Time-twisting adventure Life is Strange hits retail in 2016

By Danny Cowan Published November 12, 2015

Publisher Square Enix revealed that its episodic adventure game series Life is Strange will see a physical release in 2016, bundling the game’s five chapters in a retail package for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

A limited edition that includes a selection of exclusive bonus items will also launch at retail next year.

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Released throughout 2015 as a series of downloadable episodes, Life is Strange tells a tale in which a high school student learns that she has the ability to rewind time at will. Players use this skill to progress through the game’s storyline and solve puzzles, and choices made throughout the journey impact events that occur in later chapters.

The physical editions of Life is Strange include the game’s full series, allowing players to experience episodes back-to-back without having to download subsequent chapters.

“We’ve seen a lot of requests from the community for a physical release and we wanted to create a package fit for Life is Strange fans,” Square Enix’s Scott Blows explains. “For those who haven’t played or are waiting to play, this would be a great time to dive into the series (plus you won’t have to wait in between episodes).”

Also launching at retail next year is the Life is Strange Limited Edition, which bundles a retail copy of the game alongside a 32-page artbook, a soundtrack CD, and in-game director’s commentary.

“The response to Life is Strange really has blown us away!” producer Luc Baghadoust states. “To be able to share that experience with our fans in a traditional boxed format is something we’re really excited about and the decision to include the extra items for the Limited Edition is a direct response to fan requests.”

The retail edition Life is Strange is priced at $30, while the Limited Edition is available for pre-order at $40.

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Inside the unlikely Final Fantasy spinoff that time forgot

King Regis runs through Insomnia in A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV.

Did you know that Square Enix released a retro-inspired beat ’em up based on Final Fantasy XV in 2016?
Even hardcore Final Fantasy fans might not remember the forgotten game well nowadays, but it’s quite the hidden gem. Titled A King’s Tale: Final Fantasy XV, the unlikely spinoff game was released as a pre-order bonus with Final Fantasy XV. It follows King Regis as he tells Noctis a bedtime story about defeating Ultros, a monstrous crystal thief causing daemons to spawn all over Insomnia and Duscae. In practice, it's a side-scrolling beat ’em up that pays homage to the classic brawlers while implementing Final Fantasy magic, enemies, and more.
A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV Is Available Now For Free!
Though A King’s Tale only lasts an hour and doesn’t have co-op, it’s a polished and exhilarating experience that Final Fantasy fans shouldn’t forget. It was a pleasant surprise to find this deep within my backlog ahead of the fifth anniversary of its stand-alone release, but its existence also raised many questions.
How did this project come to be? Why is it so polished? And why aren't more short but sweet games like this used to excite fans for notable game releases? I spoke to Cord Smith, executive producer and creative director on the project, to learn its history and how this forgotten Final Fantasy spinoff connects with everything from Dead Island to Masters of the Universe to Stranger Things.
At its heart, this is a story about an ambitious marketing agency that created a new kind of game through a multi-studio effort on a tight budget. And it all starts with Dead Island 2.
Retro Revenge
In the mid-2010s, Smith worked at a creative agency called Platform. This agency would often produce screenshots and trailers used in the marketing of video games. Around the time Dead Island 2 was in development and set to release, Smith and other people involved with channel marketing at the company pondered whether it could make a retro game that marketing could use to sell a notable game.
Smith asserted that it was possible, but thought it had to be done the right way to avoid producing a bad game. He found game development and animation partners to craft a small but satisfying retro game that could tie into the then soon-to-be-released Dead Island 2.
While his pitch had a high budget, Dead Island 2 developer Deep Silver and Platform accepted it. Smith and his partners now had to build something that wasn’t done much before and hasn’t been done much since. “Sure, it was a promotional game, but we were putting it on console, and we were treating it like a real game project,” Smith tells Digital Trends.

When designing it, Smith and his development partners didn’t have a playable build of Dead Island 2. They got a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of what that game was supposed to be and additional information to draw from. The result of this effort was Dead Island: Retro Revenge, an on-rails beat ’em up set within the Dead Island universe.
“I love taking someone else’s IP and doing something that respects it and honors what they’re doing. but surprises them by where we can take it in spite of our limitations,” Smith explains. Ultimately, Deep Silver and Smith were thrilled with how Retro Revenge turned out. But there was a problem: Dead Island 2 was never released.
“Dead Island 2 did not make it to release, but Dead Island: Retro Revenge did, so they put it in a collection,” he explains. “That was a shame as we didn’t get to see it reach what we built it for. It never got to be the pre-order promotional thing that we wanted.”
"Sure, it was a promotional game, but we were putting it on console, and we were treating it like a real game project."

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Life is Strange Remastered Collection delayed to 2022

Two characters in a scene from Life is Strange.

Life is Strange fans have a lot to look forward to with the series' third entry, Life is Strange: True Colors, releasing next month on September 10. However, Life is Strange: Remastered Collection has been delayed to early 2022, as revealed by the game's developers on Twitter.

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Life Is Strange: True Colors allows players to manipulate emotions and auras

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Square Enix showed off an extended gameplay trailer of Life is Strange: True Colors that details how players can manipulate nonplayable characters' emotions. The trailer showed main character Alex using a psychic power known as Empathy to learn details about characters' lives, make judgement calls and dialogue decisions, and witness the consequences of her actions. The game releases to PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, PC, and Stadia on September 10, 2021.

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