Life is strange, but the past is stranger

Developer/publisher Don’t Nod

Format PC, PS5, Xbox Series

Origin Canada

Release TBA 2024

Don’t Nod PC, PS5, Xbox Series Canada TBA 2024

Watching the reveal trailer for the debut release from Don’t Nod’s new Montréal studio, if you didn’t already know it came from several members of the core team behind the original Life Is Strange, you could take an educated guess. From its teenage leads to its colour palette (no one loves golden hour quite this much), its use of music and magic-realist style – with themes of time, memory, self-discovery and secrets in the mix – the game’s creative lineage is more than evident. But, as the action fast-forwards 27 years to the present day, it’s clear the team behind it has greater ambitions this time.

That’s apparent when producer Luc Baghadoust and creative director Michel Koch talk of their desire not just to create a new game, but a new universe. When the two were involved with the creation of Life Is Strange, it was always considered to be a one and done. “We had absolutely no idea of where we could go – if we could go elsewhere,” Koch says. “It was just the story of Max and Chloe.” After it became a huge success, he adds, the team had the opportunity to work with Square Enix on sequel Life Is Strange 2 (not to mention the charming interstitial spinoff, The Awesome Adventures Of Captain Spirit). But these were never creatively conceived as a continuation. “What is most exciting creatively with Lost Records,” Koch says, “is that we can think of where we would love to go for other games, other stories.”