Oxenfree 2
Oxenfree 2 may lack the surprises and ‘WTF’ factor of the original game, but the older protagonists and solid writing make this return to the Pacific Northwest worthwhile.
When I played the originalOxenfreeback in 2016, it took me a while to warm up to it. I didn’t get on all that well with its earnest squeaky-clean teen cast at first, and found its listless ‘bored kids in quaint small-town America’ and anodyne jokes a bit too ordinary (conversely, they’d probably have thought of me as an overly excitable hedonistic idiot, so swing ‘n roundabouts, I guess).
But when time started glitching out, radio frequencies began interacting with little floating triangles to open rifts in space-time, and electrostaticky ghosts popped up spouting riddles from the beyond, I was all aboard for its weirdo sci-fi ride. I even warmed to its mumblecore cast, who not only had to deal with ghosts, time-loops, and creepy red-eyed possessions, but also their own issues and insecurities that elegantly unfolded throughout the story.
Why this big preamble about the previous game? Well, because for better and for worseOxenfree 2is more of the same, and the same rules apply; same tone, same mechanics, same eeriness where ghost stories and sci-fi collide, and with a story that picks up right where the original left off. It’s a new cast, this time putting you in the shoes of Riley Poverly, a troubled woman in her late 20s who returns to Camena, the sleepy Pacific northwestern town where she grew up (and crucially, right next door to the original game’s Edwards Island). She takes on a gig as a ranger to set up some radio transmission masts. Accompanying her is local handyman Jacob, and as the pair explore the island they’ll chat about everything from parents, to childhood, to the weather, and of course the little matter of what to do with the giant triangular time rift that’s opened up in the sky.
ALSO READ:On The Eve Of Baldur’s Gate 3, Baldur’s Gate 2 Is The Perfect Appetizer
Oxenfree 2 closely intertwines with the previous game’s story, so there’s a case to be made that you should play the original Oxenfree before jumping in here. As someone who’s done so however, I felt it lacked that element of surprise and uncanny-valley originality. I understood things that the characters didn’t, I had crucial context, and I didn’t get those little horror tingles when supernatural things started happening last time out. There are still some excellent spooky moments in Oxenfree 2—crackly radio chatter from another dimension talking to you in ominous rhymes, stories of freak fires and mass burnings by mysterious local cults, and some stunning surreal sequences when you get pulled between time periods and dimensions—but I’ve already had a peek behind the curtain, and there’s something to be said for going into it blind.
Like in the original game, you explore the island along 2.5D pathways, and your main means of interaction is communication. When other characters say things, dialogue options pop up in the form of chat bubbles above your head, which slowly fade, giving you a limited window to reply to characters (or just remain silent). It’s a quietly engaging system, and for the most part the dialogue options acknowledge how your feelings about certain characters may shift over time, letting you respond appropriately.
I found Jason, for instance, to be a bit of a sap; clearly a nice guy and everything, and vital to keeping those sometimes long spells of just holding left or right to walk across the island chatty, but his lack of self-esteem and obsessing about how little he’s achieved in his life starts to grate after a while. At any point, you’re able to ignore him or even tell him quite firmly to ‘quit moaning,’ but I went easy on him until near the end of the game, when in response to his umpteenth monologue about his lack of purpose, I finally said something to the effect of‘Dude, you need todosomething about your life then!’ It felt good, but it also felt like exactly the right thing to say at that moment, because sometimes firm words are needed to snap a friend out of a toxic loop of thinking.
Your responses as Riley can be snappy, assertive, silent, or accommodating. She never has particularly sweet or nurturing dialogue options, but that’s fitting for her character; she’s got her issues, as you discover, and you’re sensibly confined to the spectrum of things that Riley, not you, would say in a given situation.
ALSO READ:Brotato Is A Spudtacular Twist On Vampire Survivors
At other points, you’ll have to think fast with your responses, with your words deciding the fate of certain characters and game endings. Your responses won’t branch the story down alternative paths, but they feel good and the things you say will ultimately have quite a significant impact. Jason isn’t your only point of human contact either, and you’ll also be speaking to a couple of rangers over your newly introduced walkie-talkie, as well as a group of kids running around in masks who have something to do with the re-opened time portal. The stakes are high, so use your words wisely.
You’re free to explore the entirety of Camena, though I struggled to find much of value beyond the critical path. There are some notes scattered around the island, and I stumbled upon two minor side-quests, but it does feel like more could’ve been done to make exploration of the sprawling, mostly deserted island more rewarding; a secret time rift here, a cool little side-story there. Camena feels larger than Edwards Island but that space isn’t really filled out, with much of my early exploration leading to dead ends before my curiosity gave up on me. You even time-travel to a different century on a couple of occasions, but again this was a promising new direction for the sequel that felt a little under-utilised, only cropping up a couple of times.
Oxenfree is more of a walking-and-talking sim than a straight-out walking one, and between the explosions of time-twisting sci-fi, it’s a game about ambling around the scenic pretty environments while ruminating about life. The smooth synthy soundtrack, pretty hand-drawn art style with its deep dark palette and paper cutout stylings, and solid (if, again, somewhat earnest) writing are a pleasant beverage, like a nightcap of bourbon in a quiet small-town bar, and kept me mostly engaged throughout its modest six-hour runtime.
The lead pair are both, in their own ways, frustrating characters—Riley aloof, Jacob needy and neurotic—but they are believable; as the VHS rewind effect kicks in and Riley gets tossed through time like a bin bag in a temporal tornado, we get poignant insights into her past, future, and why she is the emotionally distant oddball that she is. Where the first game is a coming-of-age tale beneath its sci-fi strangeness, this is more of a dealing-with-baggage one, and it approaches all the crap youngish adults need to address in their reflective minds in a sensitive, relatable manner.
Oxenfree 2 showcases all the qualities of its predecessor, and there’s a certain comfort in returning to this dreamy, atmospheric setting. Maybe it’s a little too comfortable at times however, with many of the twists lacking the impact of those in the original for how familiar they are, and a lack of new mechanics making it feel like too much of a homecoming. It’s a stretching of the original story rather than a bold or surprising new direction, and while I don’t think I’d be compelled to return to these Oregon islands for a third time, Oxenfree 2 is compelling enough to make the trip worthwhile, even if it is to say goodbye.
