It’s been just over a month since we announced Life is Strange: Reunion, the thrilling finale to the saga of Max and Chloe.
Last week we ran a remote hands-on session for a select group of journalists and content creators from all over the world, the first impressions from which will be hitting the internet right about… now!
If you want to go into the game completely spoiler-free, please look away… but if you want to get an idea of how the game handles two playable protagonists, and how much Max and Chloe’s reunion changes depending on whether Chloe was alive or dead, then read on!
We were thrilled to share seven scenes from the first half of the game, with players alternating between playing as Max or Chloe as the pair work their way back to one another.
The session began at Amanda’s Open Mic Night at the Snapping Turtle, an event held to raise funds for the storm-hit citizens of Lakeport, continued through to the moment Max and Chloe re-collide, as seen in our very first trailer… and concluded in the Fall sunlight of the morning after, as the pair try to make sense of a world turned upside-down. You may have already seen snippets of these scenes in our Reveal Livestream, but this was the first chance for anyone to experience them in context.
Whether it’s catching up with Amanda, Vinh, and Loretta, or testing the limits of her resurgent power to Rewind time, Max’s scenes showcase how she’s grown in the nine months since we saw her last, as both a person and an educator.
But they also show how Max’s experience of the deadly fire, and her determination to beat the ticking doomsday clock by discovering who started it, colors all of her interactions.
At least… until Chloe drives back into her life.
This session was also a chance to see how it feels to play as Chloe, who we find grappling with her impossible nightmares of a life not lived… and her endearingly awkward thoughts about seeing Max again.
Getting barred from the Snapping Turtle before even setting foot inside, having an unexpected heart-to-heart with bartender Amanda, and picking up a potential song name – and some venomously anti-Caledon sentiments – from disgraced lecturer Lucas Colmenero, these scenes are a great showcase for Chloe, demonstrating how she sees the world differently to Max.
And not just because Chloe is seeing terrifying visions of an aurora-swept liminal place, a land where the sun seemingly never shines – and a place where the beam of the Arcadia Bay lighthouse threatens to reveal hidden secrets of her past, or scour Chloe from her new reality.
How is this place tied to Safi, Max’s ‘complicated’ friend from Double Exposure? While this section had some fresh hints, you’ll need to play the full game to find out.
Players also got to experience Chloe’s first Backtalk, as she tries to smart-mouth her way into the good graces of Noelle, Caledon University’s overworked Security Guard.
Their choices there – and their success or otherwise – also had an impact on the final scene of the session, where players dove deep into the immediate aftermath of Max and Chloe’s meeting, in the aptly named ‘Reunion’.
It’s here where the choices you made at the end of Life is Strange 1 – and at the beginning of this game – start to reveal themselves. This is a significantly branching scene that plays out differently depending on whether Chloe was alive or dead, and whether she and Max had a romantic relationship.
It’s important to remember that, while Chloe’s memories are a merged combination of both versions of reality, unbroken except for her nightmares and visions, your Max remembers how the first Life is Strange ended, and has been living with the repercussions ever since.
Whether Chloe died in order for Arcadia Bay to survive, or the town was sacrificed to save Chloe – Max has been dealing with that fate, and her role in choosing it, for a long time.
This scene is a collision of two emotional realities. Two young women facing the impossible, carving out a new sense of themselves, and finding their way back to each other in the process.
It’s at once a heightened, science fiction exchange, and a deeply personal, relatable exchange for anyone who’s ever had a heartfelt conversation about the paths not taken – and finally saying all the things left unsaid. Fear, doubt, the shared sorrow for years lost… the quickening joy of years now yet to come.
This is an emotional rollercoaster that cuts right to the heart of why so many people care about these characters, and it’s down to you to guide them both through it.
Up until this point, you play as Max and Chloe separately, alternating between them for whole scenes as the story progresses. But when they come together, you’ll make choices for them both.
Chloe is no passive passenger as Max decides: the baton passes back and forth between the pair as the emotional discussion unfolds. A subtle on-screen icon always makes it clear whose dialogue option you are choosing:
And choose you must, as you navigate this new reality and help reshape Max and Chloe’s relationship.
