The Brilliance of Life Is Strange's Endings.

If the Life Is Strange series was known for one singular part of their incredible games, it would be the endings. Each ending is so unique, giving the most incredible finale to an already incredible game. In this article, we will talk about the differences of all of the endings, and how the endings of the games can sometimes define the entire experience.

Life Is Strange: The original game

Whilst the original game is one of the best in the series, it has gathered criticism over the years for some of the questionable development choices. However, the ending has never been one of these controversial points. The ending is one of the selling points of the game: the fully split decision of choosing the town full of characters that you have strong opinions on or the girl that you love more than anything. The idea of fate throughout the game truly hits you, seeing what the entire game has led up to without any option of changing it. The ending is entirely dependent on how you’ve played the game, whether you’ve paid attention to the smaller details and characters or tried to speed through the story of the game. It entirely influences how strongly you feel about the outcome of the game. The answers are such perfect examples of a hypothetically morally correct outcome and a hypothetically selfish outcome to save yourself and the girl you love over the entire town. The focus on Chloe throughout the game makes it even harder to stomach the ending, as we don’t get to see the ending to their stories anyways. 

Life Is Strange: 2

This game is the perfect sequel in my eyes as the endings are so vastly different. In Life Is Strange, we are faced with an undeniable antagonist, a man to hate above all else. However, in Life Is Strange 2 gives us a concept to face instead of a single man. It truly differs in the ending, focusing on familial relationships instead of relying on romantic and platonic relationships to carry the main characters of the game. The answers are fairly similar in theme: Kill lots of people by having Daniel drive straight through them, or let Sean take the entirety of the blame, essentially sacrificing himself. I think that this answer depends entirely on how you view the antagonists of the game, how much sympathy you have for the opposition, and what your overall level of morality was. It’s an impactful ending for sure, with the montage coming afterwards being tear-jerking. The endings feel a lot more developed than the endings of the original game, with a lot more content after the decision solidifying the ideas in the player’s heads. You can either let them achieve their goals, or you let one of them get arrested to spare Daniel the trauma of killing. It’s an incredible ending to an overall amazing sequel.

Life Is Strange: Before the storm

Before the storm is vastly different to either of the endings. Here, you aren’t sacrificing one person to save the others, but you are sacrificing feelings and emotional distress. The way you see the ending is also comparable to whether you have played the original game or not, as you truly see the final outcome of her life. While your choice feels meaningless, the game does a very good job of making her limited time feel real. You choose to either tell her the truth, or lie to her. There is a morally correct answer, and an answer that would let her keep her happiness, but die never knowing what her dad has done. The answer relies on your own relationships, your own personal relationships, your own ideas of whether you would personally want to know or not if somebody you love did something wrong. The final scene truly hits you if you’re a fan of the original games, and it continues to get me every time I play it.

Life Is Strange: True Colours

I feel as if the final answer in this game isn’t truly the ending decision. The ‘final choice’ of the game comes about when you have to choose whether to stay or leave with whoever you’ve romanced. However, I don’t actually think this is the ‘ending’ of the game, and I almost consider it a pre-ending scene. To me, the final choice is whether or not you choose to forgive Jed, the monster who has taken away everything from you, and has even tried to take your life. The ending is similar to Life is Strange 1, having a main antagonist who is very clearly the enemy. However, like Before the Storm, the ending is entirely based on emotions and gut feelings. When playing the game, I chose to forgive him out of spite, as I thought it would do the most damage to him. However, denying him your forgiveness also has such a strong tone to it, denying him the one thing he wants more than anything. He truly has to accept the consequences of what happened because of it. The long scene of people deciding whether or not they believe you is truly heartbreaking, making you question what you knew about some of these characters that you consider friends, or even family. The ending is incredible, and adds so much weight onto the impact of your decisions.

Life Is Strange: Double Exposure 

The ending of Double Exposure truly feels as if it comes out of nowhere. One second, you’re talking to Amanda at the bar, or hanging out with Moses, and the next second Safi (Who’s alive now?) is asking if you want to go with her or if you won’t stick by her side. Once again, this answer is entirely dependent on how much you actually enjoy the character of Safi. We don’t spend a lot of time with her, but the time we do spend with her is fun, and is a very good playing experience. The answer has an incredibly clear moral separation, deciding between going with an antagonist or sticking to your true morals. The answer also has no direct impact, instead deciding to hint towards a sequel than provide an actual ending. Everything is essentially sequel-bait. Out of the endings in this incredible series, this one has absolutely no substance, or reason to make it impactful.