History YMMV / LifeIsStrange2

* TheyChangedItSoItSucks: While the game still got a positive overall reception, it is the lowest-rated ''[=LIS=]'' game by both critics and audiences. Though undoubtedly the original was always going to be a ToughActToFollow, much of the negativity towards the game stems from the more obvious changes: having the story focus on male protagonists; the playable lead not having a superpower of his own[[note]]which had [[FranchiseOriginalSin actually already been the case]] in ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStorm''[[/note]]; the road trip plot meaning that there was less connection to recurring characters and locations; and the central relationship being between siblings rather than between best friends, precluding the potential to develop into a romance. There are also those who simply can't accept a ''Life Is Strange'' story that doesn't continue the Arcadia Bay arc and/or have Max and Chloe as the leads.

* TheyChangedItSoItSucks: While the game still got a positive overall reception, it is the lowest-rated ''[=LIS=]'' game by both critics and audiences. Though undoubtedly the original was always going to be a ToughActToFollow, much of the negativity towards the game stems from the more obvious changes: having the story focus on male protagonists, the playable lead not having a superpower of his own,[[note]]which had [[FranchiseOriginalSin actually already been the case]] in ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStorm''[[/note]] the road trip plot meaning that there was less connection to recurring characters and locations, and the central relationship being familial rather than between best friends with the potential to develop a romance. There are also those who simply can't accept a ''Life Is Strange'' story that doesn't continue the Arcadia Bay arc and/or have Max and Chloe as the leads.

* TheyChangedItSoItSucks: While the game still got a positive overall reception, it is the lowest-rated ''[=LIS=]'' game by both critics and audiences. Though undoubtedly the original was always going to be a ToughActToFollow, much of the negativity towards the game stems from the more obvious changes: having the story focus on male protagonists, the playable lead not having a superpower of his own, the road trip plot meaning that there was less connection to recurring characters and locations, and the central relationship being familial rather than between best friends with the potential to develop a romance. There are also those who simply can't accept a ''Life Is Strange'' story that doesn't continue the Arcadia Bay arc and/or have Max and Chloe as the leads.

* TheyChangedItSoItSucks: While the game still got a positive overall reception, it is the lowest-rated ''[=LIS=]'' game by both critics and audiences. Though undoubtedly the original was always going to be a ToughActToFollow, much of the negativity towards the game stems from the more obvious changes: having the story focus on male protagonists, the playable lead not having a superpower of his own, the road trip plot meaning that there was less connection to recurring characters and locations, and the central relationship being familial rather than between best friends with the potential to develop a romance. There are also those who simply can't accept a ''Life Is Strange'' story without Max and Chloe as the leads.

* StrangledByTheRedString: The game pushes you hard into a romance with Cassidy during Episode 3, with lots of choices centered around spending alone time with her. Like the first game, the gay option of Finn is locked behind making morally dubious choices, which sends an unfortunate message

* BetterOnDVD: ''2'' is overall the lowest-rated by players of any ''Life Is Strange'' game, with a major complaint being that the long gaps between episodes (the release schedule took place over 16 months, with a three-to-four month gap every time) made it hard to remember what was happening in the story by the time the next one rolled around.[[note]]Contrast an average of two months per episode for the original and ''Before the Storm'', while the following game, ''True Colors'' was released in its entirety at launch.[[/note]] Now that the full season is available, that criticism is starting to die down thanks to new players being able to go through the story at a pace that suits them better.

* BetterOnDVD: ''2'' is overall the lowest-rated by players of any ''Life Is Strange'' game, with a major complaint being that the long gaps between episodes (the release schedule took place over 16 months, with a three-to-four month gap every time) made it hard to remember what was happening in the story by the time the next one rolled around.[[note]]Contrast an average of two months per episode for the original and ''Before the Storm''.[[/note]] Now that the full season is available, that criticism is starting to die down thanks to new players being able to go through the story at a pace that suits them better.

* AngstWhatAngst:[[spoiler: According to David in the Save Chloe ending, Max and Chloe were able to move past the destruction of Arcadia Bay, which also resulted in the death of the latter's mother, in a relatively short amount of time. The one time you hear from them is them having a cheerful conversation about their travel plans with David.]] However, it's worth noting that [[spoiler:people familiar with how hair dye works have pointed out that Chloe's new hairstyle — long with acid green tips — is likely actually just her iconic blue inverted bob faded and grown out over the intervening three or four years. This is suggestive of a sudden lack of interest in maintaining her personal appearance that could be indicative of depression — especially coupled with her decision to black out her tattoo sleeve, which WordOfGod confirms she did out of guilt and in remembrance of the victims of the Arcadia Bay disaster. So Chloe, at least, might not have been doing so well after all; and it's possible that David's interpretation of how quickly she moved on might be due to his own biased perspective on how people should express grief, something they previously fought about in ''Before the Storm'' (not to mention that Chloe might be putting on a brave front around him to spare his feelings).]]

