I always ask myself the same question when it comes to video games, “gameplay or storytelling?” Ever since the beginning, video games have mainly been about having fun. Using whatever methods necessary to keep the player engaged. Throwing meaty challenges at them, forcing them to solve problems on their own, and using clever game design to make them feel rewarded once they accomplish their goal. I believe John Carmack summarized it best when it came to creating the overly simplistic story for the original Doom. “Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It’s expected to be there, but it’s not that important.” He was basically saying that story wasn't important and that even if they tried really hard to write a compelling story a majority of gamers would ignore it. Yet he would then be proven wrong a couple of years later when the original Half-Life released and contained an engaging story and universe. Proving storytelling could work in games. I hope you can understand where I’m going.
Sometimes I feel like the storytelling in video games can actually be really important. You can’t just go running around killing things just for the purpose of killing. You have to give the player a reason for why they are doing what they are doing. The story can be what helps the player power through every challenge. You want them to be interested in what happens next so they can work towards it. I hate to say this, but storytelling in video games is now becoming an alternative form of cinema with recent blockbuster releases like God of War and Uncharted. The characters, pacing, twists, reveals, emotions, capturing, and direction storytelling in video games can be incredible to say the least. Storytelling in video games can out rival what is basically video game’s older brother, but a few problems may arise. In recent years video games have struggled to strike the balance between gameplay and storytelling.
Good example of this is Red Dead Redemption 2 which is graphically stunning and contains some of the best writing in a while, but when it comes to actual gameplay there isn’t anything new. Casual cover based shooting, linear and restrictive mission design, and the elements of immersion can come to a fault. On the other end of the spectrum there is Doom 4 and Doom Eternal. Here we have two games with fun fast gorey action that loves to reward the player for mastering its mechanics. Yet, the story isn't much though despite the developers packing tons of lore in. Why bother with all the world building when there is no reward for paying attention?
There are very few examples that have maintained a balance between gameplay and storytelling. Nier: Automata is an action RPG that has quick reaction combat and a story that dives deep into the topic of human existence and why we exist. Horizon Zero Dawn is a beautiful open world game that rewards exploration, but doesn’t forget about Aloy and her journey to unravel the past. Bloodborne and Hollow Knight are challenging experiences that use the environment, item descriptions, and characters to flesh out the world instead of having to stop the player and exposition dump on them.
The point is that if you're planning on having heavy amounts of world building or storytelling then do it well, but at the same time don’t forget that you are trying to make a video game. There is a reason why I don’t play games like Detroit: Become Human, Life is Strange, or any of the Telltale games. It’s because they focus too much on telling a story. What could be considered somewhat of a challenge is pressing a button at the right time so a character doesn't get hit by a truck or something. There is nothing fun or innovative about these narrative driven games. Sure they have their audiences, but they're just not made for me. These opinions were slightly changed when I decided to try out Oxenfree, created by a small indie team Night School Studio.
Thanks to their previous experiences at Telltale Games and Disney, two distant cousins Sean Krankel and Adam Hines formed their own game company in 2014 and began development on what was their future dream game. With a small team of developers they created Oxenfree, a narrative driven game with horror-like elements and handled the theme of growing up. My older sister was actually the one who introduced me to this game. She played the game probably four times by now and from what I can tell from her it’s one of her favorite video games ever made. So congrats Night School Studio! You’ve managed to impress my older sister who has taken several art classes, is a die hard anime lover, and is extremely hard to impress with all the pieces she keeps stressing out about each week and never has the time to fully enjoy a game! Anyways, after a year or two I finally decided to try out Oxenfree myself. My sister told me the basics on how to play and after finishing the game in under a day I can kindly say that it’s pretty good. Actually I really like this game and compared to the other narrative driven games mentioned earlier, Oxenfree does something right. So today we’ll be talking about why I quite liked Oxenfree and why it deserves your attention. So tune in with those radios and prepare to warp the fabrics of space and time.
Story
We play as Alex, a young teenage delinquent who lost her older brother Michael in an unpreventable accident and is getting ready to graduate from high school alongside her friends. Her parents divorced a few years after the death of Michael and her mother went on to remarry to another man. Alex then had to get used to her new step brother Jonas who is close to the same age as her. One night Alex, Jonas, and her best friend Ren decide to take a ferry to Edwards Island and spend the night partying around a campfire before graduation day. They meet up with two other girls named Nona and Clarrisa, with Clarrisa specifically having dated Alex’s previous brother Michael before he died. They settle around the campfire playing games and drinking beer, and while they are there Ren decides to show Alex and Jonas a nearby cave.
Ren tells them that by adjusting their handheld radio signals a certain way, mysterious lights will form in the cave. Jonas notices that the cave goes deeper than they thought, and while Ren is busy getting high off of a weed brownie Alex decides to follow Jonas into the cave just in case something happens. Jonas finds a mysterious glowing triangle floating in the air and when Alex adjusts her radio signal the glowing triangle forms a dimensional rift. Both of them are contacted by weird paranormal beings and just when they are being asked questions they are knocked out.
