Reviews
[Review] ‘Life Is Strange 2: Episode One -Roads’ Brings Heartbreak, Survival, and the Supernatural
Even though it shares many of the same mechanics as past entries of the series, DONTNOD’s Life Is Strange 2 stands on its own as the beginning of something unique, emotional, and adventurous.
The game centers around two brothers; Sean (17), and Daniel (9). After a misunderstanding leads to an unexpected death and supernatural incident (killing a cop in the process), the boys flee their Seattle home and begin to head to Puerto Lobos Mexico.
Episode one, entitled “Roads,” follows the brother’s first few days after the incident takes place. Besides the supernatural elements that pop up throughout the episode, Life Is Strange 2 is a much different take than the first Life Is Strange. The focus is on the brother’s survival and being there for one another; and in episode one, Life Is Strange 2 begins to explore the intimacy of their bond, and the importance of it in the world.
As the player, you take control of Sean. Like past entries, the game utilizes a series of basic fetch quests to help progress Sean throughout the story. At the beginning of the game, while he is getting ready for a party, there are items throughout his house he must get. When he is camping later on with Daniel, he has to get logs for a fire.
At its core mechanics, Life Is Strange 2 is almost exactly like its predecessors; other than the ability to travel through time or work your way through dialogue challenges, everything is laid out just how we’ve come to recognize a Life Is Strange title. Dialogue options are still widely available, allowing you to roleplay Sean as a nice guy, or irritated and cold at times.
Game-altering choices are still present as well, taking place from the smallest interactions to the life-threatening. There’s a period in the episode where the brothers arrive at a gas station (having been on the road for a few days). They are in need of supplies, but have little money on them; with each item you come across, you have the option to buy said item or steal it. Shortly after this is an altercation with a man who antagonizes the brothers; you are given the option to try and reason with him, run, or fight. These decisions allow for slightly different scenarios to play out, encouraging at least another run of the episode upon completion to see all possible outcomes.
Then there are small choices like whether or not Sean will pass on a cigarette a friend of his offers him. These types of choices don’t bring about dramatic results, but make for that fun connection with a character past Life Is Strange titles have offered. There is also a fun moment where you get to embody Sean’s enjoyment for drawing; while setting up camp with Daniel, he pulls out his notebook and decides to sketch the water and surrounding trees. Manipulating the left joystick, you can “scribble” your way into creating a wonderful scenery.
In general, Life Is Strange 2 is stunning. While the beginning provides a comfy glance into suburban life, it’s the game’s display of nature that’s breathtaking to take in. The camp sequence is full of lovely imagery; from the gigantic trees, paths to walk, and sun reflecting off the water, there’s so much to see that you’ll want to stand around for a while and look at it all.
While the game’s mechanics are similar to past titles, its narrative and characters are where it succeeds best. While I found Sam and Chloe and Chloe and Rachel to be interesting and relatable at times, Sean and Daniel have tremendous chemistry. There was never a moment I found dialogue to be cheesy or over the top, for every way the brothers interact makes complete sense.
An issue with past Life Is Strange experiences is that (while fun at times), the story and characters try to hammer in pop culture references. There have been many cases where a character would bring up something or try to use slang, and it all came off as desperately trying to relate to modern teens.
This is not the case in Life Is Strange 2, and what helps that is the age dynamic between the brothers. In moments where Daniel may be scared or anxious, Sean uses pop culture references to help soothe his worries. When the two need to build their campsite, Sean brings up Daniel’s passion and skills for Minecraft, encouraging him to be excited and partake in building a fort.
Not only are these adorable moments, but they are believable moments. The game never tries to shove these references in the player’s face, so it means more when they’re brought up. In general, the dialogue is stronger in Life Is Strange 2. As the older brother, you get a clear understanding that Sean is trying to do everything he can to protect Daniel. We can hear Sean’s determination and strength through his words; and beyond his care for Daniel, he makes for a character with sincere emotion. Given the incident causing the boys to leave home, Sean is distraught, scared, and heartbroken; and through all his feelings, it’s fascinating to walk alongside such a character and help him grow.
Daniel, for the most part, is a tag-along; this isn’t a good or bad thing, for (without going into spoilers), there’s much room for him to develop. That said, just like his brother, he’s a joy to listen to, and his innocence brings a warmth to the narrative.
The side characters are a hit or miss; the majority of them are present only to provide context for story background, or allow for opportunities to make in-game choices. However, there are side characters that bring about another intention of Life Is Strange 2; specifically, the game’s commentary on Donald Trump’s immigration policies and racism in America.
In the latter portion of the game, the boys come across an antagonist who profiles them as thieves. This character ends up kidnapping Sean, mentioning how it’s people like him why we need that “wall.” For being episode one, the game isn’t too in your face regarding these issues and only begins to scratch the surface. Later on, another side character appears that’s meant to contrast the actions/beliefs of the previous figure, further examining the variety of ideals in America.
As we come to know the brothers throughout the episode we know they are good, kind kids; to see their mistreatment is heartbreaking, but to also see the kindness shared with them is touching as well. It’ll be interesting over the next few episodes how this commentary will grow, and what challenges will await the boys.
