Oxenfree Reviews
Like a good roller coaster, Oxenfree starts with nervous laughter, escalating to an event that leaves the character white-knuckled and wishing they had stayed home.
Oxenfree is a gorgeous and artistic adventure game, which demands attention. It is, however, kept from greatness due to some unfortunate technical problems that can lead to a lot of frustration.
Players will remain invested in a story that, if not entirely original, remains exciting and poignant in equal measure.
In traditional adventure games, even if the experience amounts primarily to dialogue choices and walking through the story, the action is also punctuated with cutscenes. Oxenfree lacks this element, so a second playthrough to experiment with different choices will require a lot of slogging through the same wide-angle shots and simple interactions with the environment that I doubt would change the second time around.
Night School Studio has delivered a shining example of narrative excellence with Oxenfree. The story, the characters, the look, and the sound all come together to create an unforgettable series of wonderful moments.
Night School's creepy teen horror more than succeeds at being a chilling supernatural tale, but its real strength lies in its rough, earnest, truthful account of five teen lives and the ways that they grow and fracture under the worst, most unearthly kind of pressure.
Besides those two slight issues, Oxenfree is a compact, fresh experience that introduces lovable characters, a phenomenal soundtrack, and one of the no doubt dopest endings this year.
Although light on challenge and gameplay, Oxenfree offers rich dialogue options and an intriguing story that unfolds over multiple playthroughs while following characters that are easy to become attached to.
"Oxenfree" captures a mood (an eerie night), intensifies it (people get possessed!), and then efficiently wraps things up before anything becomes tedious. This analog, supernatural story unites its characters in a web of guilt and showers them in decorative static.
In Oxenfree, Night School Studios has used simple mechanics to great effect establishing and building on its small cast of characters, and keeping players engaged with its creepy tale of paranormal dread. It's a shame then that it doesn't quite stick the landing, seeming to rush to its conclusion without offering a sufficient pay-off. A small number of minor (dialogue for the wrong character playing) and major (two complete crashes) glitches also hold it back. It's undoubtedly a stylish and unique game however, that we hope does its part to usher in a wave of games that take a similar approach to storytelling.
Despite being rather short, it's a memorable game and one which will make the players feel responsible for their choices, as the answers given during the dialogues will have direct consequences on the overall development of the game's plot.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
A genuinely creepy creation, Oxenfree combines a clever story and smart dialogue mechanics with superbly sinister music to leave a deep and lasting impression on the player, one that should encourage an all-important second playthrough. Fans of Stranger Things and Poltergeist will love the direction this game takes – if not to hell and back, exactly, then absolutely to some other place where horrors abound, just waiting for an invitation into our world. It's yet another Switch essential.
Oxenfree 2 casts off adolescence in a bid to explore the trials and tribulations of adulthood, featuring authentic dialogue that packs an emotional punch.
Oxenfree is a story about human interaction and how we choose to treat each other, all set against a backdrop of supernatural horror. It just feels really human in spite of all the weird stuff.
Oxenfree is a tight, well-paced thriller with characters that make you want to explore every inch of its creepy island.
Players that love a good story, some nice reveals, and lots of character driven dialog will eat up Oxenfree. It personally reminded me at times of Goonies, Donnie Darko, and X-files, all thrown in a blender together and spat out. It's a game with a great amount of heart, and one scene in particular, while it didn't have me in tears, I couldn't help feel touched by that moment.
Oxenfree is whole heartedly one of the best experiences you can have playing games. It is a cornerstone example of how stories can be told in an interactive media, and how to build a supernatural tone around 'average' characters without exaggerating everything.
So much of Oxenfree is an utterly heavenly experience. The conversation options knocks other games out of the water, and the characters are relatable and well-realised. The story is well-paced for much of the fairly brief play time, but sadly things unravel by the time the finale arrives, making a potential stone cold classic into something that's merely great.
With an enthralling mystery to solve while trying to survive a supernatural event, Oxenfree challenges you to solve a mystery, care about the characters, and make you want to play through the story again and again.