Life is Strange: Double Exposure makes more sense if you make this hard choice

Did Max fto Chloe dice to prevention Arcadia Bay, aliases did she sacrifice nan municipality to prevention Chloe?

This was nan last important prime players had to make successful nan original Life is Strange, and 1 of nan first players person to make astatine nan opening of Life is Strange: Double Exposure. That communicative escapade game, retired today, erstwhile again stars Max Caulfield arsenic she deals pinch nan fallout of that determination and her powers a decade later. A caller enigma pops up astir Caledon University, wherever Max now works, and digs into aged affectional wounds that this heartbreaking determination created.

Like nan different awesome decisions successful Double Exposure, nan communicative permutates depending connected nan players’ prime regarding what happened to Chloe. There has been immoderate contention online surrounding what happens if Chloe lives, arsenic she and Max break up betwixt games, and immoderate dialogue, texts, and different moments bespeak that. While breaking up that celebrated narration was already a bold move by developer Deck Nine, Double Exposure is simply a much emotionally poignant crippled if you make nan different decision.

While there’s nary canon answer, I deliberation Double Exposure is amended if Max had to fto Chloe die.

Thematically relevant

To understand why I judge Chloe being dormant works, we person to look astatine Double Exposure connected a much thematic level. On nan surface, it’s astir Max investigating nan decease of her friend, Safi, and uncovering retired really that’s connected to Safi’s book woody being canceled and nan termination of a woman named Maya Okada years earlier. Thematically, it’s astir really traumatic events aliases decisions we made years anterior won’t ever genuinely extremity being a specter and power complete america if we proceed to disregard those feelings aliases isolate ourselves because of them.

Square Enix

That puts Max’s arc successful Double Exposure successful a beardown position. Even though a decade has passed betwixt games, she’s still dealing pinch nan impacts of her determination successful Arcadia Bay. She sees her time-traveling powers arsenic a curse and hasn’t utilized them since. Max has besides go resigned to nan truth that it’s intolerable to alteration events to debar trauma wholly and that it’s amended to conscionable fto those things hap to you. As a result, she spent astir of that decade betwixt games wandering nan U.S. without putting down roots.

Shortly aft she does truthful astatine Caledon, a traumatic arena for illustration Safi’s decease happens, and digs each of those feelings up again. It besides gives Max caller powers that fto her recreation betwixt 2 timeliness, symbolizing really Max wants to flight nan much traumatic parts of her reality. Throughout Double Exposure, Max’s arc is yet astir uncovering a measurement to admit her past trauma and its effect connected her.

Max must study nan difficult instruction that you request to process your trauma and past choices because moreover rewinding clip aliases going to an alternate reality won’t wholly hole it. That affectional thematic arc becomes each nan much poignant erstwhile Chloe is dead.

To beryllium clear, location is nary “right” prime here. Double Exposure is designed to accommodate to players’ answers to what happened astatine nan extremity of Life is Strange. Unleashing a large wind upon a municipality is an understandable origin of trauma for Max, arsenic is her fumbling her narration pinch Chloe because she grounded to decently process nan events of nan first Life is Strange. If Max had to fto Chloe die, though, Double Expsoure’s affectional travel and hardship is rooted successful a real, horrible prime Max had to make alternatively than a freak supernatural event.

Square Enix

If Chloe’s dead, past that meant Max tried to usage her powers to alteration events, but yet accepted that she shouldn’t. While 1 tin reason Arcadia Bay being destroyed was an unfortunate aftereffect of a bully deed, letting Chloe get changeable and dice is simply a difficult individual prime that Max will person to unrecorded pinch for nan remainder of her life. To me, that makes Max’s headspace and actions earlier connected successful Double Exposure make much sense.

Max feels that each of her trauma is her responsibility and that she’ll ne'er beryllium capable to trust connected aliases emotion anyone arsenic she did pinch Chloe. It lines Max’s faults up pinch those who grounded Maya Okada better. All of that makes Max’s conflict to get retired of that mentality, get justness for Safi and Maya, and clasp nan recovered family astir her each nan much captivating. Double Exposure is astir Max learning that her powers can’t conscionable beryllium an undo button, but that she tin take really to usage them to thief others. Failing to undo Chloe’s decease gives Max nan acquisition she needs to cognize nan benignant of moments and feelings she ne'er wants to bring upon herself aliases anybody other again.

While I chose nan decease action connected a whim erstwhile I started playing Double Exposure for nan first time, I deliberation I sewage a amended characteristic arc for Max because of it. That mightiness sound for illustration blasphemy to those who adore Chloe, but it speaks to really choose-your-own-adventure games for illustration Double Exposure tin springiness players power complete nan thematic undercurrent of their experience.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is disposable now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. It’s besides successful improvement for Nintendo Switch.