In 2016, Night School Studio released Oxenfree, a gripping, haunting, and surreal adventure game that felt like the hybrid of Twin Peaks, Stranger Things, and classic LucasArts point-and-click adventures. The game earned massive critical acclaim, becoming a modern cult classic in the process.
Now, six years after this game's original publishing, more time-bending adventures, story-driven explorations, and poignant-but-terrifying interactions are coming your way. Night School Studio and MWM Interactive are bringing you OXENFREE II: Lost Signals in 2022. We here at Collider were lucky enough to see the first preview of gameplay from the anticipated sequel, and frankly, my arm-hairs are still standing on end thinking about it.
OXENFREE II: Lost Signals follows a different cast of characters in a similar but expanded-feeling vibe. Riley Poverly is your main character, a researcher who has returned home to the town of Camena to investigate odd, frightening disturbances in various pieces of electronics. Could it be caused by rogue, unfiltered radio frequencies? Or is something more sinister, supernatural, or timey-wimey going on?
In the sequence we were shown, Riley was joined by Jacob, an ally who seems to be made of less strong stuff than our headstrong Riley. As they explore the island in that Oxenfree house style of stylized, zoomed-out, 2.5-D graphics, they do their best to make conversation and get to know each other. Here, Lost Signals showcased the intuitive, immersive dialogue tree options that pop up with regularity, giving the game (as its predecessor) an emotionally engaged anchor. Like the many excellent, moody graphic adventures the game is joining the ranks of — your Life Is Stranges, your Neo Cabs, your Thimbleweed Parks — this game, as a quality, feels like you are steering a narrative experience rather than "hardcore playing a game." The conversation Riley and Jacob make while investigating was wholly engrossing, charming, and intoxicating even as it's purposefully casual, promising a deep sense of caring in these characters in the full game (which, I imagine, will result in a lot of heartbreak when one iffy dialogue choice results in a new path of tragedy).
Most cannily in this bit of gameplay experienced, the dialogue and interactive storytelling do not stop when more traditional horror adventure gameplay elements begin. Without divulging specific spoilers, this section of Lost Signals featured some cooperative puzzles in the zone of Little Nightmares and some surreal corruptions of reality in the zone of Control. I wouldn't have been surprised if the storytelling, character development, and excellent voice performances of the ongoing dialogue ceased while you figured out these parts. But the fine folks of Night School Studio are smarter than I, fusing the two elements together seamlessly, resulting in a tone unlike many of its peers. Your characters, as their world begins to twist apart around them, still try their best to maintain a conversation, meaning you still try your best to choose dialogue tree options as you solve these puzzles and reckon with these mysteries. This fusion gave this section a sense of welcome realism among the ever-boiling madness (wouldn't you or I try our best to maintain normalcy were we in the same predicament?) while subtly heightening the stakes of its narrative and gameplay mechanics. Quite the feat, quite the encapsulation of many spinning tonal and gameplay plates!
In its gameplay style, emphasis on character development, promise of gamer influence, art style, and ambient music, OXENFREE II: Lost Signals is already presenting a video game world of sheer immersion. Based on this one selection of gameplay alone, if you loved the first one or are simply looking for a new, unique, daring indie game, this self-contained sequel feels like one to get easily lost in.
OXENFREE II: Lost Signals comes to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC in 2022 (this preview was observed through a remote Discord stream). Check out the game's official synopsis below.
Set five years after the events of the original, OXENFREE II: Lost Signals features an all-new cast of characters for a supernatural mystery-thriller they will shape in unexpected ways with the choices they make. Players will follow Riley Poverly, an environmental researcher who returns to her hometown Camena to investigate mysterious radio frequency signals causing disturbances in electronic equipment throughout the small town. She soon discovers a long history of ghostly happenings on the nearby Edwards Island and becomes entangled in a frightening, supernatural mystery. Featuring Night School Studio’s signature, naturalistic dialogue system, OXENFREE II: Lost Signals gives players more agency to shape their experience in unexpected ways.