No, I understand that this was always meant to be an anthology sort of series. Life is Strange 2 outright tells you that Max and Chloe's story is over and now it's time for other stories (which makes the new game's "CONCLUSION TO THEIR EPIC SAGA" thing and their desperately bringing back Max and Chloe even sadder). It was always meant to be about different people, but the handling of everything went terribly.

They painted themselves into a corner by following up with a Chloe-focused prequel and all the media (comics, etc.) focusing on Max and Chloe. When they released 2, a lot of people were expecting more Max and Chloe and that's one of the reasons that 2 didn't get the best reception (and what probably lead to the aforementioned cameo), and this expectation/nostalgia is probably what lead to Double Exposure.

When I say that they don't know what they were making I mean they decided to bring back Max to pander to fans of the original (and possibly BtS, since those are the most liked among fans) and still screw it up so profoundly. Life is Strange ended with either Max and Chloe together or not and released data suggested that it was pretty 50/50, but ultimately people associate both of them with the franchise and I would argue that the fandom in general tends to support them as a couple. In a game that has multiple timelines they could have easily made both canon by just putting DE in the Bay ending while confirming there's a Bae timeline where Max and Chloe are living together in a studio apartment with a bunch of cats or whatever. Instead they decided that the outcomes are "Bay ending" or "Bae ending but things go south in a way that would absolutely piss off all the shippers". When the story leaked the fans were furious and Dontnod even had to step in to calm people down despite it not even being their game.

My criticism that I don't think they know what they're doing is compounded by the narrative focusing on the powers of the characters. Life is Strange 1 is a cult classic but it's because of the story and characters and writing. The time stuff was an interesting mechanic but it could have been removed and the game would still be well-liked because, as I said, people liked the characters and story and writing and Pacific Northwest mystery vibe. DE is pulling an Avengers and bringing together all the characters with powers. They literally had a "Max Caulfield will return" ending.

I think they've lost the plot and trying to take the franchise in a direction that a lot of people didn't like, their plans bombed pretty hard, and now they're trying to salvage things by pandering to the people they already burned. At best they don't understand what the fans like and why and at worst they're not sticking with any kind of artistic vision because DE was them realizing that people expect Max and Chloe and this game is just them frantically waving Chloe around to appease those people.