Life is Strange: True Colors is the upcoming installment in the fan-favorite Life is Strange franchise. It will feature Alex Chen as the main protagonist with the ability to sense and even take on other people’s emotions. This will be the first game in a while where players will actually play the person with the powers. Life is Strange: True Colors will also connect to the Life is Strange prequel, Before the Storm, by bringing back Steph Gingrich as a friend and love interest for Alex.
With Steph returning to the new Life is Strange game, it’s natural for players to possibly anticipate other cameos in the quiet mountain town of Haven Springs. It wouldn’t be the first time Life is Strange has incorporated previous characters into newer games, either, as Chloe’s stepfather, David, makes an appearance in Life is Strange 2. The Life is Strange: True Colors “Wavelengths” DLC where players take on the role of Steph also teases a cameo from a previous game. With all this in mind, though, the chances of an appearance of Max or Chloe are incredibly slim for a few reasons.
The Biggest Choice of Life is Strange
Fans of the Life is Strange series can hardly forget one of the biggest choices they made in the first game: to save Arcadia Bay or to save Chloe. Obviously, players will have chosen different endings based on their playstyle and how they wanted the plot to unfold. It also means that there’s no “canon” ending for the game because players would have made very different choices at that moment. In one choice, Chloe dies, and in the other, almost everyone in Arcadia Bay dies from the storm, but Chloe and Max survive and leave town.
Interestingly enough, this choice does have a little impact on Life is Strange 2, as players can enter into the game if they saved Chloe or Arcadia Bay. Life is Strange 2 will then show Arcadia Bay fully intact or the remains of what was once the town. Chloe’s stepfather, David, will be in the game either way because he left town before the storm, but certain behaviors of his change depending on what ending players chose in Life is Strange. He still gets divorced from Joyce, though the circumstances differ depending on if Chloe is alive or not. David’s cameo may not seem like a big deal, but it demonstrates how all the Life is Strange games exist in the same universe and how they can influence each other.
Why Max and Chloe Probably Won’t Be in Life is Strange: True Colors
It was easy for the developer to say that someone like David, who was already on the outs with a lot of people in Arcadia Bay, left town prior to the storm hitting. It’s a lot harder to explain how Max and Chloe, namely the latter, could appear in Haven Springs. The developer could potentially use a system similar to Life is Strange 2 and have players say whether they saved Chloe or the town, but it sounds a bit more cumbersome than necessary.
Additionally, it would be a lot of work to render and insert Chloe and Max into the game when only some players chose to save Chloe instead of Arcadia Bay. At the same time, it also wouldn’t be fair for players who chose to save the town to miss out on seeing Max and Chloe again. If anything, Max survives at the end of Life is Strange no matter what choice is made, so if either of the two were to make an appearance, Max has a slightly better chance than Chloe.
Max and Chloe are beloved characters in the Life is Strange franchise, so it’s natural for players to want to interact with them again. However, the chance of the two of them appearing in Life is Strange: True Colors are incredibly slim. Players can hold out hope, but it may be more beneficial to look forward to Steph instead, the actual character who’s confirmed to return.
Life is Strange: True Colors releases September 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
