up from her ''dead'' state to be reunited with everyone, Elven, again, who saved Maxs life just pulled a Wand Of Gamelon ''GOOD'', when seeing Max awake. It was very underwhelming and extremely disappointing, but same cant be said for Reunion, thankfully.

Much like the first entry of Life Is Strange in 2015, Reunion understood the assignment and goes back to what worked for the franchise and why people fell in love with it to begin with, not only through characters and associating yourself with them, but it explores guilt, trauma from actions or past events that have been a mental turmoil, and the impact emotional events of the past such as Arcadia Bay, and the now with the situation of Caledon University have had on them, and its balanced in a way that you want to save everyone involved in the story this go around, but knowing deep down, you might not be able to because the butterfly effect never ends 100% happy. Just ask Ashton Kutcher. Unlike Double Exposure where gameplay really was the highlight of the game with time jumping to fix scenarios, this time, overall, the gameplay kind of takes a backseat, not completely mind you, you're still interacting with the world around you, but the story itself is the main focus with making good and bad choices being done in a more straight forward manner. Stuff that is deemed a bad choice can be seen as more obvious if you pay attention to minor details of a character or situation, so people with a discerning eye will be able to pick out ''good'' choices a lot easier than in previous entries that made you figure out narrative set pieces like putting together a puzzle to solve a mystery, this time however ditches that concept and just focuses on decisions and impact of them by in large. Again referencing Double Exposure, that game was all about new gameplay mechanics using time jumping where you can open up portals to go forward or backwards to change stuff, stop people from dying, get people out of jail or catch a villain, etc. Where the story in Double Exposure failed or underwhelmed, its gameplay more than made up for it, but Reunion is flipped in that sense, with the focus moving towards story narrative and reunion of Max and Chloe, and then placing in the gameplay as a background set piece that has you explore your environments, find items or clues, interactive with items or people that can make a scene go from somber, to hilarity based off a choice you made, making you feel rewarded for actually making it. To be honest, there's nothing revolutionary here like Life Is Strange was in 2015, its not reinventing the wheel, setting up for a huge line of sequel cash grabs or even attempting to push this genre further, nope, instead, the developers have chosen to go for the closure route to give the characters the love and respect they deserve, but also, an ending for the main cast that can give us as fans some closure at the end of the day, whether we agree with it or not and that to me is more powerful and interesting then turning the franchise into something its not, which so many people were vocal about with the direction it was heading with Double Exposure. Oh well, there goes my dream crossover of DOOM x Life Is Strange where Max helps Doom Guy defeat agents of hell as she opens portals from earth to hell to help in his conquest. Girl can dream at least.

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''THERE IS NO SPOON''

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OVERALL:

At the end of the day, Life Is Strange Reunion does its job by giving us the reunion between Chloe and Max we have wanted since 2015. Obviously I feel its going to be hit or miss for people, but not in the same way Double Exposure was. For long time fans of the series, I think the narrative focus over heavy gameplay will make them feel right at home, but for people that enjoy a more gameplay focused experience or a perfect balance between them both, you might feel a tad bit underwhelmed if you haven't connected with these characters in the past. Do I feel its perfect? absolutely not, there are times when the story can get a bit disjointed or head scratching, but by going back to the core of what made the characters and franchise lovable in the first place, more than makes up for it and I consider this game as the one to let everything go out on a high note and a much more satisfying ending than we would've had if Double Exposure was the end of the franchise. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW

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