Back in 2016, Night School Studio released Oxenfree which ended up being one of the most surprisingly entertaining games of that year. The game featured a creepy, unsettling island world populated by irresponsible teenagers who didn’t know what they were meddling with until it was too late. Every ounce of the game oozed mystery, horror, and branching narrative choices with consequential impact. All combined made for a memorable and replayable experience, especially when the game leaves you on a cliffhanger.
Now, Night School Studio has returned after a seven-year hiatus with more mystery and drama with Oxenfree II: Lost Signals. In the sequel, you revisit the island as Riley Poverly, who runs into her own set of chaotic moments, much like the teenagers in the first, while also crossing paths with those who were left behind. She extends the mythos of the Oxenfree lineage while forging a new path for herself and her best buds (and sometimes not best buds) to expand the world Night School created in 2016.
It’s a tall order to catch lightning in a bottle a second time, so could Night School do it again? Great question, so let’s reposition our thought signals and uncover the truth about Oxenfree II and find out if it can live up to the first’s greatness.
*BUZZZZZZZZZZZ OF RADIO*
Slow starter, but it picks up
The story behind Oxenfree II: Lost Signals isn’t too complicated to follow. You play as Riley Poverly, who returns to her hometown of Camena where she has been hired to figure out why signals have been going loopy in the coastal town’s vicinity. With the help of a man named Jacob, she sets up small standing radio signals that somehow open a portal between the past and present, and which seemingly start letting in those stuck in limbo. Of course, if those limbo folks come through, that means the entire world may collapse. No big deal. Anyway, Riley must figure out how to close the portals and avoid becoming a permanent resident with those caught in the signal’s waves.
Much like the first game, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals presents unsettling and mysterious scenarios with its storyline and creates one helluva payoff by the end. You will get jump scares like the first game, jarring voices that are creepy and unnatural, and you will get a melancholy-laced narrative that will force you at some point to replay it for a different outcome. It’s much like everything in the first game, with a slight unbalanced difference. The story has a hard time getting going at the beginning.
The story starts incredibly slow, as Riley wakes up after a horrifying vision of her future self and then shifts mostly to Riley’s breadcrumbed past. There are a lot of breadcrumbs to see and the story is intent on showing you every one of them. The first act of the game has so much to unpack so that it fits perfectly by the end. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but when you’re waiting for the ‘it’ moment in the story to happen, you end up waiting a little longer than expected.
Unlike the first game, where you’re immediately thrown into this uncomfortable situation feeling surrounded and stuck, the sequel is content with creating this huge backstory for Riley and waiting for the third act before paying it off completely. There is a sense of unsettled horror to the backdrop of the world during the initial first two acts, but the game truly doesn’t kick into fifth gear until the third. Again, the payoff is great, as you do get multiple endings, but leading up to that you’re just waiting to be dazzled and pulled into Oxenfree II: Lost Signals’ world. I wanted more and I wanted the game to up the intensity and take what the first did and build upon it. I was hoping that it would keep pace with the story from the first, where right out of the gate you’re just in it. But this one took its time and matured the journey a bit more than the first. Serious issues of Riley’s life were hinted at and revealed in the first two acts making this story far deeper and more meaningful than the first, but still, that horror show from the first was so impactful and sad. I’m sure it was tough to replicate.
Now, to be clear here, the story isn’t bad it’s just the opposite. It’s just structured differently and it’s a bit heavy on the front side and light with the scares, frights, and reveals towards the end. You will still find a meaningful journey with Riley, who is not a teenager by any means, and the adult problems that she has dragged with her to Camena. You will have to make some hard choices for her story that affects other characters, both living and otherwise. There are still enough branching narratives to find more content that leads to more payoffs in act three. There is enough here to make a solid comparison to the first Oxenfree game, but Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is just a bit more unbalanced than the previous one. It’s still damn good, though. It has some amazing reveals and some heartfelt choices at the end.
Anyway, I’ve been tiptoeing around story details to avoid spoilers if you haven’t noticed. I had better end the story section by saying the sequel’s journey is worth your time. Just don’t expect a replica of the first or something that ups the ante. Rather, it will complement the ante.
