Recent reviews by cyno

10 babeczkis thrown at the wall in rage/10

Van finally releases another game and it's exactly what we wanted & more. The last few levels are barely possible in hardmode though, jesus... I'm this close to smashing my keyboard into pieces

Worthy sequel; on par, but hardly better

Oxenfree has always been one of my favourite "Interactive Story" games. I really don't know why, it just captivated me, in a way. So, Oxenfree II has been in my Wishlist ever since the first announcement. I purchased and completed it in just under 10 hours, immediately after release.

The game is great. I'm incredibly happy to get a chance to experience this world once again and I love how Oxenfree II expands beyond the scope of Edwards island. There are lots of locations to explore, hours of ground to cover.

However, I can't say I enjoyed it more than it's predecessor. It's certainly stronger in some aspects, like the scope, possibly the writing, and how smoothly the story goes. However, there are a lot of aspects in which it's much weaker, at least in my eyes. I'll try to list those points over, but remember, that I still do like the game. Though I'm not sure if I'll be replaying it for other endings.

1. The soundtrack. The music of Oxenfree I, made by scntfc, was absolutely captivating to me. The lo-fi, vaporwave-ish melodies coupled with the spooky story, filled the world with a sense of (fake) nostalgia, longing, melancholy and warm wonder. They were nice background music, yes, but they were also something you could easily listen to on its own, while studying, for example. The music of Oxenfree II, on the other hand, is much more subdued. Most of it is just ambiance, and, sadly, the most catchy melody in the game is all the reprises of the Oxenfree I theme. The music does its job, sure, but it's not adding much to the experience.

2. Characters. They are... Fine. The main character, Riley, is interesting. She creates a facade of self-confidence and maturity, while on the inside she doesn't really believe in herself and has a firm belief in her own lack of future. Will her adventure change that, or not? All the others, on the other hand...
This game, unlike Oxenfree I, only has one "sidekick" character - Jacob. And while he has a character arc of his own, it never struck me as that relatable or interesting. He's just a guy who wants to leave something in the world. I dunno, he's fine, but he seemed a bit too flat and at times very impulsive, even though the game tries to present him as a timid guy. The way he chased after the kids and yelled at them seemed out of character, infuriating and too much of a plot device.
The kids were simply annoying. Neither Violet's or Charlie's characters were really explored past "I have issues with my mom" and "I have a toxic crush". In the plot, they are pawns in Olivia's hands, but, frankly, their characters don't go too far from just that - being used by Olivia. I'm sure in some endings they keep being friends and their relationship with each other gets flashed out a bit more, but I really struggled to have any empathy for the kids during the game.
The best part of the game, I think, were the walkie-talkie side dialogues. They were fun. Simple, but fun, and a nice change of pace between plot points, and I really did become attached to a lot of them. My only complaint is that we don't get to speak to them more after getting their respective achievements. I just wanted to know if Shelley was okay :(

3. The writing was, in certain places, better than Oxenfree I. It was much more smooth and easy to follow, despite its turns. To me however, it felt just a little sterile. Oxenfree I had that really nice horror element to it. Certain things happened really out of nowhere, made you feel uncomfortable and uncertain. To me, Oxenfree II lacked that element. All the supernatural interactions were very well-telegraphed in advance and very on-the-nose, and A BIG part of the dialogue was just Jacob's banter, trying to keep himself calm and not really exploring anyone's character that much. Every titbit in Oxenfree felt like it was helping me learn more about the characters in an interesting way, while Oxenfree II felt mostly like filler, with sparse sudden heavy lore drops, kind of like "I'm pregnant." out of nowhere. Of course, this type of dialogue also has its place, but I personally felt like it was just a bit overdone.
There was also a severe lack of secrets and easter eggs. Oxenfree I was much more subtle with its radio interactions. An interaction point could easily be hidden in plain sight with tiny rock piles and background lights turned red. You had to have your eyes peeled. Oxenfree II, however, goes for a much more "Giant out-of-place red lamp in the middle of an open field" approach, with a couple sparkling dots for Adler letters in-between. I never really felt like I achieved anything and I never felt that rush of discovering something I wasn't supposed to, like I did with Oxenfree I, although, I admit, this might just be my view as someone who played Oxenfree I a billion times.

3.5. This point is reserved for two things I didn't really like, but can't complain about. A) The new graphics engine seems a bit less charming to me than the previous one. I understand what the developers were going for, I like it, but I do like it less. B) Bugs and glitches. There were a couple I encountered during my playthrough, most of them minor, though there were two glitches in particular which were basically game-ruining. One of them was the relentless lag and FPS drop in Pemmican Trailhead. This location definitely needs more optimisation. The other is how finnicky the interaction zones might be in certain spots. This wasn't that much of an issue for me for the most part, though one of those bugs occured in the only timed section of the game and made it impossible to go for the best ending. Yay? Still, I trust the developers to fix all that in due time and can't really be mad, playing the game sheer minutes after release.

Well, I think this is it. Thank you, Night Studio, for letting us back into the world of Oxenfree. I hope we'll see even more great stuff from you in the future. About Oxenfree II, though... Did I like the game? Immensely. Did I enjoy the playthrough? Obviously. Would I play again? Maybe. Is it better than Oxenfree I? Almost. It's bigger, but, I don't know if it's quite there.

0/10 Lost a blindfolded run by coming into a room with a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of spike blocks and a button surrounded by red poop. Thank you game, would recommend.