* CrossoverShip: A platonic example. Sean is pretty frequently paired with [[VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadTelltale Clementine]], envisioning the two as best friends or even BackToBackBadasses. It makes sense, considering how close this game and ''[[VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonFour The Walking Dead: The Final Season]]'' released their episodes, both being the caretakers of children, and the two being UsefulNotes/{{Bisexual}} people of color protagonists in AdventureGames. [[spoiler:They also both end up with serious injuries that leave them missing a body part over the course of their stories, just to keep up the weird similarities.]]

* {{Anvilicious}}: The game takes several hot topics in modern America and covers them with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. In the first episode alone, Mexican brothers Sean and Daniel face suspicion and discrimination at almost every turn, an incompetent trigger happy cop freaks out and shoots their father dead, and Sean is [[spoiler: held captive by a [[AcceptableTargets bigoted redneck]] spouting racial slurs who makes it very clear which way he voted in the 2016 election]]. Examining Sean's message history with Lyla also shows an exchange where they are terrified for the future of their country over whether [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump "he"]] will win the election.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** One thing the first two games were criticized for was the heavy use of TotallyRadical dialogue. This was thankfully dialed back here. In fact, the only character who really utters the meme'y dialogue is Daniel, a naïve kid who assumes that it's how the cool kids talk.
** Sean being revealed as bisexual, having a [[GayOption potential romance]] in pansexual male character Finn; and Penny, Jacob, Arthur, and Stanley being gay seems to alleviate any doubts that this game would not contain any LGBTQ+ themes like the previous two.
** One of the biggest criticism of the first game was that the two endings didn't feel like your choices matter whereas [[spoiler:everyone dies or Max goes back in time to make her last five days entirely pointless.]] Episode 5 shows multiple endings that are drastically different depending on your morality and your relationship with Daniel; there are even variations of some endings depending on if you tried to make contact with Lyla in Episode 1 and 2 or who you romanced in Episode 3. It also addresses the criticism of the first game with one ending being favored over the other. Here, with the exception of the [[DownerEnding Lone Wolf ending]], all of the endings have their good points and bad, making none of them heavily favored over the others.
** There are two in Episode 5 if you chose the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending. [[spoiler: First, it reveals that there ''are'' other survivors of the storm besides Max and Chloe, making the ending seem less like an EverybodyDiesEnding (though not by much, since the only other confirmed survivors are David and Victoria, making it a total of four people). Second, for fans who felt the ending didn't have enough closure for Max and Chloe, there's a cameo that shows a little of what their life is like and confirms that they're still together. On the other hand, for those who felt David got off too lightly in the first game for his abusive behavior toward people in general and Chloe in particular, the scenario where you sacrificed her has him openly call himself out on his stupidity and cruelty, lamenting that he wasn't the supportive father figure she needed.]]
** Another criticism for the first game is that whenever Chloe wanted to do something wrong or illegal and the player refused, the narrative would either [[WhatTheHellHero guilt trip the player]] because you didn't enable Chloe's bad behavior (like if Max doesn't take the fall when David catches Chloe smoking weed), or there would be some kind of shallow justification for it later on (like the fundraiser profits for the handicapped students Chloe wanted to steal to pay off her debt actually being a scam). Here, breaking the law actually has consequences for Sean, and if he keeps enabling Daniel's bad behavior, it could [[spoiler: lead to a BittersweetEnding at best and a DownerEnding at worst]].

** There are two in Episode 5 if you chose the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending. [[spoiler: First, it reveals that there ''are'' other survivors of the storm besides Max and Chloe, making the ending seem less like a KillEmAll ending (though not by much, since the only other confirmed survivors are David and Victoria, making it a total of four people). Second, for fans who felt the ending didn't have enough closure for Max and Chloe, there's a cameo that shows a little of what their life is like and confirms that they're still together. On the other hand, for those who felt David got off too lightly in the first game for his abusive behavior toward people in general and Chloe in particular, the scenario where you sacrificed her has him openly call himself out on his stupidity and cruelty, lamenting that he wasn't the supportive father figure she needed.]]

* CrossoverShip: A platonic example. Sean is pretty frequently paired with [[VideoGame/TheWalkingDead Clementine]], envisioning the two as best friends or even BackToBackBadasses. It makes sense, considering how close this game and ''[[VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonFour The Walking Dead: The Final Season]]'' released their episodes, both being the caretakers of children, and the two being UsefulNotes/{{Bisexual}} people of color protagonists in AdventureGames. [[spoiler:They also both end up with serious injuries that leave them missing a body part over the course of their stories, just to keep up the weird similarities.]]

