PEGBRJE: Oxenfree
Originally this was a standard review… but…
Oxenfree is a narrative adventure made by Night School Studio, the indie studio founded by Sean Krankel and Adam Hines in California. This was the debut title for the studio, which gained acclaim in various circles during its 2015 launch. It has grown into a series of its own, kickstarting the company to create other titles and giving us the upcoming Oxenfree II. So where did it all begin within this title, and what gave it the lasting appeal?
Now this is where I’d like to come clean; out of nearly every title I’ve played thus far, this is (I believe) the only one that I’ve played prior to the bundle being launched. There’s been a few that I’ve witnessed, watched others play or have waited for, but this is the first title that I actually purchased and played before the bundle existed. I bought it back in 2016, a year after its launch. The coming clean part? I never finished it, and I vividly recall why. At the time, I was attempting to use the laptop I had to play it during off hours, but it barely ran and I ended up uninstalling it. Time passed, and I was able to play for a few hours before it sunk back into the murky waters of my mind. This, for the record, was 100% my fault — I loved the game, but didn’t want to commit to such a story when I had limited time.
Unfortunately, as we all know games shelved for whatever reason become forgotten. Thankfully, it barely took me a few moments upon restarting the game to remember everything.
Let’s backtrack a tad and discuss exactly what Oxenfree is. Players follow the story of Alex, a teenager who accompanies her friends to the remote Edwards Island for a party. She is accompanied by her best friend Ren and her new stepbrother Jonas and meets up with Clarissa and Nona to throw the most awkward party ever. Through the small talk is where Oxenfree lives, for it is a game of decision making through dialogue. Upon a conversation being directed at Alex, speech bubbles may appear above her head in order to respond to the conversation, altering how each individual feels about Alex based on her choice. The only way to know is through a thought bubble that will appear over their heads to indicate a change in the relationship — except this won’t say if it is for the better, or for the worse.
What elevates this system to a new level, however, is that the timing in which a player answers can be just as important, for the bubbles fade over a short period of time. Alex can interrupt them if she so desires, or wait for them to finish, or even remain silent. Yes, Alex can choose to not say anything, for as we’ve been reminded over the past few years, silence is a choice one makes as well. What this does to the game dynamic is alter how players approach each conversation, and creates a sense of awareness and agency. Interruptions aren’t registered as antagonistic in most conversations, but some may find it rude on repeated interruptions. Many will question if Alex decides to remain silent if asked a specific question instead of give an answer. Players also have free reign on Alex’s movement, meaning that who and when they are talking becomes part of the contextual algorithm in deciding where the conversation is going and who is part of it. Players simply walking and talking to another person will move the plot forwards, as if time is actually a linear constant. The introductory party is a prime example, for who players choose to talk to or where they choose to go all has a bearing on how the party members will react or feel to Alex’s decisions. Now this isn’t completely revolutionary, as many games will have similar features, but it’s the fact that passivity and silence are options that make it feel new and unique. From what I can tell, players can just straight up ignore everyone at the party and just stare at the sky, never moving, and that will rightfully affect how they will feel.
I’ve talked a lot about these individuals at the party, for these six characters are what drives much of the engagement and have their own subplots revolving around each other to sort through during the main narrative of the game (which, trust me, we will get to). The importance of each subplot is directly related to how much importance players put into them, so deciding to completely ignore one individual will cause their interactions to feel much more muted and disconnected since they feel as if they are not worth it. So if players decide to ignore Jonas, only the main story beats surrounding him will be explored while his own struggles will be forgotten. Do this with too many characters, and players will find themselves almost alienated from those she considered friends; only that this will always happen when choices are made.
Before we continue, if you haven’t played Oxenfree, just stop here and scroll to the bottom. Play it. It’s that easy. It isn’t lengthy, and it will be worth it.
Spoilers, for real though.
