Songs To Say Goodbye
As an atheist it seems odd to find myself siding with the Pope sometimes. It’s hard to look beyond the hate and poison that affects so much of our species, but the current head of the Catholic Church (in spite of the frequent rubbish he does spout) at least appears to understand suffering, and has taken to championing mercy and compassion on a public stage that believes in naught but Mammon and its own self-interest. Fortunately he’s not alone and there are a great many for which such bleeding heart nonsense is also worth promoting, and some of them even happen to make adventure games, for as sentimental or as naïvely optimistic as they may come across to those hardened by years of cynicism.
Life is Strange: True Colors isn’t ignorant of hardship, but rather it attempts to offer hope in the face of it, finding refuge in each other, in music, in nature. Which is a tough ask as protagonist Alex Chen is given myriad reason to believe otherwise.
Having recently been spat out by what apparently passes for a childcare system, she finds herself at the Colorado town of Haven Springs, looking for a new start and reuniting with her long lost brother with whom she was separated from when going into care. As is painfully obvious, events do not go as planned, and no sooner has Alex dared to dream of some kind of happy home, then it has collapsed around her. The fallout and emotional aftermath setting the stage for her story.
Yet it’s not just her own grief and trauma that Alex has to cope with. Much of the town are understandably affected by what has happened and Alex, in the process of getting to know them and the town itself, is forced to confront their sorrows, angers and insecurities.
What complicates this all further is that Alex has the power of empathy, the ability to sense and inhabit the emotions of others, only here it is cranked up to supernatural levels. Not all emotions, but when certain feelings such as anger and sorrow are at their height, Alex is able to see them and feel them as if they were her own. Whilst this gives her an insight into what others are going through, it also inhabits her in a very real sense, making her feel what her subject feels and all the potentially negative consequences that derive from it.
Now one of the difficulties in writing about the story is that much of what makes it special is deeply personal. All game experiences are by definition subjective but here the level of specificity means that it is all but impossible to gauge whether someone will or will not be affected as I was, at least to the same degree.
I can tell you of how much I loved the protagonist, Alex Chen; I could discuss how, as a Trans woman on a combination of anti-anxiety pills, antidepressants and estrogen tablets, the simple fact of her body shape alone gave some genuine comfort to someone not usually accustomed to anything other than revulsion at how they look.
Her anxieties, her sorrows, her rare flirtations with genuine joy-- I’m no empath but I found myself caught up in those moments. She’s a character for whom kindness is the default and I admire that in her, especially given how hard that can be when life takes cruel measures with you. But what matters most, what allows for any of this happen is that she is also well written, given to nuanced thoughts and feelings with a dorky library of witty remarks and jokes to deploy when needed.
Those around her are similarly engaging and do their best with the more limited screen time given. People feel distinct but go beyond having a single defining trait that can happen sometimes with more secondary characters. They all have a past, an internal life, along with worries and desires for the future. They feel human, and the empathy mechanics work as a smart gateway into their lives and personalities.
It all serves to give the game's title some actual reality. The game is very much about how people truly are beyond what we see day to day. Thematically much is made of what people are hiding, how people cover up their feelings and emotions and reasons for it. As is the case for the series, characters are almost always written sympathetically, even those who are more overtly antagonistic and hostile.
When it comes to how the game plays, anyone with some degree of familiarity to the series will be right at home. The usual rhythm of exploring and interacting, choosing dialogue, is all there and doesn’t deviate to any great degree. The differences in True Colors are largely tied to Alex’s core power and a couple of little twists in the gameplay that whilst clever are never significant enough to warrant any concern about failing to progress.
Familiarity also extends to the choices. The extent to which they change the overall story vary; some are significant, some even change the very nature of certain individuals, but some are almost entirely negligible. The value as ever lies in the choice itself and how you come to make it. The lack of any good answer works as the perfect way to give you pause as to what you value when push comes to shove, and when the characters in question matter to you, as they often did, the dilemma becomes all the more fraught with implication.
Haven Springs certainly looks nice, not sure how much of a theme park version of rural Colorado it is to my piss and concrete suburban eyes, but the scenery is admittedly very pretty. Facial expressions, character models are all likewise improved from previous games and the animations are a touch more fluid and naturalistic.
True Colors also loves its music, with a large mix of original songs and licensed tracks that feature prominently throughout. Genre-wise it’s as you’ve come to expect from Life is Strange. There’s no Cradle of Filth or Shape of Despair alas, but its collection of indie rock and folksy ballads nevertheless speak to the softie within and work very well to create an affecting tone and give the moments of reflection a suitably emotive and almost therapeutic soundtrack.
If I had to be critical then it would that events can be a bit convenient at times, with some decisions that perhaps don’t make the most sense given the available options, but it does at least make good use of this dramatic licence. The empathy mechanic can also feel a little underutilised, as beyond a couple of occasions the negative effects seem largely mitigated or at worst incidental with no lasting effects. Given the nature of Alex’s power it would have been interesting to learn more of the side effects and how it shapes her character.
Sometime into writing this I ended up checking my original Life is strange review, and beyond it being far superior piece of writing to this mess of words purporting to be language, it could almost be reiterated point for point when it comes to True Colors, only with certain facets having been improved since then. It doesn’t fundamentally do anything to change the series, but rather refines it in a number of ways, most clearly through its improved writing and visuals. Key though, is that the soul of the series and its soft-hearted optimism remains steadfast, and never before has it been so sorely needed.