True Colors is the new graphic adventure of the series Life is Strange developed by Deck Nine Games, the team already responsible for the prologue Life is Strange: Before the Storm, and published by Square Enix.
The teen drama series, created by the French studio Dontnod Entertainment, has very particular characteristics, always attentive to inclusiveness, characterization of the characters and tactfully deals with sensitive themes.
In the last ten years the female figures of video games have changed, characters like Chloe and Max move away from the stereotypes imposed by the medium, acquiring more real characteristics, explains the senior staff writer of True Colors, Felice Kuan: “The Life is Strange series has always focused on real, multifaceted and compassionate protagonists. Such complex characters are hardly stereotyped “..
Diversity and authenticity have become a stylistic feature of the saga, as Erica Mori, an actress who gives voice to the protagonist of True Colors, Alex, “Teens are violently honest and can perceive pretexts as mastiffs. I love that Alex represents so much diversity, from his heritage to his ethnicity, to his body”.
Life is Strange he has always dealt with sensitive issues such as suicide, bullying or sexual identity, Felice Kuan explains: “Including social issues is very important for us at Deck Nine. Both in Before The Storm, is now in True Colors, these topics were already discussed in the early stages of development. For us it is not only important to represent certain themes accurately and delicately, but it is essential to give the player the opportunity to relate and interact with them “.
The protagonist of True Colors, Alex, is a Chinese-Vietnamese American girl, Felice Kuan tells us: “For us developers it is an immense privilege to make games for LiS fans and one of the implications of writing for such a large audience. it is the need to ensure that the world of our story reflects the real world in which children live”.
Alex is a young adult able to visualize and feel the emotions of others, so much so that it appears as an extreme metaphor of what one feels in adolescence, explains Kuan: “We wanted a character for whom emotions and empathy were a source of vulnerability at the beginning of the game, so that players could become spectators of the process by which Alex learns to value his skill, influencing the way he uses it. The power of the protagonist is the key to her relationships, a fundamental element for the narrative thrust. It allows you to probe the town of Haven Springs and the real motivations of its inhabitants ”.
Haven Springs, the game’s setting, is a fictional country inspired by real American mining towns, built along the railroad network located a couple of hours from Deck Nine’s headquarters in Colorado. Kuan tells us: “True Colors has as its main theme the concept of finding a place to call home and for Alex that means relating to his new neighbors. For this reason we wanted a small group of complex secondary characters. The setting of the small town allowed us to manage different issues, such as the economic crisis, isolation, the sense of community, the importance of traditions, topics that influence people’s emotions “.
Life is Strange True Colors will be available in physical and digital format on September 10 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, PC Steam and Google Stadia.