While the game itself is 2D, there is a gorgeous verticality to the game that allows you to explore the dangerous cliffs as you climb up and rappel down them, maneuvering your way through the landscape and avoiding danger when needed. Taking notes from 2D platformers but with limited movements, the game’s traversal is endearing and immersive with perfectly timed environmental effects keeping you on your toes. Camena is a town with quirks, charms, and enough unsettling darkness to make fit squarely into a genre shared with stories like Stranger Things. Even your interactions with members of the Parentage are more than just cut-and-dry moral decisions.įinally, the last mechanic that defines the game is traversal. A mystery that I felt attached to, I became invested in not just making it to the credits but rather, in building relationships with the people who would help me get there. That is to say that the fact that I felt the compulsion to talk to everyone and anyone that came on my screen in Oxenfree II is a testament to the game’s level of narrative immersion. I’m a main quest kind of person and spending time talking to everyone isn’t something I find joy in. It’s rare for me to want to talk to everyone I see. The diversity of interaction with others makes every conversation in the game feel fresh and worth having. Similarly, the previously mentioned walkie-talkie can also be used during conversations with others that allow you to change course or inform how you respond to a given situation. Everything about the dialogue system that Night School Studio has crafted feels like a unique experience with weight put behind every button press, or choice not to. While some choice-informed stories will pick a prompt if you don’t choose one yourself, Riley will never speak without you choosing to do so, and additionally, if you choose to cut someone off, that also impacts the direction of the conversation. While player choice is always important, sometimes it’s the player’s lack of choice that prompts Oxenfree II’s uniqueness. Camena may be a small island, but it feels vast. This is immediately reflected in the game’s dialogue system which allows you to shape your story through the choices you make and the conversations that you choose to have. Every conversation is important, even if there is no face to the voice. Much like the interactions had in person, the voices on the walkie-talkie also create a dynamic interaction for the overall trajectory of Riley’s story. The impact that the people on the other end of the walkie-talkie have is dictated by how you interact with them. Learn from them, head their insights, or don’t, it’s up to you and it all makes for interactive gameplay that sticks. This allows you to find out more about the land and town, but while they give you sometimes necessary information, the developers still make your choice as to whether or not you follow their advice. Oxenfree II reigns supreme in setting an immersive atmosphere and the radio is a key part of that.Īs for the walkie-talkie, a new addition to this game, you can talk to the living, discussing the mysteries of Camena with contacts you meet throughout the game. What became my favorite mechanic of the game, the radio allows you to not just tune into a sound, but to a place and a feeling. A signature mechanic of the series, by exploring this static that turns into messages, you can communicate with spirits and by doing so manipulate the world around you and even travel to the past. Similar to each other, the radio captures signals as they come through the frequencies of stations on Camena. The first two are the radio and the walkie-talkie. The game has four core mechanics that help define it against other narrative games in the genre. A narrative adventure game, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals relies on your choices to shape your path in this weird sci-fi story grounded in human nature that offers the player depth and heart. Reluctantly, Riley Poverly returns to her hometown to investigate the mystery for a job and winds up witnessing a mystery more expansive than she thought. Set in Camena, a small coastal town, unnaturally occurring electromagnetic waves are suddenly causing interference with electrical and radio equipment. Published by Netflix and developed by Night School Studio, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals surprised me at Summer Game Fest with its atmospheric score and beautiful 2D art style.
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