Life is Strange: True Colors will continue the incredible, authentic queer legacy of the game series
Life Is Strange: True Colors. (Square Enix)
The Life is Strange team will continue to draw on authentic queer experiences in the forthcoming True Colors, they have confirmed.
In an interview with NME, producer Rebeccah Bassell explained that authenticity is “one of the core tenets” of the cult, memory-and-identity-themed graphic adventure game series, where players can rewind time and redo actions that have already been taken in order to progress.
“We have a queer dev community within our studio, and if there are any gaps in our knowledge we reach out and make sure that we are speaking authentically and genuinely about any experience portrayed in the game,” she said.
“We’re not just putting things in for the sake of flagging it and having it in the game: if we are going to tell a story about an individual and their lived experience, we want to ensure that voice is true.”
The article also confirms that DLC is due for the game called Life is Strange: Wavelengths that will focus on returning lesbian character Steph.
In a game that’s all about empathy, the diverse cast is an integral part of the narrative.
Says narrative director Jon Zimmerman: “We want to put players in a position where they are empathising with a diverse cast of experiences – and that was something that we loved in having Chloe as a player character in Before the Storm.
“We loved hearing the fan feedback from every type of person imaginable – all saying how impactful it was to see the world through her eyes – and that’s something that we really focused on for Life is Strange: True Colors.”
Empathy can be both a blessing and a curse, as True Colors protagonist Alex Chen will discover. Fittingly, Deck Nine are ensuring Alex’s powers for good will also reflect the strain that empathy for others can put on someone’s mental health.
“Empathy is a power that is so unique to the individual texture of a person’s emotions, and the situations they’re in that it is hard to portray correctly,” says senior staff writer Felice Kuan.
“Yes, Alex does get overwhelmed by emotion, and it is addressed in the story, but the actual gameplay experience of that is very carefully curated and paced out to balance the experience and not have it come off as [trite].”
Square Enix revealed more about the gameplay implications of Alex’s empathy powers in their E3 presentation.
Alex will be able to see the emotions of other characters as colours and can then use this information in conversations, to either help or hinder the people she comes across.
Nintendo also confirmed that True Colors will be coming to the Nintendo Switch on 10 September, as well as the Life is Strange Remastered Collection later in the year.
Check out the latest trailer below.
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