For all newcomers to the LiS series:

The LiS series currently consists of five games, all of which have their own story, but where you as the protagonist or player have to make your own choices. The choices you make in the game affect your relationships with various non-playable characters, situations and environments. You can make the choices based on yourself as a person or you can imagine yourself as the main character and make the choices based on that. The choices I make while playing for the first time are based on me as a person. This makes it (I think) more personal and fun.

Double Exposure is currently (2025) the last game in the series. For the newcomers, it is strongly recommended to play the previous games first. This is to introduce you to the series and fan base. If you would like to know more about how I experienced the previous games, you can find more via DO NOT ENTER and then FUN AND CHALLENGES. These are some older blog posts, but Double Exposure wasn't released at the time.

The correct order:
1) Life Is Strange (2015) 
2) Life Is Strange: Before the storm (2017)
3) Life Is Strange 2 (2018) inclusive the demo "The Awesome Adventures Of Captain Spirit (2018)
4) Life Is Strange: True colors (2021) inclusive the demo "Steph's Story" (2021)
5) Life Is Strange: Double Exposure (2024)

For your information: There are people in the fanbase who also see the game "Tell Me Why" (2020) as a game from the LiS series. Tell Me Why was made by the same makers of the LiS series and also has a very good story of its own. The gameplay is also very similar to the gameplay of the above games, but does not officially belong to these series. Highly recommended to play the game if you also become a fan of the above games (^.^)

Now let's start with  Life Is Strange: Double Exposure

After everything that happened in and with Arcadia Bay, Max has traveled alone through various places in America to find a home of her own and escape the past. She made money by being a self-employed person (freelance photographer) and an artist. Eventually she was invited to teach as a professor at Caledon University in Vermont. There she met her new friends: Safiyah "Safi" Llewelynn-Fayyad and Moses Murphy. Both specialized in their own profession. Safi is a very talented writer hoping to get a book deal and Moses is an astrophysicist.

Amanda's sexual preference is for ladies and she dares to flirt with Max, but when it comes to flirting, Max has no idea when she is being flirted with or when someone is doing the flirting. Max is very concentrated on herself, her passion and independence. This shows that she is still a bit shy despite the fact that she has developed since the first game.

When Safi notices that Amanda is trying to flirt with Max and Max doesn't respond to it, Safi orders Max to develop herself better for future people in her life. Safi believes that Max should let herself be known more by people who are interested in her and should learn to open up better. This leads to Max taking the assignment very seriously and searching the cafe for clues to learn more about Amanda. When Max has discovered all the clues, she will have a conversation with Amanda to establish more contact.

After a nice chat with Amanda, Moses walks into the café to meet Safi and Max. He invites both of them to watch a rare meteor shower on a beautiful winter evening. Both happily accept the invitation and they meet on the balcony. There they look at the stars, sky and meteor shower together with a mug of hot chocolate and a dash of alcohol (^.^)

All three enjoy each other's company and Safi tells both friends that she has good news, but does not elaborate much further. Not much later, Max learns from Moses that Safi is always mysterious, but innocent. Safi likes to keep things to herself, but someone can only find out the secret thanks to a bottle cap game. Max takes advantage of this and eventually Safi admits that she has a chance of getting a deal. Max is very happy for Safi, but then Safi receives a phone call. In order not to spoil the atmosphere, she decides to pick up the call elsewhere and continue making it. Max then decides to discuss further with Moses. After the conversation with Moses, she takes a picture of the moon. While taking the photo, Max gets an acute headache. Moses offers to take Max home, but she refuses. Max decides to go home alone with the help of a walk and music. Perhaps the cold breeze in the evenings will help reduce her headache.

a normal camera, where the photos must be processed via USB. She puts her curiosity to rest and sees a beautiful owl on the statue. When Max tries to take a photo of this beautiful owl, she gets a worse headache and falls unconscious.

In her unconsciousness, Max experiences memories of the storm and Arcadia Bay that are anything but pleasant. She regains consciousness after Moses finds her. Moses is very shocked and wonders where Safi is. The phone call takes a very long time. Max notices footprints going into the woods and senses that something is wrong. On her intuition she decides to follow the footprints with Moses close behind her. Eventually, Max sees Safi and follows her to the top of the lookout, but suddenly hears a shot. Very shocked, but also relieved, she is happy that Safi is okay as she disappears around a corner. Max must have imagined the shot, because she had heard such a shot before during her Blackwell days. She finds Safi sitting on a bench, but when she touches her, Safi drops her camera and falls to the ground; she was shot and died immediately. As Moses catches up with them, both are deeply shocked by the death of their friend. Max mourns Safi while Moses picks up his phone and calls the authorities.

Who shot Safi and why? What is the story behind Safi and who can you trust? It looks like you have to play Detective Max again, but Max can no longer go back in time. How are you going to solve the crime? Have you discovered a new power or are there people who know more?

Overall, Double Exposure seems to have a lot of similarities to the first game. It feels natural in that regard, but with a new twist and people. Personally, I think Double Exposure is a good sequel to Max's story, but her story in this game is a bit weak and seems to be unfinished after this game. So I'm curious to see if she will return one last time in one of the future games. What I really like about the makers is that they have made this game longer by making the chapters longer. In previous games the chapters were much shorter. In this game you get more opportunity to explore around, get to know more characters and areas. You also have more of a chance to complete the collection if you keep that in mind in this game.

For fans who have played everything so far and actually taken it seriously, this is a good addition. Not perfect, but good! The game is realistic and shows that at a certain age you start to live a more "boring" life by being more on your own, but that some things from the past can still have an influence. If you have not played the previous games, you will not have a good experience with this game. Max's story in the previous game is really important here.

