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Michael Brownstein's Oxenfree (PC)
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| [August 30, 2017 08:19:16 PM]
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Played another session of Oxenfree today. This time, I finished opening up the rift in the cave, finished the comms tower, and saved Ren. Now onto my thoughts about everything that has happened so far- first, the cave was sufficiently creepy. The cave section was over soon enough though. Next I arrived at the comms tower. And was treated to a joke that honestly jarred my immersion with the game. The entire 'Dick Harden' thing was quite silly and honestly pointless. However, that led up to the first major choice of the game. Whether to go save Ren or Clarissa first. Thing is, from what I seemed to see on the map, there was no way to reach Clarissa without going to get Ren. Which is another case of the game acting like you have choice but not actually giving you that much.
I chose Ren pretty much for that reason, so I started off in that direction. Around the time I reached the lake things started getting really trippy, but that was about it. Also wondering why the people who made the game really liked using old technology as an answer to the supernatural. (The radio and tape players) Anyway, I reached Ren and exorcised the ghost before heading to get Clarissa. The only other thing of note was running into Nona, but there wasn't really any choice there with how she was acting. Anyway, I don't know if I'll complete the game- I might or might not.
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| [August 29, 2017 11:07:27 PM]
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Played through a fair bit more of Oxenfree today. One of the first things I realized is that while the photo may have actually been optional- I thought having the radio was optional and was sorely wrong. It's pretty clear that the radio is a critical part of the game, even with the fact I didn't get too far.
I played through the beach and about half of the first cave, so I suppose I'll start on the beach. Meeting Clarissa and Nona was interesting- while I enjoyed the little interaction with Nona, Clarissa is a giant prick. It felt like the entire game on the beach was expressly designed to show off that fact. Another thing was that while I praised previous responses for variety, I also found a number of responses I didn't see the option I wanted in. For example, when Clarissa asks about the reason behind the divorce, I really wanted to say "Their story to tell, not mine." But that option wasn't available.
I did however appreciate a small part on the beach, where my situation landed Alex in the forfeit clause for the game, it allows you to ignore Clarissa and eventually get out of the slap.
Anyway, the cave segment I played was reasonably interesting. I liked that it felt like you could ignore Ren when he was being an idiot. However, my big complaint was what happens if you enter the cave. You can convince Jonas to leave, which magically blocks the entrance. But considering that the rift hasn't been opened yet- how did the entrance magically close? It feels very ham handed. I'd much rather have gotten an ending with "And nothing eventful happened on the island. The end." That is in my opinion far better game design.
Anyway, doing another session tomorrow.
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| [August 28, 2017 05:38:04 PM]
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So, today I started oxenfree. Did a short session of 30 minutes- unsure if I'll beat the game or not by the deadline. Anyway. This was my first session, so unsurprisingly I don't have too many opinions on the game at all. However, what little I got through (The boat ride) had a lot of good implications for the game proper. I enjoyed the fact that you had the choice of whether or not to have two relevant items at the start of the game. (The radio and the group picture.) The other big thing I liked was that you had distinct access to character personality choices, and unlike many games, said choices appear actually distinct rather than 3 ways of doing the same thing. So yeah. I'm definitely playing again tomorrow.
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Michael Brownstein's Oxenfree (PC)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Monday 28 August, 2017
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