Oxenfree (2016)

If you mainlined 4 episodes of twin peaks already and need something to tide you over until next week, allow me to recommend the game Oxenfree. It's reminiscent of the Mark Frost parts of Twin Peaks, albeit not as much the David Lynch parts. Which is to say it feels like a "young adult" version of Lost.

It's pretty rad.

For an alternative perspective, it's made by some guys formerly from Telltale and Disney Interactive, and ends up feeling Superbrothers Sword and Sworcery: EP expanded into a Walking-Dead-Era Telltale adventure game. Or, more specifically, about 1-2 episodes of such a game. But the reduction in scope apparently affords the game more extensive branching paths: we plan to go back and play through it at least once more to try other choices and find collectibles.

Oxenfree has, I think, the best conversation system of any game I've played. Responses are always mapped to the same face buttons, supporting subconciusly-directed conversation reminiscent of Mass Effect; but the game doesn't stop to wait for your input, even in the Telltale game sense where a timer allows you to provide "no" response. Here, the option to speak simply fades away over time, and it's up to the player to speak up, even interrupt other conversation, as preferred. Other characters will realistically fold interjections into the conversation and return to the previous topic if it makes sense to do so. The whole thing makes the characters and their relationships feel believable in a way I haven't seen elsewhere.

This game is great; and while I thought the ending was a bit on-the-nose and underwhelming, NG+ and the game's relatively short length mean that the "end" doesn't have to be the actual final impression.

Great game! Liked my ending. Great voice acting, great score. Two issues with the game:

1. With the game is it can be sort of a walking simulator at some points. The travel time could kill some of the pacing at times. I realize that this time plus the brainless platforming was meant to make more room for the games main feature (dialog), but it can get tedious at times.

2. bugs. Ran into two cases where my companion got stuck on some geometry and I was unable to proceed with the story. It forced me to redo some parts of the game. Not the end of the world, but frustrating.

Other than that this is a well written, atmospheric, beautifully produced game. I look forward to more from the developer!

I had a lot of fun playing.

I always play these games that are not really horror games like horror games.

The art is sparse but lovely, the VO is well human and naturalistic, it is funny.

The story is interesting and since it is the only carrot the game has it is good.

As soon as I finished I wanted to immediately play again.

To give Oxenfree a review based on its gameplay does come off as slightly unfair; there are games where gameplay is vacant but the story makes it more than justified, and Oxenfree would fall into that category as most of its "puzzles" come off as walking from point A to point B and tweaking the radio.

But what of its story?

Cringe-worthy dialogue, unlikeable characters, and hipster trash that I would rather push to the side and see something more suited to what it was trying to mimic to begin with (It Follows is a very obvious example). Honestly, this game would have felt like an offensive waste of time if the visuals weren't pretty to look at, but that's never a good reason to have both dull gameplay and an awful story at the same time. The ghosts and the creepy setting almost came off as likeable, but the main cast has never been so punchable. Even some heavily cliched JRPG casts aren't as grating.

If you identify with any of the characters in this game (sans life marked by tragedy, we just mean the irritating parts) then I thoroughly suggest you question your life choices or stop being a whiny hipster teen. Approach this game with caution.

8.5/10

Oxenfree doesn't always have the most compelling gameplay -- a lot of walking, which is fine, but also has repetitive time loops that wear thin later in the game but are neat at first -- and it doesn't use its radio mechanics as well as it could (there are some truly eerie things that they could have done with it), but I love the story. The characters talk constantly but the dialogue is natural and well-written, and the choices you make do impact how the game plays out, even if it's not done as well as some other games (it's also by a really small team). I was really invested in these people and the mixture of surrealism and paranormal drama really did it for me. There's some excellent commentary in here as well even if the game is a tad confusing.