![]() ![]() You get a real sense of what these people think of each other, far beyond the superficial layer usually found in video games. They mostly have some resemblance of a backstory, a reason for why they are who they are and behave as they do. ![]() Thanks to some simple gameplay mechanics you’re always free to carry on chatting, and it helped me connect with the characters (even the less prominent ones) far more easily than in the majority of games (some of which I find myself wondering about names, hours after starting). The dev team must have watched a lot of The West Wing, as they’ve totally nailed walking and talking, so much so that when there was silence I wondered what was up. The characters are almost always talking to each other as you move through the game’s relatively small island setting, with conversation choices popping up so you can direct the flow and also shape the outcome of the entire story. What happens next over the course of four or five hours is best left for you to discover, but the whole thing is a really cool mystery, with new info slowly revealed to eventually fill you in on what’s going on, and it’s made all the more believable thanks to some truly excellent writing and voiceover work. This leads Clarissa and Nona to become cast aside as the other three head into a nearby cave to investigate some spooky, some might say supernatural, radio signals. ![]() On arrival they all head to the beach, play some games around a fire, down alcohol and get into arguments. When she gets there it ends up being only a few of them: her new step-brother, Jonas old friend, Ren bitchy girl Clarissa and Clarissa’s introverted friend Nona. You play Alex, a teenage girl who agrees to go to an island with her friends to have a party. After initially impressing with a lovely art style, which somehow manages to echo 50s Disney while at the same time looking ultra modern (clean lines, slightly abstract artwork and distorted perspective), I was sucked into a supernatural adventure that feels part Scooby Doo Mystery Inc, part X-Files and part conversation simulator. Oxenfree, from developer Night School Studio, is one such game. It’s nice when something comes along, seemingly out of nowhere, and is a pleasant surprise. ![]()
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