Maybe you saw it, but there’s a point at which those trudges across the map get… interesting. Not that you still don’t spend most of the game trudging.
Interesting I have not seen whatever that is. Thank you for not actually saying what it is but letting me know I shouldn’t give up on it.
I do like the story, just don’t like the movement.
I just finished this up and agree with some of what was said here already. The highlight of this was the cast of characters and the way the dialog was handled. There were definitely times you had more time than others to pick a choice. I missed a couple I wanted, partly because I wanted to make sure I picked the one I felt was right and was just too slow.
Some of the events that happened were a bit annoying to me, especially when I just wanted to get somewhere to see the next bit of the story. I also felt some of the traveling was a bit tedious, but the map wasn’t that big. Damn I got tired of that radio dial.
The thing that happens during the credits was quite cool. I was caught off guard and noticed it said Tom Chick and Giaddon in my credits, but didn’t know exactly what it was for.
Hey that was really great! Not sure about that end of ending, but it was a really enjoyable experience. Great dialogue well written and delivered for the most part, fairly unpredictable story, beautiful soundtrack and atmosphere. Gotta say this I enjoyed this vastly more than Inside as far as 2D indie games go.
I tried, but I bounced off this pretty hard. I got maybe halfway through (well into the weird stuff) and dropped it. The dialogue system is neat but I honestly couldn’t stand any of the characters. There was a lot of (what I felt to be) forced cleverness in the dialogue. It just didn’t ring true.
Oddly enough, I didn’t have a problem with Life is Strange. Maybe it was how the whole thing was presented. Distant 2.5D platformer vs 3rd person 3D. I’m not sure.
FYI, this is out on iOS today for 3.99
Oxenfree was also nominated for a couple of BAFTAs: Best Debut and Best Narrative.
Played through this one over the last week or so. I was home sick today so I figured I’d power through - turns out powering through is much quicker and much easier than I anticipated. Not a bad thing, just kind of unanticipated.
And I thought this was pretty good, but not much more. I think my experience suffered a bit from raised expectations, it seemed like it was setting up an interesting scenario and then it just kind of ended. In retrospect, the scenario wasn’t really the point, more about exploring the relationships of these young 'uns. Which was ok too, just not exactly what I expected. The whole thing kind of passed in a bit of a blur really, I was just kind of getting used to who these kids were and what they meant to each other and … it was over. Kind of punk really, leave 'em wanting more.
Looks like from the achievements I could play again being a jerk to all of Alex’s friends and get a different outcome possibly? Learn more about what’s happening? Maybe I’ll try it out. Anyway, as much fun as all these stressed-out Pacific Northwest teen girl games are, I’d still probably rank this one behind Gone Home and Life Is Strange, but that’s just me.
Just for why not, I did run back through the game again and it’s satisfying to see that the game and its characters recognize you’re replaying. There’s a few moments of Groundhog Day here and there, and you can actually influence events to get a different ending. I’m more impressed with the game the second time through. Wonder if I should push my luck and see what changes on a third …
I find it hilarious you identified an actual sub genre.
Stressed-out Pacific Northwest teen girl games.
Oxenfree
Life is Strange
Life is Strange Before the Storm
Gone Home
Infamous: Last Light
What remains of Edith Finch (partial credit)
Until Dawn (quarter credit)
Any others?
Crap, looks like I’m going to need a PS4.
it benefits that you came late to the party then. the “new game+” was a post release addition.
I like the way they added that, then. On the main menu, there was “new game” and then a “continue timeline” option. Can’t resist that.
I had much the same impression as you after my first playthrough but couldn’t bring myself to play through it again. I’d like to say that I wish I’d jumped back in but I was happy to just move on.
And haha, yeah, I lump this in with Gone Home and Life is Strange. I adored Gone Home, and Life is Strange was great for the most part. Oxenfree’s dialogue was amazing though and by far my favorite thing about it.
Sweet, I now own this game on three different delivery systems and don’t think I paid for one. OK, maybe Steam.
I got this free from Twitch. Go Amazon Prime!
I pretty much have the same opinion but I am not sure I will replay it again. I liked the dialog and the art style. The premise is interesting. I did not feel attached to Alex or the other characters the way I did with LiS, so it is not anywhere close to that level. But it is still good. Backtracking / walking pace is a bit annoying but otherwise this was quite enjoyable if a bit confusing at times. As someone who is not a native speaker and who is losing his hearing, I really had a difficult time understanding the ghosts and I think I may have missed some major plot points due to that.
I couldn’t understand them either. I am a native speaker of average ish hearing :)
I also didn’t really grok the radio tour, so some of background probably passed me by. I never really grasped what was going on.
For what it is worth, I did decide to play it again. It was nice being rewarded with acknowledgement throughout the second play that this had happened before. It is a bit odd that the game almost requires at least two attempts to get the ultimate victory. I do not believe those options were presented to me on the first attempt. I also felt like I understood more of what was happening.
My overall opinion has not changed. It is a good tale, not a great one, and lacks the emotional depth of the true classics of the genre like LiS or LIMBO. Overall though it was engaging, I enjoyed it and I am somewhat chagrined that this slipped through my gaming radar until now.
I was able to break free from the time line and get a satisfying conclusion the 2nd time.
This is exactly how I felt too. I didn’t really connect with the game overall though, mostly because I didn’t have a clue what was going on. I was intrigued to know more but couldn’t stomach going through all the trudging again. I loved the conversations and presentation though.
This is similar to my feelings about Dear Esther actually.