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The island that the game takes place on is a character itself. The most positive attributes of the game are in the character development and storytelling. And there is an intertwining backstory for the gang that I learned about as the game progressed. I won’t spoil anything here, but there are multiple heart-pounding, spine-tingling moments.Īll the characters have their own personality and feel. The game often ramped up to what seemed like an enormous moment, only to slow down seconds later as my adrenaline was still pumping. Some moments wowed me and others bored me. That sort of sums up the game in general. There are moments where the characters lines are pretty cringe-worthy, but other instances where the fantastic storytelling swept me away. The scripting, writing, and voice-acting in Oxenfree aren’t perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction. I’m only harsh on video game writing because I’m passionate about the industry and I want it to improve and grow. Firewatch had a phenomenal script between Henry and Delilah. I loved what CD Project RED did with The Witcher 3. And a video game with average writing when compared to its counterparts has below average writing compared to the other entertainment mediums. I believe that most of the games that have reputations of fantastic writing really only have average writing compared to books, tv, and movies. But for the most part, I’m afraid my beloved video game industry is kind of behind.
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There are a few games out there, like the Uncharted series for example, with phenomenal writing no matter what it is compared to. I’m a pretty big critic when it comes to video game writing. What I will say is that the scary cryptic story is written well when compared to most video games.Īnd that’s the point here. So I won’t mention a single specific story element. Every line spoken by the characters, every plot twist should be experienced personally be each player. I won’t get into any details because, in a game like this, any small element can be a bit spoilery. The story is ambiguous, clever, and intriguing. Oxenfree follows a group of teens on a rebellious night gone terribly wrong. However, the mysterious story and solid writing carries the game, and it’s an experience I won’t soon forget. Oxenfree walks this line dangerously at some points. There’s a delicate balance between a game working as an adventure game and wondering if it should have just been a book. Maneuvering throughout the world and exploring needs to be fun.
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However, the gameplay still needs to hold up. Gameplay usually takes a back seat, but that’s okay, it’s nice to play a game where I can sit back a little bit and focus more on the narrative. There’s something special about being sucked into the world of a game with great storytelling and atmospheric design. Specifically, story-based adventure games have been resurrected, and I’m personally thrilled about that. Of all the genres that have been reborn thanks to the rise of Indies, adventure (and specifically the walking simulator) games perhaps have it better than any.
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