Oxenfree II: Lost Signals
“Oxenfree II: Lost Signals delivers another narrative hit for the series, even if its gameplay isn’t quite as engrossing as its mysteries.”
Pros
Strong story
Nuanced heroine
Eerie visible sequences
Standout artwork model
Cons
Tedious backtracking
Lack of partaking gameplay
There’s a skinny line between useless and dead-end.
That pressure is on the coronary heart of Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, Night School Studio’s worthy sequel to its 2016 breakout hit Oxenfree. Set 5 years after the occasions of its predecessor, the narrative journey sequel stars a researcher named Riley who returns to her hometown of Camena to check an uncommon sequence of electromagnetic interferences. Though that units off a supernatural story that isn’t far off in tone from Stranger Things (becoming contemplating Netflix owns Night School now), there’s one thing way more grounded nestled between the static. Over the course of 1 eerie night time, Riley gained’t simply confront the ghosts of lacking sailors however come to phrases with the truth that her personal life is equally misplaced at sea.
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is one other narrative hit for Night School, delivering a slow-burn story that expertly weaves collectively supernatural horror with an introspective story of self-discovery. The sequel does discover itself battling its personal id disaster although, as tedious interactivity leaves me questioning if the studio’s coronary heart is extra in films or TV than video video games.
Growing by static
If the unique Oxenfree was a coming-of-age story, Lost Signals is extra of a midlife disaster. The four- to five-hour story facilities round Riley, a thirty-something-year-old tasked with putting transmitters across the quaint coastal city of Camena, Oregon in the dark. At first, all of it looks like a traditional analysis operation. Riley groups up with one other researcher, Jacob, to hunt out some excessive floor, plant a couple of tech doodads, and collect some knowledge. That straightforward process rapidly goes awry when a triangular portal seems within the sky and the duo begins hopping by time.
It’s a refreshing portrait of a lady misplaced in her thirties, delivered to life with a nuanced voice efficiency …
On a floor degree, Lost Signals is a strong campfire ghost story similar to its predecessor. Riley learns the bizarre, engrossing historical past of Camena which intersects with the sequence’ first recreation, whereas nonetheless telling a reasonably self-contained story. Over the course of 1 night time, I used to be sucked in by the story of lacking sailors and a cult trying to tear actuality aside with a purpose to commune with ghosts. That creepy narrative will get a lift from a handful of eerie visible sequences that infuse it with simply sufficient gentle soar scares to maintain me tuned in the entire method by.
Though the supernatural story is the principle hook, Lost Signals takes its time when attending to what actually makes it work. The extra the night time progresses, the extra perception we acquire into Riley’s life outdoors of Camena … which isn’t precisely progressing in the way in which she’d hoped. In a climactic scene late within the story, Riley grapples with the truth that her life, spent crammed in a small residence, has floor to a halt. A personality posits that she’s not in contrast to Camena’s misplaced sailors, caught in a form of stasis, by no means shifting forwards.
Night School Studio
It’s that second the place Lost Signals actually comes collectively, revealing a extra grounded interrogation of what it really means to develop up. There’s honesty and maturity to that story, selecting away at a form of lasting ennui that plenty of coming-of-age media tends to chalk as much as teenage hormones. It’s a refreshing portrait of a lady misplaced in her thirties, delivered to life with a nuanced voice efficiency from Liz Saydah.
There are moments early on the place Lost Signals could really feel prefer it’s aimlessly wandering, very like Riley and Jacob as they climb up cliff sides in pursuit of intangible radio alerts. Stick with them, although, and also you’ll discover a validating story about how we’re by no means actually completed rising up.
Caught in a loop
While its narrative has caught with me since enjoying by it, I’m additionally left with a lingering query: Does it actually profit from being a online game?
When the primary Oxenfree launched in 2016, it already felt slightly skinny when it got here to interactivity. Its major contribution to the medium was a neat dialogue trick that will permit conversations to unfold extra naturally, with characters selecting up ideas later in the event that they have been interrupted throughout dialog (it might beat God of War to that very same system by a few years). It was the form of characteristic that wowed recreation growth nerds like myself on the time, however the sluggish walk-and-talk gameplay wasn’t too partaking.
I’m unsure I’d have missed a lot of something had it been introduced in a conventional visible novel format.
Oxenfree II follows that very same construction, struggling to search out one thing for gamers to do with their fingers. It nonetheless incorporates a well-built dialogue system that opens the door for impactful decisions that form the story and even introduces a walkie-talkie that makes certain gamers can at all times fill useless air by way of conversations with far-off NPCs. And there’s fairly a little bit of house to fill.
The bulk of the sport sees Riley adventuring across the 2.5D Camena in quest of excessive factors the place she will plant transmitters. It’s virtually a mountain climbing recreation the place she climbs up cliffs and drops ropes. That platforming factor is comparatively shallow, although, as Riley slowly backtracks by the identical few areas a handful of occasions as dialogue performs out. There have been loads of moments the place I wanted I may take my thumb off the management stick and simply deal with Jacob and Riley’s conversations. The tedious motion solely serves as a busy distraction from what really works.
There are a couple of intelligent concepts peppered in right here and there, like a small sequence of puzzles the place I have to rotate objects by tuning in the suitable frequencies, however a lot of the interplay feels fully secondary to the dialogue. I’m unsure I’d have missed a lot of something had it been introduced in a conventional visible novel format — although maybe I wouldn’t get to soak in as a lot of its sweeping, detailed Oregon landscapes.
Night School Studio
That underwhelming marriage of narrative and mechanics leaves me questioning if, like Riley, Night School is prepared for a change. In a 2021 interview with Digital Trends, studio co-founder Sean Krankel expressed a need to see the studio’s model evolve, saying “We don’t want to be the studio that just feeds the same mechanics with a new story through it.” While there are some structural and navigational variations in Oxenfree II, it nonetheless feels just like the group is caught in its consolation zone regardless of a high-profile transfer over to Netflix. Perhaps a soar to movie or TV is what the sequence wants to essentially discover the subsequent section of its life.
If that doesn’t occur, it definitely gained’t lock Night School right into a useless finish. Even with out compelling gameplay hooks, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals delivers in terms of telling a mature story about breaking out of the loops through which we typically discover ourselves trapped. It’s a transitional story for its heroine, leaving hope that the very best elements of her younger life are nonetheless to return. I hope the identical is true for the sequence at giant, which nonetheless seems like it’s but to peak.
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals was reviewed on PS5.