If you take away the similar game mechanics and fetch quests of past entries, you are still left with a beautiful story and characters. In my hour and a half playthrough of episode one, I was tremendously moved. I sat in wonder looking around the forest; I sat in anger when the boys dealt with racism, and I sat with the duality of heartache and warmth as I watched two brothers care for one another while on their own.
Like the first episode of anything, “Roads” is not only the beginning of a more extensive journey but also a promise. It’s the promise that there’s something bigger ahead, that the strength and love of these brothers will be tested against nature in all its forms. Life Is Strange 2 is attempting something bold in its political commentary, but if explored with care, it can potentially connect with those in need of support and understanding.
But what makes Life Is Strange 2 such a great experience is the brothers. They have fully fleshed out characters; their actions hold a tremendous weight, their journey a means to start a new life together. Their humor and love for one another are sincere, making for characters you could see yourself hanging out with. So far Life Is Strange 2 looks to be a road worth taking; from the dawning of the sun, into the late of night, there’s so much more to experience.
PS4 Review copy purchased by the reviewer.
Life is Strange 2: Episode One is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
There’s a layer of the mythic in everything Cynthia Pelayo writes, whether she’s charting the little-known history of her home city of Chicago or digging deep into the pool of shared stories that’s served humanity since ancient times. Regardless of subject matter or narrative, Pelayo reads like a writer constantly in search of the threads of legend and myth that bind us all together and keep us awake at night.
It Came From Neverland, Pelayo’s latest novel, takes that search and applies it to one of the most famous children’s stories ever conceived, J.M. Barrie’s beloved and oft-adapted tale of the Boy Who Never Grew Up. But this is not just a Peter Pan retelling, or a Peter Pan meta-sequel. Through gorgeous prose, finely drawn characters, and an iron grip on the themes that drive the story, Pelayo crafts It Came From Neverland into one of the year’s must-read genre novels, both a horrifying spin on Peter Pan and a luminous dark fantasy about the search for salvation in a cold, brutal world.
In Pelayo’s version of events, Wendy Darling and her brothers John and Michael really did travel to Neverland when they were children, drawn there by a charismatic and irresistible figure called Peter Pan. But this Neverland is far from the Disney version, and after fighting to survive in that ageless place, the children made their way home and shut Peter Pan out of their lives, refusing to so much as utter his name, lest he find them again.
Flash forward to 1914, where Wendy’s working as a schoolteacher at Marigold House, a London orphanage growing increasingly crowded amid the outbreak of World War I. By day, she teaches and volunteers at a local hospital, reading to the war wounded, and by night, she remembers to check every window latch and keep an eye on every shadow. But lately those shadows seem to behave strangely again. Crows caw all around her. And worst of all, children are disappearing again. Peter Pan is back, and faced with memories of how no one believed her the first time, Wendy prepares to face him one more time.
This is a remarkably well-suited atmosphere for moments of classic, chill-inducing terror, and Pelayo wastes no time weaving a world in which every bird call, every stray thought from the mouth of a child, could be evidence that this monstrous Peter Pan is near. Wendy lives a haunted existence, and as the chaos of war grips London, old fears grip her while new ones fight for position. If you come to this novel looking for something like Stephen King’s IT by way of J.M. Barrie, you’re going to get it, through flashbacks and dark lore and wonderfully well-timed scares, but Pelayo’s not done.
This version of Wendy Darling, through whom we see most of the narrative, cares for children in adulthood because she did not receive the care she needed herself as a child in the aftermath of a traumatic experience. She considers it her duty to listen to them, to protect them, to understand them in a world that still views them not as human beings, but as potential locked up in tiny bodies.
Setting the book in 1914, when young men across Europe were signing up to go and die in a war they didn’t quite understand, underscores this beautifully. Children are grist for the mill in the world of It Came From Neverland, their eager spirits waiting to be crushed by a machine of war and empire and capitalism that will not relent even if an armistice eventually arrives. It’s a wider, more existential layer of horror than the storybook monster, which gets us to open the book in the first place, but the real brilliance at work here is how Pelayo ties it all together.
At the core of all of this, the beating, icy heart of It Came From Neverland‘s horror and its search for meaning amid the narratives of war, children’s fiction, collective memory, and more, Pelayo is most interested in what it really means to never grow up. It means retaining a sense of play, yes, but it also means a refusal to move on, to embrace not just the responsibilities of aging, but the moral burdens of it.
Peter Pan is a monster not because he likes to play, but because he does not consider consequences, mortality, or even the needs and desires of others. The same is true of the leaders of Europe sending young men off to die in a war, and the same is true of leaders now, playing dice with human lives amid the rise and fall of the stock market. To never grow up is to lose something essential about being human, and Pelayo depicts that loss as both existentially terrifying and heartbreaking. That terror and heartbreak drive the novel, but Wendy’s efforts to escape that terror and to mend her broken heart make it fly.
It Came From Neverland is available June 9 wherever books are sold.
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