This review was originally published on 2/2/2016 on our sister site
From time to time here on AbsoluteGaming you’ll see us post a second review of a game. We think that providing a second opinion on it will provide you as readers a more rounded look at whether a game will be suited for you when weighing up your next purchase. Oxenfree is one such game that has already been reviewed by Steve Millward, and you can see his opinion on the game HERE. And now it’s my turn to put my thoughts on a page.
From a still image perspective, it would be easy to think that it is a side scrolling platformer. When in fact it is a story driven adventure. If I were to compare the story telling techniques I would make a comparison with Telltale’s methods. Conversations between your controlled character Alex and others lead to multiple choice responses, which drive relationships between them forward as the story progresses, and eventually will affect the outcome of the game.
Oxenfree is a game rooted in the supernatural. Starting off as a trip to Edward’s Island with a group of dysfunctional teens featuring a new step brother, awkward teenage love interests and disdain between members of the group, what was meant to be a big party soon turns into anything but. After fooling around on the beach for a while, Alex soon manages to open up a supernatural rift. You need to answer the question of ‘What is actually going on here?’ before it all becomes a matter of survival and getting out the other side unscathed.
Anyone interested in story drive games should definitely check this out. From the get go the intrigue around the story drove me to progress and to find out what was going to happen and discover the mystery surrounding the events of the game. Developers Night School Studio have also filled the Island with plenty of lore in the form of hidden letters and slightly creepy radio transmissions, which will require some searching to find. But it helps flesh out the history of the island, and as such, give the storyline a deeper feel than you’d get without them.
Aside from the story itself, Oxenfree has done a fantastic job with both audio and visuals. It looks as though artistically they may have taken some cues from Broken Age. The use of dull pastel colours for both the world and its characters is beautiful, and close attention has been paid to character animations as they traverse across different sections of the map, with the environment around them dictating how they move. Audio wise, the voice actors have done a brilliant job of bringing each character to life and giving them their own distinct personalities. Couple that with good choices of background music and supernatural noises, it comes together as a very good job well done from the developers.
There are some slight negatives though. I experienced a handful of crashing issues, kicking me out to the dashboard on a number of occasions, or being stuck in the environment meaning I needed to reboot the game manually. I think there could be a case to be made for being able to increase the walking speed on the character at times aswell, there were points in which going from A to B became a bit of a slog. On the whole though, these are minor niggles to an otherwise fantastic game. In fact, it’s the best new release of this year so far. If you have any interest in games with a decent story, where you are able to influence the outcome with your choices, this is a must buy.
