Life is Strange 2
Wrote on Mar 2022 | Categories: narrative, favorites
Series
Games from this series ordered by release date:
Trailer
Review
So, as opposed to the two previous games, Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm, this one is (apparently) not related to that Arcadia Bay story. At least all the characters are different (or... are they? 👀).
I don't think there was a "good" ending in this game. I mean, sure, some were less sad than others 😂 but that doesn't mean they're better lol they're still sad af (at least for me).
But anyway. So this game hit home in some things for me. These two brothers live with their dad. The dad was a Mexican who migrated to the US and there's where he met these boys' mom. Both boys were born in the US, so they're actually American. Throughout the game, they explain why their mom doesn't live with them, but I won't spoil that for you.
So the game starts with you being the older brother, Sean, I think he's around 16. You just want to go to a party and you think your 10-yo brother (Daniel) is annoying. It's a pretty normal life! But everything changes when Daniel goes out to play and a neighbor (it's important to note this neighbor is a white boy) starts a fight with him. The neighbor was bullying Daniel. You go out and notice this is happening, and you get your first important choice: do you defend Daniel or do you apologize to the neighbor?
Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about what happens next because I don't want to spoil the game for you. But throughout the game, you get to do important decisions that will reflect your character. It is especially hard to keep making "good" decisions because you meet a LOT of racists along the way. Remember you and your brother were born in the US, but your father is Mexican. From the photo at the top, you can see that both boys look like Mexicans even though they're Americans - this is important to note because all those racists assume you're Mexicans because of how you look like.
I think I was able to stay out of my character just because he's a boy and I didn't feel too connected on that front. However, I can for sure say that all my decisions were the choices I'd make if I were in the same situation.
trigger warning below - racism, humiliation
There was one specific thing that happened in the last chapter that absolutely broke my heart. In summary, two (white) guys found me sleeping in my car (I had been driving for hours and stopped a bit to rest) and I get several choices to start a fight with them or to just keep quiet and move on. I didn't start a fight at any point because I was scared of them doing something to me, so I just kept quiet or nodded or stuff like that. Well, right before they let me go, they made me sing in Spanish and started laughing at me. My character started crying and the guy just kept laughing! It was absolutely humiliating and sad. It hit me very hard because it's not so far from our current situation.
Anyway, if you're Mexican and have experienced racism in the US, this is going to hit home for you too. You'll feel especially bad if you do have a younger brother and/or if you were raised by a single parent.
Rating
I give it 5/5 because the topics they touch are absolutely devastating and the game was so well-executed. Thank you for raising these issues in yet another channel. They have to stop doing this. One way or another.
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