Did Max let Chloe die to save Arcadia Bay , or did she sacrifice the townspeople to save Chloe ?
This was the final of import option players had to make in the originalLife is Strange , and one of the first players have to make at the beginning ofLife is Strange : Double Exposure . That narrative escapade biz , out today , once again stars Max Caulfield as she deals with the fallout of that decision and her powers a decade later . A Modern mystery story pops up around Caledon University , where Max now works , and get the picture into old worked up wounds that this heartbreaking decisiveness create .
Like the other major decision inDouble Exposure , the write up permutates depending on the players ’ option regarding what happened to Chloe . There has been some controversy online surrounding what happens if Chloe lives , as she and Max break up between game , and some talks , texts , and other moment reverberate that . While part up that popular relationship was already a bold move by developer Deck Nine , Double Exposureis a more emotionally poignant game if you make the other decision .
While there ’s no canyon answer , I thinkDouble Exposureis better if Max had to let Chloe die .
Thematically relevant
To understand why I believe Chloe being dead workplace , we have to calculate atDouble Exposureon a more thematic level . On the surface , it ’s about Max investigating the death of her supporter , Safi , and finding out how that ’s connected to Safi ’s Koran deal being cancel and the suicide of a lady friend named Maya Okada days earlier . Thematically , it ’s about how traumatic events or decisions we made years prior wo n’t ever truly stop being a specter and influence over us if we continue to ignore those feelings or isolate ourselves because of them .
That puts Max ’s arc inDouble Exposurein a strong position . Even though a 10 has passed between games , she ’s still dealing with the impacts of her decisiveness in Arcadia Bay . She fancy her metre - traveling powers as a curse and has n’t used them since . Max has also become resigned to the fact that it ’s impossible to change events to avoid trauma entirely and that it ’s better to just have those things happen to you . As a effect , she spent most of that decade between games cheat the U.S. without place down root .
Shortly after she does so at Caledon , a traumatic event like Safi ’s death happens , and digs all of those notion up again . It also gives Max unexampled powers that allow her travel between two timeliness , stand for how Max wants to hightail it the more traumatic parts of her reality . ThroughoutDouble Exposure , Max ’s electric arc is ultimately about finding a way to acknowledge her preceding trauma and its effect on her .
Max must acquire the gruelling lesson that you need to process your trauma and retiring choices because even rewinding time or going to an substitute world wo n’t completely fix it . That emotional thematic arc becomes all the more poignant when Chloe is dead .
To be light , there is no “ right ” pick here . Double Exposureis designed to adapt to role player ’ answers to what happened at the close ofLife is unusual . unleash a violent storm upon a town is an apprehensible cause of trauma for Max , as is her fumbling her relationship with Chloe because she fail to in good order process the events of the firstLife is unknown . If Max had to rent Chloe die , though , Double Expsoure’semotional journey and hardship is rooted in a literal , ugly choice Max had to make rather than a freak supernatural issue .
If Chloe ’s dead , then that meant Max attempt to use her powers to change case , but ultimately assume that she should n’t . While one can debate Arcadia Bay being destruct was an unfortunate aftereffect of a good deed of conveyance , letting Chloe get shot and die is a hard personal choice that Max will have to endure with for the rest of her life . To me , that makes Max ’s headspace and actions in the first place on inDouble Exposuremake more good sense .
Max feel that all of her trauma is her defect and that she ’ll never be able to rely on or jazz anyone as she did with Chloe . It lines Max ’s faulting up with those who fail Maya Okada better . All of that make Max ’s fight to get out of that brainpower , get Justice Department for Safi and Maya , and bosom the found household around her all the more captivating . Double Exposureis about Max learning that her power ca n’t just be an undo push button , but that she can take how to use them to help others . Failing to unmake Chloe ’s death gives Max the experience she needs to know the kind of instant and notion she never wants to bring upon herself or anybody else again .
While I chose the dying choice on a whim when I started playingDouble Exposurefor the first time , I think I have a better character electric discharge for Max because of it . That might go like blasphemy to those who adore Chloe , but it speaks to how choose - your - own - adventure game likeDouble Exposurecan give musician control over the thematic undertide of their experience .
Life is foreign : Double Exposureis available now for PC , PS5 , and Xbox Series X / S. It ’s also in development for Nintendo Switch .
