How are we aware of the announcement of Life is Strange 2 has been received with a lot of enthusiasm and fear by both critics and fans: either because the first chapter was a real whirlwind of emotions, the fear of ruining a franchise like that for fans is always around the corner. The real challenge for Dontnod, a well-known development house of the game, will be precisely to repeat and improve what has been done previously, a task that is certainly not easy. For this he was released The fantastic adventures of Captain Spirit, prologue of Life is Strange 2 where we can meet the new protagonist Chris, a child who lost his mother in a car accident and who lives with his father, a successful former basketball player and fell into a deep depression after the void left by the disappearance of his wife, empty trying to fill with alcohol abuse. This demon obviously affects the child's life, dreamy young man who takes refuge in the imagination of superheroes to escape from a reality that is not really super.
Captain Spirit, we need you!
As previously stated Chris is a seemingly healthy child but, like an all family, there are problems that cannot be addressed. Charles would like to be the right dad, good and caring, but unfortunately the abuse of alcohol makes him sloppy and lavative, especially towards his son. The boy loves his father, he subconsciously understands that he is sick and, like a true superhero, he wants to help his father out of this tunnel. He takes care of the housework: Washes, cooks, tidies up dirty clothes, everything a responsible parent should do. All of this, however, bounces completely back to the father, too busy with his pain to see what he is really losing, which is Chris himself. As for the plot we will stop here, also not to anticipate anything else and leave you the taste of discovery: as in the first Life is Strange, empathizing with the protagonist will be essential to immerse yourself in the events narrated in the game. Dontnod has always shown that in every family there are really big dramas: from the death of Chloe's father, to Rachel's stormy past, the stories told by the development house are not particularly happy and easy to digest.
Getting into the shoes of a child, for those who are not, is certainly a difficult undertaking, but the actions you will perform, the boy's modus operandi and the way he speaks, will soon make you think like him, in an instinctive and natural way. . Understanding the situation will be difficult, but taking the boy's side will be spontaneous. Being a parent is certainly not easy, but Charles has made it difficult for himself. The impression we got is that of a young man who would like to experience the carefree nature of his age, be like other companions and have fun like everyone else. However, reality is not as often as we would like, so we need a superhero who can make it better, SUPER! Chris on the other hand has a really important superpower, that of creating a world with the power of the imagination alone. This element, that is the fertile mind of the infant, will be the backbone of the entire production, which will now no longer address the issues of adolescent crises, but will focus on an even more uncomfortable and complex topic, that of a child who finds himself suddenly having to become an adult to face a life that is too painful.
Imagining costs nothing
As mentioned earlier, the imagination will be central to the events. Precisely for this reason, in addition to the usual classic commands seen in Life is Strange (in this chapter with a new more colorful interface), now there will also be a command that will activate in some cases the "powers" of Chris. In these cases, the boy will be able to interact with the surrounding environment, so as to look like a superhero in all respects. The development house has decided to give the player the opportunity to model Chris according to their personal tastes, from the cape to the mask, so as to make the user central to the gaming experience. In this episode, more space was also given to puzzles, like “find the hidden key and open the door”. Nothing complex, but we could really do many of these examples. Everything is very fluid but above all consistent with the boy's imagination, intent while doing his household chores also to save the world. Chris therefore manages to "bend" reality to his will, so as to make it more bearable and at the same time interesting. The location will therefore be a real blank canvas that the player will find himself painting according to his personal tastes. This sort of freedom is taken to a higher level than in the first Life is Strange because, as is well known, fantasy has no limits.
This prologue, however, will be particularly linear, but the product will provide you with a large number of secondary tasks that, if completed or not, can change both the protagonist and the conception you have about him. From a technical point of view, the game has a graphic style that perfectly recalls the series, in fact the graphic engine is theU, reliable and functional. The fantastic adventures of Captain Spirit it does not suffer from serious technical problems, also because the speed with which the various actions take place is not particularly chaotic. The music is as usual very inspired, able to add that touch of style that manages to excite the user and keep him glued to the TV in moments full of pathos.
In conclusion we can say that The fantastic adventures of Captain Spirit it is a well-made prologue, able to keep the user of the product on their toes with scenes that make you want to find out more about the boy and the life he is having. Do not underestimate the work since the title proved to be a "Life is Strange" in all respects, leaving us curious, surprised and dumbfounded almost at the same time. It is impossible not to bond with the boy, both because we are talking about a child, and because what he is going through cannot fail to strike anyone, who has experienced certain situations on his own skin, or who luckily has never had to clash with this type of reality. You do not have to believe that the title is for children, although the protagonist is one of them, the software house deals with painful and mature themes, topics and situations that a young person at that age is not able to deal with, both for naivety and for a lack of experience. The bases to recreate and improve what was done with the first Life is Strange are all there, after playing the prologue we can't wait to get our hands on the next episodes.
