After spending half an hour with Oxenfree II: Misplaced Alerts at Summer time Sport Fest, there’s an instantaneous sense that the sequel is shaping as much as be a a lot larger, bolder, and certainly stranger expertise than its predecessor.
Because it in all probability ought to be. In talking with developer Evening Faculty’s founder and director, Sean Krankel, he confirmed that whereas the unique Oxenfree was accomplished in 16 months, the sequel has taken the studio a full three years to craft. You’ll be able to positively see the fruits of the studio’s labour, too, with this entry to this point proving to be a way more completed piece of labor in each side: character fashions are rather more detailed with enhanced animation; environments are dropped at life with lovely color and lighting; the gameplay feels a lot smoother and extra fluid than earlier than.
By way of narrative, Oxenfree II takes place 5 years after the primary sport and stars Riley Poverly, a lady who returns to the coastal city of Camena to analyze unusual goings on after uncommon electromagnetic waves trigger interference with radio indicators. It is all very harking back to the mysteries raised within the first sport, and even within the brief session we performed, there are a number of narrative seeds planted that we won’t wait to dig up once we get our arms on the complete sport.
We’re actually fairly taken with Riley, too. Whereas the primary sport’s protagonist, Alex, was very a lot an angsty teen surrounded by mutually angsty teenagers, Riley is a bit older, a bit wiser, and much more straight-talking. The back-and-forth along with her companion, Jacob Summers, reminded us a variety of the dialogue between Henry and Delilah in Campo Santo’s Firewatch, and positively in a great way. Actually, it felt good to deal with simply two core characters, to start with, relatively than the 5 you had instantly within the first sport.
Apart from that, it is clear that Evening Faculty has made some nice strides with the general gameplay. It positively feels much like the primary sport in some ways, however Oxenfree II is undoubtedly a extra instantly satisfying expertise. Character motion is much more intuitive, climbing is rather a lot sooner, and it is a lot simpler to gauge the place you should be going.
The largest enchancment, nonetheless, comes with the sport’s new walkie-talkie system. This time, characters you’ve got met are assigned to particular numbers by way of your walkie-talkie, and you’ll name them up at any time, even in case you’re speaking with another person in individual. Because of this whereas our time with the demo was largely linear, there will probably be sections of the complete sport that may require impartial investigation, needing you to name up a number of characters so as to comply with by way of on sure narrative threads. It is a cool addition and makes the world really feel rather more alive.
When you’re discovering your self intrigued to this point, however have not performed the primary sport, don’t fret. As with nearly any sequel these days, Krankel confirms that whereas gamers will most actually profit from having some familiarity with the primary sport, Oxenfree II has been designed to be a standalone story that newcomers can leap straight into. Actually, he defined that the group initially struggled to resolve on the place to take Oxenfree after the primary sport, reluctant to show protagonist Alex into some type of “hero”. After creating different video games, together with the wonderful journey title Afterparty, the group realised that Oxenfree was rather more than simply Alex’s story and determined to department out and inform different tales inside the similar world.
For sure, in case you’re a fan of the primary sport, then Oxenfree II looks like a no brainer. Heck, even in case you’ve not skilled it earlier than, we might positively advocate maintaining a tally of this as we strategy its launch date of July twelfth, 2023. It is a sport that is evidently stuffed with thriller and intrigue, and in case you like intricately woven narratives guided by well-realised characters, then you definately actually cannot go incorrect.
What do you make of Oxenfree II to this point? Have you ever performed the primary sport? Assume you may squeeze it in earlier than this one arrives? Tell us your ideas with a remark down beneath.