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Thoughtful and Scary, but not Compelling enough

Published April 18, 2018
3 out of 5 starsScore: 60/100

This weekend I picked up Oxenfree on Switch for $5 through the Nintendo Store.

Oxenfree is an adventure game with an amazing cast of teenagers and a terrifyingly interesting story. The voice performances were authentic and superbly integrated with gameplay. Colorful, vibrant looking characters, dark, foreboding environments, and minimalist, haunting music make this the perfect game to add to my Halloween stream list. I recommend Oxenfree due to its evocative themes and compelling acting.

The simplicity of the gameplay makes it a great game to relax to but gathering up all of the bits seems like a bit of a pointless chore, especially given the ending. In all, I finished the first 2/3 of the game in my first session and the rest a couple nights later for a total of about 3 hours. It’s a really great game but I only found the heart to play through it once, so even though Oxenfree is fun, it fell short of its full potential with me.

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