Grade: A+
The story is the game in this immersive psychological thriller.
Oxenfree is an indie hit released in 2016. The story follows a group of teens who are headed to a party on an island. The “story is the game” in Oxenfree, which is weird to say, but it doesn’t mean anything too complicated. Basically, the game is continuously flowing, and each scene presents you with dialogue options in real time with no pause. Most of the gameplay is responding (or ignoring) dialogue popups. What you choose throughout the 4-6 hour game can push you towards any one of the 100+ different endings.
I will avoid saying much about the story, as writing it down would cheapen it. All I will note is that Oxenfree is a supernatural tale, you have unexpected agency as a player, the voice acting is impeccable, and it’s a damn good yarn.
Immersive Dialogue
Right out of the gate, you feel part of the story. The cold open puts you on a ferry surrounded by mist with your step-brother, who you just met today, and friend of many years, Ren. Ren is a chatterbox, and a pithy discussion kicks off around you.
You soon have the opportunity to engage in the conversation, and a popup with some dialogue options appears. Surprisingly, you only get a moment before you see your dialogue options fade away. Usually, games pause when presenting players with dialogue, but in Oxenfree, time keeps flowing. Like a real conversation, you can’t just sit there thinking about what to say forever. If you don’t respond, the conversation continues to flow, but you miss your chance to say anything.
Immersive Sound Design
The other part of the immersion was the sound design. I’d recommend playing this game with headphones on and tuning in. Everything about the sound added a lot to the game and was done thoughtfully. For example, the character has a radio they can scan frequencies with, and fiddling with the radio and muddling through the static with my giant headphones on made me feel like Jodie Foster in Contact.
Immersive Art and Animation
The art and animation make you feel like you’re walking and living through a living painting. Heather Gross, the lead artist for the game, digitally hand-drew all of the backgrounds you walk through in photoshop. Those art pieces were then turn-keyed to the animators and developers for use in the game.
Then, beyond the gorgeous storybook backdrop, when the supernatural starts to seep into the scene, you get an overlay of visual static and noise on the screen. This creates yet another layer of immersion into the tale.
Immersive everything
The other immersive element was the normalcy of your character. Alex, the main character, didn’t have any superpowers or special skills. You were just a teenager who was plopped into this situation and started trying to figure things out. The controls have a startling lack of options, but it never feels limiting. It just feels like you’re part of the story and you’re just a regular person.
Overall, Oxenfree was one of the most immersive games I’ve ever played. Each piece of video game design, narration, sound, art, voice acting, and VFX all work together in perfect balance to pull you into this tale. This unique harmony of elements is a special nexus in a video game and makes Oxenfree a standout must-play experience.
Oxenfree 2 is going to be released next year in 2023! It’s on my wishlist already.
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