System: Swap
Launch date: July 12, 2023
Developer: Night time Faculty Studio
Writer: Netflix
When Oxenfree launched in 2016, I used to be enamored with it. I used to be youthful then and located consolation in its highschool drama and socially awkward characters, who have been relatable and felt actual. The supernatural yarn it weaved was surprisingly darkish, but grounded in occasions that felt potential in its unusual world of ghosts and timeloops. However gamers who made it the top have been doubtless left with a minimum of just a few unresolved questions, and Oxenfree II: Misplaced Alerts tantalizes with guarantees of solutions, or a minimum of a deeper glimpse into the unusual phenomena that occurred on Edwards Island all these years in the past. Whereas Oxenfree II delivers in that regard, its narrative and new exploration mechanics felt disappointingly protected for many of its runtime, failing to shock and hook me in the way in which its predecessor did (outdoors of some key moments); nonetheless, followers of the unique owe it to themselves to see this story via to its conclusion.
Oxenfree II: Misplaced Alerts takes place nicely after the occasions of the unique, and primarily focuses on Riley, a grunt working for a government-contracted environmental analysis group that research unusual phenomena. After dropping out of the army and failing to search out path in her life, Riley has returned to her hometown of Camena, the place she hyperlinks up with a coworker named Jacob to analyze a mysterious “gate” that has appeared within the sky over Edwards Island. It’s shortly revealed {that a} cult named Parentage is making an attempt to reopen it (for causes I gained’t I spoil), so Riley and Jacob make their method throughout the island to arrange machines that simply may be capable to stop the state of affairs from getting worse.
Regardless of the sense of urgency that the premise of the story may recommend, Oxenfree II doesn’t really feel as high-stakes as its predecessor. That’s completely cheap, as returning gamers who beat the primary sport will already be nicely conscious of the character of the supernatural menace, realizing greater than the protagonists about what’s occurring for a great chunk of the story. The cult is positioned as the primary antagonist this time round, however they really feel comparatively toothless for a great chunk of the story, largely current within the backdrop till the participant lastly begins circumstantially encountering a few of their members. Whereas its these interactions that assist drive the story ahead, I want that they had been extra of a driving power within the narrative. Their chief – Olivia – has a darkish facet to her character that gave me the occasional goosebumps, however she has so little screentime in what’s already a brief narrative expertise; fleshing out her character earlier within the sport would have made an enormous distinction.
In reality, most of your time in Oxenfree II is spent completely with Riley and Jacob as they traverse Camena. It’s a great factor that they’re such well-written characters, then. Whereas maybe not relatable to me personally, they really feel grounded; Riley’s struggles with burnout, relationships and household really feel notably widespread this present day, and her jaded however sincere strategy to self-reflection feels well-suited to her extra mature character. She may also be fairly snarky at instances if you choose these dialogue choices, however by no means to the purpose the place she’s unlikeable. Jacob, in the meantime, is earnest and optimistic in all the very best methods; whereas missing in self-confidence, he’s emotionally clever and susceptible in method that male characters in video games usually aren’t, which I discovered actually refreshing. Identical to within the first sport, dialogue between them feels brisk and pure in a method that – whereas maybe not revolutionary in of itself – continues to be uncommon in video games of this scope. I didn’t discover them as compelling to take heed to because the forged from the primary sport, however they do a minimum of develop as people over the course of the story in a method that feels tangible.
Whereas face-to-face interactions with different characters are sparser than within the authentic sport, a brand new walkie-talkie system permits Riley to remotely chat with characters on different frequencies. Many of those interactions really feel utterly optionally available – to work together with Maria, for instance, who hosts a highschool radio present, it’s a must to make some extent to take heed to her present and name in on the proper time. Whereas selecting to assist among the characters you work together with has an affect on the sport’s story, it didn’t really feel notably massive to me. That’s probably as a result of I couldn’t view the end-of-game pie charts that present the outcomes of your choices, which will probably be added in at launch; that mentioned it’s tougher to attach and care about characters who we by no means get to see, and whose plights really feel considerably decrease precedence than the chaos that’s taking place on Camena. Regardless of their simplicity, I felt like my interactions with the members of the Parentage had a far higher affect on the story than the rest, undoubtedly factoring into how some key scenes play out.
I did run into just a few situations the place dialogue – and in a single case, an emotional, vital second between Riley and Jacob – was minimize off abruptly when switching between completely different areas. For essentially the most half, conversations in Oxenfree II will resume after loading screens when strolling to a brand new a part of Camena, however the few instances they didn’t I actually felt like I missed vital character improvement. The builders are conscious of those kinds of timing points, so I hope they will get patched out in time for the ultimate launch, but it surely’s one thing to be contemplate in case you’re planning on enjoying at launch.
