The series of Life is Strange comes back with a new episode, titled True Colors e developed by Deck Nine, studio already responsible for the nice prequel, Life is Strange Before the Storm.
The views change, Arcadia Bay gives way to the mining town of Haven Springs, where we find ourselves in the role of Alex Chen, a Chinese-Vietnamese American girl, who with her intense voice guide the gamer in the 5 chapters that make up the interactive novel, available from 10 September.
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by Alessandra Contin
Welcome to Haven Springs
Haven Springs is a fictional location, but inspired by real American mining towns, built along the railway network a couple of hours from the Deck Nine headquarters in Colorado. A town set like a flowered gem in the mountains. One of those places that Americans like so much to represent in films, TV series and for some years also in video games, with well-preserved historic wooden buildings, the flower shop, the general store, the inevitable bar, the record shop that sells strictly vinyl and which also hosts the local radio station.
The setting of the small rural community, by the voice of the same senior writer from True Colors, Felice Kuan, allows the protagonist Alex to relate with a small group of complex secondary characters such as the flower girl Eleanor, the little Ethan, son of her brother’s partner Gabe, as well as Jed, owner of the Black Lantern bar, and his handsome son Ryan, a park ranger and expert ornithologist. The setting of the game is also the starting point for staging different themes, some very current, such as the economic crisis in rural areas, isolation, the sense of community, the importance of traditions.
If at first glance Haven Springs appears a step away from paradise, a place where Alex can finally be quiet, after years spent in family homes and institutes, in reality under his idyllic veneer, he generates conscious and unconscious monsters: the community that appears cohesive, happy and tolerant, hides secrets and make horrible compromises.
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by Alessandra Contin
Alex, the voice of emotions
The first chapter of True Colors, which lasts about two hours, introduces the gamer to the mechanics of history and reveals the extraordinary abilities of protagonist Alex Chen.
The intertwining of True Colors strongly recalls the atmosphere of the first, historic episode of the successful saga. Here too, as it was for Max Caulfield, we have a young adult with an absolutely normal appearance and a shy and somewhat clumsy character, a tragic and complex family past, and skills that go beyond the limits by entering the territory of the supernatural.
We have a plot that unfolds placidly and shows us reconciliation between two brothers, Alex and Gabe, divided for too long by events that have marked their childhood and adolescence. The long-awaited meeting soon fades into noir shades that manifest themselves in the form of the tragic accident in which Gabe is involved. Event that overwhelms the inhabitants of Haven Springs and releases in all its strength the power that Alex painstakingly tries to keep under control. Ability that allows her to see and interact, literally, with the emotions of others.
Feelings that manifest themselves visually in colored auras that the protagonist of True Colors he can see dressing objects and people. A halo that radiates emotions that she can feel, with which she can interact. A cumbersome ability, experienced as a curse, but which will allow her to pull the strings of an intricate story and at the same time to reconstruct herself, in a journey that will arrive at 6 different main endings, with variations that branch off in the fifth chapter depending on the choices made during the game and the relationship established with the other characters.
All possible combinations have been developed with the intent to move away from a binary choice system, the entire fifth chapter develops as a result of actions, from the interactions and of decisions that the player has accomplished during the entire story arc of True Colors. Therefore, you must be very careful before pressing the button and deciding.
When it comes out and who can appreciate it
Life is Strange: True Colors is divided into 5 chapters, available in a single payment starting from 10 September for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, X and S, Steam, Windows Store, GeForce Now and Google Stadia; The Nintendo Switch version will also be available later this year.
Square-Enix’s interactive novel has Pegi classification 16 and is particularly recommended for those who love slow, narrative and emotional games, accompanied by beautiful evocative soundtracks, a type that has recently seen another particularly successful product, Lake, which is developed by Gamious and is distributed without Italian subtitles.
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