^{Credit: Life Is Strange: Reunion (Square Enix, Deck Nine)}

With its Juno-esque dialogue, Twin Peaks-like mystery, and butterfly effect gameplay, Life Is Strange is definitely on my Mount Rushmore of story-driven games. The emotional core was the chemistry between Max Caulfield and Chloe Price, which amounted to one of my favorite relationships not just in games, but in any medium. By the game’s heart-pounding climax where we have to choose between saving Chloe or Arcadia Bay, I felt the enormous weight of the decision. At the same time, it was an easy choice. I went with Chloe in a heartbeat, although that doesn’t mean watching an entire town get swept away didn’t leave me shaken as our heroines drove off to an uncertain future. 

Of course, there was the other ending where Chloe dies and the storm never comes to Arcadia Bay. Given the optional endings, it’d be hard to continue Max and Chloe’s story without removing the choice element that drove Life Is Strange. As such, it made sense why Life Is Strange became an anthology series, with each major entry focusing on a new protagonist with a connection to the supernatural. The results were a mixed bag, however. Life Is Strange 2 felt more like a babysitting simulator, saddling us with a little brother who uses his powers not for good or evil, but supreme inconveniencing. The game’s attempt to tackle timely issues was admirable, yet they seemed to take precedence over interesting characters and story. 

Life Is Strange: True Colors was a step back in the right direction, giving us a winning protagonist in Alex Chen. While Alex was a joy to follow and her empathy powers introduced a unique gameplay element, True Colors fell short in the choice department. Alex’s big decision in the end lacked the gravitas of Max’s, where you could feel the weight of an entire town on her shoulders. Although I liked True Colors overall, the original Life Is Strange was starting to look like a lightning-in-a-bottle. That might be why Square Enix went back to the well with Life Is Strange: Double Exposure. 

Hannah Telle reprised her role as Max, who’s now older and more confident, yet as quippy as ever. Max also still has a way of attracting supernatural murder mysteries. This time, Max had a new set of powers, allowing her to cross between timelines, one where her friend Safi is dead and another where she’s still alive. Max’s growth as a character and new powers made for a worthy follow-up, but without Chloe, it still felt like the glass was half-full. I appreciate that Double Exposure honored the original game by allowing the player to preserve their previous choices. For this to work, though, Chloe couldn’t play an essential role in the game. So, if Chloe wasn’t dead, that meant she had broken up with Max. Neither was very satisfying for Pricefield shippers. 

Although Double Exposure left me wanting more, the ending seemed like a stepping stone to better things to come. Life Is Strange: Reunion doesn’t follow through on everything the ending of Double Exposure set up. After Safi vowed to find others like her and Max, it seemed like the developers might be setting up a crossover event. Life Is Strange 2 and True Colors are set in the same universe after all. While Reunion might not go down that route, it does deliver on what fans have wanted for over a decade now: Max and Chloe, together again.  

Now played by Rhianna DeVries, Chloe is alive, but that doesn’t mean your decision didn’t matter if you chose to save Arcadia Bay in the first game. Reunion cleverly builds upon Max’s time-splitting power in Double Exposure. When Max merged realities, she changed more than she thought. That doesn’t mean reality can’t bite back. This time, it’s in the form of a fire that burns down Caledon University. With Max tapping back into her rewind abilities, she’s given a chance to prevent the fire, although she must find the source first. Max dives down a rabbit hole of conspiracies, buried secrets, and sins of the past in what amounts to the series' most compelling mystery since the original. Even if Max can connect the dots, the universe may be setting herself up to fail nonetheless. 

Max isn’t the only one pressing back against supernatural forces closing in. Chloe senses that she’s caught in another storm, deciding it’s time for an overdue reunion. The game allows us to play as both Max and Chloe. Even without powers, Chloe proved to be an engaging heroine in the Before the Storm spinoff/prequel. This still rings true in Reunion, Chloe’s sharp tongue remaining her best asset as she talks herself out of tricky situations and forges dynamics with characters like Moses. With the shape-shifting Safi undergoing an identity crisis, Chloe may emerge as an unlikely voice of reason or an equally destructive force who will fan the flames of self-destruction. 

On a gameplay level, Reunion doesn’t offer many new mechanics. It doesn’t introduce an assortment of new environments either, which isn’t that surprising given the quick turnaround between Double Exposure and Reunion. It may not be an evolution, but Max’s rewind powers are a welcome return. It’s still highly satisfying hitting the rewind button, using the knowledge you just gained to change an outcome. Even knowing that you can reset the clock, Reunion places you in several nail-biting situations that’ll have the player racing toward a solution. 

Like True Colors, Reunion has fewer moral quandaries for the player to agonize over. That’s not to say actions are inconsequential. To solve the mystery and save lives, you will have to make calls. If you choose poorly, it’ll change the final destination. That is except for one major element. Without going into spoilers, the ending naturally presents us with a final choice. While it’s not an easy one to make per se, the results come off as similar and rushed. It’s not an ending that’ll leave a bad taste in your mouth like Mass Effect 3. If anything, it’s a rewarding note to go out on, but after the original game gave us two bittersweet yet very different conclusions, Reunion seems more interested in giving the fans what they want. 

That said, seeing Max and Chloe reunited is every bit as adorable, dramatic, funny, and gratifying as one would hope. Whenever these two are given a quiet moment alone, it’s hard not to get goosebumps. There’s a particularly tender moment on a boat that I won’t dare ruin for you. What I will say is that during this moment, I knew that I’d do whatever it took to ensure these two got a fitting ending. I just wish Reunion provided more obstacles for them to overcome. 

The original Life Is Strange was as page-turning as a game can be, telling its story in episodes that always left us on a jarring cliffhanger. Reunion ditches the episodic format, making it feel less like a bingeable season of television and more like a TV movie. There isn’t as much lingering tension as a result. What Reunion lacks in suspense, it compensates for with heart. Max and Chloe cement their place as an OTP in a game full of emotional payoffs. Where does Life Is Strange go from here, though?

Reunion has been described as a farewell for Max and Chloe, but I have a hard time believing that Square Enix and developer Deck Nine are ready to let go of these characters. The fact that we’re getting an Amazon Prime series starring Tatum Grace Hopkins as Max and Maisy Stella as Chloe suggests they aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Even if Life Is Strange does return to anthology storytelling, Max and Chloe may have set the bar too high. If this isn’t truly goodbye for the fan favorite characters, will Life Is Strange inevitably run in circles? The future is unclear, but for all the time spent dwelling on the past, Reunion is ultimately a game that chooses to live in the present. As long as Max and Chloe are there, it’s a moment worth soaking in. 

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Available Now!