The brand new island of Camena is fantastically crafted, retaining the watercolor-painting aesthetic of the unique however feeling extra natural and lived-in. It’s similar to the primary sport’s Edwards Island in its environment and normal geography, however has considerably extra element packed into its world, notably its interiors. The zoomed-out digicam does an important job at promoting the dimensions of the atmosphere, however the draw back is that it usually makes these particulars tougher to understand, particularly the detailed character animations which have clearly had plenty of work poured into them. This sense is amplified when enjoying in handheld mode – whereas the sport appears nice on the Swap’s OLED display, plenty of the feel of the world is misplaced on the smaller show.
Whereas climbing has been touted as an thrilling new option to get across the island, there’s not a lot to it apart from selecting a path to go in and hitting B to leap between ledges, so it feels extra like a method to an finish than something substantial. In fact, there’s extra to the island of Camena than meets the attention, and because the sport progresses, more and more unusual paranormal phenomena will happen that distort the world round Riley. It’s right here that I’d like to supply a lightweight spoiler warning for the following few paragraphs, as a result of discussing how a few of these eventualities play mechanically will necessitate discussing sure narrative themes, though I’ll avoid discussing particular plot factors.
One recurring ingredient from the primary Oxenfree is that it in a short time turns into obvious that point itself is unstable round Camena. From a really early level within the sport, Riley will discover herself caught in short time loops, needing to search out these unusual analogue machines and resolve easy puzzles on their display to interrupt out of the loop. Moreover, she and Jacob will sometimes encounter Time Tears whereas exploring that, when entered, whisk them away to a time up to now. Generally these moments ship some narrative context; different instances, they exist as a part of a puzzle within the modern-day, comparable to needing to get previous a damaged elevator to depart an atmosphere.
In idea, that is an extremely cool option to increase upon the lore of the world and the themes of the primary sport, however in follow, the Time Tears maintain so little narrative and mechanical weight that they’re among the least attention-grabbing elements of the sport. It’s actually a disgrace, as we hear a lot dialogue from different characters about occasions which have occurred up to now, and Time Tears may have been an attention-grabbing option to discover extra of that. However there are so few of them, and so few significant interactions inside them that they really feel largely extraneous. The handful that require puzzle fixing are virtually ridiculously easy, to the purpose that I started to query what they have been actually including to the expertise.
Riley will even sometimes expertise flashbacks to her childhood, and flash-forwards to her future. These moments are much more frequent, and concentrate on offering the participant a possibility to see extra of her character and the kind of individual she may change into if she makes sure decisions. On the very least, these occasions have extra narrative weight to them, in order that they really feel extra vital to the general development of the story, however just like the Time Tears, they’re by no means actually defined in a significant method, which I discovered unsatisfying. I can respect that typically a thriller will be extra compelling when a few of its parts are left unexplained, however there must a minimum of be some broad context to assist the occasions really feel grounded. I additionally dislike how shortly Riley and Jacob settle for on a regular basis shifting strangeness with out actually questioning what’s inflicting it or why it issues, or ever actually being afraid of any of it. I do know they’re adults and are extra level-headed than the forged of the primary sport, however their normal nonplussed perspective to many of the occasions within the sport made it arduous for me to consider within the gravity of all of it.
Regardless of some missed potential, I did finally discover the conclusion of Oxenfree II: Misplaced Alerts satisfying as a fan of the unique. There are some direct connections to the primary sport that I wasn’t anticipating, and a few beautiful set items late within the sport convincingly display the ability of the supernatural forces at play behind the scenes. Whereas the ultimate selection within the sport itself lacks the ethical ambiguity and emotional affect that I believe I’ve come to anticipate from the style, it does a minimum of present some closure to some main free ends.
The Verdict
Oxenfree II: Misplaced Alerts is an effective sequel with typically sturdy writing and world-building, but it surely will get a bit misplaced in its personal need to craft unusual supernatural eventualities that it by no means fleshes out to a satisfying diploma. A lot of its new mechanics really feel too easy or sparsely executed to be compelling, and whereas the brand new protagonists are refreshing and attention-grabbing to spend time with, the remainder of the forged is both too distant or too sporadically current to permit for significant relationships. In the event you loved Oxenfree, I believe Misplaced Alerts is value enjoying, if solely to see the conclusion of the story, however years down the highway, I don’t anticipate my recollections of enjoying to stay with me the way in which they did the primary time round.
Oxenfree II: Misplaced Alerts overview copy offered by the writer for the needs of this overview.