After spending half an hour with Oxenfree II: Misplaced Alerts at Summer season Sport Fest, there’s an instantaneous sense that the sequel is shaping as much as be a a lot greater, bolder, and certainly stranger expertise than its predecessor.
Because it most likely must be. In talking with developer Night time 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 possibly can positively see the fruits of the studio’s labour, too, with this entry to date proving to be a way more completed piece of labor in each aspect: character fashions are rather more detailed with enhanced animation; environments are delivered to life with stunning 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 recreation and stars Riley Poverly, a girl who returns to the coastal city of Camena to research unusual goings on after uncommon electromagnetic waves trigger interference with radio alerts. It is all very paying homage to the mysteries raised within the first recreation, and even within the quick session we performed, there are a number of narrative seeds planted that we won’t wait to dig up once we get our fingers on the total recreation.
We’re actually fairly taken with Riley, too. Whereas the primary recreation’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 together with her companion, Jacob Summers, reminded us lots of the dialogue between Henry and Delilah in Campo Santo’s Firewatch, and positively in a great way. Actually, it felt good to concentrate on simply two core characters, to start with, reasonably than the 5 you had instantly within the first recreation.
Except for that, it is clear that Night time Faculty has made some nice strides with the general gameplay. It positively feels much like the primary recreation in some ways, however Oxenfree II is undoubtedly a extra instantly satisfying expertise. Character motion is much more intuitive, climbing is quite a bit sooner, and it is a lot simpler to gauge the place it is advisable be going.
The most important enchancment, nonetheless, comes with the sport’s new walkie-talkie system. This time, characters you have met are assigned to particular numbers by your walkie-talkie, and you’ll name them up at any time, even for those who’re speaking with another person in particular person. Which means whereas our time with the demo was principally linear, there will likely be sections of the total recreation that may require unbiased investigation, needing you to name up a number of characters with a purpose to observe by 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 date, however have not performed the primary recreation, don’t fret. As with just about any sequel these days, Krankel confirms that whereas gamers will most definitely profit from having some familiarity with the primary recreation, Oxenfree II has been designed to be a standalone story that newcomers can bounce straight into. In reality, he defined that the staff initially struggled to resolve on the place to take Oxenfree after the primary recreation, reluctant to show protagonist Alex into some kind of “hero”. After creating different video games, together with the wonderful journey title Afterparty, the staff realised that Oxenfree was rather more than simply Alex’s story and determined to department out and inform different tales throughout the identical world.
For sure, for those who’re a fan of the primary recreation, then Oxenfree II looks like a no brainer. Heck, even for those who’ve not skilled it earlier than, we would positively advocate maintaining a tally of this as we strategy its launch date of July twelfth, 2023. It is a recreation that is evidently stuffed with thriller and intrigue, and for those who like intricately woven narratives guided by well-realised characters, you then actually cannot go incorrect.
What do you make of Oxenfree II to date? Have you ever performed the primary recreation? Assume you would possibly squeeze it in earlier than this one arrives? Tell us your ideas with a remark down beneath.