The Life is Strange series featured pretty predominately at today's Square Enix Presents digital presentation. And while the main focus was on the rumored Life is Strange 3, which is being developed by Deck Nine, not Dontnod Entertainment, and officially titled Life is Strange: True Colors, the publisher has announced that remasters of the original game and its prequel will release later this year.
Simply called Life is Strange Remastered Collection, it will release for consoles, PC, and Google Stadia (no word on a Nintendo Switch release unfortunately) and feature improved character animation, full facial motion capture performances, and upgrades to the game engine and lighting. Initially, it will release as part of a bundle with True Colors' Ultimate Edition on September 10th, but it has also been confirmed to get a standalone release later in the year, most likely after True Colors has released.
For those unfamiliar, the first Life is Strange is an episodic adventure title that centers around photography student Max Caulfield, who discovers she has the power to rewind time. This coincides with a chance reunion with her old friend Chloe Price and the two seek to reconnect, while also investigating the disappearance of another friend of Chloe's, Rachel Amber. It's somewhat similar to Telltale's point-and-click games, with a heavy focus on story and puzzle solving, as well as branching dialogue and choices that can affect certain story beats.
The prequel, Before the Storm, instead puts players in control of Chloe. Unlike the first game, this one was developed by Deck Nine and was a much shorter fare, consisting of only three episodes (four if one counts the bonus episode that acts as an epilogue and a farewell to the characters of Max and Chloe). Before the Storm covers events from Chloe's life before her reunion with Max, like how she first met Rachel. Unlike Max, Chloe doesn't obtain any sort of superpower, with players instead needing to use Backtalk during dialogue sections to help Chloe get out of precarious situations.
Both games were widely acclaimed when they released and are highly recommended. However, as each entry in the series focuses on a new cast of characters and have separate plots, newcomers won't need to play them in order to fully enjoy True Colors. Speaking of the new game, Deck Nine also confirmed that, unlike all the previous entries, it won't release episodically, meaning fans can enjoy the full story when it launches.
Life is Strange: Remastered Collection releases on September 10th for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.