Oxenfree Review

Did you grow up on movies like The Goonies, Stephen King’s It, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors? Did you love last year’s sleeper hit It Follows? If you answered yes to any of those, then Oxenfree is the game for you.Developed by former Telltale developers, Oxenfree tells the story of five teenagers spending the night on an island where they plan to drink, party, and do as teenagers do until something goes very wrong. Alex, the blue-haired heroine of the story, uses her radio to listen to broadcasts that apparently don’t exist, and by doing so in a cave, she unleashes something supernatural. Alex and her friends are thrown into a dangerous game, dealing with a being that communicates via radio waves whose motives aren’t entirely clear right away.Those looking for a spooky and deep narrative with multilayered characters who reveal more about themselves over time will be pleased; Oxenfree has some of the most interesting and realistic dialogue of any game I’ve ever experienced. The writing is especially important because the majority of the game involves walking and talking at the same time.

Guitar hero metallica xbox 360. Don’t let that discourage you though, because you’ll find yourself constantly unveiling new information and advancing the story the entire time.Playing as Alex, you’ll react to conversations had between characters ranging from your new stepbrother, your best friend your best friend’s crush, and your deceased brother’s ex-girlfriend. You have the option to pick one of three responses or to stay silent, depending on the situation. Each decision will have some impact on your relationship with the characters around you and the story itself. Because of this, players can view various endings depending on how Alex’s relationships end up.

Jan 15, 2016  OxenFree videos - Watch OxenFree Xbox One videos, movies, trailers, gameplay clips, video game reviews, interviews and more at IGN.

Conversations feel extremely natural, with dialogue options that reflect how most people would think. You can be sarcastic or make jokes in tense situations or you can encourage characters to stay serious. Other times you’ll be snapping people back to reality from the horrors they are experiencing. One way in which Oxenfree delivers backstory without forcing it down players throats is by optionally revealing information Alex may know that the player wouldn’t necessarily know yet, by the dialogue options provided. For example, Alex and friends stay on the island yearly, as a kind of tradition, but this is the first time her stepbrother Jonas has been there.

Jonas will ask Alex questions about the island, and one of the selections will make it clear that if selected, you’ll be revealing new information from Alex’s memory.While searching for clues about the spooky things happening around Alex and friends, you’ll be wandering across beautifully illustrated pseudo two-dimensional settings, while an amazing “VHS synth-pop” soundtrack scored by SCNTFC plays in the background. The music, setting and characters makes the whole experience very reminiscent of last year’s indie horror film darling It Follows, offering a modern twist on a 1980’s aesthetic, which is in no way a bad thing.What I think sets Oxenfree apart from the likes of Telltale’s other games is that it isn’t based on an existing IP, which allows the developers to create something all their own. This freedom makes for a more interesting story that kept me on the edge of my seat till the very end. Meanwhile, I’ve yet to be able to finish a Telltale game because of a lack of caring about the characters based on the IPs involved.I can’t stress enough how much I loved Oxenfree from start to finish and subsequent playthroughs. The mysterious supernatural story is enthralling, the soundtrack is haunting, the graphical style is gorgeous, and the writing is some of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Even if you don’t usually play dialogue and story driven games, like myself, I urge you to give Oxenfree a try, especially if you love the 1980’s “teenagers versus supernatural forces” flicks as much as I do.

Oxenfree will surely be one of my top games of 2016 as it has already earned itself a place as one of my favourite games of all time.

It’s not The Upside Down and there’s no Demogorgon to run away from, but Edwards Island soon becomes just as chilling a place to be. Is a game that has been enthusiastically muttered about to me on repeat occasion, but, up until now, I hadn’t had the chance to check it out for myself.For those that may not have heard of it before, is a supernatural thriller. Now on Nintendo Switch, it’s a game that, coupled with its relatively short length, is best experienced in one sitting and with headphones on, if you can.You play as Alex, a smart but rebellious teenager who is still struggling to come to terms with the loss of her brother.

Now, some years later, she is travelling to an old military island for an overnight beach party with her group of dysfunctional friends. And, it’s also the chance for her to get to know Jonas, her new step-brother, for the first time.What starts out with an alcohol-fueled game of Truth or Dare, soon sees Alex and Jonas explore a darkened cave nearby where their unending curiosity sees them open a triangular, ghostly rift a pocket radio. It doesn’t take long before everything goes horribly wrong, the malevolent spirits that you have stirred seeking their revenge – the group soon racing around the island to avert disaster.excels in its storytelling, even if the pacing can sometimes feel off and the characters never reacting to the otherworldly events that they have caused with enough horrified alarm. But, as you explore Edwards Island, it is the branching conversations that you talk through that help to make their relationships feel more believable.It was a clever decision for these interactions to happen as you clamber around the island, helping to distract you from wandering back and forth between locations.

It’s the strong voice cast, too, that will undoubtedly help captivate your attention for the entirety of game’s four hour duration, whether that be Alex (Erin Yvette), troubled step-brother Jonas (Gavin Hammon), the intensely cold Clarissa (Avital Ash), the quirky Nona (Britanni Johnson), or drugged up best friend Ren (Aaron Kuban).We’re warned that every dialogue choice that is made will change the story and impact the relationships between each character, but the three responses that you are presented with to keep the conversation flowing are never black and white. The consequences always unclear, it certainly makes the meandering chatter in feel more natural and lends the chance to focus on learning more about the characters themselves rather than the player fretting about which is the ‘best’ choice to make.It is the radio that becomes a clever tool, in not only letting you tune in to the Edwards Island Walking Tour to learn more about historical landmarks dotted around the island but being necessary to interact with the game’s many supernatural moments. That paranormal activity can see characters become momentarily possessed or trapped in time loops, where time is rewound but objects that weren’t there before now appear. It’s unsettling, with having a great sense of unease without ever having to rely on terrifying the player with jump scares.It is in these moments that the characters actually become frightened, letting a sudden urgency creep in, and a need to escape the situation before the ethereal spirits take hold. Even cycling through radio frequencies feels incredible and, in many ways more real, thanks to how well the developer has implemented HD Rumble – whether that be when playing with the Joy-Con or the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.

The audiovisual design, too, is astounding, creating an unnervingly creepy atmosphere, with characters often smaller than their surrounding environments – which can be interpreted as playing a small part in rectifying what has long been a more far-reaching problem on the island.Peel back the layers of mystery and intrigue, and what underpins is remarkably simple in approach. With nuanced storytelling at its ghostly heart, the pacing to this coming-of-age tale suffers in places but it will still enthral like no other. For Edwards Island holds many secrets, it just depends whether you want to stick around long enough to learn the truth about them all.Version Tested: Nintendo SwitchReview copy provided by Night School Studio.