As a series, Life Is Strange is defined by two things—supernatural powers and fraught teen emotions. Announced today, Life Is Strange: True Colors brings those elements together, following the story of Alex Chen, a young woman who can see, feel and manipulate the feelings of others.
Developed by Before The Storm developer Deck Nine Games, True Colors follows Alex as she reunites with her brother Gabe in Haven Springs, a postcard-beautiful small mountain town. But when Gabe suddenly dies in an apparent accident, Alex is dragged into a web of drama that forces her to come to terms with her powers.
See, Alex can visualise the emotions of others as bright, burning auras around them. At times, we see her use this to better empathise with strangers and understand their struggles. But those emotions can also ‘infect’ her, causing her own emotions to spiral. Using this power is crucial to delving into the secrets beneath Haven Springs’ aggressively twee exterior—but pushing them too hard might come with its own risks.
Alex isn’t just a supernaturally gifted empath, mind. True Colors’ protagonist is also something of a singer, bringing the game a musical element with covers of songs from the likes of Radiohead and Phoebe Bridgers performed by mxmtoon. Today’s presentation even featuring a short snippet of Alex performing a personal karaoke fave, Creep.
Life Is Strange is also finally ditching the episodic format, with True Colours releasing as a single self-contained story (though there’ll still be clearly-defined chapters marking good points to hop on or off). The Ultimate Edition of True Colors also comes with the Life is Strange Remastered Collection, updating the original Life Is Strange and Before The Storm with improved visuals and animations.
Life Is Strange: True Colors is coming to Steam, the Windows Store and Google Stadia on September 10th, 2021.