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How to get the most out of Life Is Strange 2
Follow these tips and you will locate secrets and discover more about the characters.
Life is Strange 2, the sequel to Dontnod Entertainment’s 2015 release, follows two brand new characters – the brothers Daniel and Sean Diaz – on a roadtrip to Mexico, while on the run from the police. Just like in the original, this game features tons of neat character moments, dramatic decisions, and Easter eggs for players to find.
So, to make sure you get the most out of the game, we’ve put together a quick guide. The following will help you locate secrets, find out more about the new protagonists, and make sure you don’t miss anything too important.
1. Play with a friend
Life is Strange 2 isn’t a multiplayer game per se, as only one player is ever really in control, but that doesn’t mean you can’t play it with friends. Having two people play the game opens up a bunch of cool possibilities, including the option to talk over decisions and try and convince your friend around to your way of thinking. Better yet, it also means that between episodes, you’ll have someone to discuss the story with and theorise about what will happen next.
2. Investigate everything
Complete your search of a room before moving on
© Dontnod
There’s an age-old bit of video game advice that says you should explore everything and talk to everyone. This is especially true in Life is Strange 2. You’ll find postcards, letters, and drawings scattered throughout the world, which will give you a huge amount of context about its characters. So, if you want to uncover all of the story, you should definitely search all the environments fully before moving on. The game does a good job of making the action that will trigger progression clear to the player at the start of a scene, so just stay clear of it until you’ve done a quick sweep of your surroundings first.
This is a good way to uncover secrets that the developers have hidden, including nods to other games and references to films, books, and TV shows.
3. Look for activities
You can take part in some special activities
© Dontnod
Another fun thing that you can do to improve your playing experience is take part in mini-games. A couple of items have special prompts, which will allow you to take part in special activities. Not only are these tied to some of the achievements, but they will also help to break the gameplay up, giving you some added interaction with your environment.
The Life is Strange series has done this before in the past -- the tabletop scene in Before the Storm being one great example -- and Life is Strange 2 continues the tradition in superb fashion.
4. Listen out for Daniel
Pay attention to what Daniel is doing
© Dontnod
You will sometimes hear the younger brother Daniel take an interest in his surroundings. Make sure to keep an ear out and pay attention to what he’s doing as sometimes a new prompt will appear, letting you interact with your environment in more detailed ways than just looking at them. These scenes are some of the best the game has to offer and impact the brothers’ relationship subtly. So, don’t miss out on them!
5. Check the menus
Bring up the menu every so often
© Dontnod
Another thing that is easy to miss is the game’s menu, as you can pretty much get by without opening it at all while playing. Bringing up the menu, however, does have some advantages, which make it worthwhile. It will reveal the ability to customise your backpack with souvenirs you find in the world, and also let you read and interact with your journal and other items in your backpack. So, at some point during exploration, stop and take a look through it. You might be surprised by some of the stuff you find.
6. Take a seat
It really is a good idea to have a sit down
© Dontnod
The Life is Strange games have always allowed players to take a minute and appreciate the excellent surroundings, but in Life is Strange 2 this takes on a greater significance. If you sit around long enough, you will occasionally unlock additional character moments where you can talk to Daniel about how he is feeling and what’s on his mind.
Try not to rush through the game, and whenever you see the option to sit down in a chair take a moment to relax. It could help you unlock some additional dialogue and strengthen the bond between the two brothers.
7. Go back for seconds
Play the episode again to uncover more stuff
© Dontnod
After completing an episode of Life is Strange 2, you will be faced with a set of choices you made and be able to compare your results with other players. Sometimes this will reveal options you never knew were available and other things that you may have missed out in the world. So, why not go back and play it all over again? You can keep several save files, so this is extremely easy for you to do and might even improve your experience of future episodes as you notice the growing divide between the two playthroughs.
