Any major thoughts on LiS: Reunion?
So, the way I can sum it all up as simply as possible is how Ellie from The Last of Us Part 2 said at the very beginning. - "Well... that didn't suck." Like, not as bad as DE. At least the plot remains consistent enough.
Yet, Deck Nine was still putting out one more game to say, "We're sorry for not understanding Max and Chloe as much as we say that we did and punishing you for choosing her over a town". Still very much salty they didn't even try to get Ashly Burch to voice Chloe one more time. It was also weird how there were no episodes like in the other games. Even then, with the length of it all, I'm not sure if it would've been properly divided into 5 episodes. Like, Max and Chloe seeing each other again for the first time would be the end of Episode 1. Leaving the Mabon party would be the end of Episode 2, and then the final choice with the photo would be the end of Episode 3.
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Honestly, I don't think I've ever imagine the idea of Chloe becoming a band manager before. At least it's the type of band she can really get behind. Especially the same band where Steph used to date one of the members. And Max finally got to get the recognition for her work from New York after being denied back in the second game, but just like in the last episode of the first game, she had to give it all up to save everyone in Caledon. Oh yeah, and there's the fact that Max jumps back into the photo to the start of the weekend, and remains there the whole time without being limited to a single area or jumping back into present time.
I don't normally throw this phrase out there, but once again, Moses continues to be the GOAT. Makes me wish he was at Blackwell instead of Warren. I really liked the "training experiments" he set up. Yet, everyone just losing memory of DE overtime with Max having to make sure only he remembers? Yeah, that's one way to retcon the first game. We finally get to see Max be a teacher to her class of only five students like I would've hoped for, and the new president Owen sucks. Not sure how a nervous wreck like Reggie could've replaced Vihn, and Loretta continues to be annoying as ever.
I will say, I have missed being able to do the rewind like before, even the game forcing you to when disaster strikes or you're about to die, just like olds times. But the problem was that as soon as I get to rewinding a cutscene that I don't mean to, I couldn't cancel that out like before and was forced to have to do it again at times, which ironically ate up some of my time. And the whole Backtalk feature? Doesn't really feel like Backtalking. More like just, talk your way out of trouble or into gaining intel. Dialogue didn't even help as much with choosing the right response. Much more pacifistic with near to no sassyness except for maybe one of them compared to Before the Storm, and that was D9's major gameplay feature in their prequel, which had way more bite in it. When Max learned about Joyce being alive, I would've thought that she'd wanna call her as soon as she had a minute to finally hear her voice again after over a decade. But she never does. Guess they couldn't get Cissy Jones or even a suitable replacement for her to voice her. I do love seeing Chloe and Moses together and how well they get along. What's cool is that they even used his 3D printer to make a gift for Max's birthday. And Moses theory of Chloe's visions all comes down to a paradox, and the possibility of Chloe and Safi complete fading from existence altogether. Yeah, that'll about do it. Yet, we really don't go much more into it other than that. I also do like how Chloe gets along with Amanda just as well as she does with Moses. God, can you imagine if Gwen got to meet her?
And Safi just spends this whole time being a petty spiteful bitch blaming Max like she's the source of all our problems and gets all high and mighty as if she has any room to talk. Granted I did choose not to support or trust her, but still, just stop complaining and take some responsibility for your own fucked up choices and for the storm you created! That's the whole reason people in Lakeport are losing their jobs, homes and raging at Caledon taking over. It was funny as hell though to see Chloe fuck with her by tossing her bag into the water to steal the mask for the party, and their getaway boat ride turned romantic. It was also very sweet how Chloe gave her her own official Super Max figurine. I tried to have them kiss on the boat, but these two dorks just couldn't figure out how to not go overboard for a makeout and just resorted to holding hands. The party itself was really weird. Probably because of the masks. But then things get ever weirder when things start getting trippy, like someone drugged her or something. At first, I thought maybe the masks were laced with something, but then I realized that it was the blood wine I had to drink as Max to get Reggie talking. Suddenly, I could hear Kate saying, "I swear to god, I had one sip of red wine" and all I could think was, "Oh, please don't kiss anyone, please don't kiss anyone".
That moment with the random dude with the sledgehammer? That got a little scary. Thought I was gonna have to stealth my way past him out of the basement, but instead Reggie got his attention and I chose to attack him. Might've been dumb, but I just wanted to see Chloe punch somebody out for a change, and she just straight up tackles him instead and he bails like a pansy, which actually paid off when I got the blueprint he dropped. Still would've liked to see her wield the sledgehammer to turn the tables on him. And then when Max found her in her trippy state, it was kinda funny. Even Chloe said exactly how I thought she would seeing her like this - "Max Caulfield, tripping balls. I never thought I'd see the day." - What kind of mushrooms can even make someone trip out like that anyways? What's also crazy was that Abraxas was literally hiding skeletons in their closet. And here's where things get even crazier. After Max sobers up and hashes it out with Chloe again, somehow Max focuses her power to project memories of the past from the photos, which is visually pretty but still unexplained how this was even possible. The reveal that the literal skeleton in the closet is the body of an underage partier that got so high, he killed himself for the sacrifice that wasn't supposed to be real, and it was all a conspiracy to cover up his death? Like, holy shit. And I thought Arcadia Bay had dark secrets.
