Developer: Night School Studio
Publisher: Netflix
Release Date: July 12th, 2023
Released For: Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and Windows, IOS, and Android
Oxenfree wasn’t just a great game, it was a surprising one that came out of left field to become an indie darling. It also helps that the game was a brilliant coming-of-age story draped in well-crafted horror. Despite my being more than excited for this long-awaited sequel, one look at the original and you can see that Night School Studios set an almost impossibly high bar for the game.
That bar is one that Oxenfree II: Lost Signals ultimately fails to clear. In the end, though, it barely matters. The game gets close enough to mark to make it worth your time. When the bar you set for your game is the closest thing to compare it to, and your worst effort is… Pretty darn good… It speaks volumes.
*static noises*
Since going into detail about this point would give away spoilers, all I will say is that the game, despite featuring a new character in Riley Poverly, does act as a continuation of the previous story. We begin the story 5 years after the events of the first game, once again set in Camena though on the mainland this time around. Riley had left the town years ago but returned after her father begins getting sick. Like most things in Oxenfree, this and every other plot point can be expanded on based on what you choose in dialog branches. The player also maintains a strong influence on how Riley feels about certain things based on their choices as well.
Players who loved the dialog in the first game are going to have a good time as the heavy emphasis on character building through long conversations as they explore remains a key component of the game. Maybe this is designed to be antithetical to the first game, but Riley does not have a prior relationship with most characters in her journey. This means players directly affect her relationship with them, as opposed to reacting to things you had no control over prior to the story. This adds something to the experience that at least feels new, if not wrapped in a familiar package.
All this being said, the players never shut up. For the most part, this was exactly what I wanted, this is Oxenfree II after all. The issue is more in how you communicate with characters. Riley has one character that they will spend more of her time with, similar to the originals Alex with Ren. Whereas Alex was attempting to locate her friends, many of the supporting contacts in this game can be found on Rileys’ walkie-talkie. It’s an interesting dynamic, but ultimately hinders the experience with a new menu to navigate (along with the returning radio) and also a lot of info dumps that come at inopportune times. They can also cut up already ongoing conversations which in a game like this is not great.
These conversations do make the game at least replayable which a lot of these narrative experiences struggle with. A response of a few words, unlike in Telltale titles of Life is Strange isn’t misleading or exactly what the character will say but a path of multiple lines of dialog that just make you crave the understanding of the words left unsaid and what they might have changed. Even with all the being true, there are times that dialog feels hollow, at least compared to the first story. Rileys’ narrative plays out far more abstractly than that of Alex, and in doing so feels far less relatable which is a shame.
The Little Town Of Camena
For much of the game Edward Island sits in the background, reminding you of what happened 5 years ago and serving as an ominous presence for your journey through the mainland town of Camena, Oregon. Since the game assumes some knowledge of the franchise, it only takes a few seconds from selecting the start option for something bizarre to happen. These play out similarly to the first game with spooky ghosts possessing radio waves and distorting reality.
These moments are honestly where the game stumbles the most with many playing out as generic looping sequences. In one for instance you keep appearing at the start point, needing to walk slowly to an interactable object that has appeared before the loop resets and you need to repeat that action. In others, you end up in a loop that requires interaction with devices that appear small in the corner of your screen. With these loops playing out multiple times within the narrative before you are asked to break it these moments can be confusing as they sneak up on you.
There are genuinely great moments to be had here too. Some of these loops act as heavy narrative sequences that offer the best insight into the characters. A later sequence in a house in which the fabric of reality even shifts is great even by the first game’s standard. The issue is these moments are more infrequent this time around, which is a shame.
Another new mechanic that is cool, yet underutilized, is the ability to tear apart rips in the fabric of time to travel to the past. These serve as micro puzzles, forcing the player of the straight path to rest paths to when they were usable. One particular time dilation moment is a standout, in which you try to find the right period in time to pass through a blocked path. It cannot be understated how much I wish this mechanic was used more.
The core of the gameplay mechanics remains largely unchanged. You are given a semi-open area to explore as you attempt to get to survive the night from hell. Parts of the map will become closed off to you at certain times of the game, and getting certain tools will help you traverse further. The coastline of Oregon is as enjoyable as you might remember, offering an eerie yet beautiful scenic expanse. While there is a lot to get lost in as you explore, the Metroidvania style of exploration will include a lot of backtracking. Some of this will include a moment of additional dialog to fill the void, while others offer a moment of horror or psychological absurdity. However, there are many that just feel like redundancy to pad out the runtime of what is around a 6-hour game.
Oxenfree II: Lost Signal had some pretty big shoes to fill so it's no wonder it falls short. In the end, however, I am not sorry I took the journey and that was really all the game needed to accomplish. For every shortcoming the game has, another reminds me why I love this series and Night School Studio in general. If you like deep narratives, psychological horror, beautiful scenery, and emotional journeys, you could do a lot worse than this.
