There, they’ll find peace and safety, Sean thinks. The bulk of episode one involves Sean guiding Daniel out of their hometown, traveling throughout the Pacific Northwest as they head south toward Mexico. It’s captured in a constant rhythm of discomfort, one experienced by Mexican-Americans who live with daily hostility from white neighbors, co-workers and strangers. The antagonism experienced by the Diaz family isn’t limited to singular life-changing moments. Life is Strange 2’s first episode quickly jolts in fantastical directions, all the while grounded by the non-fantastical realities of its leads. Their race and their deceased father’s immigration status aren’t the entirety of their story, but they are part of it. The struggles that come with their identity are hurdles we rarely see in video games - because most video games star white men who don’t face these problems. Dontnod Entertainment/Square Enix via Fandomĭontnod emphasizes the racial politics at play in Sean and Daniel’s situation, and how they mirror the traumas and challenges of the real world. Sean comforts Lyla over text while they watch a thinly veiled, highly contentious presidential debate. Esteban becoming the victim of a situation he was trying to mediate is a tragic, familiar result, reflecting the United States’ disturbing and ongoing inability to prevent police shootings of unarmed people of color. Sean spies a strongly worded letter from another hateful neighbor on the kitchen counter. Sean and Lyla vent over text about the anti-immigrant stances of one particular candidate while watching the debates. The game is pointedly set in October 2016, with direct references made to the mounting anxiety of the U.S. Sean’s little brother unleashes an inexplicable torrent of psychic energy, killing the officer in the process. A cop arrives on the scene, and Sean and Daniel’s father is shot in the commotion. The Diaz family’s lives change when Sean takes on a bigoted neighborhood teen who’s bullying Daniel. To discuss the story is, in some part, to spoil it, so consider yourself warned. Perhaps it’s no shock that Life is Strange 2 is not the good-natured, low-stakes story it initially feigns to to be. Daniel is obsessed with chocolate Esteban is a nonjudgmental, proud dad the Diaz boys are a happy group, a relatable trio in suburban Seattle.Īnd then, 30 minutes into the episode, called “Roads,” the trio is ripped apart. When we meet his younger brother, Daniel, and his dad, Esteban, everyone is loving, if not a bit humdrum. His best friend is Lyla, whom he’s tethered to by snarky texts and Skype calls. Sean Diaz is a 16-year-old boy whose biggest concerns include hookups, booze and college applications. Life is Strange 2’s first episode begins as one story and ends as another.Ĭompared to the opening act of the first season, which involved time-traveling powers, the intro of Dontnod Entertainment’s latest teen adventure seems domestic, even quaint.
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