At the start of the hands-on, we gave every player the chance to choose their preferred save – but each member of the press only played through once.
So if you’re checking out the various press reactions, we hope you’ll see some reflections of your own future as you glimpse the different paths through this scene!
But more importantly, we can’t wait for you to take control of Max and Chloe’s destiny for yourselves when Life is Strange: Reunion arrives March 26, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC.
Life is Strange: Reunion Deluxe Edition
Square Enix
Choose the Deluxe Edition to experience a host of new and exclusive behind-the-scenes bonus content celebrating the return of Max and Chloe!
The Life is Strange: Reunion Deluxe Edition contains:
• Life is Strange: Reunion – the complete game
• Digital Mini Soundtrack
• Digital Art Book
• Digital Comic
• Exclusive Behind the Scenes Documentary with Hannah Telle and Rhianna DeVries
※ Digital Art Book and Digital Mini Soundtrack can be viewed through Square Enix Digital Content Viewer.
※ If you have already downloaded Square Enix Digital Content Viewer, you can view this content without additional download.
※ The Square Enix Digital Content Viewer requires an internet connection.
※ The Documentary is accessible from the main menu in-game for owners of the Deluxe Edition. Beware of spoilers! We recommend completing the story at least once before you watch.
Chloe Price was Max Caulfield’s partner in time… Losing her is Max’s greatest regret.
Now Chloe has come to Caledon University. Haunted by nightmares and impossible memories, Chloe needs Max’s help.
But Max is already in crisis: in three days, a deadly inferno will destroy the campus.
Max’s Rewind power has bought her time – but she can’t prevent the blaze alone.
The fire will force Max and Chloe to make devastating decisions. Can they find a future together… Before everything burns?
AN EPIC FINALE
The saga of Max and Chloe, and the fate of Caledon, is yours to decide! Play as both Max and Chloe as an all-new story builds towards an epic climax.
REWIND RETURNS
Max’s iconic power is back! Undo and redo every decision, change the course of conversations, and manipulate your environment to solve four-dimensional puzzles.
PLAYABLE PUNK
As the Backtalk-wielding Chloe, you’ll rely on your wits, guile, and barbed put-downs as you race to unravel the secrets of her nightmares and double memories.
LIFE, DEATH, AND CONSEQUENCES
No one is safe from the coming blaze: identify the culprits before your friends at Caledon meet their fiery demise. Who will survive? That’s down to you!
EXCLUSIVE SOUNDTRACK
A rich original score and songs, and licensed tracks both nostalgic and new.
Digital Content Viewer Interface and Digital Comic Supported Languages:
English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean
Digital Art Book and Digital Mini Soundtrack Supported Languages:
English, Japanese
Life is Strange: Reunion
Square Enix Ltd
Chloe Price was Max Caulfield’s partner in time… Losing her is Max’s greatest regret.
Now Chloe has come to Caledon University. Haunted by nightmares and impossible memories, Chloe needs Max’s help.
But Max is already in crisis: in three days, a deadly inferno will destroy the campus.
Max’s Rewind power has bought her time – but she can’t prevent the blaze alone.
The fire will force Max and Chloe to make devastating decisions. Can they find a future together… Before everything burns?
AN EPIC FINALE
The saga of Max and Chloe, and the fate of Caledon, is yours to decide! Play as both Max and Chloe as an all-new story builds towards an epic climax.
REWIND RETURNS
Max’s iconic power is back! Undo and redo every decision, change the course of conversations, and manipulate your environment to solve four-dimensional puzzles.
PLAYABLE PUNK
As the Backtalk-wielding Chloe, you’ll rely on your wits, guile, and barbed put-downs as you race to unravel the secrets of her nightmares and double memories.
LIFE, DEATH, AND CONSEQUENCES
No one is safe from the coming blaze: identify the culprits before your friends at Caledon meet their fiery demise. Who will survive? That’s down to you!
EXCLUSIVE SOUNDTRACK
A rich original score and songs, and licensed tracks both nostalgic and new.
The post Life Is Strange: Reunion – New Story Details, How You Play as Two Characters, and More appeared first on Xbox Wire.
