Video game masterpieces are hard to come by, that is a fact. When I played episode one of Life Is Strange for the first time, I knew that the series would be a masterpiece. From the unique art style to the sad but warming soundtrack, the game became one of my favourite games of all time. When I finished the game for the first time, I felt like it couldn't be the end and I wanted a sequel. However, after playing through the game through many more times, I am not sure that a second season would do justice to the series.
Warning, this article may contain spoilers for the whole of the first season of Life Is Strange and I would recommend that you play it before reading.
You can also read our review, by our editor Richie Crossman, here.
Should a second season be made?
There are many reasons why Dontnod should consider making a second season. One of these reasons is that the first season was more about the story of Max and her getting to know her powers which she uses in real life dilemmas. The game doesn't, however, go into why she got her powers and how they actually work. Does Max just reverse time? Or does she move between dimensions leaving the old dimension behind? We would never get to know this without a sequel being made which explains how the powers work. There are many other plot points that the game didn't explain.
However, many players believe that Max's story is over. We have experienced her getting these powers and learning to use them with her best friend and learning about the consequences that her actions cause. With two different emotional endings at the end of the first game, adding extra into Max's story would not add more to her character and could ruin the experience that the players had with the first game. The story of Max and Chloe is over and the two endings are irreversible and a sequel to Max's story would reduce the impact the first season had on us.
Dontnod also have the option of making a second season that follows new characters. This would prevent the sequel from ruining the experience that players had in the first game and introduce a whole new cast of interesting characters for the players to meet. This may sound great but I have a problem with Dontnod going down this route. My problem is that introducing a new character who also gets time powers will feel like the same experience all over again. The player would have to watch another character learn to cope with their powers and struggle with the balance between right and wrong. It would feel like a re-skin of the first season and not a new original emotional masterpiece like the first game was.
To conclude, even though I loved the first game, I do not think that a sequel would be able to match the emotional and original experience that we had when we played the first season. Because of this, I am against Dontnod making a sequel and I feel like they would be better off putting their resources and skillful employees into new franchises.
Will Dontnod make a second season?
We have gotten out of the way whether the second season of Life Is Strange would be a good idea or not and now we are into the topic of if there will be a sequel.
Life Is Strange got good reviews and was commercially very successful. This success would normally warrant a sequel. However, Dontnod are currently working on their new game Vampyr set to release in 2017. Dontnod's three games: Life Is Strange, Remember Me and Vampyr are all of different genres set in different universes with no connection to each other. This shows that the company are interested in creating new original games over a wide variety of genres. Because of this, I don't think that Dontnod will create a sequel unless they feel like they can create an experience that matches the quality of the first game and so a second season is unlikely.
What is next for the franchise?
As I said earlier, there were many unexplained events in Life Is Strange. If a sequel isn't made then I believe that the franchise won't die and that people will still be playing and remember the game for years to come. Square Enix will more than likely remaster the game for the next generation of consoles so new players can experience the emotional story.
The plot holes in the game will have to be filled by fan theories unless Dontnod decide to make a bonus episode for the first game that fills in the plot holes or make an official announcement that gives details on the plot holes (however this is very unlikely).
Thank you for reading this article. Feel free to leave a comment on whether you think there will be a sequel to Life Is Strange and if you think that there should be a sequel or not.
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