The awesome adventures of Captain Spirit's so excited for Life is Strange 2

Life is strange is the last game I was expecting to benefit from an expanded universe. The original version was a short episodic series that followed Max Caufield's life dealing with the typical drama of adolescence as well as the sudden realization that she could control the time. It was an interactive mashup of Twin peaks and Veronica Marsand it did not look like anything I had ever played before. It has also ended on a very specific and powerful note, which has made it a great standalone story.

Last year, the editor Square Enix decided to operate the well again with a prequel called Before the storm who explored the backstory of Max Chloe's sidekick. He has also introduced a new developer since the creator of the series Dontnod has been traded for Deck Nine Games. It had all the features of a disposable game intended to take advantage of the success of the original. But that was not the case. Before the storm was a touching and hot take on Life is strange this served as an excellent piece of fan service.

Now we have The awesome adventures of Captain Spirit, which is an autonomous episode intended to tease the mysterious Life is strange 2. It does not give much light on what we can expect in the second season, and it has no major links with the first. But it offers exactly the kind of melancholic experience Life is strange fans got used to – just in a smaller package. More importantly, it shows that the franchise can grow without losing what makes it so special.

Captain Spirit features a young boy named Chris who lives in a small house with his father. For reasons that I will not spoil, the two live alone; Chris's mother is out of the picture, and her father is struggling to cope with that. He is a former alcoholic and depressive basketball player who, at least in the beginning, behaves well as a kind and caring parent. But the signs of negligence are not long in coming.

The game is played as something of an interactive drama. If you played one of the Life is strange before, or series similar to those of Telltale Games, you will feel at home. Much of the experience is simply walking around and looking at things and listening to Chris talking about them. There is also a lot of dialogue and choice driven by the players. For example, when Chris's father has too much, you can choose to tell him that he has too much or simply change the subject.

Each Life is strange series until now has had its own unique turn of play. In the original, it is the powers of Max that allowed him to solve puzzles by saving him time. In Before the storm, Chloe was able to use her considerable attitude to argue in certain situations. Chris, on the other hand, treats things like many children: with his imagination. Captain Spirit is a superhero that Chris has created, and when he dons a Captain Spirit suit, Chris becomes braver and has superpowers that only exist in his mind.

A lot of what you actually do Captain Spirit is ordinary housework. While Chris's father gradually gets intoxicated, his son removes recycling full of old beer cans, sets the water heater so that he can wash the dishes and feed his father . But these seemingly boring activities are infused with childhood fantasy. Chris does not harbor macaroni and cheese in the microwave, it irritates him by using his superpowers. It does not fix the water heater, it has a thrilling battle with an evil villain called the eater.

These moments are lovely, and they really drive home what sweet child Chris is. He is in a bad situation, but he does his best and tries to have fun on the way. But there is an impending feeling of fear that is built up during the episode, which lasts about an hour. From the beginning, Chris's father promises that both will go out and buy a real pine Christmas tree as soon as he has finished watching the basketball game. He then proceeds to take a bottle of whiskey to wash his beer.

The highlight of Captain Spirit It's not particularly surprising – I could feel it coming very early – but I always dreaded it all the time I was playing. I ended up saving time. I checked all the items in Chris' treehouse to see if they were significant, and if there was a chore to do around the house, I did it. At one point, I spent 10 minutes lying on a bed listening to old records of Chris' mother. This triggered some melancholic memories of his father, and gave me a very good overview of the family and their situation. It also meant that when the big moment finally hit, he hit particularly hard.

At the end of the episode, developer Dontnod promises to "see more of Chris in Life is strange 2"The new season should tell a new story with a new cast of characters, and I'm glad Chris is among them." There is one thing Dontnod is good at, is to create characters Chris is destined to become a fan favorite out there with Chloe and Max. Captain Spirit is a perfect tease: I spent so little time with Chris that I can not wait anymore in season 2.

The awesome adventures of Captain Spirit is available for free now on PS4, Xbox One and PC; Life is strange 2 will start on September 27th.