Previous Life is Strange games have struggled with consistently giving NPCs compelling backstories and many of them were failed by poor writing. The people of Haven Springs also have a lot of life to them, which made me feel more emotionally invested in the community. There’s even a light RPG element in that particular chapter that helps make the entire section a lot more fun to engage in. Seeing the townsfolk dress up in costumes in areas like the town’s bar was by far my favorite moment of the entire story.

There’s even a moment in which the entire town partakes in a LARP to cheer up a grieving kid. Alex can also check out MyBlock, a Nextdoor-like social media platform where the townsfolk share local updates, Easter eggs, and local banter some of which are pay-offs as a result of the choices Alex made around those characters. Some of this insight comes from Alex’s phone, which shares details of her relationships with her friends with some text messages (the content of which varies depending on your in-game choices). It comes across loud and clear that the residents genuinely care about each other. This is a small mountain town, and in typical small-town fashion, everyone knows their neighbors and their community is tight-knit.

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