OXENFREE Review
By Edwin Velez
Smells Like Teen Spirits
OXENFREE was a whirl of a surprise for me. With a wholly unique take on the dialogue/choice based genre, the title takes players through an emotional and chilling journey. Taking place on the fictional Edward’s Island, 5 teens embark on an overnight stay to accomplish annual student traditions that serve as a rite of passage. It’s got all the makings to be a great coming of age story, like The Breakfast Club, but things start to lean more towards Poltergeist as you find out the mysteries the island holds. You are not alone here.
You are Alex, a junior at high school that takes a trip to Edward’s Island with her best friend Ren and newly introduced step-brother Jonas. The island is known for being not only host to the aforementioned traditions, but for being a decommissioned naval military base as well. Its common knowledge to the towns folk that if you bring a radio to the island, you are bound to pick up some weird transmissions. After meeting up with Ren’s crush Nona and not so-friendly friend Clarissa, things get awkward as teen angst arises and outings of past issues, Ren, Jonas, and Alex head off towards the caves to adventure for a bit. What started out as a harmless, pot brownie and booze filled night quickly goes south when Alex’s radio unlocks a force within the cave that seems to come from another plane of existence.
You are Alex, a junior at high school that takes a trip to Edward’s Island with her best friend Ren and newly introduced step-brother Jonas. The island is known for being not only host to the aforementioned traditions, but for being a decommissioned naval military base as well. Its common knowledge to the towns folk that if you bring a radio to the island, you are bound to pick up some weird transmissions. After meeting up with Ren’s crush Nona and not so-friendly friend Clarissa, things get awkward as teen angst arises and outings of past issues, Ren, Jonas, and Alex head off towards the caves to adventure for a bit. What started out as a harmless, pot brownie and booze filled night quickly goes south when Alex’s radio unlocks a force within the cave that seems to come from another plane of existence.
Somehow scattering your group across the island, this force plays with your emotions the whole way through as you try to find a way out. It turns out that OXENFREE has one of the coolest, most original ghost stories I have ever heard. Voices long forgotten from an undersea vessel are tearing through to the other side via radio waves, and it could not be creepier. As you use your radio throughout the game to engage in dialogue with the specters, you will immediately know what I mean as chills run down your back. Their words are cryptic, voices borrowed, and presence is staggering. You learn so much about these spirits throughout the game that I really do not want to give away much, but the story throughout is truly rewarding. Coming of age is a perfectly fitting phrase for the game, as you learn just as much about the teens involved as you do about the island’s haunting past.
Choice based games are great because of how in tune and connected you can get with your character. I remember tearing up at the end of TellTale’s The Walking Dead season one finale, knowing that all my actions had led me to the situation at hand and that I had only one last one to make. In this game it’s a similar gripping experience, one that connected me with the characters so much so that I made correlations to my own life. Alex tragically lost her brother in the year leading up the events on the island, and it is a main focus of the game. Whether she is being shown subliminal images of him, or saying things she wish she had said to a vision of him, the emotion is powerful. I lost my mother just over a year ago, and the connection I had to these fictional characters could not be more real. The connections and emotions had by both the player and the cast of characters could not have happened without the absolutely stellar voice cast and scripting.
Choice based games are great because of how in tune and connected you can get with your character. I remember tearing up at the end of TellTale’s The Walking Dead season one finale, knowing that all my actions had led me to the situation at hand and that I had only one last one to make. In this game it’s a similar gripping experience, one that connected me with the characters so much so that I made correlations to my own life. Alex tragically lost her brother in the year leading up the events on the island, and it is a main focus of the game. Whether she is being shown subliminal images of him, or saying things she wish she had said to a vision of him, the emotion is powerful. I lost my mother just over a year ago, and the connection I had to these fictional characters could not be more real. The connections and emotions had by both the player and the cast of characters could not have happened without the absolutely stellar voice cast and scripting.
All five voices (as well as Alex’s brother Michael) are phenomenally voiced. Alex represents your voice, and with 3 dialogue options per engagement, there is a lot of variety here. I played through it three times before writing this review, and I was extremely impressed with how dynamic and natural the transitions from choice to response were. Everything just flows so effectively that it mirrored natural banter successfully. Not only that, but the team at Night School Studio really captured the essence of high schoolers and personalities in a surprisingly authentic way. Most representations of high school kids and their lives in pop culture are ripe with stereotypes and general assumptions, but in OXENFREE you truly get the raw emotion and awkwardness that comes with growing into one’s self. It was not that long ago that I was in high school, and while I never dealt with any ghosts I did deal with loss, peer pressure, and the general idea that I did not know my place in the world, all of which are realistic themes that can be found in the game.
With about a 5 hour play through my first time around, and two shorter ones that followed, I was still impressed after watching the credits roll a third time. The game is visually beautiful, using deep tones similar to water colors that create gorgeous backdrops. The score is fantastic, featuring eerily soothing tracks that are easy to get drawn into. This game isn’t short an ambience either, as if you listen closely to both radio chatter and the general sounds around you, the noises are as detailed as the visuals. Exploring the 2-D island was a blast, and I would not call it quits till I found every collectible that gave me more to answers to the mystery at hand. OXENFREE is hauntingly cool, and if you enjoy choice based games this needs to be on your radar.
With about a 5 hour play through my first time around, and two shorter ones that followed, I was still impressed after watching the credits roll a third time. The game is visually beautiful, using deep tones similar to water colors that create gorgeous backdrops. The score is fantastic, featuring eerily soothing tracks that are easy to get drawn into. This game isn’t short an ambience either, as if you listen closely to both radio chatter and the general sounds around you, the noises are as detailed as the visuals. Exploring the 2-D island was a blast, and I would not call it quits till I found every collectible that gave me more to answers to the mystery at hand. OXENFREE is hauntingly cool, and if you enjoy choice based games this needs to be on your radar.
Final Score: 9/10
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+Fantastic Scripting
+Great Cast +Believable Characters +Hauntingly Cool Story |
-Some inconsistent lines
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Release Date: 1/15/2016
Developer: Night School Studio
Publisher: Night School Studio
Developer: Night School Studio
Publisher: Night School Studio