However, once again, much like a Hitchcock film, the central conceit of this drama is not what actually drives the player’s interest. This “main plot” is interesting, and as I said, weird and eerie, and involves unearthing the secret history of this strange, seemingly cursed island. All of this human drama is then framed by the strange events taking place in a single night on Edwards Island, which include encounters with ghosts, time displacement, and other weird and eerie happenings. The interpersonal drama this evokes is the heart of the game, as the way that Alex reacts and responds to these characters and the situations that they get into will effect her own relationship to each one, as well as to one another.
Each character has clearly drawn relationships to the others, a clear sense of how they initially feel about one another, and their own personal agenda for joining one another for this final rite of passage to adulthood. Each of the characters is more than merely a typology, though those types are useful in initially getting to know them. Most of its beauty as an experience is found in its commitment to authentic characters and their naturalness as human beings, something most video games are not often capable of.įive graduating seniors meet on an island for a final sendoff to their adolescence, a nerd, a mean girl, a Bohemian chick, a new arrival, and the protagonist, Alex, a girl who has recently lost a brother and gained a step brother (the aforementioned “new arrival”). None of this is why Oxenfree is an exceptional game.
The game world looks beautiful, the characters look beautiful, the characters animate beautifully, the gameplay is simple and elegant, and it innovates on the adventure genre. To put it simply, Oxenfree is exceptional.
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