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Speaking of which, Jonas is by far the character I consider to be the largest driving force of the game outside of Alex herself. Since Jonas is the newcomer to the established squad — only moving in shortly before the party — the relationship between Alex and Jonas is tense at best. His very existence puts pressure and strain on Ren who views him mostly as an outsider, and Alex initially views him only with apathy; makes sense, seeing as the one that he is ‘replacing’ is Alex’s brother Michael who died some time ago. Unfortunately, Alex isn’t the only one trying to wrestle with her own struggles, for Clarissa was the one dating Michael at the time as well and now views Alex with bitterness, the two fighting constantly over everything.
And this doesn’t even get into when the scary stuff happens.
See, Oxenfree utilizes it’s teenaged cast to explore a terrifying world that now inhabits the island, for accidentally tuning a radio frequency within a cave has unleashed a miasma of spectral events onto the island that are all tied to its unknown past. The game splits all of the members up via strange teleportation, with Jonas awaking with Alex and all communications being dead. Exploration leads to events occurring that shouldn’t be possible, with ominous faces in mirrors and world shattering visuals appearing before leaving immediately, as if they were never around. If I had to describe it in a simple way, it would be that it captures exactly why people love those internet ‘creepypastas’, the thriller/horror genre, and SCP. This sense of complete uncertainty of the events that surround those stuck in them, piecing together whatever they can via scraps of information while weathering the storm as best they can. The knowledge that whatever is going on can’t possibly be real, yet must be for our eyes can only lie so often. The manipulation of the memories of those trusted to instill uncertainty and confusion, regardless of who actually knows the truth. Events so unnerving that one can only hope to awaken from a dream, only to be met with a spectre of a STEAM FRIEND TELLING ME INFORMATION. Seriously, leave her out of this.
The best part though? All the while this is occurring, that dialogue system from earlier is being used to tell a thoughtful tale about the reality of growing up and dealing with personal traumas. It’s a system seen before, where thrillers give tense situations to individuals to see ‘where their hearts truly lie’, but Oxenfree instead wants players to think about the stereotype of coming of age. It looks like a standard story of characters coming to terms with their past traumas and moving forward, yet at the same time many of them either already have, or decide not to. Alex especially is shaped by the player’s actions, yet rarely does the player get put into a situation in which they are actively attempting to ‘grow up’, nor does it want her to. These current traumatic events are just that, but they aren’t ‘pushing’ her and her friends to become adults because that’s bogus — nobody would become an ‘adult’ after this, they’d become hospitalized and in need of a therapist, regardless of their age or maturity. They’re all trying to handle the stress and tension differently, some better than others, but none of them are ultimately changing who they are or becoming more mature because of it. Rarely is there a specific event in life that people can state seriously altered them to become an adult, and even more rare is that this age is homogenous across many individuals.
What I’m trying to say is that Oxenfree is telling a tale of how a bunch of teenagers with enough tensions and internal struggles came together regardless of the supernatural terrors to find a way to survive without having some epiphany about how the world works or alter their entire state of mind. They’re growing up and becoming more experienced in the world, sure, but they aren’t ‘coming of age’ because of this; they are surviving an anomaly of life and hoping to come out the other side with as many friends as they had prior.
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How the game ends is up to you, as your choices fuel Alex’s actions as she spearheads the movement to get the heck off this island. With only a radio, she’ll tune to frequencies to talk with these anomalies, find clues to thwart them, and even tune in to the emotions of her friends. How much so will be on your ability to invest, and I think I’ve made a case by now for why you should. I adore Oxenfree, from the amalgamation of analog and digital feeling the visuals and audio creates to its fun approach to a simple method of story telling. There are some blemishes, such as the speed at which the dialogue disappears can lead to awkward silences you didn’t intend, or how exploring can be a bit slow due to the move speed, but I truly love what they’ve done here. If you have any interest in story telling titles that focus on player agency, this will be the one you’ve probably already played.
Happy exploration, and hopefully the mysteries of the island are the least of your worries.
As mentioned earlier, this was supposed to be a two part review. Unfortunately, the last game is an anthology of up to 12 titles, which I couldn’t fit into my schedule — especially after seeing Oxenfree on the list for today and knowing this was going to get lengthy. Those will be up some time this weekend most likely, so keep an eye out for those.
