Life Is Strange is coming back with Life is Strange: Reunion, the next chapter in the recently revived Max Caulfield story. Notable is the return of Chloe, the primary love interest of the first Life is Strange and the protagonist of Life is Strange: Before the Storm. This is cool, kind of, but also a little puzzling and cynical (unless you are charitable in your interpretations).
Life is Strange: Reunion will be the seventh game in the Life is Strange series, though its pairing with Life is Strange: Double Exposure suggests a narrowing of the franchise's focus. While Before the Storm is a prequel to Chloe's journey with Max, the series as a whole has never been so focused on these friends-to-lovers. In fact, there have been more Life is Strange games without Max and Chloe than games with them, so putting them at the center of the IP with this Double Exposure sequel is a choice that's difficult to understand.
Spoilers ahead for Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Double Exposure.
Why is Chloe Returning in Life is Strange: Reunion?
Chloe and Max's Story So Far
Friends from Arcadia Bay, Oregon, Chloe and Max's relationship is the emotional core of the original, episodic Life is Strange. Of course, Life is Strange is incredibly eventful, riddled with psychological intrigue, psychopathic villains, and metaphorical, metaphysical superpowers, but Chloe and Max's friendship and possible romance remain the ultimate thread of the game's story. Life is Strange ends in a fatal choice: Max must decide whether to save Chloe, the most important person in her life, or save Arcadia Bay from an apocalyptic storm. The continued existence of one requires the destruction of the other.
If Max chooses to sacrifice Arcadia Bay for the sake of Chloe, the pair will leave the destroyed town behind and, presumably, live happily ever after. That was the presumption before Double Exposure, at least, which allows the player to "choose" their own canon ending to the first Life is Strange. If the player chooses to make the Save Chloe ending canon, Double Exposure will essentially assert that Chloe and Max have broken up, though the reasons are vague. Generally speaking, Double Exposure ignores the Max and Chloe storyline, which casts doubt on Deck Nine's intentions with Reunion.
Chloe's Return to Life is Strange Feels Forced
Max is the lead character of the Life is Strange IP once again. This is interesting. After the first Life is Strange, Don't Nod plowed ahead with Life is Strange 2, a game that featured a completely different cast of characters despite its small references to Life is Strange 1. Ahead of that, Don't Nod released the smaller spin-off game The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, a game that focuses on other characters, albeit ones that are connected to Life is Strange 2's broader cast. Then, Deck Nine released Life is Strange: True Colors, a game that follows yet another distinct cast of characters.
To summarize, Life is Strange, Life is Strange 2, and The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit were all developed by Don't Nod, whereas Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Life is Strange: True Colors, Life is Strange: Double Exposure, and the upcoming Life is Strange: Reunion come from Deck Nine.
All of this is to say that Max and Chloe are certainly not the main characters of Life is Strange—with the small exception of Before the Storm, Life is Strange has behaved as an anthology series. With Double Exposure adopting an entirely new setting and a different supernatural power, Max's reappearance as protagonist feels like the least natural solution, prompting accusations that Square Enix and Deck Nine were simply trying to capitalize on nostalgia for the original Life is Strange when choosing Max as Double Exposure's lead. Now that Chloe is back, showing up in the Life is Strange: Reunion trailer like a crossover Avengers character, such claims are even more understandable.
Put plainly, Chloe coming back into Life is Strange, joining Max at Vermont's Caledon University, comes across like a grab at audience emotions rather than an attempt to tell the best story possible. This is exacerbated by the fact that Deck Nine basically wrote Chloe out of the story in Double Exposure. One could theorize that, since Life is Strange: Double Exposure resulted in a loss for Square Enix, Deck Nine is doubling down on this Max and Chloe revival, for better or worse.
The Bright Side: How Life is Strange: Reunion Could Stick the Landing
Regardless of the intentions behind bringing Chloe back for Life is Strange: Reunion, there are ways that Deck Nine could still tell an interesting story with the iconic blue-haired heroine. Double Exposure honed in on the concept of distinct timelines with Max at the center of them, so perhaps Deck Nine could explore some cerebral or even meta subjects through its central character. Max, AKA the player, moves on from trauma and strife, always coming out untouched, while other characters are left to pick up the pieces.
In other words, there is meaningful narrative content to explore here, especially if Deck Nine fully embraces the implications of Life is Strange: Reunion's time-manipulation premise. However, a new path will need to be charted for Max and Chloe, one that doesn't rely on nostalgia and prestige, but rather recontextualizes the series' canon and offers meaningful, intentional surprises.
OpenCritic Reviews
- Released
- March 26, 2026
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Mild Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Deck Nine
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
WHERE TO PLAY
- Prequel(s)
- Life is Strange: Double Exposure
- Franchise
- Life is Strange
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unknown
- PC Release Date
- March 26, 2026
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- March 26, 2026
- PS5 Release Date
- March 26, 2026
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