* FriendlyFandoms: With fans of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' video game, particularly ''[[VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonFour The Final Season]]'', due to similarities in characters and genre. Both are episodic, choice-based adventures games starring a bisexual teenage protagonist of color who has to take on a protective elder sibling role for a much younger character. What's more, ''The Final Season'' ended around the time that ''Life Is Strange 2'' debuted, allowing fans of the former to easily transfer over.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Jacob sending Daniel to a cult leader is admittedly not his best idea and Sean and the game does have every right to call him out on it but many still felt that at best he did the right thing by taking a minor with him to ensure that he goes to the safest place he can think of in the heat of the moment at best. And unlike the others characters in the game who do something dangerous or criminal, Jacob admits that what he did was wrong and does everything he can to make things right and save Daniel.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj2c5og_UV0 Assuming the teaser trailer is canon]], then there's a recording of Daniel's superpowers, but no one seriously comments on it. Anytime the news mentions the dead cop there's no discussion of how a small boy could send a grown man flying. It could have added a layer to the hiding from the law storyline, if Daniel was known to the public as the kid with superpowers. Inspecting Stephen’s computer in Episode 2 shows that people on the internet noticed how weird the murder of Matthews was, coming up with a plethora of conspiracy theories, so it’s evident that Dontnod acknowledged [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the type of reaction the tragedy would’ve garnered in real life]] but sadly didn’t use this as frequently as they probably should’ve.

* BetterOnDVD: ''2'' is overall the lowest-rated by players of any ''Life Is Strange'' game, with a major complaint being that the long gaps between episodes (the release schedule took place over 16 months, with a three-to-four month gap every time) made it hard to remember what was happening in the story by the time the next one rolled around. Now that the full season is available, that criticism is starting to die down thanks to new players being able to go through the story at a pace that suits them better.

* WhatAnIdiot: It probably wasn't the smartest idea for Lisbeth to encourage Nicholas to [[spoiler:beat the ever living crap out of and threaten to shoot Sean, when everyone present is fully aware of the supernatural powers of his still loving brother.]]
** Granted that Daniel is a ''child'', and his frequently stupid behavior throughout the series is close to justified but there's still the moment in Episode 3 when he accompanies Sean to get his pay from Merrill at the pot farm.
*** '''You'd expect''': That Daniel just sits down for the ''five minutes'' it takes for Sean to be paid. He's already been warned, Merril is a ''drug dealer'' backed by muscle, and his best friend Finn is also about to be paid, so he shouldn't want to rock the boat. There's even an adorable dog that he could play with.\\
'''Instead''': Daniel wanders into said drug dealer's ''living room'' because he was "bored".\\
'''The result''': Daniel kicks off a series of event in which [[spoiler:his best friend is badly beaten or even killed, his brother loses an eye, up to three other people are hospitalized, and he himself gets shot and abducted by a cult.]]

** Some fans feel like this about Daniel's, while the game tries to make you feel sympathetic about his situation, his negative attitude in episode 3 gained him some detractors.

* FanPreferredCouple:
** Sean and Lyla have gotten some traction due to their close relationship despite, or perhaps because of, the lack of romantic undertones [[spoiler:and if Sean decides to call Lyla before he throws away his phone, they both are practically on the verge of crying. Episode 5 has Lyla and Sean giving each other a long and very emotional hug along with hand holding should Sean and Daniel surrender at the border and Sean made an effort to contact Lyla on Episode 1 and 2, pushing this even further.]]
** For the same-sex shipping, there's Sean and Jacob since after learning about the latter's experience with conversion therapy and [[BirdsOfAFeather having a lot in common]], a lot of fans like to have them as exploring their attraction to their own sex not to mention that a lot of fans see Jacob as a healthy alternative to Finn for those who don't like him.

* WinTheCrowd:
** After fans had some reservations about there being a kid character with a significant role in the story, especially after the divisive reactions to Chris, the first episode saw a warmer reception to Daniel due to his likable character and relationship with Sean.
** There were many fans of the first two games that weren't too happy with this game telling an entirely new story with a different cast of characters, especially since the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending didn't have a lot of closure to Max and Chloe's future and the comics which are intended to continue on from said ending isn't canon to the games. [[spoiler:Episode 5 (re)introduces David Madsen, who brings with him the long-awaited closure to the Bae ending (and also some expansion to Sacrifice Chloe if that was chosen), revealing that Max and Chloe are indeed still together, moved on from the tragedy, and are on much better terms with David.]]

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Jacob sending Daniel to a cult leader is admittedly not his best idea and Sean and the game does have every right to call him out on it but many still felt that at best he did the right thing by taking a minor with him to ensure that he goes to the safest place he can think of in the heat of the moment at best or at worst, was the only idea that didn't involve abandoning a child alone or being sent to the cops for a miscarriage of justice. And unlike many characters who does something dangerous or criminal, admits that what he did was wrong and does everything he can to make things right and save Daniel. Tellingly, many fans feel that Jacob should have been the gay option for Sean rather than Finn because of that moment.

** Before the first episode was released, there were complaints that Sean seemed like a typical straight male protagonist. Episode 3 reveals that Sean is bisexual, making him a very atypical male protagonist. [[note]]male bisexuality has, for lack of a better way to describe it, been known for being one of the most underrepresented sexual orientations in recent media to the point of invisibility. Add in the fact that he is a person of color and you can argue that he's more atypical than Max.[[/note]] And then [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeTrueColors following game]] has another queer protagonist of color (albeit female again), again pushing the whole "typical straight white protagonist" thing away even further.