But, while you control all of the action from its stunning 2D perspective, the focus here is a slow exploration – both of the environment and the interaction between characters. Oxenfree offers more moment-to-moment control than many interactive narratives. Happiness, horror, and relief are all believable – as is the panic as they see friends drop from windows.
Players will take on the role of Alex as she brings her new stepbrother Jonas to an overnight party gone horribly wrong. Rites of passage and Senior year traditions set the stage for a group of friends sneaking off to Edwards Island, an old military outpost with no phone service. While their tiny forms manage to inject personality with their animation, this is nothing compared to how much emotion their voices convey. Oxenfree is a supernatural adventure game. This is all, in no small part, down to the voice acting. This while watching the gang of teens seemingly die over and over becomes affecting. The creepy voices of the voices on the radio send shivers down your spine as they cycle through stations to communicate. It is chilling, which is impressive considering the comic 2D look. You repeatedly witness your friends die, only to reappear in seconds possessed and with glowing eyes. These changes begin unnervingly, but quickly become devastating. Cryptic messages start to pour through and within moments everything goes wrong.įrom here you are plunged into a cryptic horror story, filled with time loops that have you reliving events - albethey slightly altered. In the caves you find an odd disturbance that you can tune into with your radio. Looking for a way to escape from Clarissa, you and Jonas break off from the group to explore a cave, which is where things start to get… freaky. This system drives many of your discoveries - both of the people and the world - and also impacts the way the story plays out. You use the intuitive controls to pick between responses to questions and join in with conversations. These opening moments set the scene and establish the dynamics between the characters. PlayStation 4 and Linux versions were released later in 2016, followed by iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch versions. It was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Xbox One in January 2016. The dynamics are like a powder keg – and with Clarissa throwing lit matches where ever she can, the situation soon blows up. Oxenfree is a supernatural mystery graphic adventure game developed and published by Night School Studio. Soon after beginning you find yourself on a beach. With you on this trip, you have your new step brother, Jonas your neurotic stoner best friend, Ren your brothers ex, Clarissa and her best friend, Nona… who Ren fancies.
All that being said, if you're an adventure-game fan who likes slower story-based games, you should find Oxenfree an engaging sub-$20 download to play over a rainy Sunday afternoon.You play as Alex, a girl who recently lost her brother to drowning. The music also adds to the atmosphere, but the voice acting is hit and miss (plus, teens don't talk like this).
As Alex, you can decide what to say and how to act and choose the people you want to help - interestingly, there isn't always a "correct" choice or one that doesn't have any repercussions. It's also strongly recommended that players use a game controller, because the keyboard and mouse controls aren't the most intuitive. The pacing is off, too, because some areas of the game are slow and drag on, while at other points some significant events take place in a short period of time.Īlong with beautiful hand-painted 2-D environments, the real charm in Oxenfree is the character development. Some of the navigation is tedious, too, such as hopping over obstacles, climbing up or down rocks, or walking down twisting paths, as it all takes time, though it's likely required to let all the dialogue sequences play out. This mystery title is a fun, unique three- or four-hour adventure - with an enjoyable story and characters to unravel - but those with little patience won't likely appreciate the thousands of lines of dialogue to wade through.