Life is Strange Play Order: Release vs. Chronological - Which is Best?

Life is Strange: The Perfect Play Order to Maximize Your emotional rollercoaster!

Life is Strange: A Guide to Playing the Games in the Best Possible Order

The Life Is Strange series is a bit of a mixed bag, offering a bunch of interconnected games alongside standalone titles. That makes figuring out the optimal play order tricky! It makes sense that new players might get a little lost. This begs the question – which way should you approach this incredibly emotionally-charged story?

Generally, there are two obvious orders: the release order and chronological order. But Life is Strange has a unique twist, making a fixed sequence unnecessary for some games. Others? These contain HUGE spoilers, completely ruining the fun for new players. Let's unravel the ideal way to approach these deeply emotional games! This involves some of the better games from recent years. It helps showcase the sheer intensity and emotionally-charged scenarios present throughout each game.

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Where to Begin Your Life is Strange Journey

Life Is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection Art Image

Start with the original Life is Strange! You play as Max Caulfield, an aspiring photographer back in her hometown Arcadia Bay for her senior year. Her reunion with her old best friend Chloe Price sparks an investigation into the disappearance of Rachel Amber; setting this mysterious tale of intense emotion and dark secrets perfectly. The game has Max's time-rewinding abilities – giving awesome chances for some critical thinking!

The Life is Strange: Arcadia Bay Collection packs this adventure, offering an easy way for newbies to dive in. The amazing mystery of Rachel's disappearance coupled with cozy Arcadia Bay's vibe sets up exactly why this is so engaging. It’s great for establishing that core Life is Strange style and gameplay!

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The Next Stop on Your Emotional Journey

Chloe and Rachel listen to music on a train in Life Is Strange Image

Next up? Life is Strange: Before the Storm! It's a prequel featuring Chloe in her high school days, exploring that important friendship with Rachel. This prequel will deliver huge Life is Strange spoilers since Chloe and Rachel are the focus. You play without Max's time-rewinding abilities – this changes that core gameplay in really big ways. You have to do better. But the reward? A fantastic story revealing a deeper emotional exploration, particularly regarding Chloe’s and Rachel’s emotional journey in their earlier years.

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A Change of Pace with Life is Strange 2

Life is Strange 2 features brothers Sean and Daniel Diaz embarking on an emotional journey across America. Unlike the earlier two, it is much more of a road-trip, rather than a mystery. Playing this one earlier is completely fine, allowing that exploration through different types of gameplay in this particular universe.

The standalone title The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit connects to LiS2; suggesting this standalone title fits perfectly between LiS and LiS2! If you only wish to experience LiS2's unique storyline; this can still be played independently.

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Embracing Empathy in Life is Strange: True Colors

Life is Strange True Colors Alex plays guitar Image

Here's where things shift from that exploration of plot and personal narratives and toward emotionally charged decision making. Life is Strange: True Colors is the perfect follow-up! Set in the quaint Haven Springs, its cozy, close-knit community brings that small-town feel back from the first game. You’ll be playing Alex Chen who uses her empathy powers– and experiencing everything alongside her as she handles both those incredibly moving moments of connection alongside other tragic personal elements which come unexpectedly.

Steph's return also connects this game nicely, making it part of the larger overall story. You can easily swap it with LiS2—both games are totally independent. They do feature references to the other, but that is not enough to create any massive conflicts with understanding what's being said and you still need to think and engage in similar ways with this one as with the other titles, especially to those experiencing that Life is Strange series for the first time!

Returning to Max: The Latest Adventure of Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Life is Strange True Colors Key Art Image

Here's the newest addition – the critically acclaimed Life is Strange: Double Exposure! Featuring Max's return after years—playing this one makes so much sense, because this newest episode needs a bit of background from the first game. She is now in college, struggling with using those time-rewinding abilities; resulting in parallel timelines, making everything incredibly interesting. Solving her friend's murder takes her into those surprising situations involving alternate versions of her reality!

This one's a little different, too; since the Ultimate Edition offers early access. That alone creates some issues that a large playerbase is concerned about, because access has been made exclusive; making it unclear exactly just how those details surrounding Double Exposure's initial releases might've affected some initial feedback from many who might not have initially bought the complete package and might feel excluded.

The Best Approach: Playing in Release Order!

Max and Safiya near a fireplace in Life is Strange: Double Exposure. Image

For those newbies who’d only started playing the entire series; playing in order of release is recommended, this maximizes the emotional journey. Swapping a few – such as LiS2 and True Colors– is totally fine— you just might miss some small details or Easter Eggs. Yet they contain enough standalone aspects; making these completely playable independently. If you don't mind spoilers or you are merely curious then experimenting is totally okay!

Then it gets interesting. You’ve got several choices and possibilities: try playing the Life is Strange series chronologically, experiencing Before the Storm before the first Life is Strange! This makes you look for potential clues that those important narrative events actually impact things in different, surprising ways that change what might happen afterward, highlighting exactly why playing out the emotional aspects is what makes these titles so deeply profound.

Conclusion: An Emotional Journey Awaits!

Max and background Life is Strange Double Exposure Image

This is more than just a game—it's a powerful emotional experience that depends so heavily on character decisions and plot revelations. Those characters, Max, Chloe, Alex, and others – all the nuanced developments across different characters— make this storyline unforgettable and that core gameplay; this focus on the decision-making within those specific plots— makes those Life is Strange games entirely unlike anything that currently exists on the market; that alone makes exploring all the elements within this deeply profound series a must!