


The player makes choices via deceptively simple dialogue options that pop up on the screen. The gameplay is extremely simple, allowing the player to control only Alex’s movement, radio, and decisions. All that she (and the player) can do is try to lose as little as possible, solve the mysteries of the island’s past, and escape with both her sanity and her life. Even after she shuts off the radio and leaves the cave behind, what’s done is done. When she hits the right one, strange things begin to happen in the cave, whispering voices and mysterious lights appearing out of nowhere. Alex brings her radio into the caves and begins to fiddle with it, tuning it to various frequencies. There is an urban legend that, if you bring a handheld radio to these caves and turn it to just the right frequency, you can tune in to an otherworldly presence. A little bit into the evening, Ren proposes that the group check out the caves next to the beach. The cast of characters includes the player character Alex, her new stepbrother Jonas, her friend Ren, his crush Nona, and Nona’s best friend Clarissa.
#Oxenfree alex full#
The basic story of Oxenfree is this: a group of teenagers meet up on Edwards Island for an annual get-together full of underage drinking, hanging out by the beach, and general unsupervised shenanigans. It understands that, in order for there to be ghosts, there must be loss. At its heart, Oxenfree is a ghost story that seamlessly weaves horror together with human tragedy. It recently celebrated its five-year anniversary, and, in my opinion, the story holds up even better now than it did upon release. I wondered, could I have made different choices? Who might I have saved? What was that? This approachable little indie game had caught me completely by surprise and sent me spinning, and I realized that I had severely underestimated it.īeneath the seemingly familiar surface of Oxenfree lurks a deeply affecting story about the ripple effect of loss, and is one of the best pieces of tragic horror created in the last decade. I hadn’t even noticed I was crying.įor weeks after finishing the game, it bounced around in my head. I reached up to wipe my eyes, tired from staring at the screen, and found my cheeks wet with tears. Instead, I sat back in my chair hours later, watching the end credits play with the wind knocked out of my lungs and a lump in my throat I couldn’t swallow. I expected some exciting twists and turns, choice-based gameplay (my favorite), and a fun, lightly spooky experience. I recently sat down to play Oxenfree, knowing very little about it besides the basic premise. If you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a hundred times-and if you’re a horror fan like me, you’ll happily see it a hundred more.
#Oxenfree alex movie#
It’s a horror movie tale as old as time: a group of teens gather with intent to party, and a masked killer/evil spirit/mutant/trickster demon wreaks havoc on their innocent souls. As far as premises go, Night School Studio’s Oxenfree seems to have a relatively straightforward one.
