In 2016, indie studio Night School Studio released its first game. Titled Oxenfree, the game was an instant hit ahead of its time. Receiving several scores of 8, 9, and 10 across the board, Oxenfree was part coming-of-age story, part retro horror. It was one of the first perpetrators of a phenomenon I like to call “Synth Horror.” Made up of eighties aesthetics, a synth-wave soundtrack, and VHS-inspired visuals, Synth Horror has prospered for years. The hit television show, Stranger Things, is the most famous example of the genre, but Oxenfree brought it into the limelight.
I first played Oxenfree at a critical moment in my life. I was finishing my last year of middle school while trying to think about the future and what it meant to be a teenager. Oxenfree was a revelation. It appealed to a love of horror I thought I had forgotten and made me look forward to the future for the first time in years. While the first Oxenfree ended on a delightfully ambiguous note, I still hoped that a sequel would come one day.
Imagine my excitement then, when in April 2021, a lone Nintendo Indie Direct officially announced a sequel to one of my favorite games of all time. I continuously followed the development of Oxenfree II: The Lost Signals with great interest. On July 12, 2023, Night School Studio finally released the game. As I booted up the game on my Nintendo Switch, I asked myself: how does Oxenfree II build upon the story and gameplay formula the first game had established seven years ago? After playing the game once, I know now that Night School Studio has met and exceeded the expectations left by the first game, and I’m already planning my second playthrough in the coming weeks.
Traversing Camena Island
The original Oxenfree balanced synth-horror with text dialogue options akin to Life is Strange and Telltale’s numerous point-and-click adventures. In the first game, protagonist Alex was armed with nothing but a radio as she wandered with her friends through the many mysteries of Edwards Island. Here, the new playable character, Riley, has access to many of the same devices that Alex did. However, she’s given a few extra goodies that help to separate the first Oxenfree from the second.
The first gadget Riley gets access to is a walkie-talkie. These function similarly to the Codec from the early Metal Gear games. Several characters have a radio channel you can speak to them on. For example, your guide for the journey, Evelyn, is located on Channel 7. Throughout the game, you can talk to many characters that will help illuminate your journey and serve as good conversation while you delve deeper into the horror of Camena Island.
Additionally, players will be able to utilize climbing ropes. In the first game, your traversal options were limited to rock climbing and walking. In the second game though, players can use ropes to make traversal across bigger mountains and gaps easier. It makes the experience feel far more seamless as you work your way across the entire island to plant four transmitters in select spots.
There are also little moments that make the game feel more polished compared to the first. When you are exchanging dialogue with the characters around you, and you enter a loading screen, the dialogue doesn’t abruptly stop. Rather, they finish their sentence as the next area loads.
For example, if one dialogue tree is cut off by another when the new dialogue exchange finishes, the original one seamlessly continues where it left off. You see that with a lot of triple-A games released nowadays, with a character like Nathan Drake going, “Anyway, what was I saying?” before it abruptly cuts back to the last thing he was saying. Here, it feels incredibly natural, as if the actors were asked to completely record new lines to make someone trying to back to their last thought feel more realistic.
Players can also look forward to surprising puzzles that play around with their perception of time, but I’ll leave that for your discovery. There are so many options for traversal, easter eggs, and chances for witty and riveting dialogue options, making the island of Camena rife for exploration.
The Characters of Oxenfree II
The first Oxenfree had several characters I still think about seven years later. Alex, Jonas, Nona, Clarissa, and Ren have all lingered in my mind and continuously reminded me of my days in school. I was expecting the characters in Oxenfree II to not live up to the characters in the first. However, I was delightfully surprised at the relatability of the game’s many characters.
First, there is the protagonist, Riley. A former military dropout, she has returned to her home of Camena for an environmental surveying job. Riley is a captivating character that I sincerely enjoyed following from beginning to end. While I didn’t like her as much as I liked Alex, I still found Riley relatable with her dry humor and thrillseeker attitude. Several exciting twists throughout the story add more layers to her character, but we’ll get to that when we discuss the story.
Then there’s Jacob, the following central character that you meet. When I first saw Jacob’s character design, I was instantly reminded of other iconic characters like Shaggy from Scooby Doo and Wendy from Gravity Falls. He seemed the most remarkable person in the game and the biggest dork on the roster. A handyman who wants to do more than “fix broken things,” Jacob reminded me of myself during college with his many ambitions and insecurities. I enjoyed his character arc and chemistry with Riley.
The antagonists of Oxenfree II are all captivating in their own way. The first game only had one set of antagonists: The Sunken, the ghosts of those aboard the destroyed USS Kanaloa. While the Sunken is still present in the sequel, a trio of human antagonists is at the story’s heart. Parentage is an enemy faction comprising teenagers Olivia, Violet, and Charlie. Charlie is a former bully turned doubtful cultist. Violet is a troubled young girl, reluctant to help the fanatical Olivia.
