Life is Strange: Reunion Brings Max and Chloe Together to Save the Series

1 week ago 4

Published Feb 1, 2026, 9:30 AM EST

Melissa Sarnowski has been a game writer for over two years. While she's willing to dig into any game for an article, she heavily focuses on The Legend of Zelda, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, and The Sims content, having played games from each franchise since she was a child.

Life is Strange has announced the next game in the franchise, and it's going to be the third—and final—game telling Max's story. Life is Strange: Reunion is set after Max's second adventure in Double Exposure. As usual, Max finds herself in the middle of a new mystery that requires her ability to rewind time to solve.

Max is still in Caledon for Reunion, which is the location where Double Exposure is set. However, her already far-from-normal life is interrupted by the supernatural and unexplainable once again when Chloe shows up. While there's not a lot of information yet about the circumstances, it seems that Chloe is suffering from nightmares that might be more than bad dreams.

Reunion Continues a Saga that Shouldn't be a Saga

Next Life Is Strange Game Brings Chloe Back for More Life and Death Choices

The original Life is Strange gathered a dedicated following with its focus on choices, rewarding exploration, and emotional moments.

Naturally, the bond between Chloe and Max, whether you picked the romantic options or not, seemed to be the highlight for many players. Like the rest of the series, the first game is episodic and filled with mysteries, and it was enjoyable even if the dialogue was a bit strange at times.

collage of 3 games; mgs2, last of us 2 and life is strange

However, the problem is that the first game wrapped up the story of Max and Chloe. There are two possible endings, and both are bittersweet at best. With the level of debate over which ending was canon, it was better to leave it up to the players and the choice they made, which also added a sense of importance to the last decision you make in the game.

It's baffling that Max was brought back even for Double Exposure, and it feels like Max's story was never meant to be a saga, but ended up as one due to the lackluster reception of other games in the series.

Now, Reunion is making that heart-wrenching decision invalid by deciding that both endings are canon. Max merged timelines in Double Exposure, and that means she merged the timelines that split during the final decision in LiS1.

Chloe is alive, and Arcadia Bay was saved. Unfortunately, that feels a lot like fan service, as the sacrifice of one or the other made the choice feel like it had weight and consequences, and now the best parts of both endings are true. It feels wrong to have that kind of ideal ending be canon years after the game was released.

Life is Strange is Trying to Survive

The LiS games following the first one weren't bad, but they weren't as beloved by players. In a lot of ways, it was a combination of the setting, the characters being relatable even if the situations they faced weren't always that way, and seeing a bond reform between best friends who lost touch when one moved away. It had a magic that the following games simply couldn't seem to capture.

Bringing Max back in Double Exposure left players disappointed that Max apparently left again, assuming that Chloe was alive, and she wasn't in the game. While Chloe's absence wasn't the reason that the story of Double Exposure didn't feel like it worked, it didn't help the reception towards the game.

After multiple other games and a second game for Max's story, returning to Max and Chloe reinforces the idea that the series is unable to survive without them.

Reunion might end up being a good game. It's far too early to make an assumption about it. The problem is that trying to follow other stories, then returning to the original duo, certainly makes it feel like the series is failing, and the developers need to rely on nostalgia and the love that Max and Chloe receive from players. If this is the case, then Life is Strange: Reunion might be the series's last shot to survive.