This review contains spoilers
Life is Strange: True Colors has stuck with me for some time now. There are a few reasons for that, but essential to all of them is the simple fact that True Colors tells a story about empathy, community, and loss without losing the thread on finding comfort in all those things. Although previous games have told powerful stories, they have struggled to at times find the balance between the drama and the human element that grounds their narrative. True Colors (with one major exception) finds that balance and tells a beautiful story of growth and finding your place in the world.
Erka Mori’s Alex Chen is, by all accounts, a character adrift in the world when we meet her. She has lost her parents, lost contact with her brother, and has no place to call home after eight years in a group home. Her power is to connect with peoples inherent emotions. This super-empathy comes at the cost of Alex herself being somewhat out of control of her own emotional state. This poor woman is on unsteady ground, and this is before the narrative kicks off. This is all a lot of words to say Alex is a character that connects. Her loss and struggle to really be at home anywhere is relatable. Haven Springs offers an idyllic home to settle in, but of course tragedy continues.
On the narrative, I should address that one major exception. The first chapter of True Colors ends with Alex’s brother Gabe being killed by a rock slide. The game has barely introduced us to Gabe and his home when everything is disrupted by his death. More time before Gabe’s death may have been meandering, but it was all too short for seven hour runtime. It is a notable complaint given the story is centered on the loss and those responsible, but not one that ruins the experience. The abrupt nature of Gabe’s death is in some sense more authentic to how loss can be, but it feels messy in a narrative sense. But it is a messy narrative, and that is okay.
Characters pain in True Colors is emphasized through the empathy system. Characters inner thoughts are laid bare, and you have to navigate trauma. Haven Springs is full of wonderful characters, people who have gone through loss and in most cases are still working through that grief. Alex is well suited to be the one to try to help these people find peace. Connecting with them and Haven Springs as a place then becomes an act of processing. Taking all this trauma and using it to be someone better tomorrow. The core story is honestly secondary to that. Jed’s heel turn is silly but fits within the broader themes of the story. Another man haunted by his past and unable to face it.
With the greed of the powerful and the indifference to tragedy that so many show, True Colors acts as an expression of collective wanting. What if we could face up to the challenges behind us and be better people? What if we could find this little pocket of earth that we can call home? What if we could surround ourselves with people that care for us and wouldn’t be the same without us? Well, maybe we’d find some peace and be able to begin our next chapter whatever that might be.
“You don’t know exactly when it happens. But one day, you look around and find that you have transformed this place just as much as it has transformed you. And the most extraordinary thing of all is just how normal it all feels. You don’t question it. You don’t doubt it, or wonder what might have been. It's your life, the life you fought so hard to have. And for the first time in a long time, you just live.”
Erka Mori’s Alex Chen is, by all accounts, a character adrift in the world when we meet her. She has lost her parents, lost contact with her brother, and has no place to call home after eight years in a group home. Her power is to connect with peoples inherent emotions. This super-empathy comes at the cost of Alex herself being somewhat out of control of her own emotional state. This poor woman is on unsteady ground, and this is before the narrative kicks off. This is all a lot of words to say Alex is a character that connects. Her loss and struggle to really be at home anywhere is relatable. Haven Springs offers an idyllic home to settle in, but of course tragedy continues.
On the narrative, I should address that one major exception. The first chapter of True Colors ends with Alex’s brother Gabe being killed by a rock slide. The game has barely introduced us to Gabe and his home when everything is disrupted by his death. More time before Gabe’s death may have been meandering, but it was all too short for seven hour runtime. It is a notable complaint given the story is centered on the loss and those responsible, but not one that ruins the experience. The abrupt nature of Gabe’s death is in some sense more authentic to how loss can be, but it feels messy in a narrative sense. But it is a messy narrative, and that is okay.
Characters pain in True Colors is emphasized through the empathy system. Characters inner thoughts are laid bare, and you have to navigate trauma. Haven Springs is full of wonderful characters, people who have gone through loss and in most cases are still working through that grief. Alex is well suited to be the one to try to help these people find peace. Connecting with them and Haven Springs as a place then becomes an act of processing. Taking all this trauma and using it to be someone better tomorrow. The core story is honestly secondary to that. Jed’s heel turn is silly but fits within the broader themes of the story. Another man haunted by his past and unable to face it.
With the greed of the powerful and the indifference to tragedy that so many show, True Colors acts as an expression of collective wanting. What if we could face up to the challenges behind us and be better people? What if we could find this little pocket of earth that we can call home? What if we could surround ourselves with people that care for us and wouldn’t be the same without us? Well, maybe we’d find some peace and be able to begin our next chapter whatever that might be.
“You don’t know exactly when it happens. But one day, you look around and find that you have transformed this place just as much as it has transformed you. And the most extraordinary thing of all is just how normal it all feels. You don’t question it. You don’t doubt it, or wonder what might have been. It's your life, the life you fought so hard to have. And for the first time in a long time, you just live.”