Life is Strange 2 | Episode 2 | PS4 Review (Spoilers)

*CONSTAINS SPOILERS FOR LIFE IS STRANGE 2: EPISODE 2*

Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Dontnod Entertainment
PS4 Review

It's about time I got onto the second episode of this game, I wanted to wait a little longer until people had got around to getting their teeth into it. I myself finished the episode pretty fast and got all the trophies, I did, however, take everything in and have a fair few things to say about the events that took place. First of all this episode focuses on the brothers going to their grandparents for help but before this we see the brothers testing out Daniels powers alongside the dog Mushroom that they rescued, all was going well until their poor puppy was attacked by a mountain cat, it happened so early on in the episode that I was shocked and sat there sobbing, I actually came away from the game for a bit until I could deal with the rest of the storyline.

*SPOILERS*

After the loss of their puppy they went on to find their grandparents, they're the ones from their mum's side who they hadn't seen in years so their grandparents were shocked to see them turn up at the house especially since Sean is wanted for murdering a police officer. What I like about their grandparents is they chose to give the boys a chance and listen to ... rather than push him away and tell him he is on his own, it just goes to show that even though they don't talk to their daughter nor have seen the kids for years they are willing to open their hearts and home to them even if that puts them in the line of danger.

Sean is so cautious but manages to start to enjoy his time living with his grandparents, Daniel is having the time of his life and it still doesn't understand how much trouble the boys are both in and his brother will do anything he can to try to protect him, his brothers powers have grown since the first episode but he manages to keep them in line as much as he possibly can but tends to slip up now and then because he wants to learn how to control them more but how can that happen when they have to keep it on the down low?

This episode is called Rules which was a perfect fit, since living with their grandparents they were given chores to do and rules they needed to abide by and considering the risk the grandparents are taking it's understandable that they are put in place. It's a shame that the boys weren't able to see their mum considering they were living with her parents, but even their relationship with her wasn't the best, it must be hard on them not seeing her for so long and their grandchildren but I was so glad they let them stay to get to know them, you could tell how much they began to love the boys and just wanted to protect them from everything including their mum.

The boys only have each other to hang out with so obviously when someone befriends them Daniel will want to have someone to play with even if Sean is cautious and worried he will slip up with his powers which does happen. The boy Daniel makes friends with is Chris from The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit which I wrote about HERE. Daniel ends up slipping up in front of Chris and convinces him that he convinces that Chris is the one that has powers. Although this was wrong I actually think it was a clever cover-up, that was until I realised how devastated Chris was going to be when he found out he didn't have any powers. He himself didn't have the best upbringing so being able to have Daniel to play with was refreshing and even his dad was happy to see his son happy and offered to take the boys with him to pick a Christmas tree.

When they get to the place to choose the tree there is a little Christmas market, Sean gets his brother a Christmas present it's not much but it's the thought that counts isn't it? Whilst there they meet two new people Cassidy and Finn who also have a dog they're obviously going to be new characters in the next episode, they train hop which is a big clue to what happens at the end of episode 2 with the boys. I liked the scenes between the boys and Chris it felt less awkward than when they're with their grandparents and I think it's because they're around people who don't know who they are.

Sean must think a lot about the opinion his grandparents have of him due to what they saw on the news and that must be hard to deal with, I personally would feel very anxious about it if I was in that situation. Sean was worried that they would get home from choosing a tree to find his grandparents mad at them but luckily they were still at church so they had plenty of time to make it look as if they never left the house. Earlier in the game, we find out that the boys mums bedroom is locked and that no one was allowed in there, whilst the grandparents were still at church they decide to look for the key for the room, with no luck in finding it Sean asks Daniel to use his powers to unlock the door which he does. Inside they find a letter from their mum a letter that they knew nothing about, they were under the impression that their grandparents hadn't heard from her in years but she had actually seen the boys on the news. In the letter, she begs her parents to help her sons if they come to her even if they're not talking. 

The boys are obviously devastated that they were lied to, but his grandparents did it to protect the boys, their mum had let them down so much in the past they were just doing what they felt was best. Unfortunately after all this drama takes place the police turn up at the house and because Sean had called his best mate on the house phone at one point the police were able to find out where the boys were, I was gutted for them to be honest but realised the game couldn't progress much if all the did was hide out at their grandparents, the boys chose to run and in doing so Chris runs out into the road to try to stop the police with his powers, he turned around and saw Daniel was the one who actually had the powers and he looked so upset over it.

The game cuts to a train so my guess is they are going to be train hopping in episode 3 and come across Cassidy and Finn who they met at the Christmas market. I did enjoy this episode I have to admit that it felt slow at times with them just being at their grandparents, it wasn't until the end that I felt the game was going to move onto more in-depth parts of the game. The worst part about this episode has to be the death of Mushroom, throughout the rest of this episode I found myself hoping that more was mentioned about her and that they would be grieving more than they were. This episode seemed like an opening introduction to more people more than anything but that's not a bad thing, it sets up the storyline for the coming episodes. Read my review on Life is Strange 2, episode 1 HERE.