Check out the first gameplay footage from Life is Strange: Remastered

Turn Back the Clock

Square Enix has released a new video showing off the rejuvenated visuals of incoming compendium Life is Strange: Remastered Collection. The double-pack, which includes souped-up editions of the 2015 release Life is Strange and its 2017 prequel Before the Storm, launches on PC and consoles next week.

As demonstrated by the lengthy, six-minute preview below, Life is Strange: Remastered Collection has seen the highly acclaimed graphic adventures spruced up for their re-release. Both the original game and its prequel now boasts updated scenery textures and character models, rebuilt in Unreal Engine 4 and highlighted with a brand new light-and-shadow engine — all glossed in 4K resolution.

Developer Deck Nine Games has fine-tuned characters for close-ups, paying attention to details such as hair quality, lip-syncing, lines of sight, and facial expression. Already considered an emotive and evocative title — perhaps one of the most emotive releases ever — it is clearly the team’s hope that Life is Strange‘s themes of friendship, love, loss, and loyalty can be better expressed through this visual remaster. For those yet to experience Max and Chloe’s story, this will no doubt be a fine opportunity.

And for those who have… Well, maybe enough time has passed for you to walk that rail all over again.

Life is Strange: Remastered Collection launches February 1 on PS4, PC (Steam), Xbox One, and Stadia. A Nintendo Switch edition is also in the works, and is expected to follow at some point later in 2022.