izigame.me

Starting with the positives: this game has the same great atmosphere as the original LIS, specifically the soundtrack and dreamy cinematics. When I first played through Episode 1, I was looking forward to a game of a similar calibre.
However...
Episode 1 was the only enjoyable episode for me. Without spoiling any details, it becomes clear very early on (and arguably even towards the end of episode 1) that your choices do not have any substantial impact on the story direction. The game clearly has its own specific narrative (and at times political commentary) that it is driving towards, and it does this at the expense of allowing the player to make meaningful decisions that impact the world the way they expect them to.
The result is this game feels unsatisfying to play. On top of this, the developers' ideal narrative path shows in quite a few scenes where, regardless of the decisions made by the player, characters end up acting contrary to these during scripted cutscenes, for example if you act coldly towards Karen throughout Episode 4, Sean will still have warmed up to her no matter what in Episode 5, despite your intentions to the contrary
But perhaps my biggest gripe with this game is the writing of the main characters, primarily Daniel. Story-driven games live and die by making their main character(s) likeable and relatable. I understand Daniel is young, but the writers turn him into the most unlikeable, whiny, snotty, spoiled brat on the planet. I cannot understand others in the reviews who like this character. There were many times that I wished for the option to leave him behind at the various stops on their journey. Sean is better written, but his reactions to some situations are completely incomprehensible. The main example of this is again in Episode 4: no matter what your choices are, Sean ends up battered and with a missing eye at the start of this episode, as a direct result of his brother's stupid, selfish and bratty behaviour. Not only that, but he is set to go down for everything his brother has done up to this point. How is his first reaction 'I need to find Daniel'? I'm sorry, but that's a stretch too far even for brotherly love. He then tries to remove his brother from the religious commune/cult that he has been taken to. Regardless of how he perceives the place as bad, Daniel tells him repeatedly that he is happy and well taken care of there, and we see nothing that contradicts this. After months on the run, why does Sean then insist on risking his life to kidnap him away? This same brother that has screwed him over so many times on their journey (accidentally, sure, but always as a result of his selfish and bratty behaviour) In other words, the writing does not do enough to show the good in their relationship that makes it worth it, and shows too much of the bad.
All of this doesn't even touch on the game's technical laziness, which other reviews tackle in more detail. I cannot recommend this game to anyone. If you are new to the series, play the first game - it is superior in almost every aspect to this one. If you are a returning fan, give this one a miss. Maybe the next game in the series is better and brings back that magic that the first game had.