Oxenfree

Be warned : there are no "newmechanics/hype/game+++" in this game, just a good story with well writen characters, and beautiful art. It's a bit passive, but relaxing at the same time, and captivating. So if you're in the mood, that's cool (sometimes, frame rate slow down, maybe a patch could fix it). Until now, one of my best game 2016, though I can understand critics. It's a choice of heart in fact, despite the imperfections, because I think that a few games set a mood like that.

I do like this game, it was interesting, it told a pretty original story, and I was genuinely interested in seeing what happened next, and considered a second playthrough just to try out some of the other dialog options, but when it comes to gameplay, well you just wander, select the dialog option(or fail to do so because they will fade quickly as you're trying to decide, not necessarily a bad thing of course), the closest you get to gameplay is the radio gimmick which I don't see ageing well, but if all you really want is the story, and the option to select good dialog options(I thought they were pretty diverse atleast) Then you'll probably really like this game, if you like being challenged then you'll probably really dislike the game, I give it 4 stars although personally to me it's more a 3 star game, but I find it's voice acting and story and characters are interesting and since that the characters and story is basically the only content I have to admit it does it really well.

I wish I could give more stars for this game. The voice acting, music, art and story are excellent. On the other hand, all the long slow walks back and forth on the island impacts a lot negatively on the game. It literally just wiped out any desire to complete the letters and anomalies and repeat the story to see different outcomes.

Pretty much what rwaylor's said. If you're going to make a game that's 95% story & dialog with almost no meaningful gameplay, it better be DAMN good story and dialog. That is not the case here. It would be mildly amusing banter if it were attached to an actual game, but when you're forced to focus on it because there IS no other game, it's very much lacking. Almost every single line of dialog can be boiled down to either "I'm an insecure jerk!" or "I'm an insecure wuss!" or "What's going on?" You control a character walking a ridiculously linear path from point A to point B. You will exchange said banter along the way, and be frequently presented with near pointless dialog choices that you don't even get any time to read. You can maybe skim 2 out of 3 before the time limit runs out and you say nothing. Here's hoping that some day game designers drop the awful timed dialog response mechanic that Telltale popularized. Eventually, after enough banter has been bantered, you reach a location. Some poltergeist thing happens or a light flashes or an acid trip breaks out. The characters say, "What was that?". Back to walking the linear path and repeat. Every once in a while you get a "puzzle", which never strays from "stand under a light and adjust the radio dial until something happens". That's it. In nearly 3 hours of play time I have yet to come across anything else. So you're left with an exploration game that's totally linear, dialog that's too banal to carry a story heavy game, an adventure game with no puzzles, and a horror story that's about as scary as Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind. Watch a Youtube clip of the opening and ask yourself if hours of that looks interesting.