Oxenfree Reviews
Oxenfree takes the best parts of supernatural 1980's teenage horror films and combines it with believable characters, beautiful set pieces, and a haunting VHS synth-pop soundtrack to create a masterpiece.
Oxenfree really is a spectacular piece of gaming. With an original concept, an eerie abandoned island as the perfect setting and the power to shape the story as the player sees fit, this game is an phenomenal experience that should not be missed.
An evolution of narrative design, along with being one of the most captivating and original stories ever told in media.
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 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.
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.
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.
Gorgeous, gripping, and well-paced, Oxenfree cuts a new path for adventure games, and is an excellent debut from Night School Studio. Do yourself a favor: Skip movie night and play this one alongside a friend.
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.
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.
If you're into digital narration and you love Amblin movies from the eighties, maybe with a bit of John Carpenter in them, you should not miss Oxenfree. If you hate games where the main activity is talking, stay away from it.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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 everything that is right in the indie development scene. It tells a great story, has really unique gameplay that's almost completely dialog driven, and has some of the most subtle horror elements I've seen in a game. This is one of those games that you shouldn't sleep on, make sure you check it out.
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.
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.
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.
The Director's Cut of Oxenfree remains a dissociative nightmare you can't wake up from.
Oxenfree is here to tell a story, and it doesn't lose sight of what contributes to making that story feel relatable and consequential. Alex and her friends are in a time when every move is called into examination from a jury of ruthless peers. Oxenfree responds not by accepting or escaping from resolution, but accurately relating the tension of a time when every answer is on one side of zero. Whether the context is supernatural or merely personal, Oxenfree makes it feel powerful.
A fresh, compelling take on the "cabin in the woods"-style teen horror.