I’ve heard that the real secret to scaring an audience is through sound, not visuals, so it makes sense why Night School Studio (how perfect is THAT name by the way?) focused attention here. The sound design is stellar, taking advantage of every light turning on, every tweak of the radio signal and every voice you really don’t want to hear. Vast, empty spaces began to feel claustrophobic, and venturing into simple houses inspired fear. I cringed at the thought of bringing up the radio again to try and solve a mini-puzzle, or communicate with the ghostly apparitions that clearly want something. You’d think a zoomed out camera on stylish cartoon characters couldn’t provide any jump scares, but you’d be dead wrong. I was outright startled more than a few times. MY Alex was kind and wanted to diffuse situations and keep everybody calm as much as possible, despite the disturbing events occurring around us. True to my nature, I tried to be as goody-two-shoes as possible. Through the choices in dialogue, you create your protagonist’s personality. It resulted in interesting interactions and I was never bored, regardless of who my current companion was. I didn’t have to wait for chatter to be over before exploring the island, the chatter was happening AS we were exploring. It’s such a great dialogue system that I still wish other games had adopted, or adapted it. You can interrupt people, you can let them finish their thoughts, you can not speak at all and the other characters will continue conversing. Selectable bubbles will pop up during a conversation, but there aren’t any unrealistic pauses after sentences prompting you to choose your response. It’s an age old trick, but it kept me fascinated throughout.Īnother highlight is the speech system. In what manner, and when it comes out, heightens the tension throughout the story. True to most coming of age tales (and horror movies!), everybody has some emotional baggage, or uncertainty they’re coping with. The phrase itself is appropriate for the game’s setting a bunch of kids take a boat to a haunted island for a weekend party. Something about that word all by itself, without the “Olly Olly” in front makes it seem unnatural. All valid responses to me being frightened by a video game. This is my safety zone and as long as I can tip-toe up to the line without crossing over, I won’t have nightmares. I’m down with that, every day of the week. They’re hardly scary – Fine, but they still instill a sense of the unknown, have good stretches of dread and try to blur the lines of reality with paranormal. Movies like Annihilation, TV shows like Stranger Things, plays like Shining City and video games like Controlreally get my heart racing. Check it out! Highly recommended.īut I also DO love being scared, it’s just a matter of degree. It’s a godsend for a wimp like me I love movies, but don’t love being scared. Janisse combs over popular scary movies cataloging the murders and going over plot details. One of my favorite Youtube channels is the Kill Count. The year 2016 may not have been the strongest, but I’d be wrong if I said Oxenfree wasn’t a compelling experience.Īs I’ve mentioned previously, I’m a wimp when it comes to horror – it’s too intense for me, my imagination runs wild and I scare easily. I’m not halfway yet, but to be within striking distance of that target is motivating. I can’t lie and say I’m not excited to nearly be done the first 200 entries. What does this mean? Was 2016 a weak year, or am I starting to progress into a higher quality of game on the 500?īoth, I’d say. Oxenfree is the first game on the 500 to be featured on one of my Top 10 lists. Platforms: PC, Mac, XBox One, PS4, Switch, iOS, Android
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