Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
As promised last week, Square Enix Presents had some news regarding the future of the Life is Strange franchise. There's a brand new game on the way, one that heads to a brand new corner of Square Enix's story-based franchise. On Thursday, Square and Deck Nine Games revealed Life is Strange: True Colors.
True Colors follows a new protagonist named Alex Chen, a young Asian-American woman who had bounced around the foster care system. The start of the game sees her move to Haven Springs, where she reunites with her brother after eight years apart. Alex's brother is later killed in what's reported to be an accident, but suspicions arise as to the true story behind his death. Over the course of the game, Alex begins to discover a psychic power that allows her to detect emotions in other people. Alex can use this power of empathy to know what others are feeling, but if she goes in too hard, it can backfire and she'll begin to feel those intense emotions herself.
Life is Strange: True Colors marks Deck Nine Games' first game in the franchise since Life is Strange: Before the Storm. This is an entirely new setting with all-new characters with the noteworthy exception of Steph, who fans may recognize from Before the Storm. In terms of story, True Colors looks to touch on the themes of family, friendship, loss, and also what it means to belong. All of this will be seen through the eyes of Alex, who will encounter various characters and two potential love interests. Alex will be voiced by actress Erika Mori, while her singing voice will be provided by singer mxmtoon.
Deck Nine is also taking some significant steps forward with its sophomore outing in the franchise. The studio is promising that Haven Springs' Main Street will be fully explorable and feature a number of secrets and side content. Technologically, Deck Nine is moving forward with a proprietary toolkit called Storyteller. This uses full motion capture to create smoother character and environmental animation, something that had been considered one of the series' weakest elements.
The other major item to note about True Colors is that it will still unfold over the course of five chapters, but the game itself will release as a full package rather than episodically. Life is Strange: True Colors will release on PC and consoles on September 10, 2021. If you want an insight into how Deck Nine put their first game together and how the Life is Strange series has progressed, be sure to check out our original long-read feature, From Chaos: The Aspirational Storytelling of Life is Strange.