Captain Spirit is my go-to title when a friend who doesn’t play video games asks me for a recommendation: it’s short, it’s free, it packs a massive narrative punch but doesn’t have high stakes or complicated controls, and if you like it there’s the whole Life Is Strange franchise for you to move onto next. Of course, since you’re here reading this on a website dedicated to PC gaming, I’m guessing you’re probably not looking for this sort of entry-level recommendation; but maybe it’s one for you to pass on to a non-gaming friend someday. Or maybe you played the main games but skipped over Captain Spirit. It’s easily done, especially now that it’s better known as an optional bonus chapter slotted in awkwardly one-and-a-half episodes through Life Is Strange 2, than as the standalone game it still technically is. But I recommend playing these games in release order, with Captain Spirit — which is still available as a separate download if you prefer — acting as LIS2’s prologue. Despite the conclusion being open-ended for obvious reasons, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit really does stand up as a great game in itself (some have argued, even better than Life Is Strange 2 did) — and it deserves to be enjoyed on its own considerable merits.
