Developer: DONTNOD Entertainment
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Mac, Linux, PC
Tested on: PC
Life is Strange 2: Episode 5 – Review
It’s been more than a year since the first episode of Life is Strange 2 came out, and now the fifth and final episode has been released. The journey of the Wolf brothers Sean and Daniel is coming to an end. After following their road trip for five episodes, we were excited to see if they would finally end up in Mexico. First, it seems there will be some bonding again with their mother Karen as they finally met up with her again last episode. We’ve reviewed all previous episodes from Life is Strange 2 which you can check out here: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, and Episode 4.
Story
Sean and Daniel are still on the run from the cops, after a big misunderstanding. Both brothers are still having a hard time processing that their dad isn’t there anymore. Sean has gotten all the responsibility of a parent since he has to take care of his little brother. As they continue their journey to Mexico, where their father had a bit off land, they meet more and more interesting people.
Spoilers up ahead!
After the brothers their mother, Karen, helped Sean to get Daniel out of the cult he got stuck in, they ended up staying with her. It seems she had found her home in “Away” which is a little makeshift town with campers and self-made houses. Daniel and Sean stay there for a while after the traumatic experience Daniel had. Away is quite peaceful as it is in the middle of the desert, with the nearest town a little drive away. Daniel found a new friend in Karen’s best friend Joan, who is an artist. In Away everybody is running away from something, so nobody puts their noses in other people’s business, which also includes Daniel’s powers. Daniel can freely use his power in Away and he is enjoying this newfound freedom.
There is also another familiar face in Away, at least for the people who played the first Life is Strange. David, Chloe’s stepdad also ended up in the little town. You clearly see that Sean and Daniel managed to make friends out of everyone in Away. Daniel certainly became good friends with Joan as he helped her make big sculptures with his powers. Sadly, peace can’t last long, and the boys will need to continue their journey to Mexico. While Karen was out shopping, she saw that the cops where high on their trail. So, Sean decides the next day should be when they leave, and the brothers sit together to decide on a plan.
Graphics
The Graphics still look the same as in the first episode. It only seems there was quite a lot of clipping from clothes in this episode. Also, some clipping from limbs not nicely bending. There wasn’t anything as bad as the last episode though so that was good.
Sound
Life is Strange 2’s music is still great in episode 5. There were a few times that there seemed a little bug in switching between tracks. The music slowly changed but then seemed to get a little bit stuck and looped until it fully changed. Voice acting in Life is Strange 2 is also still quite good, the voice actors did a solid job portraying the emotions of the boys.
Gameplay
Life is Strange 2 is an adventure game where you follow the story of two “wolf” brothers, Sean and Daniel. The wolf theme has appeared not only in episode 5 but throughout the entire game. Seeing the recaps of the previous episodes with all the characters transformed to wolfs, or other animals never gets old. In Episode 5 there isn’t a whole lot of new gameplay, you still walk around as Sean and are able to inspect things around you. Sometimes not inspecting things will be a secret choice that you can make. For example, you can say goodbye to the people of Away, but you are not obligated to, so you could just as well skip that step.
Throughout your stay in Away, Sean will be in contact with Daniel through walkie talkies. Daniel has even set up a treasure hunt for Sean to take part in. If you’ve played The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, then this might seem kind of familiar to you. Daniel, later on, admits that Chris, aka Captain Spirit, thought him how to set up treasure hunts. There will be a few minor choices in Episode 5 that you’ll have to make in a split second, but sometimes it isn’t shown that well that this is a timed choice. The way of selecting choices can get a little bit buggy with a mouse so it might make you accidentally pick the choice you didn’t want to pick. This can be quite annoying because unlike in Life Is Strange, you’ll have to replay fully from a checkpoint if you want to redo the choice.
As mentioned above, David appears in Away and depending on the choice you made in Life is Strange, you’ll see a picture of Chloe and Max. You are even able to overhear a call between David and Chloe which is a really nice touch. Life is Strange 2 is certainly an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end. With Episode 5 being the last episode, you just know that there will be some onion ninjas around.
Conclusion
After 5 episodes, Life is Strange 2 has come to an end. There are different endings that you can get depending on the choices you made throughout the game. Which ending you get depends on your morality or rather Daniel’s morality. All the endings will for sure give you the feels and after being with Sean and Daniel for so long it is sad to see the story come to an end. We’ll let you judge if you like the endings, but we can surely say it’s worth seeing all the endings. Life is Strange 1 and 2 are both highly recommended, even though the games can have little bugs, their stories make it really worth it to try them out.
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