Q&A
NB! MEGA SPOILERS (^.^)
ONLY READ IF YOU HAVE ALREADY PLAYED THIS GAME OR DON'T WANT TO PLAY BUT YOU ENJOY READING!

telephone. It seems Victoria has become friends with both Chloe and Max over the years. Victoria admits that she still has the same hair and clothing preferences, but is now more mature and no longer has any desire to put people down. Her bully years are over since Blackwell and she only focuses on her job and the good in life. Nice to see.

3) Has Max developed much since the first game or is she still Max-Max as an adult?
My personal opinion of Max is that she is still shy, but considerably less so. She starts conversations better and has good, but also smart comebacks. Of course, we must not forget that she is now 30 years old. In the first game Max was only 18 years old. She has developed well and is very adventurous, but still retains the nerdy side of her personality, which is indispensable for her.

Moses Murphy: Super relaxed, super calm, super smart, BFF material!

Amanda Thomas: COOL, best barmaid ever and also BFF material!

Reggie Kagan: No comment.

Diamond Washington: Stands strong, confident and intelligent. She will go far in life.

Lucas Colmenero: If such a person existed in real life and I was destined to share a life with him, I would rather remain single for the rest of my life.

Gwen Hunter: Cool, hard and very rough. She doesn't just let people walk all over her, which is good. A role model for insecure people.

Loretta Rice: Annoying bitch.

Vinh Lang: Bad boy in a nice way (?) Clearly has good social skills and style. I can understand why he is the leader of Abraxas.

Yasmin Fayyad: Bitch of a mother.

You can collect Polaroids throughout the game. These Polaroids are everywhere. Both in Max's storm, the dimension where Safi is still alive and the dimension where Safi no longer lives.

right from the start with Max. After Safi's death, she visits Max's home to see how she is doing and brings home-made dishes so that Max can start eating a little. She does not do this to get closer to her as a "love interest", but as a normal friend and someone who really wants to be there for her at the moment, which in my opinion makes it look good. Truly a very nice and sweet girl, but right after that it's quiet for a while and certain things seem forced in my eyes (This is my personal opinion. Everyone experiences the characters in the game differently, of course). The date with Amanda in the snapping turtle, which comes from imagination, was great, fun and they were really in their own world for a while. Especially with the imaginative mosh pit scene. Very well thought out by the makers, but the whole thing with Amanda felt more friendly to Max in my opinion. If I have to imagine Max, Amanda seems nice for a crush or a short period of romance for her, but Max and Amanda are far apart in many areas and therefore in my opinion neither are a good match for each other in the long term. Amanda has also tried to manipulate Max by throwing her therapy and own trauma on her. More in the sense of: "That's why I'm THE person for you and you should choose me." That doesn't sit well with me. Not only for myself, but also for Max. For example, when you don't kiss her (as Max) to respect her own boundaries, she rejects you at the end and indicates that she missed a bullet. That was really hypocritical. She will therefore never accept Max as Max for who she really is and that is why I didn't choose her. Amanda is fun and has her own problems like everyone else. Not perfect, but not the match for Max at all.

He is Yasmin's assistant and also the leader of the secret society Abraxas. With a deep web of relationships across campus, he is also known for his influential connections and access to exclusive information. Despite being the leader of Abraxas, he does not abuse his power and that shows the person he really is. Especially towards Max. He helps Max with various things, including exposing Lucas. Their dynamic as colleagues and friends unfolds as a game of push and pull, a mix of annoying teasing and the occasional playful flirtation, which doesn't go unnoticed by anyone who watches them. Vinh tries to get a little closer to Max every time in his special way of doing so, but still natural.

A good example is when Max returns with his package. Vinh immediately wonders if this is a sign that they are becoming friends and a spark of curiosity ignites in Max. She teases him by saying that they should be friends with benefits instead. This makes Vinh nervous until he realizes it's a joke, after which he laughs softly, enjoying the tension between the two. Vinh asks what Max wants. Max looks confused as Vinh explains that nothing is free for smart people and that she probably wants something from him. Max replies that she doesn't want anything yet, but that he owes her a favor. Vinh says he likes the way she negotiates and sees an opportunity for himself to strike a little. As she leaves, there is a sense of anticipation in the air. Later that day, Vinh texts Max to thank her for the package, flirting with ambiguous words, to which Max flirts in the same way. From that moment on, Vinh takes every opportunity he can get, but at a leisurely pace. He gives Max time to process everything and is patient with her. He seizes his real big opportunity with the game "Smash or Pass", where he secretly tries to find out what Max is interested in. Ultimately, he knows that if he doesn't do it now, it will pass him by and asks Max where he stands on her ladder. When you, as Max, choose to kiss him, we discover a vulnerable side of him. Vinh can be seen as a bad boy, partly because of his history and let's be honest ladies and gentlemen. Everyone has a history in some area, but Vinh realizes that this time it is real and serious. He is used to one night stands and unserious or short-term relationships, but with Max he knows that he wants to do things completely differently and immediately asks her if she can stay with him that evening in the café.

What finally made me a COMPLETE fan of Vinh for Max was that during the storm he knew he had to focus on her and after the storm he was the only one who gave Max a big hug and was happy that she was unharmed. He was not afraid and did not make a problem of Max's powers. He decided not to participate in the race he was in anymore. Vinh made several sacrifices to strengthen his relationship with Max and no matter how we say it these days; to get her. It is also the only relationship that seems to continue immediately after the story is done. Men really need to take notes from Vinh on this one, I swear! I would have chosen him for myself and that says a lot. I ship the LangField couple!