Gameplay signals replay
Much like the first game, you will have tough choices to make as Riley. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals brings up some serious subjects in Riley’s life, such as her relationship with her father, and her purpose in life. She is lost most of the game and you can feel that through every decision that she makes. It doesn’t pull punches, and it treats the gameplay as such. Story aside, the gameplay in Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is solving puzzles and choosing the correct dialogue when you’re talking to Jacob or otherworldly, and unworldly, beings.
The puzzle-solving isn’t too difficult. You mainly use a radio signal to unlock gates, close portals, and figure out the best course of action when taking on baddies. The radio signals have been a mechanic and theme since the first game, and they work the same way here. When you approach a locked gate held together by a computer, you break out the radio dial and tune in to find the right frequency for the computer to unlock the gate. You will find a lot of moments like this in the game, and it shows that the game is more about story than it is about complicated mechanics or weaponry. It’s a good choice to go with what worked in the original and it works just as well here. It’s easy and it doesn’t hinder progression, and Night School Studio wants you to complete the game so that you can go back and complete it again. You can see it in their design and intention. In addition, the eerily squawking sound of tuning a radio creates an unnerved element in the gameplay environment. If you didn’t grow up with that in your car or you haven’t seen the movie Signs, then welcome to Unsettlingville – home of the jump scares. Anyway, it’s a good mechanic in the gameplay and it adds to the ambiance.
The other puzzle portion of the adventure is talking with people on your hand radio. This is the other radio signal you’re toying with, as you can strike up a conversation with several people during your adventure, some of which pop up out of nowhere. You can talk with folks with this mechanic or you can simply ignore them. Case in point, the initial person who hires you to go investigate the signals on Camena will call you on occasion asking for details on something or to make a request for you to accomplish something. You can choose whether to answer her or completely ignore her. The story changes when you do the latter, and the fact that you can do the latter is what makes this gameplay unique. Typically, in a game of this type, communicating with someone means you’re stuck on a linear path that won’t allow you to move forward without completing whatever dialogue you’re being hounded by. This isn’t the case with Oxenfree II: Lost Signals design. I flat-out ignored this person, even after she repeated herself, and got away with progressing the story without responding or completing the task she might have asked for had I not ignored her. That’s a lot of freedom of choice for a video game, and certainly something I can get behind. That type of freedom of choice allows for potentially deeper gameplay.
Staying with dialogue, the biggest draw to this game is how it treats its branching narrative gameplay. Through Riley’s journey, she will strike up several conversations. It could be with her helper, Jacob, her father, or anyone else that wants to chat with Riley along the way. When you start chatting it up, the game gives you 2-3 choices of response. How you respond to people shifts Riley’s story when it comes to relationships. This is the reason why the gameplay works so well because there are certain times when responses can shift the course of the story one way or another. It’s a big reason why Oxenfree was such a wonder, and it’s equally as big and fun with the sequel. It will give you a reason to go back, replay the game, and see how things turned out had Riley been nicer, meaner, or bleh. That specific mechanic drives the entertainment value of the game through the roof and helps forgive the story’s slow start.
Beyond puzzles and dialogue, the only other set of mechanics is walking around and trying to navigate the map of Camena. That part of the game is a bit linear in nature, but rightfully so as Night School Studio certainly wants to get you to the ending so that you can go back and restart the journey. You will run into linear walls and be required to complete tasks to progress, but nothing that detours the branching narrative aspect of the gameplay.
Overall, the gameplay of Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is like the first, and that isn’t a bad thing at all. It has some clever puzzles, some mysterious signals to catch (or ignore), and choices for the player to make to shift the story one way or another. It does come with a good dose of suspense and jump scares, but those are only there to drive the story and to make the gameplay additionally interesting.
On that sweet note, let’s wrap this review up.
Conclusion
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals from Night School Studio is a worthy predecessor to the original. The sequel has a thick branching narrative gameplay mechanic that drives the story and gives you a reason to replay the game. The only big knock is that Riley’s story starts slow, which could put off some folks expecting immediate satisfaction with mystery and horror like the first delivered almost right out of the gate. Regardless of takeoff, the sequel is entertaining and something you should check out, especially if you enjoyed the first game.
