History YMMV / LifeIsStrangeTrueColors

* {{Fanservice}}: Bearing in mind that TropesAreNotBad: pretty much the entire game is fanservice for long-time ''[=LIS=]'' fans. After a divisive second mainline entry into the series, ''True Colors'' returns to some of the popular features of the original game that were absent in the sequel, such as a female protagonist and a single fleshed-out location shared between all episodes. It also sees the return of fan-favourite Steph Gingrich as a romanceable character this time around, while Alex's [[GayOption Straight Option]] is far less sidelined and more conventionally attractive than previous male romantic options in the series. Steph is also playable in the [=DLC=]; popular secondary characters being PromotedToPlayable is another thing frequently seen on the fandom's wish list.

* FridgeHorror: A text message chain on Alex's phone at the beginning of the game contains a heavy implication that she was either date raped or coerced into having unwanted sex in order to have a place to stay for a night. This is bad enough, but there's another implication that potentially makes it even worse. Alex's date says "she seemed into it at the time", which of course could well just be him trying to justify what he did; but since we know Alex can respond uncontrollably to strong emotions, can she ''avoid'' feeling and acting on lust if she's with someone who wants her, even if she wouldn't consent to sex under other circumstances?

* JustHereForGodzilla: Regardless of the quality or story of the final product, many people are still turning in to see Steph's return from ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStorm''. The ability to romance her in the game only increases this. To seemingly no one's surprise, the majority of players have romanced her over Ryan.

** Some fans have taken to interpreting Ryan as being asexual, due to the fact that he wears a black ring on a middle finger (a subtle symbol within the Ace community to help each other notice one another without outing themselves), and the fact that his attempts at flirting tend to be far more chaste (and awkward) then previous characters in the series.

** The fact that Ryan is implied to be on the asexual spectrum has also made the game extremely appealing to members of the asexual community.
* MemeticLoser: Ryan, for reasons outlined above and below. The fact that he's set up as a potential love interest when the other choice is fan-favorite Steph led to him being regarded as something of a HopelessSuitor who never had a chance, even before the release of the game. [[spoiler:He's also the only one who, depending on player choices, can actually end up worse off than when he was at the beginning of the game.]]

* Fanon: Many people tend to envision [[spoiler:Ryan taking up the mantle of town sheriff]] in post-canon fanworks.

** Steph enthusiastically saying 'I do!' in her head after [[spoiler:Alex proposes marriage during the LARP to alleviate her worries]], becoming enamored with Alex during the Spring Festival, and along with begging in her head for Alex to [[spoiler:kiss her while they're on the roof of the Black Lantern]] all makes her even more appealing to a fanbase that already adores her.

** Overall, the romance options apply as this for both Steph and Ryan. Previous games have left a sour taste in player's mouths due to how much hardship the gay romance situations would involve. Even the most positive ending resulted in [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2 the couple on the run]]. ''True Colors'', however, has no negative consequences if you romance Steph, and is actually the happier romance to play through depending on the player's choices. On the opposite side, a lot of male romances in the past games have been derided for having serious issues or not being too compelling story-wise. Ryan has been appreciated for having a genuine connection with Alex and being a generally pleasant guy even if both of them are platonically together and [[spoiler:while there's a chance that he'll side against Alex, it is for an understandable reason and he does quickly regret it afterward. He will also understand if he isn't forgiven, showing signs of remorse]].

* CatharsisFactor: Regardless of the final choice to forgive or condemn him, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn't enjoy Alex [[spoiler:reading Jed like a book and proceeding to give him an extremely destructive TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. Her dismissal of Diane beforehand is equally as cathartic.]]
** While tragic, it's still quite gratifying to see Steph immediately [[spoiler:call Ryan out if he decides to side with Jed.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: The memes about how Ryan was going to be sidelined in favor of Steph become this if the player [[spoiler:makes choices that cause Ryan to side against Alex with his father Jed, who tried to shoot her. The fact that also depending on the player's choices, he can be the first one Alex can open up to about her powers, makes this situation far bleaker. And that's not even going into how regretful and sorrowful he becomes in some of the endings.]]

* MemeticMutation: Poor Ryan or ''99% of players romanced Steph''.[[labelnote:Explanation]]A common meme that's come up in the fandom is how Steph being a romance option and a returning EnsembleDarkHorse to boot means many people are going to romance her over Ryan. Plenty of jokes have been made about how the player stats are going to be tipped in Steph's favor.[[/labelnote]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: [[spoiler: The fact that Alex and Gabe's father turns out to be one of the miners left to die by Jed's incompetence has almost no bearing on the actual plot, while it's the reason that Gabe went to Haven Springs, it could be completely removed from the plot and it would barely change a thing. Given that John Chen presumably lived in or close to Haven Springs while working at the mines, it would have been interesting to see some elements of him throughout the town that Alex could discover; perhaps the older residents remembered him, maybe the other miners hanging around would know of him through their work. Alex herself could have received more memories from him during her journey through the mines. Instead, it feels like a last minute addition that wasn't given any thought.]]

** Katy Benz gets to experiment with Steph's character far more than in ''Before the Storm'', including having some softer moments around Alex. Most notably, ner nervousness and giddiness after Alex makes a faux proposal during the LARP, and her [[spoiler:enraged, but heartbroken reaction if Ryan betrays her and Alex in favor of his father.]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Without a doubt, the most beautiful '''Life is Strange''' game to date. The setting is absolutely gorgeous and is lovingly detailed, and the lighting at the various times of day is stunning. Then there's the characters themselves, while they still have the classic '''Life is Strange''' look, they're also far more detailed and expressive, and there's a lot more variety between faces and body shapes.

