When your brother has just died, you've moved to a new town, and your life has been pretty much a disaster for years, you might want some comfort.
Troubled empath Alex Chen doesn't get that luxury after arriving in Haven Springs, Colorado. Her unique ability means that when powerful emotions plague people, she can hear their thoughts and even experience how they feel and how they view the world. And for Deck Nine, that means she's tasked with solving everyone's problems, no matter what they think.
It's a heavy burden placed on someone from a broken background, and on paper it has the potential for a touching and profound commentary on what it means to grieve. But Life Is Strange: True Colors is often less concerned with exploring painful emotions than just presenting them and calling it a day. It's a beautiful game in many ways, but a surprisingly superficial approach to emotional healing and uneven development means that True Colors often contradicts itself and falls short of its true potential.
Life Is Strange True Colors Review: What About Alex?
Alex comes from a struggling family and entered the foster system at a young age. His brother, Gabe, has managed to make a life for himself in Haven Springs, and once he reunites with Alex, invites her to live with him.
The first chapter of True Colors is one of the strongest in the story. You see an Alex full of uncertainty, avoiding eye contact, making choices about whether or not to show affection, and struggling to cope with the overwhelming nature of being in a new place surrounded by new people.
The phone messages and his diary help piece together the tragic story of his youth, and Deck Nine hid (too well, in some cases) many more clues about Alex and Gabe's father.
It's probably impossible to support Alex at this point or want the best for her. She's one of the most interesting and well-known protagonists in games, and watching her grow closer to Gabe and start to realize that maybe she deserves a happy life is one of the most touching sequences. that I have seen.
It's also where the Haven Springs characters come to life the most, at least until the end of the game. Ranger Ryan shows real concern for Alex, for example, and Steph from previous Life Is Strange entries is affectionate and fun. It's a promising start to a new life.
Of course, it doesn't last. It's not a spoiler to say that Gabe dies since Deck Nine makes him a key marketing piece for True Colors. This is when things go awry for both Alex and the game.
True Colors is supposed to be about Alex and empathy, but its development and everyone stings after the first chapter. Throughout the second and third chapters, my reaction was almost always "And Alex?" Ryan is saddened by Gabe's death. And Alex? Steph needs comfort because he was her best friend. And Alex?
No one thinks of the friendless orphan who has just lost her only family member after moving to a new town. Even Alex doesn't talk about it, which is a strange decision. Much of the game reduces her to being a psychic Mary Poppins, flying around town solving problems and (mostly) trying to help people be happy.
There's even a moment in Chapter Two where everyone leaves Alex behind during Gabe's wake. Her touching gesture of affection inspired joy in the crowd, and as they watch her flutter in the wind, Alex draws solace from the radiant emotions they feel - which is good, because she doesn't get apparently no emotional fulfillment or healing otherwise.
I understand that in some ways. Alex wants to make the most of her new home, so she does what she can to help. It's almost as if Deck Nine forgot that they created an emotionally complex character at those times, however, someone who also has needs to be taken care of.
It's never quite like "you give me an emotional edge, I'll give you a day of peace in Haven Springs," but the transactional nature puts a damper on the town's feel like a comfortable new home. Nor is it intentional. Haven Springs is an overly idealized small town, so there's never any danger of not fitting in to begin with.
The only time we get a reading of Alex's feelings is during one of True Colors' zen moments. These are beautifully frustrating segments where Alex pauses to reflect and view the scenery while one of True Colors' licensed songs plays in the background. The beautiful part is obvious, but the frustration comes from seeing what could have been. These are the only times Alex can reflect on his own emotions and the upsetting changes in his life because True Colors refuses to give him the time and space elsewhere. And every zen moment doesn't even allow him to do that.
Deck Nine doesn't seem too sure of the story it wants to tell. It's a story of murder, slice of life, coming home, family and self-acceptance. It's all supposed to revolve around empathy, but True Colors takes a superficial approach to emotions and healing in general.
The most important scenes begin when someone feels a strong emotion. Alex uses his power and understands why. Then you choose something to say based on what Alex has learned, and the emotion goes away. This makes sense in some cases, for example, where Alex removes the source of someone's fear. In others it's almost ridiculously simplified, where a touching game of foosball or a gentle reminder of a dead goose story means the problem is solved and we can move on.
True Colors doesn't have to wallow in misery, and everyone deals with loss in different ways. But if it's about tackling heavy topics like bereavement with any kind of maturity, there should be a real commitment to dealing with those issues beyond a sentimental scene or two before they don't disappear. Trauma and grief don't just go away after a touching scene. They linger, unpredictable and often ugly. Treating them lightly as True Colors often do has the potential to do more harm than good.
Catharsis requires more than just seeing a problem that you recognize. There's no real tension or release in True Colors' emotional conflicts because Deck Nine doesn't do anything meaningful with them - or anything, for that matter.
The side stories best exemplify this and have always left me wondering "What am I supposed to do with this?" Take the example of Eleanor, the owner of a flower shop, for example.
Eleanor is struggling with the early to mid stages of dementia, but no one knows until Alex arrives. You are immersed in Eleanor's grief and must help her retrace her steps so that she remembers something important, then choose to be honest or lie about something other than her forgot, which does not give good results.
In the end, you choose to tell Riley about it or let her go to college. It's an almost predatory game on people's emotions, a game that takes a tragic issue, puts it in your face and says, “Look, isn't that sad? Don't you feel things? before walking away, slightly smug to tackle a "big problem".
Even your important choices don't have a significant effect on how things play out, and finding the "right" answer is pretty straightforward for the most part. It doesn't help that Alex's power doesn't add any layers of complexity or interest to True Colors proceedings. It's just another button to press.
In short, True Colors needed more time and thought, and that's a shame. I wanted to love Haven Springs, and I did – when it let me. There's an almost overwhelming number of areas and objects to explore, with Alex providing witty or insightful commentary on even the most mundane of things.
Her relationships with Ryan and Steph (and everyone else, basically) happen almost exclusively through background text messages that offer insight into their daily lives. Here too, most skim the surface. There's nothing particularly deep about either of their relationships, and both romance options seem rather wooden by the end.
If True Colors was just a slice of life or mystery game, it would be perfectly acceptable and even expected, though. There is care taken in these details and the shenanigans they do. Even though no one is actually allowed to grow much, I found myself loving the flawed and quirky citizens of Haven Springs, thanks in large part to a set of fantastic voice acting performances, especially from the Alex actor , Erika Mori.
It's a city you want to hang out in, and Deck Nine had focused more on building relationships instead of trying to make big statements about emotions and connectedness — statements that True Colors don't. is in no way equipped to handle – the ironic thing is that True Colors would have come closer to saying something important about relationships anyway.
As long as someone remembered to check on Alex, at least.
Life Is Strange True Colors Review – The Result
Benefits
- Full of details
- Alex is a fantastic character
- Strong performance
- Zen moments are touching and beautiful
The inconvenients
- Superficial attempt to address heavy emotions and topics
- Character development tanks after the first chapter
- Split focus means no one aspect gets the development it needs
- Boundaries on emotional manipulation sometimes
- Alex's power feels fancy and adds little to the experience
Life is Strange: True Colors may feature adult characters, but obviously the franchise itself still has some development to do. Deck Nine tries and ultimately fails to tell a story of emotional healing at best.
At worst, he treats difficult subjects with a flippant callousness that suggests he doesn't quite understand how to deal with those emotions to begin with, let alone tell a meaningful story about healing and growth.
[Note: Square Enix provided the copy of Life Is Strange: True Colors used for this review.]
