Game: Oxenfree, available on steam, the Xbox One, and the PS4 Time Spent Playing: 5 hours Recommended For: people who enjoy horror stories with a strong narrative element and focus on characters and their relationships My Thoughts:
First off a big content warning in this game for suicide, hanging, drowning, paranoia, glitching and some flashing images
That said, if you can get through those warnings listed above, I’d say this is a great spooky, atmospheric horror game that isn’t too scary
Like, I’m a huge baby and I could never play a Silent Hill game by myself, but I managed to get through Oxenfree on my own. Most of the scariness comes from the unsettling nature of the beings your’re interacting with, and some small jump scares, which I could endure because I found the characters and the underlying mystery so interesting
The game is about Alex, our blue-haired protagonist, her childhood friend Ren, her new step-brother Jonas, and some other teens, who visit a nearby island vacation spot after-hours for some teenage shenanigans…
…but quickly discover that something sinister lurks upon this island! dun dun dun!!!
Most of the game mechanics revolve around exploring different locations upon the island, and using Alex’s hand radio to tune into signals to get more information, unlock areas, or interact with the supernatural
The art and soundtrack are incredible! The backgrounds are so beautiful, and the music and sound effects work so well together
I also really appreciated the ending. it felt like a culmination of choices that I had made, some good, some bittersweet, some regretful. there’s also some replayability to Oxenfree, as you can go back and make different choices to see how that affects the outcome. you can drastically change relationships between characters, or even end up with everyone hating you (if you wanted to be an asshole about it)
my final thoughts: 1.) go check this game out or at least some trailers to see if it’s something you’d be interested in 2.) don’t feel obligated by what the mirror ghosts say 3.) anyone who is good at analyzing stories hmu because I got questions about the end u_u
