Strawberry Loft

Traditions seep into everything, especially in a small town. The most important traditions are typically the ones that celebrate the invisible moment a teenager starts to feel like a young adult. In a way it’s a grand goodbye to not only the life they may have known, but also the person they were. It’s mostly just kids getting drunk on the beach trying to figure out what they’re going to do with their lives after finishing high school. This is the case for Alex and her friends when they go to Edwards Island to party, realizing that out of the whole class only five of them showed up as the Edwards Island party tradition is no longer cool. At least according to Clarissa. With the turn of a radio dial Alex changes the night into a twisted escape room as Eldridge horrors answer the static from the deep.

I found Oxenfree by random chance on YouTube and about ten minutes into the walkthrough I knew it was something special I had to experience myself, and I was right. Oxenfree is the type of game that sticks with you for days after you finish it, the story starts with awkward encounters as Alex, the player character, brings her new stepbrother Jonas to the supposedly big beach bonfire. Oxenfree expertly places the seeds in the first act for the player to start piecing things together as the mystery slowly unfolds at a near perfect pace. On the walk to the ferry to the beach Ren, Alex’s best friend, informs the player that Edwards Island used to be a military base, but became more of a living museum when it was no longer needed by the military. The island stands as an honor to a submarine that sank long before, the USS Kanaloa. I like that while getting the opening exposition there were no long cutscene. There actually aren’t that many cutscene in Oxenfree. When characters are talking, it’s typically done while the player walks from one area of the map to the next. The conversations are also very interactive with almost every one prompting Alex to respond. It kept me engaged and I really felt like part of the story. Oxenfree is a dream for anyone who enjoys choosing dialogue for their character. Alex feels real her responses range from nice, sassy, down right mean, confused, and mostly scared. Be careful though because if you don’t answer fast enough Alex will choose silence. In a way I thought it felt like a really interactive visual novel.

Being so choice heavy Oxenfree needs to introduce the player to the cast quickly so they can respond in the best ways. The game has a smart way of doing this by having the characters play a game that’s close to truth or dare, but it’s only truth. Doing this the player very organically learns about each character. I started to feel connected to the cast, except for Clarissa who was a bitch for most of the game. Alex gets a few game altering choices all revolving around her friends, and each choice has consequences. The player can choose to team up with Jona or Ren and if you pick Jona over Ren, Ren gets really upset and stays angry for a portion of the game not understanding why the player would pick their stepbrother over a childhood friend. Clarissa is a bitch for nearly the whole game for reasons it takes the player a while to learn which sets the player up to hate her. After possibly hating Clarissa for the whole game the player has to decide if they’re going to try and save her life or leave her behind to be possessed and swallowed by vengeful spirits in the end. On a cuter note, the player can also try to get Ren and his crush Nona together a little light-heartedness in contrast to the darkness.

It’s not all about chatting in Oxenfree and when Alex has a moment of silence, she pulls out her radio and starts flipping through channels. I thought this was a very unique game mechanic using the mouse wheel to scan through radio stations until you find one that plays eerie music, is part of a guided tour about the island’s history, or its ghosts communicating through the radio waves. The radio becoming a spirit box is what got me to pick up Oxenfree. I’m fascinated by the idea of spirit boxes and ghosts being able to pick words from the static to continue their communication with the living.  I’ve seen spirit box sessions that left me with chills and Oxenfree captures that feeling. Robotic borrowed voices overlapping as they snatch words from the air to string together. Using the radio the player opens the void to another dimension.

I jumped a lot more than I thought I would while playing Oxenfree. Without warning characters would become possessed jumping from one location to another in a jarring cut with loud music. I gasped nearly every time. I was repeatedly lulled into a false sense of security walking through the forest or town with my companion when suddenly the safety was ripped away and they were more creature than friend. Oxenfree also has one of my favorite tropes thanks to the other worldly beings, time loops! Alex can get stuck in small time loops while exploring the island and the player has to wind up and correct a reel-to-reel tape to dissipate the effects. It was interesting to see small self-contained time loops instead of just the big finale type that resets the game.

It’s hard to completely hate the main villain in Oxenfree. I feel like their pain warrants some sympathy. In act one as previously mentioned the USS Kanaloa is name dropped and slowly you begin to piece together that the ghosts Alex unleashed that took a friend or two hostage are the crew from the wreck. Their bodies never recovered their spirits stolen by the sea. Melded together as one apparition a hivemind screams from the depths about how it’s life was stolen away and they deserve a second chance all they need is a new body. Multiple pieces of the hivemind snatch the body of Clarissa like a parasite content to take her back to the mainland and live their life.  At least a piece of them will have a chance to escape back into the world, no longer trapped for eternity. It’s terrifying the way the ghosts of the USS Kanaloa subdue their hosts as Alex suffers several possessions the player plays through. During this time Alex gets to see her dead brother again the ghosts trapping their victims in their happiest memories to keep their host from wanting to regain control. It’s heartbreaking having conversations with a character we as players only know through brief mentions. The tender moments are short and fleeting because if Alex is certain of anything it’s that her brother is dead, and it ruined her life. Her family fell apart, and Alex blames herself. Alex won’t let herself be swept up in the memories of her brother Mathew because she knows they’re not real, they’re also not exclusively tied to happiness. I think this is why Alex can pull herself free from possessions, as much as she wants the memories to be real, she knows they can’t be.

From start to finish Oxenfree is a captivating adventure that has a lot to offer fi you give it the chance. I think it comes off as an unassuming indie game with a cute art style, but it is so much more once you start the adventure. Oxenfree is a game I recommend to everyone.  It’s a story about the future and how it can change in unexpected ways, and you can’t always be prepared for the twists and turns. It’s also all about the weight of your choices as a few of the choices you make have large impacts on the end. Oxenfree has four endings to unlock. These friends always find their way back to the island though no matter the ending.  Good thing there’s a second game!