** Alex has two hands. [[labelnote:Explanation]]While part of Ryan's MemeticLoser status is that an overwhelming amount of players chose to romance Steph over him, many players came out of the game still liking his character and romancing him on subsequent playthroughs. As a result, it's become popular for the fandom to have Alex be in an open relationship with both her love interests.[[/labelnote]]

** The hardest choice in the game for bisexuals and pansexuals/The game expects us to choose?! [[labelnote:Explanation]]Bisexual and Pansexual players like to say that the choice to either send Ryan or Steph To distract Diane is the hardest, as it basically equates to picking who they find more attractive out of an already conventionally attractive pair.[[/labelnote]]

* WinBackTheCrowd: ''True Colors'' draws heavily from the original game's formula: a female protagonist with gameplay-entwined powers delves into a murder mystery in the heart of an idyllic, small-community American town. This was seen as a welcome return to form for some, as the second game was a wild departure from the first and proved to be [[BrokenBase very divisive]] in the fandom. ''True Colors'' seems like a merge of the two, returning to the setting and general style of the first while keeping the parts that were praised in the second, such as a minority protagonist and the strong family theme. Premier EnsembleDarkhorse [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStorm Steph Gingrich]] returning as one of the main protagonists and potential love interests was also met with approval.

* WinTheCrowd: The ending to the original Life is Strange was often disliked due to how dark both of the endings were; [[spoiler: Arcadia Bay is either destroyed and a lot of people die while Chloe survives, or Chloe dies unloved and alone on a bathroom floor while Max struggles to carry on with her life]] while the endings in True Colors are incredibly safe; [[spoiler: no-one other than Gabe dies, and the biggest choice is whether Alex stays in Haven Springs or leaves, and then further split into whether she leaves with her love interest or not, with all choices being shown as positive.]]

* MemeticMutation: Poor Ryan or ''99% of players romanced Steph''.[[labelnote:Explanation]]A common meme that's come up in the fandom is how Steph being a romance option and a returning EnsembleDarkHorse to boot means many people are going to romance her over Ryan. Plenty of jokes have been made about how the player stats are going to be tipped in Steph's favor. Sure enough, the stats for chapter 4 showed that the majority of players indeed favored Steph over Ryan.[[/labelnote]]

** Ryan's love of nature, to the point where he listens to birdcalls recreationally and tries to point out the ArtisticLicenseBiology aspect of a bell causing a snake to sleep, has earned quite a bit of love from the fandom.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Jed manages to cross it not just once, but ''thrice''. The first time was when [[DirtyCoward he abandoned his fellow miners to their deaths]] in an accident that ''he'' caused, the second time was when he decided to sell out his town to an [[CorruptCorporateExecutive extremely corrupt and exploitative mining conglomerate]] in exchange for covering up all remaining evidence of his complicity in said accident, and the third time was when he decided to murder Alex to [[HeKnowsTooMuch make sure that his secret will stay hidden]].]]

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Jed leaving seven miners to die in a collapsing cave]] was already bad enough, but when [[spoiler:he shoots Alex and leaves her to die, just to protect his reputation,]] is when [[spoiler:he]] truly crosses it.

** Some fans have taken to interpreting Ryan as being asexual, dye to the fact that he wears a black ring on a middle finger (a subtle symbol within the Ace community to help each other notice one another without outing themselves), and the fact that his attempts at flirting tend to be far more chaste (and awkward) then previous characters in the series.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Jed leaving seven miners to die in a collapsing cave]] was already bad enough, but when [[spoiler:he shoots Alex and leaves her to die, all to protect his reputation,]] is when [[spoiler:he]] truly crosses it.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Jed leaving seven miners to die in a collapsing cave was already bad enough, but when he shoots Alex and leaves her to die, all to protect his reputation, is when he truly crosses it.]]

* JustHereForGodzilla: Regardless of the quality or story of the final product, many people are still turning in to see Steph's return from ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStorm''. The ability to romance her in the game only increases this. To seemingly no one's surprise, over 70% of players have romanced her over Ryan.

** The bleakness of the previous games is downplayed for this entry. Notably, no character, apart from Gabe, can die, the main villain [[spoiler:can ultimately be forgiven after it was revealed he was a pawn for a larger company]], and Alex will still have close friends no matter what. Even the endings lean heavily on the sweet aspect of bittersweet.
** Many have criticized the original [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange Life is Strange]] for having a final choice where one option is given more detail than the other, making it seem like the developers were wanting to penalize players for not choosing the option they wanted. [[spoiler:The options for Alex's final choice--whether to stay in Haven Springs or leave to find adventure/pursue a music career--are both presented in equal detail and each have their own unique benefits, with neither being portrayed as the "right choice"]]. There's also the matter of [[spoiler:Alex's choice of either forgiving or condemning Jed. While you might expect the condemn option to come with penalties for not following the EasilyForgiven trope, condemning Jed leads to no such adverse effects and is presented as being a completely valid and justified reaction to Jed's actions]].
** Previous games have left a sour taste in player's mouths due to how much hardship the gay romance situations would involve. Even the most positive ending resulted in [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2 the couple on the run]]. ''True Colors'', however, has no negative consequences if you romance Steph, and is actually the happier romance to play through depending on the player choices.
** On the opposite side, a lot of male romances in the past games have a lot of flaws of either being downplayed or have serious issues. Ryan has been appreciated for having a genuine connection with Alex even if both of them are platonically together and [[spoiler:while there's a chance that he'll side against Alex, it is for understandable reasons and does quickly regret his actions and understands that he may not forgiven and is genuinely remorseful]].
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The ''Wavelengths'' DLC is based on being able to play music from numerous indie bands.

* MemeticLoser: Ryan, for reasons outlined below. The fact that he's set up as a potential love interest when the other choice is fan-favorite Steph has led to him being regarded as something of a HopelessSuitor who never had a chance.