Sights & Sounds
- I loved the cartoony visuals juxtaposed with the surprisingly dark YA novel story. The design of the characters and environments were conducive to the creepy bits without constantly beating you over the head with "atmosphere"
- The music was pretty good. No complaints there. The sound design--particularly in the scary parts--is actually more noteworthy than the score
- The voice acting was also very well done
Story & Vibes
- The game is an interesting mix of classical maritime ghost story elements and teens-in-the-woods horror movie tropes with a Stranger Things-ish veneer (even though I think this predates that property). It doesn't really tread any new ground thematically, but it's still a compelling fusion of familiar elements
- The sound design really does deserve another shout. It's really good at selling the scares
- Plot-wise, you're in for a pretty good ghost story full of possession and time travel and personal trauma. No point in spoiling anything in a review, but it's fun to see how narrative bits bleed into the puzzles and gameplay
- Unsurprisingly, the overall tone is pretty dark. There writers still leave room for the usual highschool bulls**t you'd expect from characters that age
Playability & Replayability
- Mostly, you just walk around and make timed narrative choices that occasionally affect the plot materially. There's puzzles sometimes too
- The focus is really more on the story, so don't go in expecting much active gameplay
- Not sure there's much reason for successive playthroughs unless you're into 100%ing games
Overall Impressions & Performance
- Really, it's just a decent ghost story with a young adult slant. Just settle in, enjoy the scares, and don't think about it too hard
- Oxenfree isn't going to tax many systems, so there were predictably no performance issues. Thankfully, not bugs, either
Final Verdict
- 7/10. It's a fun little ghost story with some narrative depth and just enough scares to be interesting
- I loved the cartoony visuals juxtaposed with the surprisingly dark YA novel story. The design of the characters and environments were conducive to the creepy bits without constantly beating you over the head with "atmosphere"
- The music was pretty good. No complaints there. The sound design--particularly in the scary parts--is actually more noteworthy than the score
- The voice acting was also very well done
Story & Vibes
- The game is an interesting mix of classical maritime ghost story elements and teens-in-the-woods horror movie tropes with a Stranger Things-ish veneer (even though I think this predates that property). It doesn't really tread any new ground thematically, but it's still a compelling fusion of familiar elements
- The sound design really does deserve another shout. It's really good at selling the scares
- Plot-wise, you're in for a pretty good ghost story full of possession and time travel and personal trauma. No point in spoiling anything in a review, but it's fun to see how narrative bits bleed into the puzzles and gameplay
- Unsurprisingly, the overall tone is pretty dark. There writers still leave room for the usual highschool bulls**t you'd expect from characters that age
Playability & Replayability
- Mostly, you just walk around and make timed narrative choices that occasionally affect the plot materially. There's puzzles sometimes too
- The focus is really more on the story, so don't go in expecting much active gameplay
- Not sure there's much reason for successive playthroughs unless you're into 100%ing games
Overall Impressions & Performance
- Really, it's just a decent ghost story with a young adult slant. Just settle in, enjoy the scares, and don't think about it too hard
- Oxenfree isn't going to tax many systems, so there were predictably no performance issues. Thankfully, not bugs, either
Final Verdict
- 7/10. It's a fun little ghost story with some narrative depth and just enough scares to be interesting