The Life is Strange series is known for its amazing characters – first and foremost Max Caulfield. A seemingly ordinary young woman with the extraordinary power to control time, Max made for an unforgettable protagonist in the original game. Now, she’s back for a new adventure in Life is Strange: Double Exposure.
But things are different in the new game. Where once she could rewind time, now Max has the ability to Shift between two alternate timelines. It’s a power she’ll need to unravel the game’s central mystery – because, like all Life is Strange games, Double Exposure unspools a story that focuses on tough choices, complex, grounded relationships, and dark secrets.
To celebrate her return, let’s look back at Max’s key moments throughout the Life is Strange franchise, and get caught up just in time for Life is Strange: Double Exposure.
Before The Storm
Max was born in Arcadia Bay, a close-knit town on the Western coast of Oregon. Her childhood was spent alongside her best friend, Chloe Price, and the two were inseparable–until Max learned her family was moving to Seattle.
Max was devastated, and she struggled to tell her best friend that the two would soon be separated. Unfortunately, on the day that Max chose to break this news, Chloe’s life was marred with another disaster – her father died in a car accident just a few hours later.
The move caused Max and Chloe to lose contact with one another, and the pair drifted apart.
Discovering Her Time Powers
Years later, Max returned to Arcadia Bay as a student at the prestigious Blackwell Academy, attending classes led by renowned photographer Mark Jefferson.
One morning after class, Max went into a nearby restroom, where she found an unexpected, perfect photo op: a blue butterfly entering through the window and landing on a metal bucket. Her moment was disturbed, however, when fellow student Nathan Prescott burst into the room.
While Max hid, a blue-haired girl also entered, and threatened to expose Nathan as a drug-dealer. The argument escalated into threats of violence, Nathan’s gun went off and the girl was left dead on the restroom floor.
Frightened, Max screamed and held out her hand, only for the scene around her to freeze and reverse course. It was here that Max first discovered she had the power to Rewind and manipulate time. With this strange new ability, she successfully changed events so that the blue-haired victim was never gunned down.
It wasn’t until later the same day, escaping Nathan in the school’s parking lot in the passenger seat of a battered pick-up truck, that she was shocked to discover that the now very much alive girl was her old friend – Chloe!
The Mystery of Arcadia Bay
With Max and Chloe reunited, the pair began to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student, Rachel Amber. Through a combination of detective work, cooperation and clever use of Max’s powers, the two discovered the truth.
But Max had another problem to contend with – a growing storm that threatened to destroy Arcadia Bay. Glimpsing flashes of this seemingly-unavoidable fate, she realized that the tempest was tied to her powers – and specifically that she had changed fate by saving Chloe.
Ultimately, Max was forced to make an impossible choice: save the town or prioritize saving Chloe once more?
Double Exposure
Max’s next adventure, Life is Strange: Double Exposure, is set many years after the events of Arcadia Bay. She’s now taken up the role of the photographer-in-residence for the prestigious Caledon University in upstate Vermont.
She’s the same Max as before–particularly in the dad jokes department–but years of practicing her photography on the road, with a specialty in abandoned spaces and condemned buildings, have made her more confident and assertive.
She’s also forged a new friendship with a grad student named Safi, but as she settles into her new life, something unthinkable happens. Max discovers Safi murdered, dead in the snow.
There are no suspects, no obvious motives, no murder weapons or clues – it’s an impossible crime. And when Max tries to tap into her Rewind powers – something she hasn’t done for many years – she discovers they have changed. Now, instead of rewinding time, Max opens a path to a parallel timeline where she finds Safi alive and still in danger.
The killer could strike again at any moment, in both versions of reality, and only Max can Shift between the two timelines to reveal the truth – and try to prevent Safi’s murder.
Max returns in Life is Strange: Double Exposure – out now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. A Nintendo Switch version is also in development, with details to be revealed soon.
