The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit might be free and run a little under 2 hours but it's much more than a simple demo for the upcoming Life is Strange 2. Announced at E3 2018 Captain Spirit is Dontnod Entertainment's next entry in the Life is Strange universe. Although, for the moment, it doesn't appear as if Chloe Price, Max Caulfield or any character from the first game will be involved in a meaningful way in the sequel. Captain Spirit sets Life is Strange 2 off on its own path with its own (new) main character.

However just because Captain Spirit is being treated as an entry point for a game's sequel doesn't mean new players are left out in the cold. Captain Spirit is very much its own and very compelling product. Fans of Life is Strange might get the most out of Captain Spirit or at the very least have a feel for the game specific rhythms. In reality, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is meant for anyone that enjoys a good and very emotional story.

Related: Everything We Learned About The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit At E3 2018

The flow and mechanics of Captain Spirit will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played a visual novel type of game previously. Captain Spirit casts players in the role of Chris, a 10-year-old boy with a very active imagination. As Chris you can walk around the environment, interact with certain objects and/or people and have conversations that have at least two dialogue options. It's not all that surprising.

The unique thing about Captain Spirit is that Chris has a "special power." Where the heroine of Life is Strange could rewind time, Chris has the gift of imagination. Certain interactive elements of Captain Spirit have a prompt to press the left trigger. Pressing down the trigger allows Chris to activate his imaginary telepathic powers. Chris throws out his hand, ala Professor X, and hums in concentration. The move never stops being adorable.

If that description, and everything else about Captain Spirit, wasn't a big enough hint, Chris is very into superheroes. The titular Captain is Chris' alter-ego and the game does an extraordinary job exploring the life and mindset of a child. The character list of Captain Spirit is very small. There's Chris, his father, Charles, and just a handful of other characters yet the experience never feels hollow. Chris is a lonely kid, that much is immediately obvious, but because of the reliance on imagination and child-like wonder Captain Spirit isn't nearly as depressing as it could end up being.

If Life is Strange was all about bringing to life the uncertainty and moodiness of being a teenager, Captain Spirit is about the seemingly limitless wonder of being a kid. Chris is a much more likable and sympathetic character, someone you want to protect and preserve. Chris is precious even though he acts much more mature than the average 10-year-old, and that's because the world around him frequently is at odds with his innocence. There's no murdered teenager at the heart of Captain Spirit but the game has the same beautiful melancholy as Life is Strange. It's just combated and balanced by Chris being a kid.

It's because of this kid-like feeling that permeates Captain Spirit that the game is able to pull of its big gimmick. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is toted as a "sandbox narrative" but this designation is a bit misleading. The beginning and ending, neither of which we'll spoil, of Captain Spirit doesn't change regardless of what Chris does in the game. Certain elements, like any visual novel game, are fixed. The sandbox nature of Captain Spirit enters in because there's a great deal of freedom of choice in what Chris can do between those two points.

After the introductory section of Captain Spirit is over, Chris introduces his to-do list, which serves as the list of objectives for the game. It's impossible to do everything on the list in one playthrough and the ways to achieve each goal are not immediately obvious. Some of the tasks that Chris sets for himself are simple, like completing the costume of Captain Spirit. However other tasks, like playing a game on Charles' phone, require multiple steps like getting the phone's passcode from Chris' dad, who doesn't exactly have a whole lot of time for his son. Charles isn't going to being winning any parent of the year awards like Chloe's mom, Joyce, in Life is Strange.

It's through this to-do list and the secrets that can be uncovered by them, that a lot of the joy of Captain Spirit is found. The game doesn't play exactly like a Life is Strange episode. There was always a very linear path in Life is Strange. Very early on in Captain Spirit, Charles tells Chris he can do whatever he wants inside their small home and it feels that way for the player. There's a very paradoxical experience in Captain Spirit where the physical setting is small but the possibilities of what could happen seem endless. The basic gameplay mechanics aren't changing from Life is Strange but the way the story presents itself is definitely new.

The experience isn't necessarily a better one than Life is Strange, although it's certainly not worse. It's just very different. The game is meant to ask questions and build fan theories until Life is Strange 2 begins. It's hard to call The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit an improvement over Life is Strange. This is mainly because Life is Strange is so excellent. Even though Captain Spirit plays differently to Life is Strange, it has a lot of the same atmosphere. The originality of the mood in Life is Strange isn't quite there in Captain Spirit even if it borrows themes and plot points.

Captain Spirit offers improved visuals over Life is Strange as well, in part due to the move from the Unreal 3 Engine to Unreal 4. The textures are smoother, the colors are deeper and the characters are more expressive and animated. Captain Spirit isn't the best looking game ever but it is one of the better looking visual novels. It even surpasses, in some ways, the technical achievements of Dontnod's recent, fully-priced, release of Vampyr.

The free price tag of The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit makes it very hard to pass up. Captain Spirit doesn't have the most ambitious goals since it's really about drumming up interest for Life is Strange 2 but it does that very well. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is the perfect entry for anyone who wants to know more about Life is Strange 2 or were interested in the first game but never quite got around to, or could afford, spending money on the experience.

4.5/5

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is available now for FREE on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

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