Life is Strange: True Colors

Life is Strange: True Colors: Beautiful on the Outside, Complicated on the Inside
Going into Life is Strange: True Colors, I wasn’t expecting another Life is Strange (1) level emotional breakdown… but I was hoping for something close. And what I got instead was a game that is visually beautiful, emotionally sincere at times… but also strangely distant in ways I didn’t expect.
Let me make one thing clear from the start, I don’t play these games for anything else except story, emotions, atmosphere, and direction. That’s it. And in some of those areas, this game shines. In others… it struggles.

Story & Emotion: Strong Start, Softer Impact
The story revolves around Alex Chen and her ability to feel and absorb other people’s emotions, which is honestly a very unique and interesting concept. It gives the game a different kind of depth, not explosive, not dramatic in the usual sense, but quiet, personal, and human.
At first, I was hooked. The small-town setting, the music, the atmosphere… it all felt warm and immersive. But as the story progressed, something started to feel off. The emotional connection I usually feel in this series just wasn’t hitting the same way.
It’s not that the story is bad, it’s just… not as powerful as the previous entries. Even reviews point out that while the game is emotional, the central mystery and ending don’t hit as hard and can feel a bit underwhelming or predictable.
And for a Life is Strange game, that’s a big deal.

Characters: Good, But Missing That Magic
Alex is a good protagonist. In fact, many people consider her one of the better ones in the series because of how natural she feels.
But here’s the problem, I didn’t connect with the characters the same way I did with Max, Chloe, or even Sean and Daniel.
They’re well-written, yes. They feel real, yes. But they don’t stay with you after the game ends. And that emotional attachment is exactly what made the earlier games unforgettable.

World & Presentation: Absolutely Beautiful
Now this is where the game truly shines.
Haven Springs is probably one of the most beautiful and detailed locations in the entire series. It feels cozy, alive, and peaceful, like a place you’d actually want to visit and stay in for a while.
The facial animations, voice acting, and music are top-tier. The performances feel natural, and the soundtrack carries that familiar Life is Strange vibe that just hits differently.
There were moments where I just stopped playing and sat there thinking,
“Yeah… this is why I love this series.”

Gameplay: Simple but Effective
Gameplay is pretty much what you expect from a Life is Strange game, exploring, making choices, interacting with people, and uncovering bits of the story.
Alex’s empathy power is interesting, but it doesn’t feel as impactful or game-changing as previous abilities in the series. It’s more subtle, more emotional, but also less engaging in terms of gameplay.
Also, let’s be honest, this game is not very long. Once it ends, you kind of sit there thinking, “That’s it?”


Pros:

Beautiful world and atmosphere
Strong voice acting and emotional soundtrack
Unique empathy-based power
Cozy, immersive small-town setting
Some genuinely heartfelt moments

Cons:

Story lacks impact compared to earlier games
Characters don’t connect as deeply
Short experience for the price
Choices feel limited in consequence
Ending feels a bit rushed or safe

Final Thoughts:
Life is Strange: True Colors is a good game… but not a great one.
It has heart. It has beauty. It has moments where it reminds you why this series is special. But it also feels like it’s playing things a bit too safe, a bit too soft, and not taking the emotional risks that made the earlier titles unforgettable.
I don’t hate it. I don’t regret playing it.
But I also don’t feel that same emptiness I felt after finishing the first game… that feeling where you just sit there, staring at the screen, not ready to move on.
7/10 - Recommended, but don’t expect it to hit your soul the same way the earlier games did.

