Spirit of the radio
Oxenfree might be a scary game, but to me, it’s also a summer game. It’s about the in-between parts of your life, as you move from one major milestone to the next, and all the regrets and emotions that kick up in that time. So if Oxenfree was a summer vacation ghost story, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is a haunted summer gig.
Set five years after the first game, Oxenfree II follows Riley Poverly’s return home to the coastal town of Camena. From the outset, it has a lot of summer gig vibes; you’re tasked with heading to designated locations in Camena to set up radio transmitters, so that scientists can gather data about the strange radio signals happening around the area.
Obviously, this doesn’t go so well. And what starts out as a chill job starts to feel uneasy and tense, until something paranormal and wrong ensues. Phenomena occur. Portals open in the sky. Is leaving even possible?
Walk and talk
These are the spooky, supernatural, yet emotional and relatable feelings that drive Oxenfree, and seem to return for the sequel. While characters deal with strange occurrences, they also seem to be wrestling with their own ghosts, and navigating the former often means confronting the latter.
A big feature of Night School’s work has been its walk-and-talk gameplay. You navigate around Camena and its various locales, but all the while, characters still chat and respond to each other. Chat bubbles can pop up, and offer you opportunities to learn and develop as you move through the space.
Oxenfree II amps up the walk-and-talk with one of its new features: a walkie talkie. This clever addition isn’t just for wordplay, but for communicating with other characters at any time. In the demo I played at Summer Game Fest 2023, I was able to flip between channels and chat about my surroundings with Evelyn, my point-of-contact back at base. It was a nice way to encourage me to explore a bit more, finding new objects or points of interest I could chat with Evelyn about.
It’s a smart system that opens up extra dialogue, makes walking around and taking in the sights more interesting, and keeps the tangible feel of Oxenfree‘s tech front-and-center. A lot of Oxenfree II deals in the same tangible, analogue tech as the first game. Turning radio dials, keying into different channels, and activating your walkie has an intent behind it. You push a button, or turn a knob, and something happens. It’s that feeling of continuing to turn and press, despite the strangeness of what’s happening in front of you, that sells Oxenfree‘s tension and horror so well.
Night terrors
Of course, I might be overselling the scares of Oxenfree II. I wouldn’t say it’s a horror game in the sense of jump-scares or anything. Though, there are certainly moments where sudden cuts or shifts happen in rapid succession.
Oxenfree II has more of a surreal, creepy, supernatural vibe. It’s the kind that makes you wonder if something’s wrong with your TV. The style of horror that slowly seeps in and starts to make you question shadows, or wonder what’s lurking just behind the purview of the screen boundaries.
There’s still downtime without the scares, where Riley and her new coworker Jacob can get to know each other. I ran into a heap of wonderful little moments of sincerity and social awkwardness. If you’ve ever been working on a job and had a coworker you barely know suddenly ask if you believe in ghosts, this will strike a chord.
As you’d expect, the great mystery is why the radio portals are back. And of course, the looming question mark of Edwards Island, what effect the events of Oxenfree had, and how they carry over into Oxenfree II. There are some moments when you chat with people about something that happened there, but otherwise, all we have is speculation… for now.
Left of the dial
I only got to play the first 30 minutes or so of Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, but it was easily more than enough. I’ve enjoyed Night School’s take on the narrative adventure genre, and the way the team there tackles both gameplay and writing around interesting topics. Oxenfree II, in its first 30, didn’t disappoint on that front.
I’ve got a lot of questions about what awaits in Camena, and even Edwards Island. But thankfully, it’s not a long wait. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals arrives on July 12 for PC, Switch, PlayStation, and the Netflix platform.