Alex and Jonas wake up by a communication tower and recollect what just happened. They power up the tower and make contact with Ren and Clarrisa. When the blackout occurred Ren and Clarrisa were teleported to random sectors of the island. One lies in the middle of the woods, and the other rests at the far end of the island in abandoned ruins. Weird paranormal activities are going on and they need Alex and Jonas to come rescue them before everything goes dark and bad events start to happen. It’s up to Alex to piece together the puzzle, figure out what’s really going on, find her friends, and escape the island before it takes them alive. Along the way it seems like Alex is getting visions of her past. Something tragic that won’t let her go. I would dive even further into the plot, but I don’t want to spoil too much for you. It is after all a story driven game.
Gameplay
When it comes to the gameplay department for Oxenfree there really isn’t much to say. You walk to where you need to go to progress the story, and then walk to the next objective. Everything is told from a 2D perspective and you won't get lost often as even with split pathways they give you clear indications as to where they lead to. The world is big enough for you to explore, but the main story follows a linear path and objectives are marked on a map. One mechanic you can engage with though are conversations and they are important as they determine your relationship with characters. Saying the right things may earn you a good relationship status, and saying the wrong things may lead to a bad relationship status. Your relationship and statements to characters may even affect what a character does at the end of the game. Whether they go to college, talk to each other after high school, abandon the friend group, or straight out live or die. You also have to respond quickly enough during conversations, because there's only so many times the characters will start conversations and you'll be prevented from saying anything if you don't respond fast enough. Kind of like real life and how you actively have to try when talking to people. Helps create a sense of realism for a game filled with fictional paranormal activities where sh*t always goes wrong.
Once in a while you will encounter a puzzle that will require you to change the signal on your radio. Maybe it will be a door that requires certain sounds, or maybe one of your friends will start getting possessed and you have to react quickly. That’s one of the positives I have with Oxenfree. Even though it’s a narrative driven game it can be considered a horror game at times. The screen will glitch out, absurd noises will start to get louder, distorted voices will speak to you, and you just feel the rush to react. Make due with the stiff controls and enter flight or fight mode. It’s the rise in tension that gets you to react. Besides that there really isn’t much else going on with Oxenfree.
The gameplay really isn't much to interact with, but that wasn't the main priority of Oxenfree. It's the story which Oxenfree decides to specialize in and it tells a damn good one. One which we'll address during the final section of this review. I could have instantly called the game boring overall, but the story managed to engage with me and I would rather have a well written plot than cluttered gameplay with particle effects flying all over the place hoping the player's eyes will be so jacked up on adrenaline that they won't care about the amount of foam drooling from their mouth. Hopefully you'll find your friends and escape this nightmare of an island.
Thoughts
Oxenfree is a pretty good narrative driven game. It may not be for everyone as there's a lot of meaningless walking in between story moments, but if you give the game a shot you may fall in love with what it has to offer. The writing is good. It’s the main reason as to why so many people love Oxenfree. Characters have memorable personalities, important story moments and flashbacks are well executed, and the dialogue sounds normal. The conversations characters have between each other sound natural and like they can come from actual human beings. The dialogue and fluidity of it is thanks to the brilliant performances by the actors/actresses which Night School Studio hired for this game. Some of my favorite performances from video games come from big budget releases starring talented well known actors like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn, but Oxenfree nails the voice acting and audio design to deliver a believable experience! I thought the game would look ugly, but from what I’ve experienced it’s beautiful. The backgrounds are all hand drawn and look like they were water colored, and the 3D character models pop out towards the players eyes. There's a wide usage of green and blue, but it helps give the environment this emerald glossy feel.
The plot as a whole is extremely well told, doesn’t overstay its welcome, and the main theme is delivered across clearly. Oxenfree tackles the topic of growing up, leaving old friends, and facing the several real world struggles of the future. A similar theme which Life is Strange attempted to approach and I can tell Oxenfree took heavy inspiration, but where it differs is that Oxenfree has likable characters you can understand and sympathize with. They grow, learn, and adapt as the story goes on. They make good changes which makes you care for them and remind you there are good parts to growing up. Whereas Life is Strange is full of unlikable characters who make choices and decisions that don't add up and contradict the theme the game is trying to approach. Oxenfree does this theme the best, because while it isn't bombastic it isn't always trying to put you down. It also doesn't rely heavily on elements of nostalgia to connect with the audience. It's just you, the cast, and a spooky island to explore. It's focused less on being relatable and more on just telling a good story. I hate when writers try so hard to relate, because what they forget is that they are grown adults who grew up in a different era and didn't witness the stuff teens today went through. It creates this disconnection between who understands who.
The game takes roughly around four hours to beat which is a good runtime in my book. While I really liked Oxenfree and the story presented, it doesn't mean I have problems. It is a narrative driven game with little to no gameplay, so some people may not click with it easily. The world is easy to navigate, but becomes more of a nuisance to traverse across as it grows bigger overtime. Mainly due to the fact the main character walks extremely slow and you have to wait for other characters before moving forward. They could have at least added a run button. It's made worse with sections where you navigate down zigzag paths because it only drags out the long walk times.
Otherwise, Oxenfree is great. There are a few varied endings to unlock depending on your choices which adds quite a bit of replay value. For twenty dollars you get a worthy story, but the game does go on sale frequently for extremely low prices so you can wait. In the end I recommend Oxenfree. It may be short, but it’s sweet and is definitely worth your time for the story it tells. In the end I am going to give Oxenfree a 9/10 for excellence at best. Seems like a high review score, but it truly deserves it.
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