Going over all the evidence we gathered feels almost like in the first game, expect without having to spend a long time connecting all the dots like before. Got em all on the first playthrough, too. Even then, I couldn't figure out who the prime suspects would be. I really wanted to blame it all on Safi, but she clearly wasn't even aware of the fire, or even drop any spiteful subtle hints about it, like Joey did. But then finally got to get Max and Chloe to kiss again after all this time. Maybe I'm a bit greedy, but I would've liked to have seen more moments where they'd kiss. And then this is where the real life-or-death choices matter in naming the real culprits. After "Backtalking" Ren, the one that came close to having any bite to it like before, it was easy to determine him burning the campus since he had the motive after revealing it was his dad that died at that party. And then Safi has the balls to tell Max to leave with her, after ducking her, dicking her around and bitching at her all this time while still refusing to take responsibility for her storm, even selfishly claiming that she should be enough for her. That alone just proves she does not know Max Caulfield at all. What a fucking sociopath she is. Yasmin surprises me once again when she reveals to have been at the party when Ren's dad died, yet Loretta, who would've died at the Abraxas house if not for Max, is what makes her wanna come clean after all this time. When it came to naming who'd wanna burn that house, the game then said that based on the evidence, it had to be Vihn. And you know what? After ruling everyone else out, it checks out. This kid was so fixated about his job and doing right by Yasmin. And this is who Max could potentially date? Yeah, he still sucks.
It felt good to see Noelle stop Ren thanks to Chloe warning her, and Max preventing Vihn from accidentally blowing himself up to destroy the evidence. But then Safi, again the BALLS on her, actually thought she could fool Chloe into thinking she was her partner in time and whisk her away. I knew this bitch would try something like that. You know what I would've like? When talking to Fake Max, either the option to call her out like Chloe originally does in-game, or have an additional option to -
[Hit her] -- Take a couple steps closer all threatening like clenching her fists to make her nervous and ask why Chloe is so angry all of a sudden - [Bitch slap] or [Gut punch] and then call her out before she changes back.
And when she tries that whole blame-game with Chloe, I do like being able to tell her off a little, but I would've gone a step further -
"Fuck you, Safi. Don't talk about Max like that. And if you tell her one more time how she only brings disaster with her, or how this is all her fault to fuck with her head, I'll take her camera and use it to cave your fucking face in. How's that for a picture worth a thousand words, you petty cunt?"
"What the fuck does she even see in you?"
"Everything that she could never find in you, faker. If you still don't get that, you don't even deserve to be called Max's friend. Much less her best friend. So piss off." -
And then the fire STILL happens because of Safi's dumb bitch ass dropping the cigarette after they go into the Overlight! I knew that she'd be responsible for the fire, despite all our best efforts! Max then had to play Super Max one more time, saving everyone she could when the disaster finally occurred, just like with the Tornado. I almost messed up with Noelle when I found the gas mask after she went in, and had to redo the whole conversation to give it to her. I guess somehow I managed to convince Safi to not die in the Overlight? Wouldn't have mattered to me if she did if it weren't for the fact Moses would've been heartbroken. That's literally the only reason why I care she survived. It was interesting to see Max's power at work from Chloe's perspective for once the way she was teleporting. Moses's board even said so, how does no one ever notice that before? I was very much anxious the whole time they were up on that roof that either or both Max and Chloe could die. Even when she couldn't rewind to keep her from falling, Max defies fate again by freezing time the way she did with Kate, or at least slowed it down enough to use the custodian's buggy full of leaves to save her.
In the end, thankfully nobody died, Max and Chloe are on the road again with Drugstore Makeup, where Max actually gets to be in an actual mosh pit shaka brah, and the final choice, to either give Max the photo potentially prompting her to go back one more time to stop the fire, or burn the photo so she wouldn't be tempted, actually had me stop and think for a minute. In the end, I gave it to her, knowing Chloe wouldn't ever take a choice like that from her, and they stay together in the end. Like a happily ever after. I also really like the post-credit photoshoot where Max eventually does make the choice to burn the photo to stay with her Chloe for good this time, even if there was a chance she could've stopped the fire altogether.
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So, yeah. All in all, the game was genuinely a bit better than Double Exposure, even though there's still plenty of unanswered questions and explanations. Like the one a lot of folks were wondering - "WHAT IS DIAMOND'S POWER!?" - I was going into this thinking her power was to control fire and Safi had been gaslighting her to burn the school as revenge for Maya Okada, if that is what Maya would've wanted at all. And what about the others that used to be affected by the Tornado like Steph? Or Kate?
My biggest worry when starting the game was that it could end with three different endings of either Max dying or Chloe dying or both living. And that Moses could also potentially die. Thankfully, based on the choices, the game's predetermined for them to live in the end no matter what, which I am very much relieved. It would've suck so bad to see any of them die because of a bad choice.
I will say, being able to control both Max and Chloe in the same game, which is a first for the series that always let us play as one character per game entry, was a nice change of pace and pretty cool to see them divide and conquer in ways they couldn't do alone with Max as the time detective and Chloe playing the inside-man. But again, would've like to see more sassyness and a bit more aggression out of Chloe. And also more than just one kiss.