Olivia gets the most attention out of any antagonist in the story. She wants to use the time disturbances on Camena to reunite with her long-dead parents. Unfortunately for Jacob and Riley, though, she’s willing to do whatever it takes and commit dangerous acts to achieve her desires. At times, Parentage and their delinquency proved to be frustrating. That said, there were just as many moments where I agreed with their motives.
Night School Studio writes every character in the game expertly. Whether it’s the protagonists, antagonists, or even side characters, you are introduced to; such as Evelyn, the forest ranger Shelley, or the quirky Nick, each character is a treat to follow. This isn’t just due to the writing but to the incredible performances that bring the characters to life. I have no doubts that in the future, I will be thinking about these characters for a long time.
The Retro Horror and Atmosphere
The atmosphere and horror in the Oxenfree franchise are unlike anything I’ve experienced before or since. It teeters into the realm of psychological horror, messing with your head as you’re forced to confront time loops, possession, and hallucination. After the first game, I entered the sequel, ready to be mentally tormented. I wasn’t expecting how quickly the developers play with your perceptions of reality. In just under an hour, you already face a time loop. The game continuously probes you with the concept that this entire game could all be in your head.
That sense of doubt persisted throughout the game. As the horrifying visuals escalated, there were several moments where I was at the edge of my seat, waiting for everything to go wrong and for a character to suffer a fate worse than death. A stunning soundtrack heightens that sense of dread. Scntfc, a Seattle composer, brought the score to life. Despite the game’s genre, the music instills some calm at specific points.
But don’t be mistaken: when the game wants to be terrifying, it will seize your heart with fear. Several horrific visuals, like a waterfall of blood and dead fish falling from the sky, have stuck with me since I first encountered them. The Sunken are a terrifying and vengeful adversary. Whether it be the many time loops, the ripples in reality, or even the voices on your radio, you are never safe from their grasp. Even moments where the screen glitches like an old CRT TV cause alarm and dread. That delightful blend of retro aesthetics and horror is what separates Oxenfree from other entries in the genre.
Nitpicks
Despite my glowing praise, some gameplay quirks frustrated me. First, with how often I was exploring the many crevices of the island, I wish there was a proper sprint button. Riley often moved far too slowly for my liking. There were a few bugs here and there too. Jacob got stuck on a wall and could not move for moments. Plus, at one point, my game crashed at a crucial moment. Additionally, while I was okay with it, I imagine the game’s short length may confuse players. However, Oxenfree II costs a reasonable $19.99.
Because of the short length, the opportunities for future quick playthroughs present themselves. Despite all these nitpicks, I still believed the game to be a near-perfect masterpiece. Besides, I quickly forgot all my issues with the gameplay as the narrative continued to progress.
The Cycle of Parentage
While the first Oxenfree focused on teenagers growing up, this game focused on parents and their children. Every character has some issues with their parents. Olivia has lost her parents and is desperately trying to get them back. Riley’s Mother has been absent from her life since her birth. As if that wasn’t enough, her Father refuses to talk to her after she left the military years ago. Throughout the game, Riley encounters visions of memories of her Father, but at one critical point, she hears a voice she doesn’t recognize. As you progress, you don’t just see visions of the past; you see visions of the future.
Riley will have a son at some point named Rex. Rex and Riley’s relationship seems just as estranged as Riley’s with her father. These visions burrow deep into the mind of Riley and the player. It all comes to a head when Riley confirms that she is pregnant to Jacob. At a far later point in the game, you have to choose whether or not to stop the Sunken by sacrificing yourself, Olivia, or Jacob. Olivia is the only one who wants to sacrifice herself, and I did not want to sacrifice Riley. If I did, I wouldn’t just doom Riley; I would condemn her unborn son.
The life of your friends and future aren’t the only ones at stake. Along your journey, you realize that some Sunken ghosts aren’t like the others. A few comprise the protagonists from the last game, Alex chief among them. All they wanted to do was leave their eternal prison. Unfortunately, she was willing to use Olivia and her friends for this purpose. Reuniting with the beloved characters from the last game felt bittersweet. I had to figure out how to keep the new characters I’d grown to love, along with Alex and her friends, alive.
Do Something. Be Something.
At the end of the game, all of the story elements come together in a beautiful symphony. I chose Olivia to go and meet her parents, and Riley awoke the next day, alive and well. She wasn’t the only one that had survived: Alex and her friends were safe and sound. Alex, Jacob, and you are the only ones who remember the incident. You have a heartful moment with them both as the screen goes black and a message from Alex plays. She has left a box of items for Riley’s son, Rex. The time capsule served as a reminder of all the good his Mother had done. Within the box lays several physical reminders of the adventure you had just gone on and the choices you made. I found myself grinning as the game’s credits rolled with one last heartfelt message.
Oxenfree II is a magical experience that reminded me of my past life in Middle and High School. In the process, however, it gave me the courage to look forward and strive to “do something [and] be something,” as the older Rex had said. The first Oxenfree was one of my favorite indie games of all time. Its sequel managed to surpass all my expectations. At the end of the journey, all I could think of was how I couldn’t wait to play the game again. For that, Oxenfree II has earned my undying love and admiration.
