Hi, everyone! Guess what's back? My Spooky Spotlight! For those of you who weren't following the Spooky Spotlights as I wrote them this October, I pretty much highlighted works with supernatural and/or horror elements that I feel deserve more love. I reviewed AHS: Hotel, Rocky Horror, my college's production of The Crucible and xxxHOLiC.
Well, it's not exactly Halloween anymore, but recently, I played a game that deserves a shoutout for working well as a horror game, even outside of the Halloween season: OxenFree.
The characters hanging out at the beach in an in-game still frame (from a loading screen). (Source: GameSpot.)
In OxenFree, an adventure/horror game, you play as Alex, a high school senior, as she and her new stepbrother Jonas spend the night on a nearby deserted island/daytime tourist trap with some of their friends (Ren, Nona and Clarissa) for funsies. After Ren urges Alex to bring a radio to listen to some sketchy frequencies from a nearby cave and she does so, things get interesting pretty quickly. And, by "interesting", I mean, horribly awful.
As Alex, it's up to you to not only figure out what the heck is going on, but to also deal with some massive deja vu as everything around you begins to make less and less sense. But, as the night goes on, the real question emerges: Why is this happening? And, more importantly, what will you do?
An in-game still with Alex (left) and Jonas (right). (Source: Kotaku)
This game threw me for a loop and scared the heck out of me, but in the best of ways. I was astonished at the creativity in the game's presentation, especially of the horror elements. The gameplay wasn't too difficult, and unease permeated the atmosphere of the game phenomenally. If you want an idea of what the game is like, here's the trailer. I will warn that this game does have a few content-warning worthy triggers in the plot, so if you have those, then definitely watch some gameplay first.
An example of the quick-time dialog events in-game that make up the bulk of the plot. (Source: GamingRebellion)
Still, in terms of presentation, this game is wonderful. It is a visually lovely title. Pastels and creepily contrasting warm colors abound. The game itself is 3d characters on a 2d background, which is heavily layered. The soundtrack is eerie, adding to the unease wonderfully. The voice acting, which is the bulk of the game, is incredible (kudos to the cast for pulling off an entire game's worth of dialog, and well, to boot!).
Alex tunes into her radio while Jonas and Ren chat. (Source: GameInformer)
The gameplay mechanics are creative; tuning your radio into special frequencies to solve puzzles (which aren't too difficult, to be honest) and discover secrets is clever. The dialog, being quick time decisions, feels authentic, with characters even commenting that you're interrupting them when you do cut them off. The conversations, for the most part, felt relatively organic, which is hard to do in writing, especially in video games. When the game "glitches", it looks like it's glitching. Which is terrifying, and also super neat.
Still, one thing to note: While this game can be played with a mouse and keyboard, I'd highly recommend using a controller. This game is not only 10x easier to play with a controller, but the vibration in the controller really adds to the spook factor in-game. It was a unique experience. (It also scared the living daylights out of me.)
An example of the game "glitching". (Don't worry, no spoilers here!) (Source: WordPress)
Another thing to know is that the game remembers your decisions, Undertale-style. So, if you play a new game+ (a new game after beating the game once), the game changes. Gosh, I'm not even done with it yet, and my skin is crawling. It's one of those games where you need to play it more than once to get the real ending, so I'd recommend it. Or, you know. A single playthrough works too. But if you want more answers about what the heck happened, a second playthrough is recommended.
While I got this game heavily discounted in a bundle which is no longer available on Steam, it's definitely worth buying either way. And now, for the Steam Fall Sale, it's discounted too! So I say to go for it. It's worth your money. For fans of series like Stranger Things (which I reviewed!) or those who live for horror with heart, you'll love it.
Either way, in short: I loved OxenFree, and if you have 4 or so hours free, play it. It's a unique experience that is worth every second.
Rating: 4/5 Spooky Triangles Stars
