Maybe, but if she had she might never have grown at all, Chloe would just be dead, Rachel never located. Kate might never truly have had a friend. Jefferson would still be Jefferson-ing. Nathan would have either killed himself or killed someone else.
And at least according to the alternate timeline Max would've turned into a stoner.
Edited by FOFD on Feb 6th 2025 at 10:58:45 AM
From what I understood of the ending, Nathan was the one who reported in Jefferson after he was arrested.
Because if Max did more time alterations won't that summon the hurricane back?
Also I found it flawed to say that the hurricane came about because of Max's time powers when she got visions of the hurricane before she used it at all.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"Yeah, I wish they'd go back to that.
I prefer the "Hurricane is Rachel's Ghost" theory, especially with the fact she's implied to have large-scale destruction powers in Before the Storm.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Feb 6th 2025 at 8:01:19 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.It also really hurts that Chloe had to die at the lowest point in her life, dying in a bathroom with the last words she hears being no one would miss you bitch.
That's a harsh way to go out. Especially as she's a bisexual teen, and the audience are most likely LGBTQ+ gamers.
OH yeah, when Chloe mentioned that the hurricane could have been Rache's revenge, I started telling my guest that I thought the hurricane was Rachel's ghost, I knew from Before the Storm, Rachel has a habit of destroying things.
Edited by RedHunter543 on Feb 7th 2025 at 12:03:34 AM
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"Okay, so I wanted to talk about the whole nightmare sequence. Like fuck, a lot of it was genuinely creepy like the game forcing you to only say nice things to Jefferson.
But I have to admit, Max's whole NTR fantasies with Chloe started out creepy like with her and Jefferson, then when it got to Chloe doing a random bikini dance, and then being intimate with Victoria and being LOUD ABOUT HATING MAX, that's when it turned unintentionally hilarious to me.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
The nightmare was pretty clearly Don't Nod making the best of running out of money. It was very well-done.
I sacrifice Chloe, because sacrificing hundreds of lives to save one isn't a fair trade, and it just felt more narratively appropriate. That said, while some complain that it means nothing Max did mattered, the whole point of the game was Max's character growth. It was never about Chloe or the Bay, it was about Max, learning to connect with the world. Max at the end of the game isn't the person she was at the start.
X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.![]()
Yeah, if there was one thing that made the whole thing worth it, it’s Max’s growth, that’s why Chloe’s whole bit about everything that happened still matters even if it all got undone, still resonated with me.
I loved the nightmare sequence, years of Metal Gear honed my skills at the stealth sequence.
But okay, what was up with that? I thought it was just Max’s brain creating this whole experience as a form of self punishment and the effects of constant time travel, but Chloe also is somehow there so it was all actually happening?
Unless the Chloe that stopped mad Max was another hallucination.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
It is kept vague, but it sure comes across as Max being stuck in a world her own mind made up out of her fears and guilt. In this case, I think Max just sees Chloe as someone who will always call her on her bullshit while also supporting and encouraging her. So when Max's self-loathing is bringing her down, Chloe comes in to tell her to knock it off and be as awesome as Chloe knows she can be.
I read that it might have been the universe itself punishing Max for time travel, which could be interesting if the story was ever interested in exploring how and why she has these time powers but you guys warned me ahead of time so I didn't bang on about it.
So I'm just going to assume it's a combination of her powers screwing with her head from overuse, and Max's guilt.
Wait, does Max still have her powers after this?
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"Don't worry about that one! Dont Nod certainly isn't!
So Season Two came out in the height IIRC of the Trump administration, so its themes reflect that with immigration chief among them.
The funnest way I can describe this game is "the opening where Sean and Daniel walk away from their childhood home with no resources save the clothes on their back is the happiest part of the game. It's not grimdark but... well you played Season One.
It's a divisive game but I think the ending(s) were praised over Season One's. Hopefully due to how Double Exposure ends we might be seeing more of Daniel and Sean in the future.
Edited by FOFD on Feb 7th 2025 at 10:18:45 AM
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Li S 2 follows brand-new characters. There is a scene near the end of episode 1 where they see Arcadia Bay, either still there or completely destroyed based on the player's choice. And episode 4 features a returning character, though I won't spoil who it is. For the most part, though, the games are unconnected.
True Colours does the same thing. Steph from Bt S is a major character, and there's a DLC for it where she talks to Mikey, but it's otherwise unconnected to the other games.
Double Exposure is an actual sequel to 1, set a decade later, with Max returning as the main character, with her powers altered. It was also probably the most divisive game in the series so far, for a few reasons.
X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.I'm interested in Double Exposure but at the same time 1.) I only have a Switch and True Colors, while not unplayable, was already kind of janky on Switch and 2.) the negative reactions to Double Exposure aren't very encouraging. I know I liked True Colors more than most (I remember the reception to that being pretty negative as well.) but I'm not sure that'd work out the same this time.
Edited by Chariot on Feb 7th 2025 at 1:26:53 PM
"It also really hurts that Chloe had to die at the lowest point in her life, dying in a bathroom with the last words she hears being no one would miss you bitch.
That's a harsh way to go out. Especially as she's a bisexual teen, and the audience are most likely LGBTQ+ gamers. "
Yeah, like many feel is a very sadistic choice and it clear many didnt want to end with the cute LGTB romance end in a tragedy(not surprising young LGTB tend to be tragedy adverse and aim more for empowering narrative). Some would actually like with Max saving the day and getitng with Chole, superhero style, others downright saw it as bury our gays. it was VERY messy. Which afect quite a bit the sequel.
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"I'm not really familiar with this kind of media, and I'm so out of the target audience that I GENUINELY expected Max and Chloe to have some big dramatic fight at the end.
Does this kind of thing end in tragedy often? The other time I saw something about a girl couple was Witch from Mercury and that ended quite happily.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
Max and Chloe aren't necessarily a couple. DON'TNOD left that up the players, based on their decisions. I played the game platonically by having Max friend-zone both Chloe and Warren on my first playthrough.
In each playthrough afterward, I had Max choose Warren.
I kissed both on an impulsive decision and the game made note of it in Max’s nightmare.
Genuinely got me good game. I do see Max as bi and in love with both of them, but that’s not going to work out.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"![]()
From what I can tell, Warren doesn't even get mentioned in Double Exposure, aside from an extremely brief reference in the final episode.
While Max is pretty clearly intended to be bi, Deck Nine, the developers of Double Exposure, also clearly put more effort into the female love interest than the male one. The LP I watched even commented on how the male love interest feels weirdly tacked-on and has no real chemistry with Max.
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It's getting better as more queer creators make things, and as even straight creators have gained more awareness of the issue, but Bury Your Gays used to be a huge thing. You still see it now and then, where either a queer character dies or their love interest does, but nowhere near as much as it used to, and there's usually better reasons for it happening.
It was the biggest controversy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when they killed one of the main lesbian leads. The thing is that it was a horror show and they killed people all the time. Also, they replaced her with another gay character.
Which the response was, "You don't get it, do you?"
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.![]()
Might just be me, but I’d love to see platonic Max, Chloe, and Warren as a power trio.
The moments on camera where all three of them are together are pretty sweet despite how little those moments are.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
x3 Warren never seemed tacked on to me, he fit in with the other Blackwell students. Max and Warren are both dorky teens, so it's easy to see why she likes him. Even if you choose to friend-zone him, Max still makes it obvious that she's into him.

Yeah those sealed the deal for me. Chloe's last wish, and Kate's life. Plus everyone else in Arcadia bay, but mostly Kate, Victoria, Warren, and Brooke in that order.
So.....honestly the ending made it feel like Max was better off not even going on this journey.
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"