SPOILERS AHEAD
I was honestly really excited to finish this game once I was done the early access.The story was setup in a really interesting way and I was super excited to see what would happen next. And then, it just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sucked.

The game actually continued really strongly with chapter 3 being just as amazing as chapters 1 and 2, and even chapter 4 was pretty good. But then chapter 5 just sucked???? They tried to do another nightmare sequence like in the original. But in the original the nightmare sequence was never supposed to ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ magically resolve anything, it was just Max's powers going haywire and Max eventually escaping. In this game, her going through the weird ♥♥♥♥ just deus ex machinas all the problems away without explanation, not to mention how weirdly calm most people, including Max, were during it. And then the final choice was just confusing. I didn't know what I was agreeing to and neither choice felt like it would have any concequences, unlike every other LIS game (even true colors to an extent with the stay/leave). Overall this ending was just weird and confusing both tonally and story wise, and not in a good twin peaks or LIS1 way, but a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ stupid one. oh and I just started ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ laughing when I saw that marvel slop "Max Caulfield will return" ♥♥♥♥. Are you cereal deck9?

I've always been slightly averse towards d9's new style for life is strange. I love the old LIS artstyle and think LIS1 is one of the most beautiful games of all time, and True Colors' visuals was not convincing me on the change. But this game sold me. It's just gorgeous; I couldn't stop exploring and screenshotting every single pixel of the insanely detailed environments.

Life is strange was never really a romance game. Pricefield made sense to explore in LIS1's story as Max and Chloe's relationship is the main aspect of that game. But honestly, I don't care, the romances in all the sequels were cute and I would rather have them than not. But the ones in this game just kind of suck. From the early trailers I was expecting the ROs to be Moses and Safi, but they ended up being Amanda and Vinh and I really wish it didn't. Amanda is the better of the two. I was completely averse to her romance because she was being pushed on me 1 millisecond after I was just told Chloe broke up with Max, but she really did grow on me throughout the game (Safi has way more chemistry with Max though). Vinh though. Vinh is horrible, what were they thinking. I have never been more creeped out by a character than Vinh. The worst part is that he would have been a good character if square didn't force d9 to make him into a RO, as he gets kind of interesting and less creepy after you reject him in chapter 3.

This is the best mocap and facial capture I have ever seen in a game. The detail in every facial expression and nervous tick is just insane and made all of the (main/supporting) characters feel extremely lifelike, which was further helped by the great acting (the best in the series).

Assisting the mocap in making the characters feel real is the frankly great writing for the side characters. Most of them are pretty likeable, unique, and memorable, especially Moses, who is just the best, most lovable friend any Life is Strange game has ever had (other than Chloe, and probably Kate). Every time he appeared on screen I wanted to see more of him and the gingerbread house scene with him was great. My only issue is that I wish the game had more of these slice of life / calm moments with these great side characters to slow the game down a little and make it feel less rushed.

For the longest time I was conflicted with what I wanted in future life is strange games. The logical part of me knew that dontnod's approach of an anthology made the most sense, and I really respect them for making the choice that was best for the story and not for their wallets. The louder part of me wanted my favourite protagonist from my favourite game ever back. When the monkey paw curled and I got what I asked for, I was extremely upset with what they did with Pricefield and my hype was essentially dead. Chapters 1 and 2 quelled my concerns, as it showed me what I thought they were going to do: explore the trauma Max has from the first game and the strain this put on her and Chloe's relationship, putting Max through an arc where she heals and moves on and potentially gets back with Chloe. And even if they didn't get back together, which I suspected from the way this breakup was talked about like it happened years ago, Max could have moved on from her attachment to Chloe leaving her and still made for a good (if less satisfying) character arc. But they didn't do any of that. They barely explored Max's past during chapters 3 and 4 and did not have any character growth moments where Max confronts her trauma, or grows from it, or does anything. And then during chapter 5 they kind of remember that they were supposed to do that to justify bringing Max back and throw some small nods towards the first game, and magically Max is ready to maybe reconnect with Chloe, but she also inexplicably is less attached to Chloe than at the start of the game and is magically less traumatised about Arcadia Bay. It just feels so unsatisfying and unearned. It completely invalidates them needing to breakup pricefield for bae Max to be in the same headspace as bay Max because THEY NEVER ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ DO ANYTHING WITH MAX'S DEPRESSION OVER CHLOE. This is what pisses me off the most, because I would be fine with them forgoing fanservice in favour of an interesting story like dontnod does. But here they forgo fanservice and a good story!?!?!?!?

I honestly really liked these new powers. Probably the most interesting of the sequel powers, and almost as interesting/maybe just as interesting as the time powers. Exploring these dual environments seeing the butterfly effect in action was awesome, even if I wish they had more interesting puzzles with the powers and explored the "shifting objects across timelines" power more than the two instances it happened. Also the times the old powers returned was pretty cool, even if they didn't do much with them.

I don't like him

He's great <3

You might be wondering why I'm still recommending this game. Well it's because of Max. No matter how bad the rest of the game was, playing as Max made it worth it. Hell, as stupid as it sounds after everything I said, I'm probably going to be just as excited to play the next LIS just because Max is going to be in it, even though I have a feeling the rest of the game will be horrible. Hannah Telle is amazing as Max and no one else could play her. Max is easily the best part of the game.

Super conflicted about this. On one hand, the story and characters (except the two ROs, ♥♥♥♥ them) are great and I'm excited to see more. On the other, the whole Chloe thing is seriously killing my hype, which sucks because this is a really good game otherwise. I feel like they could have approached the bae ending in a way that doesnt piss half the fanbase off while keeping the same angst as the bay ending. Perhaps make them split up right before the events of the game, allowing Max to grow into a healthier relationship with her, or just make it bay only? Idk, still a good game, but I can't help but be a little dissapointed.