Oxenfree Reviews
A beautiful story-driven adventure game with a compelling story and great characters, set on an island filled with intriguing mysteries.
Oxenfree doesn't live up to its potential, but has a story worth telling
Oxenfree has charm and experiments with choice in a fun way, but it has a few missteps that prevent it from reaching its full potential
Masterful audiovisual design and a witty script set Oxenfree's tale of angsty teens battling the supernatural apart from other horror games.
Oxenfree's easy to like, with its inspired dialogue system feeling like a step forward for this genre. It's the lack of challenge and compelling gameplay that leaves it a few steps behind.
I can't think of many games like Oxenfree. It's simple if judged purely on gameplay mechanics but wonderfully accomplished in terms of storytelling, characters and dialogue.
With a mystery that grows stranger and stronger the deeper you dive and characters that are instantly relatable, Night School Studio delivers a first effort that's spooky, sincere and enthralling.
Oxenfree is sure to keep you guessing until you reach the final ending screen. At which point I can't promise you won't just start over, ready to explore the ghostly realm ocne again.
Despite the supernatural intrusion, Oxenfree never loses sight of the human drama at its core, remaining largely understated and tasteful in its exploration of the gulf that grief and insecurity can create in any relationship.
Oxenfree might just be a big next step for adventure games, particularly when it comes to the way it presents dialogue choices. Night School Studio has managed to execute an interactive story that treats player choice in a mature and subtle way. It's an emotional experience with wonderful characters and great writing, and it's one that masters its 70s and 80s influences.
Oxenfree is a smart, emotional adventure that feels focused and purposeful. It's got plenty of narrative twists that lead to great "a-ha" moments, but keeps the story well-grounded in its compelling protagonists and clever gameplay moments. Oxenfree is simply well-made, endearing, and very memorable.
Oxenfree is a walking simulator that is confident enough in its characters and dialogue to bet that you won't mind just hanging around with them. It believes in the sinister low-ebb horror of the island to worm its way into your mind without having to crutch on a jumpscare every few minutes. It knows that its atmosphere and style will be enough to make you want to wander through its forests and dilapidated military bases. It's a walking simulator you should play.
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.
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.
For a game that draws on the essence of a 80s or 90s horror flick, it takes many of the identifying tropes and defenestrates them.
Oxenfree is elegantly simple, using branching dialogue and a little something supernatural to develop three-dimensional characters and drive the coming-of-age story. There's not much else to it in terms of gameplay, which is absolutely a good thing, but pacing issues in its story can make it feel sluggish between conversations. Mostly, though, it's like walking through a stunning painting, listening to the idle chatter and revealing talks of (sometimes unnatural-sounding) teenagers.
In the end, Oxenfree is absolutely a game about teenage bullshit (forgive me for being a little disingenuous earlier). But it manages to revitalize that narrative by focusing on feeling more than substance; it glances at each character's inner struggle rather than serving it up for a full meal.
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.
Oxenfree is a mature look at growing up through the lens of a supernatural mystery, but awkward pacing and simplistic interactivity hold it back from excelling.