Alex Chen doesn't just see the world; she feels it. Literally. When I first sat down with Life is Strange True Colors, I expected the usual choice-based melodrama. You know the drill. Teen angst, some supernatural hook, a dash of indie folk music. But Deck Nine did something weirder and much more quiet here. They focused on the messiness of empathy in a way that feels uncomfortably real, even if you don't have glowing auras telling you how your neighbors feel.
It’s a slow burn.
Haven Springs is the kind of town where everyone knows your business but nobody talks about the hard stuff. It's beautiful. It's a postcard. But underneath that Colorado mountain aesthetic, the game grapples with how we carry grief when we have no place to put it. Unlike the original 2015 game, which felt like a chaotic butterfly effect of life-and-death stakes, True Colors is intimate. It’s about finding a home after a lifetime of the foster care system. It’s about the terrifying realization that people are rarely who they pretend to be on the surface.
Alex Chen and the burden of knowing too much
Alex is probably the most relatable protagonist in the franchise, mostly because she's exhausted. Living with the Psychic Power of Empathy—capitalized for drama—isn't a superhero perk. It's a sensory nightmare. When someone near her is drowning in rage, she feels that heat. If they're grieving, she's shivering. It’s a clever mechanic because it forces the player to manage not just the dialogue, but the emotional temperature of the room.
Most games give you "detective vision" to find clues. Here, your detective vision is Alex’s ability to "Nova," which basically means diving into someone’s psyche when their emotions are peaking.
There’s a specific moment with a character named Eleanor, the local florist. Without spoiling too much for the three people who haven't played it yet, you encounter a situation involving memory loss and fear. The game doesn't just tell you she's scared; it makes you navigate her fractured reality. It’s heavy. It’s also where the game asks the toughest ethical question: do you have the right to take someone’s pain away just because you can? It sounds like a mercy, but the game argues it might actually be a theft of their humanity.
Breaking down the Haven Springs mystery
The plot kicks off when Alex’s brother, Gabe, dies in what looks like a tragic accident. But this is Life is Strange, so "accident" is usually code for "corporate conspiracy." Typhon Mining is the big bad here. They own the town. They own the jobs. They probably own the air everyone breathes.
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What makes Life is Strange True Colors stand out from its predecessors is the lack of an episodic wait. When it launched, we got the whole thing at once. That changed the pacing. You can feel the town's atmosphere settle into your bones over a long weekend of playing. You hang out at the Black Lantern bar. You play arcade games. You help a guy win a LARP (Live Action Role Play) by pretending to be a bard.
These small moments aren't filler. They are the entire point.
People often compare it to the first game with Max and Chloe. Honestly? True Colors is more mature. Max’s time travel was about fixing mistakes. Alex’s empathy is about living with them. The stakes feel higher because they are internal. You aren't trying to stop a literal storm; you're trying to keep a community from rotting from the inside out.
The music and the vibes
We have to talk about the soundtrack. It's a character in its own right. Angus & Julia Stone did the heavy lifting here, and it fits perfectly. There's this one scene where Alex just puts on headphones and listens to "Creep"—the Radiohead cover by mxmtoon—and it captures that specific feeling of being an outsider looking in.
It’s cozy. It’s "cottagecore" with a dark underbelly.
- The LARP sequence: Hands down one of the best "game-within-a-game" moments. It turns the town into a cardboard-and-duct-tape fantasy kingdom. It shows how much the town loved Gabe and how much they want to protect Alex.
- Steph Gingrich: Bringing back Steph from Before the Storm was a stroke of genius. She’s the heart of the game for many players. Her DJ booth at the record store is a sanctuary.
- The final confrontation: It doesn't end with a boss fight. It ends with a council meeting. It’s about whether or not you’ve built enough trust for people to believe your truth over a corporation's lie.
Why the "Empathy" mechanic actually works
In a lot of RPGs, "empathy" is just a charisma stat. You put points into it to get better prices at shops. In Life is Strange True Colors, empathy is a liability. Throughout the chapters, Alex struggles with "losing herself" in other people's feelings. If someone is angry, she gets violent. This creates a fascinating narrative tension. You want to help, but the cost of helping is your own mental stability.
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The game uses colors to represent these states. Red for anger. Blue for sadness. Purple for fear. Gold for joy.
It's simple, maybe even a bit reductive, but it works for the medium. It allows the developers to paint the environment with emotion. When Alex sees a blue aura, the world literally gets colder. The sound design shifts. It’s immersive in a way that most narrative adventures fail to achieve.
Handling the "Typhon" problem
Let's be real: the corporate conspiracy plot is the weakest part of the game. It’s a bit predictable. We’ve seen the "evil company covers up a mistake" trope a million times. However, the game survives this by focusing on the people affected by Typhon rather than the boardroom executives. It’s about the miners. It’s about the families who have been in Haven for generations.
The real villain isn't just a CEO; it's the silence that fear creates.
Dealing with the endings
No spoilers, but the game offers several permutations of how Alex’s life unfolds. Some people stay in Haven. Some leave. The "best" ending is subjective. Is it better to find roots in a place that has hurt you, or to take your new confidence and hit the road? Unlike the "Save the Town vs. Save the Girl" binary of the first game, True Colors feels like it respects your personal growth more.
It’s about Alex’s autonomy. For the first time, she’s the one making the call, not the universe forcing her hand.
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How to get the most out of your playthrough
If you're jumping into Haven Springs for the first time, or maybe returning for a second run, don't rush. This isn't an action game.
- Read the texts and the diary: Alex’s phone is a goldmine of character development. You see her history with her social worker and her hesitant steps into a relationship with Gabe.
- Interact with the "thoughts": Every object in Alex’s apartment has an emotional resonance. Clicking on a guitar or a suitcase gives you backstories that the cutscenes skip.
- Don't try to be a saint: Taking away people's pain isn't always the "good" path. Sometimes people need to feel their feelings to move past them. Trust your gut over the game's prompts.
- Explore the record store: It’s arguably the coolest location in the game. Use the turntable. Talk to Steph. It builds the romance (if you go that route) much more naturally.
Moving forward with Life is Strange
The franchise has always been a bit polarizing. Some people find the dialogue "cringe" or too "hipster." But Life is Strange True Colors proved that the series can grow up. It moved away from the high school hallways and into the complexities of adult life—work, trauma, and the search for belonging.
It's a game about the invisible threads that connect us. Even if you don't have powers, you're constantly picking up on the "auras" of the people around you. You're reading their body language, hearing the cracks in their voices, and deciding how to respond. That’s what makes it human.
To truly experience what the game is trying to say, stop looking at the choices as "right" or "wrong." Think about them as "honest" or "dishonest." Alex Chen’s journey is about finally being honest with herself.
Start by paying attention to the small details in Chapter 1. Look at the way characters avoid eye contact when Gabe’s name comes up later. Notice how the lighting in the bar changes depending on the mood of the crowd. This isn't just a story you watch; it's a world you inhabit. Once you stop trying to "win" the game and start trying to live in it, Haven Springs becomes a place you’ll actually miss when the credits roll.
Next Steps for Players
- Check out the Wavelengths DLC: It’s a prequel focused entirely on Steph in the record store. It’s much more experimental and gives great context to her character.
- Analyze the "Empathy" choices: Go back and replay Chapter 2. Try the opposite of whatever you did with Eleanor. Notice how it ripples into the final chapter.
- Listen to the soundtrack on a rainy day: Seriously. It's on Spotify. It captures the game's "indie-sad" vibe perfectly.
- Look for the hidden trophies: Many of them are tied to using Alex’s power on random townspeople who aren't part of the main quest. It fleshes out the world significantly.