Square Enix has revealed a brand-new trailer for Life is Strange: Remastered Collection, with emphasis on how the original game looks and runs compared to its initial release. Life is Strange was a critical success upon its initial release, winning several awards and garnering acclaim from players for its rich thematic story, likable characters, beautiful soundtrack, and its unique take on a coming-of-age tale based on the numerous important choices that can be made throughout the game.
The original 5-episode game was developed by Dontnod Entertainment, who also handled development of its 2018 sequel, before work on new titles shifted to developer Deck Nine, who first got its start with the series by creating the 3-episode prequel Life is Strange: Before the Storm, and the recently released Life is Strange: True Colors. With the release of True Colors, Square Enix also announced that both the original game and Before the Storm would be remastered in a new collection to be released sometime after True Colors.
While the prospect of a remastered collection sounded exciting, players still waited patiently to see what kind of remastered changes the two titles would have. Thus, Square Enix has unveiled a brand new extended gameplay trailer for Life is Strange: Remastered Collection, showcasing what changes have been made in particular to the original game.
This 6-minute long trailer presents the opening of Life is Strange’s first episode Chrysalis, in which protagonist Max Caulfield stumbles upon a heated discussion between popular kid Nathan Prescott and her childhood friend Chloe Price, where Max first discovers her ability to rewind time. According to Square Enix, the game is now rendering in native 4K on Unreal Engine 4, with an entirely rebuilt lighting system, and updated character models with more emotive and expressive animations.
Upon first glance of this new trailer, it’s impressive to see the lengths Square Enix and Deck Nine have gone to revamp the original game, especially considering how well the game looked when it first released in 2015. All of that being said, it does bring to question how well the game will be running on certain platforms, as Deck Nine announced that the Nintendo Switch version would be delayed due to it needing more development time than the other console versions.
Regardless, in spite of a few technical hiccups discovered by some fans, Life is Strange: Remastered Collection looks like an exceptional upgrade to the original game. With other narrative driven titles like Goodbye Volcano High looking to capture the spirit presented by the original Life is STrange, there is no denying that Life is Strange still contends as one of the best coming-of-age stories in gaming, and it will be exciting to see where the series goes from here.
Life is Strange Remastered Collection launches on February 1st for Google Stadia, PC, PS4, and Xbox One. A Nintendo Switch version will launch later in 2022.