Oxenfree

I just finished my second playthrough of this game and I am still amazed. I am amazed how this game was actually able to give me the feeling like I was part in one of those teen mystery movies of the 80s. The dialogues are great, the characters fleshed out, the story has surprising, funny, dramatic and sad moments in it. This game simply is an experience for everybody who likes ghost storys, mysterys or teen drama. This is an absolutely amazing piece of entertainment and I won't tell any more because part of the fun is experiencing the story without knowing much about it. Unfortunately though the game also has some fundamental flaws: 1) There is absolutely no possibility to rebind keys. You will however be able to control characters using keys from one of those sets W,A,S,D, Space(Action), Shift(Radio), Ctrl(Map) Arrowkeys, Enter(Action), Rightmouse(Radio), Middlemouse(Map) 2) There are in general no puzzles in the game - it's more of a choice based interactive story in which some choices do matter more than others. Gameplay is comparable to the newer Telltale Games but without the QTE sequences. 3) You only have a limited time to chose what you want to say. Unfortunately the timer is already running while the other characters are still talking to you so it happens quite often that you have to interrupt the other characters (and the great voice overs). Quick reading is essential so that the timer has not run out before you decided. This game is 80% dialogue so this is a big minus! I have no problem with a bit time pressure but you should not be forced to answer before the question is even asked. 4) English only - and not everything subtitled. No other languages than English are supported and some things (radio stations) are still missing subtitles. If you don't mind the flaws and are interested in this kind of game I still highly recommend it.

I don't normally do reviews but after playing this I decided to drop one, mainly because the one star reviews here are laughable. At least some of them were honest enough to admit they didn't play it more than a few minutes. It's their loss. Yes, this is a game about kids who go through a supernatural event and those kids talk like kids, go figure. The early parts are establishing their characters and relationships and why they do that is revealed as you play. The sci-fi mystery here is very interesting once it gets going and mixes sci-fi and horror pretty deftly. There are so many endings depending on the choices you make and how you deal with the situation and other characters. There's also a new game + that is very much worth playing. It isn't just playing the game again. If you're an older gamer like me this will remind you of the old Sierra and Lucasarts adventure games and in many ways is better than a good chunk of those which had far worse writing in many cases than this game's detractors claim. It's a few hours of fun and a challenge to manipulate the timelines into different endings depending on what you want the outcome to be. Like I said, these 1 star folks missed out, don't let a bunch of grumpy old men turn you away from what is a very good adventure.

Really interesting story, better than I was expecting for sure. It does have multiple endings and branching story. But replaying it would not be nearly as fun I would think. Sure you can play it again and choose differently, but I dont really see much fun in doing it over again so soon. Maybe with some time between playing it. Its a great example of how a different idea, can really be something great. Its not for everybody, but if you like an intriguing mystery, and story, over hack and slash ect gameplay, then this might be something you would like. It is on the short side, I think it took me 4ish hours to complete. But for 20 dollars, it seems a little on the steep side for a game that will repeat many of the scenes you have already seen and heard before. But all in all, I really enjoyed the experience, and may play it again and do things differently.

I'm going to start this review by laying out what I am going to talk about: The basic game mechanics, the setting and feel of the game, and my critiques and opinions of both. The basic game mechanics are you, the player, controlling your little Avatar, Alex, and moving her around on pre-defined paths across each map. While moving, you often have a companion that will follow you around and provide conversation and commentary, which you get to reply to, generally in the form of three "conversation bubbles" that provide different flavors of respones. There is also a radio mechanic where you activate your radio and attempt to dial in certain frequencies; this feature is mostly optional, as you can uncover a lot of hidden and cryptic content with this feature, but there are a couple points in the game where it is absolutely necessary to do this. (No spoilers from me!) The environment and map areas seem to be pre-rendered scenes, or even scanned paintings, which detail the setting nicely and fits with the stylization of the characters. I think the art style and its use is actually one of the strongest points of the game. Now, my following critiques may seem a bit harsh, but I do recommend that people give this game a try - it has some interesting points and isn't a bad narrative. That said, if you do not like the genre of games known as "walking simulators," you may not care for this. Your character is limited in exploration by the pre-defined paths, and if you think you miss something and you want to go back to explore in-depth, travel will seem slow and arduous. That said, the conversation in the game is believable and fluid, and I give the voice actors and writers a lot of credit - its' good. On the downside, it almost seems like this game was targeted for young adults, and you're going to need to have a tolerance for that kind of subject matter - prom, under-age drinking, etcetera. For all of this, your choices do matter, and the ending is not static.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this game! I really enjoy these story-driven games that I can sit down and finish in a short 4-hour session. Thanks to its very chill atmosphere, it's a perfect choice for when you want to unwind after a long day with a game that won't be too challenging. The story was fantastic, the voice acting was FANTASTIC, and I really liked the radio mechanic and appreciated the fact that it wasn't just shoehorned in/shoved in your face all the time. Overall, I loved Oxenfree and I'll definitely be playing through it again sometime soon! :)