Life is strange 1 was an incredible success for Dontnod, almost unexpected. When they created it, Jean-Luc tells me, they had no pressure because simply nobody was waiting for it. Then a wonderful community was born and beside the mission to create the best game possible there was the side-goal to not disappoint the fans. When a game comes out, people tend to crystallize their thoughts on how well it worked and to think of it as something irreplaceable. So the only way possible was to aim even higher. They changed the engine looking for something technically superior but at the same time keeping the DNA of the game.
Finding yourself saying "ok, the first one went great, now what do we do?" it definitely brought a lot of pressure. - Luc Baghadoust
For Dontnod, the DNA of Life is Strange is a combination of relatable characters, social themes, actual environments and super-powers. So even if a substantial part of the community loved Max and Cloe, they decided to defy the fears to make a game without them. That's how, from the adventures inside the boundaries of Arcadia Bay, Life is Strange 2 became a trip of two brothers: Sean and Daniel.
The very core of Life is Strange lies in its name: the idea of telling a life, of putting yourself in the clothes of someone else, with an unexpected twist, the strangeness, which lies in discovering superpowers. There are no superpowers for the simple taste of inserting them, though. They are tools to show how people can change, face events and adapt, a way to create more interesting stories. In Life is Strange superpowers are always connected to the weakness of the protagonist. For example, in the first chapter, the ability to rewind time is connected to Max's shyness, reflecting her difficulty in making decisions. In LiS 2 the main theme is education, which is why the team decided to give the power to Daniel and not to his brother. Part of the story's DNA is made by Daniel using power in the way we will shape it with our decisions. For Dontnod all those things are more important than the gaming experience.
Balance is crucial, though. Since Remember Me Dontnod team developed a deeper sensibility, now they work on the gameplay trying to bring value to any element, in simple interactions, in dynamic dialogues, in kinematics etc. Jean-Luc tells me about a moment soon after Remember Me release, during the initial stages of Life is Strange 1 concept creation. One of the DontNod bosses said to them that if they want to make that game then there must be the rewind mechanic saw in Remember Me. So they built a story around the mechanics, the gameplay became a creative tool like all the others available.
But to build interesting stories, they put all the efforts in creating credible characters. To do so Jean-Luc Cano says that a very important thing is to shape honest stories, a goal possible only collecting advice, doing research, and represent things as accurately as possible.
When you are dealing with sensitive subjects such as in the case of ethnic minorities, you have to be very careful about what you say and the message you communicate. - Jean-Luc Cano
He read a lot of blogs, documented himself on the battles of minorities and the causes they carry on. At the same time, he put his stuff, like the memories of his relationship with his little sister to create realistic interactions or shaping non-playable characters using distinctive features of friends and people met around the world.
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| A shot from Brodie's A Period of Juvenile Prosperity series |
Visually speaking, Art Director Michel Koch took inspiration from places visited during his trips.
The perfect mood also comes from the work of two photographers Theo Gosselin and Maud Chalard, having a look on their Instagram we can definitely spot big similarities with Life is Strange style.
There is a third photographer, Mike Brodie, who also wrote the book "A Period of Juvenile Prosperity", a story of a boy who jumps on a train and starts an incredible journey. and has helped to create the mood. Literature and movies made their part as well. Jean-Luc is a huge fan of Stephen King: it's from his books that he learned how to write stories loving the way he creates such natural tales starting from normal scenarios.
This kind of exercise, this research for the greatest references always brings the team to have crazy brainstorm sessions. If you put him and Michel in a room after 20 minutes, you have crazy ideas for a video game. It's easy to find interesting stories to tell ... says Luc Baghadoust.
But even there are a lot of ideas and a lot of themes to deal with, it's too early to focus on them as the main mission now is on closing Life is Strange 2.
Life is Strange 2 - Episodes 3 will arrive on May 9th 2019.