Turns out, it really isn’t bad. Moreover, it’s actually pretty good.
Deck Nine really did manage to stir into the right direction just as everyone, myself included, decided that the ship is as good as sunken.
You are greeted by the colorful, vibrant visuals; both the breathtaking opened landscapes and the cute little streets of a small suburban town. Honestly, all the love, care, and attention to detail that went into creating Haven Springs are visible from the very first hour of the game; the usually moderately boring choir of exploring every single interactable thing (don’t lie to yourself, it is somewhat dull sometimes) is actually pleasant in this game for the very reason of how aesthetic, welcoming, and satisfying the visuals are, including the interior design, where everything is exactly where it belongs and every single little thing seems to have its place.
Once you’ve somewhat accustomed to how incredibly pretty the town is, you’ll see that the facial animations are completely on par with it: sometimes a character will express their emotions by simply making a face and you will have no issues understanding what they meant. There is also an awful lot of looking: awkward glancing, confused blinking, eye darting, and trust me when I say this, you will read into it all perfectly because it is that good.
Characters in this game are also so incredibly compelling, simply by being carefully well-written and therefore easy to relate to. They are simple, but in a good way; understandable, with clear intentions and reasons for their actions, even the ‘bad’ ones. This is achieved, no matter by design or not, through Alex, who is supernaturally (duh) empathetic. However, it is not just a game mechanic - to explore other’s emotions - but an actual tool to understand and unravel the characters as Alex does so, together with her. And you only understand how much you as a player were in tandem with the main character after the end credits roll since while playing it was so seamless and natural.
The romance plotline is nothing but endearing, both available characters having their own, special chemistry with Alex. Ryan ended up being the only guy in so very long that I’ve actually considered romancing. With no luck though, since Steph. Nuff said.
There’s not much I can tell about the story without spoiling it. It is slow-paced, focused heavily on emotion rather than action. But, with characters such as this game has, it was honestly more of an advantage; it was an absolute delight to explore them. There is a customary plot twist at the end, however, and to me it wasn’t obvious till the very last moment.
Music is, as always, woven into the story flawlessly, creating that same unique LIS universe atmosphere that was still present even in the second game. As usual, I will save the entire playlist and enjoy it long after I’ve finished the game.
You know what, I will even dare to tell you that this (in some instances) is a better game than the original LIS. There it is, I said it, sue me. Actually, wait, don’t sue me, just go give it a try.
It’s worth it, I promise.

Came for the superpower, stayed for the feelings. Alex can literally feel your emotions — which is great until everyone in town starts trauma-dumping XD

This is my favourite ever Life is Strange game. I love the story telling, I love how they made Alex and Steph the people they are. It's honestly a good buy!

You play as Alex Chen, a young woman emerging from years in foster care to reconnect with her brother Gabe in the idyllic mountain town of Haven Springs, Colorado. Alex possesses supernatural empathy — she can see and feel other people’s emotions as colored auras, and sometimes absorb those emotions herself. The power works less like a traditional game mechanic and more like a storytelling lens focused on trauma, vulnerability, and emotional connection.

Haven Springs is the game’s greatest achievement. Unlike the road-trip structure of Life is Strange 2, the single-town setting allows relationships to breathe. The town feels intimate, cozy, and believable, filled with characters who gradually become emotionally important to Alex — and to the player. Critics consistently highlighted Haven Springs as one of the series’ strongest settings.

The central mystery surrounding Gabe’s death drives the plot, but the real strength lies in quieter moments: rooftop conversations, record-store hangouts, a surprisingly charming LARP sequence, and reflective “zen moments” where the game pauses simply to let you exist in the world.

Mechanically, Life is Strange: True Colors remains a classic narrative adventure: exploration, dialogue choices, relationship management, and occasional environmental puzzles. The empathy mechanic creates some interesting interactions, particularly when Alex absorbs another character’s overwhelming emotional state.

Visually, this is the best-looking Life is Strange game. Lighting, facial animation, and environmental detail represent a major leap for the series. The art direction balances realism with painterly warmth, perfectly complementing the emotional tone.

The soundtrack is outstanding. Indie folk, ambient tracks, and emotional acoustic pieces continue the franchise tradition of using music as emotional punctuation.

Life is Strange: True Colors succeeds because of emotional authenticity rather than narrative complexity. It trades shocking twists for sincerity, creating a warm, melancholic story about grief, identity, and human connection. While the mystery and player-choice systems are weaker than they could have been, Alex Chen and Haven Springs carry the experience with remarkable charm.

For fans of narrative-driven games, character-focused storytelling, and emotionally intimate adventures, it is one of the strongest entries in the series.

9/10
DISASTER | BAD | MEDIOCRE | OKAY | GOOD | GREAT | AMAZING | MASTERPIECE

Reviewed on: Win11 Home 64-bit, Intel i5-11600K, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB PRIME, 32GB DDR4-3600 RAM, 2 x Kingston NV1 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, Internet Broadband 1000/1000 Mbit

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I spend most of my time feeling other people’s emotions, trying to fix what hurts and help however I can. Yet no one seems to notice how I feel. That’s why Life Is Strange: True Colors feels so powerful — and so heartbreaking. For me, it’s the best entry in the Life Is Strange series, because it understands what it means to carry everyone else’s feelings while being unseen yourself.

Well, I have to give it a weak thumbs up, because it is a decent game, but at the same time this is still by far the weakest entry in the series for me (haven't played Double Exposure yet). The Life is Strange DNA is kind of there. The art style, the music, some of the characters, but only some. The story is way too avarage, with writing that ranges from how is this even allowed in a LiS game kind of bad, to good. Just good. Not fantastic or exceptional, just good. It's one of those games, where you don't feel like you've wasted your time by playing it, but you also haven't gained anything, and you'll probably forget about it in a week or less.
7/10