Life is Strange: Double Exposure’s first two chapters are mostly good, but making fans pay extra to play early is a huge mistake

Life is Strange: Double Exposure won’t be fully released for another two weeks, but those with the game’s Ultimate Edition can get started on its story right now. Anyone keen to wolf through this “Advanced Access” content – which comprises two of the full game’s five chapters – will likely be done playing and potentially streaming it, and all of its narrative spoilers, before bedtime tonight.

Look, fans have already had their say on how splitting the launch of this story-focused game – and in doing so, splitting its playerbase – is a terrible idea. And many fans, by this point, will have made their minds up whether to spend £75 to start playing today, or wait until 29th October and pay £50.

But having played the first two chapters myself, having seen how they end, and now knowing the game’s full length is only a bit more than that amount again, I’m even more confused why anyone thought this was a good idea. These are chunky, story-heavy sections, and I imagine discussion forums and Twitch streams will be awash with spoilers by the time you’re reading this.

There’s the obvious concern here that plot details will be spread by those who play today, a full two weeks ahead of others, and the sad fact that some fans have said they now feel forced to fork out an extra £25 simply to avoid this. For all players, though, it’s a shame to see what should be a huge moment of excitement and discussion for the series – and there’s plenty to chew through here! – splintered, and limited to just a few.

I’m not sure of Square Enix’s thinking on this at all, other than it being a way to make more money from the most diehard of fans. Perhaps the publisher has sales figures and business plans and marketing charts to prove me wrong – or financial demands that require this to happen regardless. Regardless, surely asking a smaller, albeit more passionate group, to justify spending half the price of the game again risks turning them off the whole thing? And surely limiting discussion, at least for now, dampens the excitement of launching to the widest possible audience at the same time?

Life is Strange has always been a series that, thanks to its branching narrative, ambition to tackle tough topics and great, character-based storytelling, provokes discussion. And, prior to Deck Nine’s Life is Strange: True Colors, its familiar episodic nature meant players had natural moments between the launch of chapters to regroup, debrief, and theorise about what might come next. There’s nothing at all wrong with releasing a story in segments. But when was the last time you paid extra to read the opening of a book before anyone else?

There are arguments for and against episodic releases, of course, and Life is Strange’s original developer Don’t Nod has admitted it dropped the ball on LIS2’s schedule, which for various reasons simply ran too long. But it’s remarkable that Don’t Nod is now returning to a split launch for its own Life is Strange spiritual successor Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (whose first half arrives in February 2025, before its concluding section drops a month later) in order to foster fan discussion in between episode releases – and without charging extra for the privilege.

In another world, perhaps one where Square Enix made a different choice as it watched two options for how to sell this game hang ominously in mid-air, I’d have started this piece with some of the things about Double Exposure I really do want to talk about, such as its able handling of both the series’ original protagonist Max, as well as the absent but forever fan-favourite Chloe. I have positive thoughts about the game’s setting, too, and the mechanics of Double Exposure’s new parallel world superpower, which is a real upgrade on True Colors.

Not everything is good. There are some truly odd tonal gaffes – as Max remarks on her surroundings in chirpy fashion oblivious to the recent tragedy the whole game hangs around. Also, as with all multiverse stories, there are some points of logic that don’t really make sense. (But why wouldn’t you just go speak to that character and explain everything?) For more on all of those, though, please do come back for our Life is Strange: Double Exposure’s review in a couple of weeks. I think there’s a solid game here, underneath this Advanced Access nonsense – but like many players, I’m waiting for the game’s full launch to talk about it.