Failed by the foster care system, Alex Chen moves to Haven Springs to reconnect with her estranged but still loving brother Gabe, but a tragic accident robs Alex of her only living relative, putting Alex on a quest for answers and justice. As someone who put off by the first game in the Life is Strange series and pleasantly surprised by the second, I was optimistic that I would enjoy playing through Life is Strange: True Colors. Unfortunately, I found True Colors to be the worst of the three games by a far margin. It is a worse game by every measure and still somehow currently more expensive than the other two games combined.

True Colors is developed by a different studio than the other two games, and it very much shows. True Colors attempts to recapture what people liked in the first game and does so poorly, and I feel it all comes down to the writing. True Colors is far too reliant on what people liked about the previous games, LIS1 especially, so much so that True Colors fails to properly make strides towards its own identity and comes off as poorly written. True Colors took me less time to finish, with episodes being roughly an hour shorter than the ones in other games, and the character-building that is so integral to Life is Strange suffers because of it. True Colors must divide its time between developing characters and developing the mystery around Gabe's death, but is too rushed to provide enough effective buildup for either. None of the friendships, romances, antagonism, nor even the impact of Gabe's death feel emotionally fleshed out because Alex doesn't spend enough time on-screen bonding with them, and the mystery of Gabe's death is just given a sliver of screen time per episode. Life is Strange 1 and 2 usually melded their themes with their characters and the overarching plot to progress all these things at the same time, but I just don't think True Colors does that as well, if at all.

The two most egregious examples that make the story feel poorly written are Alex's empath powers and the ham-fisted attempts at romance and character bonding. Alex has the ability to read the minds and emotions of people who are feeling a strong emotion such as anger or joy, but while the visual effects her ability provides are pretty cool, her power could have easily been written out of the story due to its negligible impact. A normal, naturally empathetic or perceptive person without powers could have just as easily perceived other people's emotions as well as Alex does, so the writing comes off as apathetic, something you don't want from a game about feelings. If Alex had something like a disorder that made her incapable of reading emotions naturally, maybe the power would have been justified, but as is its just unnecessary. Apart from not enough onscreen bonding, True Colors' characters also act unnaturally, flirting right after a funeral, not properly moving through grief, and bonding heavily with a character just for them to never appear in the story again. Ironically, a game themed around social interactions and empathy does both poorly.

I'm not going to say that True Colors has no positives. It has some decent attempts at foreshadowing and some pleasant choices for the soundtrack. Still, even if you were a fan of either of the other two Life is Strange games, I find it difficult to recommend Life is Strange: Two Colors, as due to its poorly developed and rushed writing, I don't feel like it is worth paying so much more when True Colors offers so much less.

I'm a huge Life is Strange fan and have loved every single LiS game so far, but this one is kind of disappointing.
Firstly, Alex's facial expressions seem off, giving a shady vibe.
Secondly, the interactions feel incredibly awkward, with frequent breaks during conversations, which made me cringe so bad.
By the way, many scenes seem rushed ( e.g. Gabe's death or the ending ). It's very disappointing and not what I expected at all.
On the other hand, the music was fantastic, truly immersing you in the LiS experience, and OH MY GOD the graphics are stunning! Also, Steph and Alex's relationship was adorable AAAAH.
If you're not examining every detail, you'll definitely want to buy this game and you might be able to enjoy it! 🌸

it's not life is strange 1.