DONTNOD, the makers of the very underrated but nonetheless excellent sci-fi action game Remember Me have teamed up with Japanese publisher Square Enix to develop an all new game called Life is Strange.
The title is an entirely new IP for the Square Enix family of games, which includes other fresh IPs like Bravely Default and Sleeping Dogs, as well as a long line of long-running IPs including most famously the Final Fantasy franchise.
“What if this title was wholly different to anything we have ever attempted before, both in gameplay and narrative?,” asks Square Enix on its official blog. “What if this title was released digitally as regular episodic content, with each new chapter building and evolving based on the choices you made in previous episodes? What if we now gave all of this a name: Life is Strange?”
So it sounds like Life is Strange is going to be a digital title with an episodic release schedule, slightly similar to The Walking Dead in terms of how the actions made by the player shape the game’s narrative. Hopefully, with Life is Strange, it’s going to be deeper than surface level choices.
Here’s what the game’s story, which appears to feature two female protagonists, is about:
Max Caulfield has been absent from Arcadia Bay, Oregon for five years now. Upon returning home she discovers that Rachel Amber, a fellow senior at school, has disappeared under mysterious and rather uncomfortable circumstances. While trying to uncover the truth Max reunites with an old friend, Chloe, and makes a startling discovery: Max has the power to rewind time…
Thus begins the story for a game that everyone here at Square Enix has fallen in love with. I know I've mentioned this before, but Life is Strange is something entirely different – we've teamed up with DONTNOD Entertainment (the guys and girls behind 'Remember Me') and they've delivered some amazing stuff. Each and every texture in Life is Strange is a hand drawn work of art and every action enacts a butterfly effect – but with the power to rewind time, what would you change? And would it turn out to be a change for the better or worse?
Life is Strange is set for release on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, as well as the PC.